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People often like to think they control their behaviour. But the truth is, external forces often condition our reactions, sometimes without us even being aware of it. Suppose you are scared of thunder. Every time you see a bolt of lightning, you might wince in expectation of thunder noise. That conditioned response is what’s called in psychology classical conditioning.
The Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning. Pavlov’s dogs inspired his experiment (1897) when he noticed the dogs salivating as soon as his assistant opened their cage doors because they associated open doors with receiving food.
Pavlov (1897) decided to test this hypothesis by conducting a new experiment in which each time the dogs were given food (stimulus 1), a bell sounded (stimulus 2), and the dogs slowly learned that the ringing of a bell was synonymous with food (new learned response). He observed and investigated the factors that can influence the strength and speed of learning by association and how they can provide explanations for some behaviours in humans, such as neurosis.
First, let's untangle the definition of classical conditioning.
Classical conditioning involves the association of two stimuli to elicit a new learned response in animal and human behaviour. It can also be referred to as learning by association or learning by conditioning.
According to John Watson (1913), classical conditioning explains all aspects of human psychology based on Pavlov’s findings and observations.
Pavlov’s classical conditioning of dogs, Katarina Gadže, StudySmarter Originals (Made in Canva)
In the 1890s, Pavlov studied salivation in dogs as an expectant response to being fed. He placed a small tube in each dog’s cheek to measure the amount of saliva when they were being fed. He expected the dogs to salivate at the sight of food, but instead, they salivated at the sound of the footsteps of his assistant, who was in charge of feeding them. He found that the dogs elicited a similar response to anything (lab assistant) paired with food. Pavlov researched this scientific discovery for many years.
A neutral stimulus is an event that does not elicit a response.An unconditional stimulus is an event that produces a natural or innate response.An unconditional (innate) response is an unlearned natural response to an unconditioned stimulus.The conditioned stimulus is an event that elicits a learned response.The conditioned response is a learned response elicited by conditioned stimuli.
Pavlov based his study on the idea that some responses in dogs are innate and not learned. For example, dogs salivate naturally at the sight of food; they do not learn this response because it is naturally wired into them. Pavlov concluded from this observation that the unconditioned stimulus is the food, which leads to an unconditioned response, the dog’s salivation.
The unconditioned stimulus is food → The unconditioned response is salivation.
Pavlov strapped the dog into a harness attached to an apparatus that measured the rate and amount of salivation in three stages.
The dog’s salivation was measured once when only ringing the bell.
Neutral stimulus (bell) → No conditioned response.
He again measured the saliva when giving food to the dog.
Pavlov measured saliva when he rang the bell and presented the food at the same time.
These steps were repeated several times to condition the dogs to learn this association. The dog’s saliva levels were high after this conditioning with just the ringing of the bell, but without food. This step was crucial to measure the strength of the learned response. The neutral stimulus now became the conditioned stimulus.
Conditioned stimulus (bell) → Conditioned response (salivation).
Pavlov greatly contributed to the theory of classical conditioning, which many researchers replicated after him. Although Pavlov’s theory formed the basis of classical conditioning, researchers who came after him added some important arguments for and against this theory.
The Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning in 1897.
In classical conditioning, two stimuli are combined to elicit a new, learned response in animal and human behaviour.
Pavlov based his study on the idea that some responses in dogs are innate and not learned.
Pavlov (1897) found that each time dogs were given food (stimulus 1) and heard a bell ring (stimulus 2), they slowly learned that a ringing bell was equivalent to food (new learned response).
The theory of classical conditioning is considered scientific because it is a lab-controlled experiment with empirical evidence.
Classical conditioning is when two stimuli are paired together to create a new learned response in animal and human behaviour.
Pavlov discovered classical conditioning in 1897.
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