Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Procedures Based on Principles of Respondent Conditioning Chapter 14

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Respondent Conditioning Deals with behaviors that are elicited automatically by some stimulus –Doesn’t produce a new behavior –Causes an existing behavior to occur –Involves reflexive behavior –New stimulus-response connection is learned

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Definitions Operant Conditioning –Modification of behavior by its consequences –Operant behavior: behavior that operates on the environment and can be modified by its consequences Respondent Conditioning –Also called Pavlovian Conditioning –Producing new stimulus-response connections by pairing two stimuli –Respondent Behavior: behavior that is elicited by specific stimuli and can be conditioned to new stimuli through a stimulus pairing process

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Terminology Unconditioned Stimulus (US): – Natural stimulus producing response Unconditioned Response (UR): – Unlearned response Conditioned Stimulus (CS): – Originally neutral, now elicits reflexive response Conditioned Response (CR): – Learned reflexive response to conditioned stimulus

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Principle of Respondent Conditioning A neutral stimulus followed closely in time by a US, which elicits a UR, will then also tend to elicit the same response

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Principle of Respondent Conditioning

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Factors Influencing Respondent Conditioning 1.The greater the number of pairings of a CS with a US, the greater the ability of the CS to elicit the CR 2.Stronger conditioning occurs if the CS precedes the US by about half a second, rather than by a longer time, or rather than following the US –Conditioned taste aversion – exception to the rule 3.A CS acquires greater ability to elicit a CR if the CS is always paired with a given US than if it is only occasionally paired with the US 4.When several neutral stimuli precede a US, the stimulus that is most consistently associated with the US is the one most likely to become a strong CS 5.Respondent conditioning will develop more quickly and strongly when the CS or US or both are intense rather than weak

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Higher Order Conditioning 1 st order –Pair NS and US to produce UR –CS will produce CR –EX: Pair bell and food to produce salivation; bell will produce salivation after conditioning 2 nd order –Pair new NS and CS to produce CR –Produces a new CS, which elicits the CR –EX: Pair light with bell to produce salivation; light will produce salivation after conditioning

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Higher Order Conditioning

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Respondent Stimulus Generalization and Discrimination Stimulus generalization –Stimuli similar to CS tend to elicit CR Stimulus discrimination –Stimuli different from CS tend to elicit CR The more similar a stimulus is to the CS, the more it will tend to elicit the CR (stimulus generalization); the more different it is, the more it will tend not to elicit the CR (stimulus discrimination)

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Respondent Extinction Presenting a CS while withholding the US CS will gradually lose its capability of eliciting the CR

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Counterconditioning Condition a new response to CS at the same time as the former CR is being extinguished

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Common Respondently Conditioned Responses Reflexive responses can be conditioned to previously neutral stimuli Biologically adaptive –Digestive System – salivation, secretion of gastric juices –Circulatory System – increased heart rate, blood flow –Respiratory System – coughing, sneezing, asthma attacks –Other Systems – urinary, reproductive systems Biological Preparedness – predisposition of members of a species to be more readily conditioned to some stimuli as CSs than to others –EX: Taste aversion – conditioned reflex of digestive system

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Respondent and Operant Conditioning Compared Responses –Respondent behaviors tend to be reflexive –Operant behaviors tend to be voluntary Reinforcers –Respondent conditioning pairs NS with US before the response –Operant conditioning presents reinforcement after the response Extinction –Respondent conditioning – presentation of CS without US –Operant conditioning – withholding the reinforcer following a previously reinforced response CSs and S D s –Both produce responses that have been conditioned to them –Conditioning procedures differ –Different terminology is used CSs elicit the response conditioned to them S D s evoke the responses to them has become CS for waking up

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Applications of Respondent Conditioning Aversion Therapy –Repeated pairing of a troublesome reinforcer with an aversive event –Rationale is counterconditioning Treatment of Chronic Constipation –Presenting a mild, non-painful electric current prior to defecating Defecation initially elicited by laxative, but drug gradually decreased Apply current at the same time each day, so that eventually removing the current and natural environment will still elicit defecation response Treatment of Nocturnal Enuresis (Bed-Wetting) –Bell-pad treatment Bell connected to pad under the bottom sheet Bell sounds (US) and awakens (UR) as soon as the first drop of urine makes contact with the pad Eventually child will wake up before urinating –Stimulus of pressure of bladder