1. Definition
Learning is a relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to experience.

2. How Do We Learn?
We learn by association. Our minds naturally connect events that occur in sequence.
OBJECTIVE 1| Define learning, and identify two forms of learning.

3. Stimulus-Stimulus Learning
Learning to associate one stimulus
with another.

4. Response-Consequence Learning
Learning to associate a response
with a consequence.

5. Classical Conditioning
Ideas of classical conditioning originate from old philosophical theories. However, it was the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov who elucidated classical conditioning. His work provided a basis for later behaviorists like John Watson and B. F. Skinner.
Sovfoto
Ivan Pavlov ( )

6. Classical Conditioning and Pavlov’s Dogs: Hypothesis
Dogs salivate when food is placed in their mouths
Dogs salivate at mere sight of food
Hypothesis: Dogs can be trained, or conditioned, to salivate when exposed to an external stimulus
Pavlov observed that dogs salivated when he placed food into their mouths. He also noted that a dog would often salivate even if it just saw some food. The dog appeared to anticipate the feeling and taste of the food in its mouth. At first, Pavlov lamented that this salivation got in the way of his research on the dogs’ digestive systems. After thinking about the dogs’ reaction to the sight of food, however, he decided to focus his research on this phenomenon and to experiment with the dogs to see how their salivation response formed and changed.
Pavlov hypothesized that dogs could learn to associate external stimuli, such as a sound or a touch, with food and would therefore salivate upon sensing those external stimuli.

7. Pavlov’s Methodology and Results
Harness dog and place tube to collect saliva
Present external stimulus (bell) immediately before giving food
Results: After a few trials, the dog salivates upon hearing the bell
Works with other stimuli as well
Pavlov placed a dog in a small room and harnessed it so it couldn’t move around. He then attached a collection device to the dog’s mouth to measure how much the dog salivated. He began the experiment by ringing a bell and then immediately placing some food into the dog’s mouth. He measured the amount of saliva the dog excreted after each feeding. After repeating this bell-and-feeding sequence several times, Pavlov found that the dog would begin to salivate before it actually received the food. This confirmed his hypothesis. Pavlov achieved similar results when he tried other external stimuli, including a buzzer, a light, and touching the dog’s leg.

8. Pavlov’s Conclusions Unconditioned Response (UCR)
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
Conditioned Response (CR)
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
Pavlov came up with the following special terms to describe the results of his experiment:
Unconditioned response (UCR): The salivation in response to the food is an unconditioned response. It is “unconditioned” because it’s a naturally occurring response that the dog does not have to learn.
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): The food is an unconditioned stimulus because it automatically triggers salivation in the dog. Again, the dog does not have to learn to salivate when it tastes food.
Conditioned Response (CR): When the dog salivates in response to the bell or another external stimulus, it is exhibiting a conditioned response to that stimulus. The dog does not do this automatically but had to be conditioned to salivate without having food directly in its mouth.
Conditioned Stimulus (CS): The bell and other external stimuli are “conditioned” because the dog has to learn to salivate in response to them.
The overall process by which the dogs became conditioned to salivate when presented with the external stimuli (the bell, light, etc.) is called classical conditioning.
because of
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9. John Watson and Rosalie Rayner: Hypothesis, Methodology, Results
Conditioned fear into an infant
Presented a rat immediately followed by a loud noise, startling the baby + =
Following up on Pavlov’s work, in 1920 John Watson and Rosalie Rayner hypothesized that humans could be conditioned to have certain fears. In particular, they hypothesized that a human child could be conditioned to fear a rat. The child they studied was an 11-month-old boy named Albert B., or “Little Albert.”
Before the experiment, Little Albert was not afraid of rats, but he was afraid of loud noises. Watson and Rayner began the experiment by showing Little Albert a white rat. As Albert reached for the rat, the experimenters pounded a hammer directly behind his head, startling Albert. After doing this several times, Albert became frightened and began to cry simply upon seeing the rat without any accompanying noise. Watson and Rayner had therefore successfully conditioned him to fear the rat.
A few days after conditioning Little Albert to fear the rat, Watson and Rayner found that Albert had generalized his fears to other furry creatures, including a rabbit, a dog, a sealskin coat, or Santa Claus mask. He did not express fear when exposed to non-furry toys.
After a few tries, Albert was afraid of the rat
Albert generalized his fears to other furry objects

10. Mary Cover Jones DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 Colleague of Watson
Deconditioned 3-year-old Peter from his fears by gradually moving a rabbit (and other things) closer to him while he was eating
DAY 1
DAY 2
DAY 3
In 1925, Mary Cover Jones (a colleague of Watson) hypothesized that she would be able to decondition a three-year-old boy named Peter from some of his fears, which included feathers, cotton, frogs, fish, rats, rabbits, and mechanical toys. She began by bringing a caged rabbit into the same room where Peter was having a snack in his highchair. The rabbit was far enough away that it did not bother Peter. The next day, she brought the rabbit increasingly closer to Peter until he began to become disturbed. On subsequent days, the rabbit was moved closer and closer to Peter’s highchair only to the point at which Peter became afraid, at which time they’d end the experiment for the day. Eventually, Peter was able to pet the rabbit, having been deconditioned from his fear. Jones was able to decondition most of Peter’s other fears in this manner.
Watson and Rayner’s experiment with Little Albert showed that people can be conditioned to fear specific types of objects. Conversely, Jones suggested that people could be deconditioned from their fears. Similar methods are used today to help people overcome phobias.

11. In the video,
What are the US, UR, NS, CS, CR?

12. Continuing Pavlov’s Experiment
Other Aspects of Classical Conditioning
Acquisition
Extinction
Spontaneous Recovery
Generalization
Discrimination
Over the next few decades, Pavlov continued his experiment to learn more about how the dogs became conditioned to the external stimuli. He identified the following additional aspects of classical conditioning:
Acquisition: There should be very little time between the presentation of the external stimulus (the bell) and the food. Also, if the food is presented before the bell rings, the dog does not become conditioned to salivate upon hearing the bell.
Extinction: Once the dog has been conditioned, its conditioned salivation response will not last forever. The conditioned response (CR) gradually becomes less pronounced until it becomes “extinct.”
Spontaneous Recovery: Interestingly, when Pavlov extinguished the conditioned response by not providing food with the bell, after a few hours the dogs would salivate at a weakened level upon hearing a bell, even if no food was presented.
Generalization: The dogs salivated upon hearing the sound of bells that were similar to, but not the same as, the one to which Pavlov conditioned them to respond.
Discrimination: Pavlov was also able to train his dogs to discriminate one sound from another and to respond to only one type of bell.
Pavlov’s studies have had a significant impact on theories of learning in humans. Think about how each of Pavlov’s findings might relate to the ways in which people learn and react to their environment.

13. Acquisition
Acquisition is the initial stage in classical conditioning in which an association between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus takes place.
In most cases, for conditioning to occur, the neutral stimulus needs to come before the unconditioned stimulus.
The time in between the two stimuli should be about half a second.
OBJECTIVE 3| Describe the timing requirements for the initial learning of a stimulus-response relationship.

14. Acquisition
The CS needs to come half a second before the US for acquisition to occur.

15. Extinction
When the US (food) does not follow the CS (tone), CR (salivation) begins to decrease and eventually causes extinction.
OBJECTIVE 4| Summarize the processes of extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination.

16. Spontaneous Recovery
After a rest period, an extinguished CR (salivation) spontaneously recovers, but if the CS (tone) persists alone, the CR becomes extinct again.

17. Stimulus Generalization
Tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the CS is called generalization. Pavlov conditioned the dog’s salivation (CR) by using miniature vibrators (CS) on the thigh. When he subsequently stimulated other parts of the dog’s body, salivation dropped.

18. Stimulus Discrimination
Discrimination is the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.
OBJECTIVE 5| Discuss the survival value of extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization and discrimination.

19. Extending Pavlov’s Understanding
Pavlov and Watson considered consciousness, or mind, unfit for the scientific study of psychology. However, they underestimated the importance of cognitive processes and biological constraints.

20. Cognitive Processes
Early behaviorists believed that learned behaviors of various animals could be reduced to mindless mechanisms.
However, later behaviorists suggested that animals learn the predictability of a stimulus, meaning they learn expectancy or awareness of a stimulus (Rescorla, 1988).
OBJECTIVE 6| Discuss the importance of cognitive processes in classical conditioning.

21. Biological Predispositions
Pavlov and Watson believed that laws of learning were similar for all animals. Therefore, a pigeon and a person do not differ in their learning.
However, behaviorists later suggested that learning is constrained by an animal’s biology.
OBJECTIVE 7| Describe some of the ways that biological predisposition can affect learning by classical conditioning.

22. Biological Predispositions
Garcia showed that the duration between the CS and the US may be long (hours), but yet result in conditioning. A biologically adaptive CS (taste) led to conditioning and not to others (light or sound).
Courtesy of John Garcia
John Garcia

23. Biological Predispositions
Even humans can develop classically to conditioned nausea.

24. Pavlov’s Legacy
Pavlov’s greatest contribution to psychology is isolating elementary behaviors from more complex ones through objective scientific procedures.
OBJECTIVE 8| Summarize Pavlov’s contribution to our understanding of learning.
Ivan Pavlov
( )

25. Applications of Classical Conditioning
Watson used classical conditioning procedures to develop advertising campaigns for a number of organizations, including Maxwell House, making the “coffee break” an American custom.
OBJECTIVE 9| Describe some uses of classical conditioning to improve human health and well-being.
Brown Brothers
John B. Watson

26. Applications of Classical Conditioning
Alcoholics may be conditioned (aversively) by reversing their positive-associations with alcohol.
Through classical conditioning, a drug (plus its taste) that affects the immune response may cause the taste of the drug to invoke the immune response.