Chapter 5 – LEARNING
Learning – process that allows us to adapt to the changing conditions of the world around us
•‘relatively permanent’ change since there is a physical change in the brain to record in memory
•These changes are sometimes due to maturation, depends on the biological/genetic increase
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Ivan Pavlov and the salivating dogs – Russian physiologist who started the study of the basic principles of
a kind of learning; studied when his dogs salivate (response); the first who termed classical
conditioning – learning to have an involuntary reflex response to a stimulus, & he identified
several key elements
•Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) – meaning “unlearned”; ordinarily leads to the reflex
response; in the case of his dogs, the UCS is the food.
•Unconditioned response (UCR) – the reflex response to the UCS, because of genetic “wiring”
in the nervous system; the salivation to the food is the UCR
•Conditioned stimulus (CS) – in the case of the dogs, the neutral stimulus (NS) is the dish, it
had no direct effect on salivation, but thru repeated pairing with the UCS (food), it causes
the same kind of reflexive response, learning has occurred. Now, it is a CS.
•Conditioned response (CR) – response to the given CS, not that strong as the UCR, but the
same response.
•he used a metronome’s ticking sound to associate with the food, pairing the NS & UCS is called
acquisition, the organism is in the process of acquiring learning. Pavlov formulated a few basic
principles
•CS must come before UCS (no effect if metronome ticks after food is given)
•CS & UCS must come very close together in time (no more association, interval interferes
with conditioning) the interstimulus interval depends on the nature of conditioning task &
the organism itself
•NS must be paired with the UCS several times (for conditioning to take place)
•CS is usually distinctive (metronome ticking sound is unusual in a lab)
•The tendency to respond to a stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus is called
stimulus generalization. If they stop responding (generalizing) to similar sounds, they learn to tell
the difference, stimulus discrimination.
•When the metronome’s ticking was repeatedly done without the food, the salivation eventually died
out, extinction. But thru spontaneous recovery, the CR can briefly reappear, though weak.
•When a strong conditioned stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus, higher-order conditioning, the
CS plays the part of the UCS and the NS as the CS.
Watson and “Little Alber” – he presented a white rat, not a usual thing the baby is scared of, with a loud
noise, which makes the baby cry.
•The loud noise was the UCS, the white rat is the CS, & the white rat is the CR, phobia of the rat.
This is called conditioned emotional response (CER).
•if classically conditioned (influenced) from others’ response to stimuli, called vicarious conditioning.
Another one is conditioned taste aversion – for alcoholics, when they are given a drug to make them
nauseated when they drink, forcing them to avoid drinking alcoholic drinks
•found some inconsistencies in the concept of classical conditioning, first, the CS & UCS must be
timed very close, second, it must take several pairings before achieving conditioning.
•but it is is all because of biological preparedness, somewhat related to the survival or living of an
organism.
•When the CS replaced the UCS as a substitute, by being paired together, there is what we call
stimulus substitution.
