Classical Conditioning
This is a stimulus – response theory. A stimulus is what is done to a person and the response is how the individual responds to the stimulus. A response is a reflex action – this means they are involuntary and happen automatically e.g. sneezing, startle, jerking if hit on the knee in the right place.
According to classical conditioning this response can be conditioned in response to a stimulus that would not normally produce that response. E.g. you feel sick at the sight of chocolate, having previously eaten too much and being sick.
The classical conditioning process was found by Pavlov and his work on dogs.
The process:
An unconditioned stimulus (UCS) produces and unconditioned response (UCR)
Food Dog salivates
The UCS is then paired with a neutral stimulus (NS) which still gives the UCR
Food + Bell Dog Salivates
After a number of pairings, the NS becomes conditioned (CS), this means it produces the response without the UCS, it is a conditioned response (CR)
Bell Dog salivates
There are other aspects that can occur in classical conditioning:
Extinction: This is when the association between the CS and CR is broken and the behaviour no longer occurs. E.g. the dog no longer salivating when the bell is rung
Spontaneous recovery: Occurring after extinction, this is when the CS suddenly produces the CR again. It is when the learned behaviour that appeared to have been extinguished makes a spontaneous return. E.g. the dog no longer salivating when a bell is rung, suddenly salivating a few weeks later
Discrimination: This is when the CR occurs to a specific CS, e.g. the dog only salivates to a hand bell and not the door bell
Generalisation: This is when the CR occurs to anything similar to the CS, e.g. the dog salivates to any bell
Exam hint: make sure you can identify the UCS, UCR, NS/CS, CR in a range of situations. You may be given a scenario in the exam and asked to
explain how it developed using this theory.
Strengths
+ There is anecdotal evidence for classical conditioning in everyday life e.g. feeling sick with cleaning products
+ Evidence comes from lab studies e.g. Pavlov. These are highly controlled and can establish cause and effect relationships.
+ Can explain how people develop phobias and has lead to the development of treatments using the principles of classical conditioning (see aversion therapy and systematic desensitisation)
Weaknesses
- Cannot explain how novel behaviours are acquired, only explains when an association is made
- A lot of research uses animals – does
not take into account that humans reason and understand and may be less
influenced
This is a stimulus – response theory. A stimulus is what is done to a person and the response is how the individual responds to the stimulus. A response is a reflex action – this means they are involuntary and happen automatically e.g. sneezing, startle, jerking if hit on the knee in the right place.
According to classical conditioning this response can be conditioned in response to a stimulus that would not normally produce that response. E.g. you feel sick at the sight of chocolate, having previously eaten too much and being sick.
The classical conditioning process was found by Pavlov and his work on dogs.
The process:
An unconditioned stimulus (UCS) produces and unconditioned response (UCR)
Food Dog salivates
The UCS is then paired with a neutral stimulus (NS) which still gives the UCR
Food + Bell Dog Salivates
After a number of pairings, the NS becomes conditioned (CS), this means it produces the response without the UCS, it is a conditioned response (CR)
Bell Dog salivates
There are other aspects that can occur in classical conditioning:
Extinction: This is when the association between the CS and CR is broken and the behaviour no longer occurs. E.g. the dog no longer salivating when the bell is rung
Spontaneous recovery: Occurring after extinction, this is when the CS suddenly produces the CR again. It is when the learned behaviour that appeared to have been extinguished makes a spontaneous return. E.g. the dog no longer salivating when a bell is rung, suddenly salivating a few weeks later
Discrimination: This is when the CR occurs to a specific CS, e.g. the dog only salivates to a hand bell and not the door bell
Generalisation: This is when the CR occurs to anything similar to the CS, e.g. the dog salivates to any bell
Exam hint: make sure you can identify the UCS, UCR, NS/CS, CR in a range of situations. You may be given a scenario in the exam and asked to
explain how it developed using this theory.
Strengths
+ There is anecdotal evidence for classical conditioning in everyday life e.g. feeling sick with cleaning products
+ Evidence comes from lab studies e.g. Pavlov. These are highly controlled and can establish cause and effect relationships.
+ Can explain how people develop phobias and has lead to the development of treatments using the principles of classical conditioning (see aversion therapy and systematic desensitisation)
Weaknesses
- Cannot explain how novel behaviours are acquired, only explains when an association is made
- A lot of research uses animals – does
not take into account that humans reason and understand and may be less
influenced
