Classical conditioning
Besides Sigmund Freud, perhaps the most famous name in all of psychology is Ivan Pavlov. The one problem is that he was a biologist, not a psychologist!
Pavlov's study with dogs gave us the theory of classical conditioning. This theory of learning argues that when a natural response to a stimulus is paired with a "neutral stimulus," we connect those two stimuli in our mind so that exposure to the neutral stimulus will lead to a behavior.
Watch the video below for an explanation of Pavlov's experiment and theory.
Pavlov's dogs
After watching the video, answer the following questions.
- Summarize Pavlov's original study.
- According to Pavlov, when does learning occur the most rapidly?
- Summarize what happens in the brain during classical conditioning.
Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which an initially neutral stimulus (NS) is paired with a stimulus that elicits a reflex response - an unconditioned stimulus (UCS). When this happens consistently over time, the NS becomes a conditioned stimulus. When the previously neutral stimulus is presented, there is a conditioned response (CR), as if the UCS were presented.
If the pairing of the NS and the UCS ceases or becomes inconsistent, then the CR will stop—this is called extinction. In the case of Pavlov's dogs, if the metronome is played but consistently no food is presented, the dogs will no longer salivate.
- Unconditioned stimulus: A stimulus that prompts a natural, unlearned response.
- Neutral stimulus: A stimulus in the environment that does not lead to any natural response.
- Conditioned stimulus: A stimulus that used to be neutral. It became associated with a response because it was connected to an unconditioned stimulus.
- Conditioned response: A response learned by pairing a neutral and an unconditioned stimulus.
A classic study: Thompson's rabbit
One of the early studies on classical conditioning was Thompson (1983), in which he studied the cerebellum's role in rabbits' learning a classically conditioned blink response.
In the following video, Thomspon explains his research.
There are definitely some ethical concerns about this study. Thompson's research was groundbreaking, discovering where the classically conditioned memory was stored in the brain. Do you think the study was justified despite the ethical concerns? Why or why not?
Teacher only boxStudents will have different opinions on whether the study is justified despite the ethical concerns. The research has continued to develop, and there have been links to both anxiety and PTSD. Potential treatments for these disorders could be linked to the research findings.
Taste Aversion Therapy
A common application of classical conditioning is aversion therapy. Garcia (1955) gave rats a sweet-tasting saccharin solution during radiation exposure. When the rats were tested later, they avoided the saccharin solution, unlike a control group that had not been irradiated after consuming saccharin. The aversion to saccharin persisted for over a month, although it was acquired after a single pairing of saccharin with radiation.
Today, aversion therapy is used to help people stop certain habits. It is most commonly used to help people with addictive behaviors such as alcohol use, smoking, or biting their nails. For example, to treat alcohol use, patients are given an emetic drug, which leads to vomiting. After taking the drug, they either sniff or drink alcohol. They will then associate the smell of alcohol with nausea, leading them to avoid alcohol consumption.
Classical conditioning is one way we learn and is relevant to Cognition and learning. In addition, the use of extinction and aversion strategies can be seen in Health and wellness, both in mental illness - e.g., fear extinction strategies for PTSD - and health strategies - e.g., aversion therapy to stop smoking. In human relationships, classically conditioned responses can be used for crowd management.
With knowledge comes responsibility. The development of aversion therapy has been successful in the treatment of several addictive disorders. However, it has also been used to try to change one's sexuality.
According to the British Psychological Society (BPS), conversion therapy tries to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity. As societal norms have changed, the APA and the BPS have both spoken out against the use of conversion therapy.
Aversion therapy to change one's sexual orientation was first used in Czechoslovakia in 1951. It was first used in the UK in 1961, even though by then, Czechoslovakia had determined that it was not an effective "treatment" for sexuality. Aversion therapy for sexuality included using nausea-inducing drugs and shock treatment while presenting men with same-sex erotic images. Other methods of aversion therapy in addition to electric shock included ice baths, freezing, burning via metal coils, and hard labor. The intent was for the subject to associate homosexual feelings with pain and thus result in those feelings being reduced.
One of the questions that could be asked on Paper 1a is the following:
Explain classical conditioning with the use of one example.
What is the examiner looking for?
The examiner will be looking for:
- A description of classical conditioning using appropriate terminology.
- An example that is explained with regard to the neutral stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, and conditioned stimulus.
Checking for understanding
In Pavlov's experiment, what was the neutral stimulus (NS)?
What is the term for the process when the conditioned response (CR) stops due to the conditioned stimulus (CS) being presented without the unconditioned stimulus (UCS)?
In classical conditioning, what is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS)?
According to Thompson's research, what part of the brain appears to be linked to classically conditioned responses?
In Garcia's study on taste aversion, what was the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that caused the rats to develop an aversion to the sweet-tasting saccharin solution?
What happens in the brain during classical conditioning?
What is the primary goal of aversion therapy?