Classical Conditioning: A learning process that occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired.
Extinction: The gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus.
Higher Order Conditioning: A process where a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus by being paired with an already established conditioned stimulus.
Stimulus Generalization: A phenomenon where a response is elicited by stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus.
Extinction
Occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus repeatedly.
Example: A dog initially salivates to footsteps (conditioned stimulus) because it predicts food (unconditioned stimulus). If footsteps occur without food, salivation (conditioned response) diminishes.
Spontaneous Recovery: After extinction, the conditioned response can reappear after a period of time without any additional training.
Higher Order Conditioning
A conditioned stimulus can be used to condition a second neutral stimulus.
Example with a Dog:
Dog bowl (conditioned stimulus) paired with food (unconditioned stimulus) causes salivation.
Light paired with the dog bowl can eventually cause salivation by itself.
Example with Humans:
Swastika paired with images of death (unconditioned stimulus) causes fear (conditioned response).
Someone wearing the swastika will eventually elicit fear even without the images.
Stimulus Generalization
A stimulus similar to the conditioned stimulus can elicit the conditioned response.
Example with Pavlov's Dog:
Dog salivates to the sound of a metronome (conditioned stimulus).
A similar sound may also cause salivation.
Example with Humans:
Seeing someone resembling a beloved grandma can elicit feelings of happiness.
Learned Responses
For classical conditioning to be effective, the conditioned stimulus must precede the unconditioned stimulus.
Experiments have shown that simultaneous presentation of stimuli or presenting the unconditioned stimulus first does not effectively result in conditioning.
Classical conditioning involves prediction, where the conditioned stimulus indicates the upcoming unconditioned stimulus.
Conclusion
Classical conditioning requires the conditioned stimulus to predict the unconditioned stimulus.
The effectiveness of conditioning is influenced by the timing of the stimuli.
Understanding these principles can explain various learned behaviors in both animals and humans.