Lecture Notes: Classical Conditioning and Its Applications

Introduction

• Classical conditioning can be used to manipulate emotions.
• Politicians and companies use it to condition positive emotions towards their products, policies, or symbols.

Classical Conditioning and Symbols

• American Flag as an Example
  • Flag: Conditioned stimulus.
  • Music (e.g., National Anthem): Unconditioned stimulus.
  • Reaction: Pride or reverence through repeated pairings.

Higher Order Conditioning

• Politicians use it to transfer positive emotions of the flag to themselves.
  • Example: Politicians wearing a flag pin.
  • Aim: Transfer of emotions from the flag to the politician.

Advertising Techniques

• Car Advertisements

  • Pair products with attractive stimuli (e.g., models).
  • Aim: Transfer emotions like passion from model to product.

• Product Pairing with Unrelated Stimuli

  • Example: Carl's Jr salad with attractive figures.
  • Aim: Transfer attraction to the product.

Classical Conditioning for Negative Emotions

• Fear and Phobias
  • Some emotions like fear can be more easily conditioned.
  • Example: Watson and Rayner’s Little Albert experiment.
    • Rat paired with loud noise resulted in fear of rats.
    • Stimulus generalization to other furry objects.

Misuse in Therapy

• Gay Reparative Therapy
  • Attempted use of classical conditioning to change sexual orientation.
  • Found to be ineffective and harmful.
  • Many states have outlawed the practice due to damage caused.

Classical Conditioning in Real Life

• Hospitals as an Example
  • Conditioned response to hospital environments due to negative associations.

Prejudice through Classical Conditioning

• Prejudice can develop from unfamiliar situations.
  • Example: People from different socio-economic backgrounds visiting unfamiliar neighborhoods.
  • Stimulus Generalization
    • Prejudices can generalize to similar appearing individuals.
  • Can occur in both affluent and less affluent settings.

Conclusion

• Classical conditioning affects emotions and behaviors in various societal aspects.
• Next topic: Operant Conditioning.