Classical Conditioning

 

 

 

Pavlov’s Dog: An Example of Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is an important theory of learning within the behavioral perspective of learning that you explored in Module 1. The key to classical conditioning is that we learn through association, which is quite different from operant conditioning in which we learn through consequence.

When Ivan Pavlov was studying the process of salivation in dogs, he made an accidental, but really important discovery—classical conditioning. He discovered that after pairing the appearance of the researcher with the delivery of food a number of times, the dogs began to salivate as soon as the researcher walked into the room even when he or she was not carrying any food.

Here is a list of the steps of the classically conditioned learning process:

Stimulus / Response	Event	Outcome
Neutral stimulus (NS)	The researcher enters the room—prior to the dog learning that the researcher is associated with food.	There is no response.
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)	Food—the dog naturally responds to the food.	No learning needed.
Unconditioned response (UCR)	The dog salivates because of the food.	The dog did not need to be taught to salivate.
Conditioned stimulus (CS)	The researcher enters the room.	Now, after being paired with the food, the appearance of the researcher has become a learned stimulus.
Conditioned response (CR)	Salivation now occurs because of the researcher.	The dog has now learned to salivate in response to the mere presence of the researcher.

Here is another example of the steps of the classical conditioning process:

You have moved into a new apartment building. The first time you take a shower happens to correspond with the time when someone flushes the toilet. As a result of this flushing, the water in the shower becomes very hot. Now, because of this experience, each time you hear the toilet flush, you jump out of the shower before the temperature of the water changes.

• NS: Sound of the flushing of the toilet
• UCS: Hot water
• UCR: Jumping out of the shower because of the hot water
• CS: Sound of the flushing of the toilet
• CR: Jumping out of the shower because of the sound of the flushing toilet

Now, complete the following:

Part 1

Think of a classically conditioned response you have experienced and describe the process of learning this response (what was the process you went through in becoming classically conditioned in this response). Be sure to identify the following:

• Neutral stimulus (NS)
• Unconditional stimulus (UCS)
• Unconditional response (UCR)
• Conditioned stimulus (CS)
• Conditioned response (CR)

Part 2

Address the following questions:

• Describe a practical application that demonstrates this classically conditioned association from your own life. What function does this classically conditioned association serve?
• Explain what would happen if you no longer responded to this conditioned stimulus.
• Describe the manner in which generalization works to maintain classical conditioning.
• Identify the stimulus that has been generalized or could be generalized in your classically conditioned response.

Write a 2–3-page paper in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Be sure to also include a title page and a reference page. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M2_A2.doc.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, including a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two-sentence responses, simple statements of agreement, or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’s level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’s level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.