LECTURE 2: CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

January 19 February 2, 2016

Leaning: change in the potential for doing something, potential to engage in a particular behaviour

It is a relatively enduring change: if youve learned something, it means its relatively long term

Ways: observational, through verbal behaviour, repetition/practice, learning through experience with
environmental events related to the activity/behaviour

Are we born equipped with learned behaviours?: reflexes

ELICITED BEHAVIOUR

Elicited Behaviour: Behaviours that are automatically drawn out by a certain stimulus (you have a stimulus,
and it automatically makes the behaviour happen)

1 ) Re fl e x

Most basic form of elicited behaviour

Relatively simple, involuntary response to a stimulus
Stimulus-response sequence
Stimulus (S) elicits a Response (R)
o
SR
E.g. Suckle reflex (babies), puff of air in eye blink
Learning is an interaction between experience with the environment, and the behavioural substrate that the
individual already has
Relationship between stimulus and behaviour: S R
Reliable production of a response by a particular stimulus

2 ) Fix e d Ac t io n Pat t e rn

Fixed sequences of responses elicited by a specific stimulus (sign stimulus or releaser)

Often species specific (E.g. Dog doing a play bow)
o E.g. humans dont have a play bow
o Spiders building webs
o Geese flying in a V-shape
Adaptive responses that help animals cope with consistent aspects of their environment
Not always so adaptive when there are large scale changes in the environment
More complex than reflex
Tend to happen in a certain way, but theyre modifiable (e.g. can teach a border collie to herd in a certain way
to direct the sheep where you want them to go)

SIMPLE MECHANISMS OF LEARNING

1 ) H ab it uat io n:

Decrease in the strength of an elicited behaviour following repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus
E.g. Getting buzzed by your fitbit (at first very shocking, but over time it just feels like a soft vibration)

2 ) Se ns it izat io n:

Increase in the strength of an elicited behaviour following repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus
For example, a child who is verbally bullied on a regular basis might, through constant fear of attack, develop
a sensitization toward other children and become more withdrawn.

Habituation/Sensitization
Intensity of stimulus
o Low intensity: habituation (e.g. FitBit)
o High intensity: sensitization (e.g. artillery shell)
o Medium intensity: sensitization first, then habituation (e.g. shooting range)
o If you want habituation, better to start with low intensity, then increase gradually (than to start with
medium intensity and hope that sensitization goes away)
No stimulus for a period of time

Exposed to stimulus, get habituation, then not exposed to the stimulus for a long time go back to
original response before you habituated (e.g. prof and sound of airplanes taking off?)
Long-term vs. short-term habituation: depending on presentation and interval between stimuli
o Long-term habituation: persists over long durations of time (i.e., shows little or no spontaneous
recovery)

e.g. one stimulus presentation per day

o Short-term habituation: results in habituation quickly but see spontaneous recovery

rapid presentations of a stimulus with a short interval between presentations

the degree of spontaneous recovery depends on length of rest interval

Generalization: sensitized to a noise

o e.g. sensitive to artillery shells will be sensitive to loud sounds
Dishabituation: Novel stimulus is presented, then habituated response comes back
o E.g. First start dating butterflies, strong feelings, but more exposure (spend more time) habituate

Then you go on vacation (e.g. resort, hotel new stimulus) and suddenly your partner is more
attractive to you again
o

3 ) Op po ne nt - Pro ce ss The o ry o f Emo t io n

( So lo mo n)
An emotional event elicits two competing processes:
i.
An a-process that is directly elicited by the event
ii.
A b-process that is elicited by the a-process and
serves to counteract the a-process
Characteristics
i.
The a-process correlates closely with the presence of
the emotional event (quick response)
ii.
The b-process is slow to increase and slow to
decrease (doesnt respond quickly at the outside, but
also doesnt go away quickly)
iii.
With repeated presentations of the emotional event, the b-process increases in both strength
and duration (diagram 3)
Diagram 1
o After shock on: heart rate shoots up quickly, goes down a
little bit, then stays stable (still high, but not as high)
o Shock off: heart rate goes down, and dips below normal
a bit before going back to normal
o Shock could be many things: strong emotion elicited at
some kind of emotional event e.g. Lottery: you just
won $5 billion! But then you mis-read it and its actually
$50 (aww.. but thats still good)
Diagram 2
o Shock gets a-process started, and the a-process triggers
a b-process
o The a-process increases heart rate
o The b-process counteracts it, and tries to bring the heart rate back down
o Both together = net result of your actual heart rate
o Why is it important to have the a-process to respond
quickly, and b-process be slower to respond? need to
maintain that ability to respond to some kind of threat

E.g. heart rate will shoot up at the sight of a bus

coming your way need to respond quickly and
get out of the way

If b-process kicks in right away, you may relax

instantly after feeling the shock, and get hit by
the bus

CL ASSICAL CONDITIONING

Pavlov (1849-1936)
o
Russian physiologist
o
Research on digestive secretions
o Fed dogs with the sound of bells the dogs salivated before the food was brought out because they
learned to associate the bell with the idea that food is coming
o His research: the dogs were salivating when he didnt expect them

Initially asked: Why are they salivating when I come into the lab? So would they salivate to other
things like a bell? Bell was neutral (no response) on its own, but when combined with food for enough
time, it elicited a response

Classical Conditioning: Process in which one stimulus that does not elicit a response is associated with a
second stimulus that does; as a result, the first stimulus also comes to elicit a response
o The bell is associated to a reflex (and a reflex is a stimulus response sequence) e.g. food in mouth
elicits response of salivating
o So the bell also comes to elicit a response
Profs example: profs road bike and air pump
o Saved up and got a nice pump for the bike, but didnt secure it when pumping
o Got hit with the pump and the loud noise elicited fear response (reflex: scream and jump back)
o A stimulus in the environment (pump) elicited a fear response to putting the hose onto the bike pump
(hands shaking, couldnt do it the first time)

Youtube video: that was easy button then shoots his roommate with air soft gun
o Neutral stimulus: button
o Stimulus: air soft gun shooting roommate
o Reflex: flinch
o Eventually, the button (NS) became associated, and roommate flinched even though he wasnt shot
Predictive Stimuli
o Has to be a stimulus that comes before the reflex to be predictive
o More likely to become classically conditioned
o E.g. the that was easy button sound
o

BEFORE
US
Hit by air gun
DURING
NS:that was
easy
+ US: Hit by air
gun
AFTER
CS: that was
easy

UR
Flinching/pa
in

UR
Flinch

CR
Flinch

Ap p e t it ive vs . Ave rs ive Co nd it io ning

Appetitive: US is a pleasant event (e.g. food, water, anything that feels good)
Aversive: US in an unpleasant event (e.g. the air gun shooting you)
o Conditioned Emotional Responses (CERs): The emotional response elicited by a CS
o Most unconditioned reflexes have an emotional component that is either pleasurable or aversive.
When neutral stimuli precede reflexes that have an emotional component, the CSs that are created in
classical conditioning can also elicit emotions.
Even if its a strong, pleasant, appetitive US takes multiple times to learn
But one aversive conditioning instance can make us learn right away (adaptation for survival evolutionary
perspective)

Ex cit at o ry vs . Inhib it o ry Co nd it io ning

Excitatory: NS is associated with presentation of US

o Most of the research that we have uses this
o E.g. pair the NS Max dont drool with the presentation of the US (tickling his nose)
o E.g. pair the NS that was easy with the presentation of the US (getting shot by air soft gun)
o E.g. BEEP tone paired with shock the dog will jump in fear at the beep even when there isnt a
shock

Inhibitory: NS is associated with absence/removal of US

o E.g. beep tone and flickering light no shock. But Beep tone alone means shock. So when the dog
sees the flickering light, it wont jump because it learned that the flickering light paired with it means
no shock. Flickering light is the NS and US is the shock.

Te mp o ral Arr ang e me nt of St imuli

1) Delayed Conditioning

Onset of NS precedes onset of US, and 2

stimuli overlap
Often the best arrangement short
interstimulus interval
E.g. saying to dog: Max dont drool, Max dont
drool and starting to tickle his lips about
halfway through, and continuing to tickle for a
bit after (overlap)

3) Simultaneous Conditioning

Onset of NS and US are simultaneous

Poor conditioning (because its not predictive)

2) Trace Conditioning

3) Backward Conditioning

Onset and offset of NS precedes onset of US,

and the two stimuli do not overlap
Trace interval (time between offset of NS and
onset of US)
Almost as effective as delayed (with short
trace intervals)

Onset of NS follows onset of US

Considered the least effective
Can work if: Biologically relevant stimulus for
fear
E.g. Shock, then snake, shock, then snake the
shock will be learned as preceding the snake

Conditioning is about predictability cannot predict if it happens after, or during

Bio lo g ica l Pre p are d ne ss

flashing water vs. tasty water (Garcia & Koelling, 1966)

experiment on rats
easier to create a nauseus response to a taste (NS: banana taste) than a shock (with A/V) due to biological
preparedness (survival)
See Diagram in written notes

Bas ic Co nd it io ning Phe no me na

1)

2)

3)

Extinction
o
Repeated presentation of the CS in the absence of the US
o
Avoidance retards extinction
o undoing the connections
o E.g. Profs dog is afraid of the baby gate (use extinction):

NS originally: baby gate

CS: baby gate now conditioned elicits fear

To use extinction, present the baby gate (CS) with no loud noises (US) and with multiple trials,
the fear response will go away

If the CS is presented without the US, it starts to lose its predictability, so the associations
between them are becoming undone (get rid of those learned connections)

Avoidance will slow down extinction (phobias are maintained for a long time because they
avoid the stimulus, so never get opportunity of distinction Spontaneous Recovery
o
Reappearance of a conditioned response following a rest period after extinction
o Similar to habituation but the process is different
o Your body isnt getting used to a stimulus. The connection is being undone, but when youre not
exposed to it for a while, the connections come back.
o Important to continue exposure, because you will get extinction again faster than the first time
around. Dont AVOID it (or the fear can stay for life)
Disinhibition
o
Sudden recovery of a response during extinction when a NOVEL stimulus is introduced

e.g. while youre conditioning yourself to get rid of fear of spiders, but suddenly a wasp flies into the
room and youre scared now youre scared of both (the spider fear came back, and the wasp fear is
novel and introduced)

Ex t e ns io ns to Cl ass ic al Co nd it io ning
1)

Higher Order Conditioning

o
A stimulus that is associated with a CS can also become a CS

First/ Second/Third order conditioning

1st order conditioning when you pair a NS with an US

2nd order: NS with a CS that was created through 1st order conditioning. (E.g. Max learned that
Max dont drool means to lick his lips. Now you want to snap. So you snap, then say Max
dont drool, and thats it. Eventually, the snapping will make him like his lips.
3rd order: then pair stomping feet with snapping. Stomp feet, then snap. Max already learned
to lick his lips after the snapping, so he will learn to lick his lips after the feet stomping.

Can be robust, but the farther away you get, the less robust
o
Higher order are not as strong as first order

1st order is stronger than 2nd, 3rd, etc. order

Need a strong unconditioned stimulus to start with (the farther you move away, each CS is less
strong). Otherwise, you will dilute it too much.

E.g. slapping the desk and trying to make students jump. Students may jump the first time,
but they may get habituated over time. Itll be hard to do a 2 nd order conditioning on that
because itll disappear.

E.g. Max lick your lips may work for a period of time, but if you keep saying it without
pairing it with the lip-tickling, it may become extinct over time. Need to pair it once in a while
to maintain the response to Max lick your lips
2)
Sensory Preconditioning
o
When one stimulus is conditioned as a CS, another stimulus with which it was previously
conditioned can also become a CS
o
Demonstrates that stimuli can become associated in the absence of any identifiable
response
o E.g. In backyard, theres a wasps nest in the toolshed. So every time Im in my toolshed, the wasps
buzz around. They are both neutral stimuli that occurred at the same time. I was not scared of wasps
or toolshed. However, on a jog along the canal, I get stung by the wasp. The wasp went from an NS to
a CS. The US was the pain associated with the sting. Now the wasp predicts stinging/pain, so its a CS.
Later on, there are no more wasps in the toolshed. But when I go near the toolshed, my heart starts to
race and I get scared, even in the absence of any identifiable response. I still learned that wasps and
the toolshed were associated in the past.
o Not about predictability seems to work better when the two stimuli are better at the same time.
What type of conditioning is this?
o Example: Pavlov salivating when the bell rings 2nd order conditioning

With sensory preconditioning, there are two neutral stimuli

Need to have the bell and the smell of food paired together for a long time

Later: he was fed that food, and he smells it while eating it, he eats it, and now he salivates to
that smell

Now he will probably salivate to the smell as well

Remember the smell of the food predicts that you will eat

So, the smell of food is neutral stimulus, its NOT a reflex

The process of eating food is an unconditioned stimulus

The smell/sight of food become conditioned stimuli because they are paired with food in the
mouth

Pavlov has smelled and eaten food in the past (smelling steak has become a conditioned
stimulus)

Hear the bell, smell the food, hear the bell, smell the food NS (bell) paired with a CS that was
created through 1st order conditioning (smelling food makes him salivate)

L imit at io ns t o C C
1)

Overshadowing

The most salient (obvious) member of a compound stimulus is more readily conditioned as a CS and
thereby interferes with the conditioning of the less salient member

two neutral stimuli that differ in salience

What is salient will differ across a species

E.g. Want to use steak as unconditioned stimulus to create excitement in a dog, in response to yes

Say yes and then give steak and repeat

However, if I move my arm while saying yes, the dog might be conditioned to the arm
movement rather than yes

2)

3)

Blocking

The presence of an established CS interferes with conditioning of a new CS

a neutral stimulus and a CS

E.g. Dog training food creates happiness/excitement in dogs

Have a dog that might be afraid of a person, but want the dog to have happy feelings for that person

So pair the sight of that person with food

Food: unconditioned stimulus that elicits happy feelings

Person: neutral stimulus (does not elicit happy feelings)

Pair the person with the food: show the person first (NS), then present the food (US), and repeat

Over time, you would expect that the sight of the person would start to predict food and dog should
have same feelings for person as the food

However this often doesnt work one of the reasons could be blocking

Theres another stimulus that already elicits that response (food elicits happy feelings) theres
something else in the environment that predicts the food strongly already (CS), so the dog doesnt
even pay attention to the person (neutral stimulus)

Something else is getting conditioned instead of the sight of the person: could be the sight of the
trainer holding food, or the motion of moving food toward the dog

Need to get rid of the blocking conditioned stimuli

Make sure the sight of food in your hand doesnt predict food so you should have food in your hand a
lot of the time, but not give it to the dog, so it doesnt become a predictor (or a weaker conditioned
stimulus)
E.g. President of a company need to tell employees that they are not getting a bonus AND
theyre getting a paycut

How can I use blocking to make sure they dont associate the bad feelings with me?

Base response: bad news elicits bad feelings

Need a stimulus that already gives bad feelings to block me (the NS)

If theres someone in the company who people already dont like, that person can be a stronger, preexisting conditioned stimulus that will block me from becoming a CS associated with bad news

So have the person stand next to me while I give the news, so they associate the bad feelings with him
Latent Inhibition

A familiar stimulus is more difficult to condition as a CS than an unfamiliar (novel) stimulus

A netural stimulus thats present already in the environment, its more difficult to make that NS into a
conditioned stimulus, than if you were to take a completely new stimulus

Its always there so its not predictive of anything

E.g. if you try to condition a dog to the sound of ticking to produce a response

Theres ticking in the home all the time, e.g. grandfather clock or always hear a metronome at home
hard to condition that stimulus

Doesnt mean that you cant, but you might need more pairings

Ad d it io nal Phe no me n a
1)

2)

3)

Temporal Conditioning
o
CS is the passage of time
o E.g. If I were to give you some food that you really liked, and I gave it to you consistently every 10
mins
o If I did this enough, you would start to salivate near the end of that 10 min interval because you know
the food is about to come
Occasion Setting
o
Procedure in which a stimulus (the occasion setter) signals that a CS is likely to be followed by the US
with which it is associated
o Your conditioned stimulus only elicits the response in certain contexts
o E.g. sight of food elicits salivation (because it predicts food in the mouth)

In a certain context: you are likely to get food

But out of this context: you will not get food, so just seeing food wont
To keep Max the dog from drooling at the table
Never feed the dog in the dining room so Max will never salivate in the dining room (dining
room because inhibitory stimulus)
However the kitchen she was fed, so she salivates in the kitchen but not the dining room
External Inhibition
o
The presentation of a novel stimulus at the same time as the CS produces a decrease in the strength
of the CR
o E.g. Im afraid of wasps, so when I see a wasp I listen to music that calms me down
o E.g. Client afraid of wide open spaces so when she was in a wide open space, she would take out a
stuffed animal (people often try to use a distractor to decrease their reflexive responses of fear)

4)

5)

US Revaluation
o
Postconditioning presentation of the US at a different level of intensity, thereby altering the strength
of response to the previously conditioned CS
o Can be inflation or deflation
o After classical conditioning present US at different level of intensity
o That will change the level of intensity of the response (even though you didnt do anything to change
the CS directly)
o E.g. US inflation increase the response

Reflex: salivation give dog piece of kibble, and he salivates a little bit, and repeat

US = kibble in the mouth, UR = salivation

Add a bell: ring bell, then give kibble, ring bell, then give kibble repeat

If you ring bell without the kibble, dog will still salivate a little bit

Now change the intensity then give him a HUGE bowl of kibble (now dog salivates a lot
higher intensity)

If US inflation happens, the bell rings and then dog will salivate a LOT (even though the bell
was never paired with the big bowl of kibble)
o E.g. US deflation decrease in response
Reflex: deep fried ice cream in mouth (US), then salivate (UR) associated it to a restaurant,
so he got excited whenever he saw the restaurant (CR)

bought the ice cream from grocery store and ate it multiple times a day, then got sick of it
then passing by the restaurant, did not get excited, actually felt sick and wanted to leave
Pseudoconditioning
o
An elicited response that appears to be a CR is actually the result of sensitization rather than
conditioning
o E.g. Between trials of shocking a dog, present the dog a tone
o The tone is a neutral stimulus: it does not elicit the shock-produced response at first
o After shocking the dog a number of times, the dog might occasionally respond to the tone, even
though the tone + shock were never paired (the dog is sensitized to stimuli)
o Sensitization: generalizes quite readily (not about associating stimuli, its about reacting)

De t e rmin ant s of St ro ng Co nd it io ning

1.

Strong USs produce stronger CRs than weak USs

2.

More pairings of CS w/ US > CS can elicit CR

3.

CS always paired with a US, > CS can elicit CR than if

pairing only intermittent.
4. Multiple S precede US S most highly correlated w/ US
CS
5.

S that are focus of attention CS

6.

S must occur before US for conditioning to occur.

7.

Short time lags between CS and US facilitate CC

8.

Cognitive processes allow longer time lags btw CS & US

(covert conditioning)

e.g. dog and the baby gate aversive and

strong usually needs one or very few pairings
not as predictive, weakening association
extinction
e.g. pumping up bicycle tire lots of stimuli
e.g profs dog who was easily distracted
wasnt paying attention to the stimuli the prof
wanted
e.g. that was easy, BANG, get shot. So
minimize other stimuli between NS and US
When youre thinking about a stimulus, that
stimulus is still present (see example below)

E.g. A weird person walks into the room and then leaves. Then you think that was weird
An hour later, a bomb goes off in the building. What gets classically conditioned? Maybe the classroom, maybe this
class, but the weird person might get classically conditioned to the event even though its been over an hour (because
the person was still thinking about it an hour later)
9. Novel US and CS facilitate CC (Domjan & Burkhard, 1986)
Novel US is easier to classically condition
because its not previously conditioned to
anything else, no blocking or habituation
(minimizes limitations)
If the NS is in the environment all the time,
then you tend to get latent inhibition

Underlying Processes in CC

1 ) S- R vs . S- S Le ar ning
Two basic ways to conceptualize the type of learning that occurs in CC
1. S-R Learning (Watson & Hull): NS becomes directly associated with the UR
o Stimlus-response
o Not that the two stimuli are getting associated
o But the neutral situation is directly associated with the unconditioned response
o E.g. bitten by a dog, so you associate the dog with the pain from the dogs bite
o Dog is NS, bite is US, and pain is UR
o You associate the dog with the pain (direct association)
2. S-S Learning: NS becomes directly associated with the US
o You associate the dog with the bite, and not with the pain
There is evidence supporting both

2 ) St imu lus- Subs t it ut io n vs . Pr e p ar at o ry- Re s po ns e Theo ry

1.

2.

Stimulus Substitution (Pavlov): The CS acts as a substitute for the US

o e.g. pair a tone with food, which elicits salivation
o beep, food in the mouth, salivate and repeat. Over time, the beep elicits salivation.
o The beep is a substitute for the food in the mouth.
o However, sometimes the CR is not exactly like the UR (see Preparatory-Response theory)
Preparatory-Response: The purpose of the CR is to prepare the organism for the presentation of the US
o Purpose of salivation after tone is to prepare organism for the fact that youre going to have food soon.
So start salivating because food is coming.
o Another example: shock rat rat jumps. So you know the shock is US, and rat jumping is UR. Now add
the tone before each shock. After 10 pairings, when the tone is heard alone, the rat freezes (UR =
freeze) this is a preparatory response. The rat is preparing for the shock thats about to come.

3 ) Co mp e ns at o ry- Res po ns e Mo de l

The compensatory after-reactions to a US may come to be elicited by a CS

(subset of the preparatory response)
the B process can be elicited by a CS
shock, heart rate goes up
tone, shock, heart rate goes up (paired many times) then tone makes heart rate goes up
but then, tone makes heart rate go down, because the B part is being elicited
o (heart prepares for increase in heart rate by first lowering it)

4 ) Re s co rla-Wag ne r The o ry

A given US can support only so much conditioning and this amount of conditioning must be distributed
among the various CSs available
e.g. I have a little piece of food, and when I put it in the dogs mouth, it elicits 10 drops of salivation
I pair it with a bell, and the bell will never elicit more than 10 drops
US can only create conditioned stimuli as strong or less strong than itself (wont get stronger responses)
If you have a compound stimulus (more than one stimulus in environment that becomes connected) that
amount of conditioning (the 10 drops) has to be distributed
E.g. bell and light, food in the mouth, repeat bell and light gets 10 drops of salivation
o Just the bell: might get 5 drops, just the light: might get 5 drops
o But if the bell was louder/more salient to the dog might get 7 drops (then the light would get a max.
of 3 drops)

Practi cal Applications of CC

Counter-Conditioning: elicit a response that is the opposite of fear
o Systematic Desensitization: create a relaxation response

Think of the word relax (starts as a NS), then go through relaxation process while thinking
relax (becomes CS)

Then pair spider with the word relax

Difference is that you are pairing your fear stimulus with a stimulus that elicits a different
response

Put spider first, then relax. (or spider first, then chocolate cake). Remember order determines
predictability the spider should predict relaxation

Exposure: behavioural therapy that involves prolonged exposure to a feared stimulus (presenting feared
stimulus over and over again)

o
o
o
o

Flooding: presenting feared stimulus at highest level of intensity (e.g. the comic combining fear of
heights, snakes, dark, etc.)
Recall: exposure is an example of extinction (trying to undo the associations) presenting the CS
over and over again without pairing it with the US (dont give a dangerous, poisonous snake to
someone who has a snake phobia). There will still be the UR (the fear)
Watch out for avoidance need to expose the person. If they avoid it outside of the exposure therapy
sessions, then theyre undoing the extinction (not giving the chance to undo the associations)
Gradual exposure is starting with a drawing of a spider (level 1), then later a picture of one, a video,
eventually a real one far away, then a real one closer, etc.

OCD Video

Conditioned stimulus: the thought of having germs in her house (imagined, not necessarily there)

Elicits the conditioned response of extreme fear (and then she cleans obsessively)

Dont even need an unconditioned stimulus for this case

SUDs: Subjective units of distress

Compulsion of cleaning is to soothe her fear, this is an avoidance ritual/behaviour

Need to expose her to the germs (e.g. bringing the mail in), but not letting her do the cleaning ritual

Re-assurance as avoidance:
o Asking are you sure its okay? having to go through someone else to know that its not dangerous
o Still dont personally believe its not dangerous
o If something is not dangerous, there is no need for reassurance
o Continuing to seek reassurance still have that doubt

Method: Exposure with Response-Prevention

o Extinction procedure