Psychology - Classical Conditioning Flashcards

Key Concepts in Classical Conditioning

• Stimulus: An entity or event that triggers a specific reaction in an organ or tissue.
• Learning: A relatively permanent change in behavior resulting from experiences and the pairing of stimuli over time, continuing throughout a lifespan.
• Gradual Desensitisation: Reduced emotional response to a negative stimulus due to repeated exposure.
• Behaviourism: Emphasizes observable and measurable learning as the definitive evidence of behavior change.
• Maturation: Developmental process leading to maturity, characterized by predictable responses unless disrupted by environmental factors.

Reflexes and Patterns

• Reflex: An involuntary behavior that occurs automatically and consistently without prior experience.
• Fixed Action Pattern: A complex set of behaviors performed identically by all members of a species in response to specific stimuli, differing from simple reflexes.

Principles of Association

• Law of Contiguity: Once two events have occurred close together in time, they are likely to be associated again, leading to one event eliciting the other.
• Conditioning: The learning process of forming associations between environmental stimuli and behavioral responses.

Classical Conditioning Elements

• Classical Conditioning: Behavioral learning where an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) paired with a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) that elicits a conditioned response (CR) even in the absence of the UCS.
• Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): A stimulus that automatically elicits a natural response without prior learning.
• Unconditioned Response (UCR): The automatic response triggered by the UCS, typically involuntary.
• Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Initially neutral, this stimulus triggers a similar response to the UCR after repeated pairings with the UCS.
• Conditioned Response (CR): The learned response to the CS, similar to the UCR but elicited by the CS alone.

Conditioning Processes

• Acquisition: The process of learning the association between the CS and UCS, characterized by their close temporal presentation.
• Extinction: The gradual decrease of the CR when the UCS is no longer presented with the CS, leading to the CR's cessation.

Recovery and Generalization

• Spontaneous Recovery: The reappearance of the CR following a rest period after it has been extinguished.
• Stimulus Generalisation: The likelihood of a similar stimulus evoking a response akin to the CR, with greater similarity leading to increased probability.
• Stimulus Discrimination: The ability to differentiate between the CS and similar stimuli, responding only to the CS.

Biological Factors

• Bio-preparedness: The intrinsic tendency for people and animals to naturally form associations between specific stimuli and responses.