Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)
What is it?
Learning to associate a stimulus which brings about a response with a new stimulus to bring the same response
Key terms
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
Unconditioned response (UCR)
Neutral stimulus (NS)
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
A natural reflex response to an unconditioned stimulus
Anything that naturally has the power to produce a response in a human or animal
Something in the environment which does not initially cause a response
The NS becomes the CS when it quires the ability to produce a specific response in the human or animal
Conditioned response (CR)
A learnt response to something that doesn't naturally have the power to produce a response in a human or animal
Other features of classical conditioning
Extinction - when the association is no longer presented, and the response no longer occurs when the stimulus appears
Spontaneous recovery - after extinction, a previously conditioned association reoccurs without more conditioning, the response to the stimulus reoccurs spontaneously
Stimulus generalisation - when the NS, which becomes the CS, is not used exactly but still elicits the response (e.g salivation to bell but not original bell)
Evaluation
Strengths
Weaknesses
- Scientific - based on empirical evidence carried out by controlled experiments (Pavlov showed how classical conditioning can make a dog salivate at the sound of a bell)
- A reductionist explanation, complex behaviour is broken down into smaller stimulus - response units of behaviour
- Deterministic - it doesn't allow for any degree of free will in the individual, a person has no control over the reactions they have learned from classical conditioning, such as a phobia
- Limiting to describe behaviour solely in terms of either nature or nurture, more likely the behaviour is due to an interaction between nature and nurture