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Classical Conditioning - Coggle Diagram
Classical Conditioning
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Pavlov (1927)
Procedure
- Experimental Design - This is a repeated measures design since it studies the same dogs before and after their conditioning.
- Independent Variable - one condition of the IV is the dogs' natural reflex behaviour: salivating when food is in their mouths. The other condition of the IV is the dogs' behaviour after they have been conditioned to associate food with a different stimulus.
- Dependent Variable - Pavlov's careful set-up enabled him to count how many drops of saliva the dogs produced.
. Pavlov placed each dog in a sealed room that did not allow the dog to see, smell or hear anything outside, there was no direct contact between the dogs and the experimenter. This was to prevent other stimuli (extraneous variables) from making the dog salivate (e.g. assistant psychologists presenting the food).
. The dog was strapped into a harness to stop it from moving about and its mouth was linked to a tube that drained saliva away into a measuring bottle.
- Pavlov knew that food (UCS) would lead to salvation in the mouth of an animal (UCR). Pavlov then used a neutral stimulus e.g. a metronome (NS).
. Over several learning trials, the dog was presented with a ticking metronome immediately before the food appeared. If the metronome was ticking in close association with their meal, the dogs learned to associate the sound of the metronome with the food. After a while, just at the sound of the metronome with food. After a while, just at the sound of the metronome (CS) (no food), they responded by drooling (CR).
- To condition the dog, Pavlov paired the sound of the metronome with the presentation of food. He usually did this metronome with the presentation of food. He usually did this 20 times, but it depended on how attentive the dog was.
Results
Pavlov found that the conditioned dog started to salivate 9 seconds after hearing the sound and, by 45 seconds, had produced 11 drops of saliva.
Aim
To investigate whether a reflex behavior can be produced in new situations through learning. In particular, to see if associating a reflex with a neutral stimulus (a sound) causes learning to take place, producing a conditioned response in new situations.
Conclusion
Pavlov discovered classical conditioning. The neutral stimulus after being repeatedly paired with an unconscious stimulus (food), turned into a conditioned stimulus, producing the conditioned response (salivation) all by itself.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
Used standardised procedures, and repeated it many times over 25 years. This gives the test-retest reliability. Different researchers observed the procedure giving it inter-rater reliability. Controlled setting, findings are objective giving Pavlov's experiment scientific credibility.
Weaknesses
Generalising dogs to humans, is something to do carefully as a dogs brain isn't the same as a human's as we aren't always motivated by food.
The experiment has low ecological validity as it was done in an unusual setting.
The animals with Pavlov's experiment were treated inhumanly. But there were no ethical guidelines in the early 20th century.
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