1. TOPIC
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
&
DISCRIMINATION

2. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
DEFINITION : Classical conditioning is defined as a
conditioned response to a neutral stimulus after having
been paired repeatedly with an unconditioned stimulus
.This response is involuntary .
Pavlov and Classical Conditioning
• Ivan Pavlov organized and directed research in
physiology at the Institute of Experimental
Medicine in St. Petersburg, Russia, from 1891
until his death 45 years later.
• The Institute of Experimental Medicine is where
he conducted his classic experiments on the
physiology of digestion, which won him a Nobel
Prize in 1904.

4. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006
Classical Conditioning
The Process of Classical Conditioning
• Reflex: an involuntary response to a particular stimulus,
such as the eye blink response to a puff of air or
salivation when food is placed in the mouth
Two types of reflexes:
• Conditioned reflexes (learned): a learned reflex rather
than a naturally occurring one.
• Acquired in life not transmitted through genes.
• It can be established or abolished .
Unconditioned reflexes (unlearned): inborn,
automatic, unlearned response to a particular
stimulus. naturally occurring response to the
unconditioned stimulus
 salivation when food is in the mouth

5. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006
Classical Conditioning
The Conditioned and Unconditioned Stimulus
• conditioned stimulus (CS): any stimulus ,
such as ringing bell, that with prior learning will
elicit, or bring forth, an conditioned response.
• Unconditioned stimulus (US): any stimulus,
such as food, that without prior learning will
automatically elicit, or bring forth, an
unconditioned response. stimulus that
unconditionally--automatically and naturally--
triggers a response

6. BEFORE CONDITIONING
• In order to have classical or
respondent conditioning,
there must exist a stimulus
that will automatically or
reflexively elicit a specific
response. This stimulus is
called the Unconditioned
Stimulus or UCS because
there is no learning
involved in connecting the
stimulus and response

7. DURING CONDITIONING
During conditioning, the
neutral stimulus will first be
presented followed by the
unconditioned stimulus.
Over time, the learner will
develop an association
between these two stimuli
(i.e., will learn to make a
connection between the two
stimuli)

8. AFTER CONDITIONING
After conditioning, the
previously neutral or
orienting stimulus will elicit
the response previously
only elicited by the
unconditioned stimulus.
The stimulus is now called
conditioned stimulus
because it will now elicit a
different Response as a
result of conditioning or
learning. The response is
now called a conditioned
response because it is
elicited by a stimulus as a
result of learning.

9. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
John Watson and Emotional Conditioning
• John Watson and his assistant, Rosalie
Rayner, conducted a study to prove that
fear could be classically conditioned.
• The subject of the study, known as Little
Albert, was a healthy and emotionally
stable 11-month-old infant.
• Little Albert showed no fear except of the
loud noise Watson made by striking a
hammer against a steel bar near Albert’s
head.

10. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006
Classical Conditioning
John Watson and Emotional Conditioning
• Rayner presented Little Albert with a white
rat; as Albert reached for the rat, Watson
struck the steel bar with a hammer.
• This procedure was repeated several times.
• This procedure caused Albert to begin to cry
at the sight of a rat.

12. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006
Classical Conditioning
John Watson and Emotional Conditioning
• Watson also had ideas for removing fears and laid
the groundwork for some behavior therapies used
today.
 Watson and a colleague, Mary Cover Jones, found
3-year-old Peter, who was afraid of rabbits, and
tried Watson's fear-removal techniques on him.
Peter was put in a high chair and given candy while
a rabbit was in a cage at a safe distance from him.
• The rabbit was moved closer with each session and
eventually placed in Peter’s lap.
• By the final session, Peter had grown fond of the
rabbit

13. PROPERTIES OF CONDITIONING
• The stimulus for a particular conditioned learning
is more or less specific .If a CR be established
with a particular sound then different sound will
be ineffective.
• If a CR be not be practiced for several months it
undergoes decay due to disuse or if CR be
repeated several times without UCS (meat) then
also the learning goes extinct.
• The stimulus that follow with a reward is called
positive reinforcement and the stimulus that
associated with punishment is called negative
reinforcement.

14. DISCRIMINATION
Discrimination is the learned ability to
distinguish between a conditioned
stimulus and other stimuli that do not
signal an unconditioned stimulus.
If two (or more) different stimuli are
simultaneously presented to the organism,
and only one of them is associated with
reinforcement regardless of position, the
organism will learn to select the reinforced
stimulus on future occasions.

15. DISCRIMINATION
EXAMPLE:
• Dogs were subjected to different tones but only at
one particular tone they were rewarded .In the
beginning dog could not discriminate between
different tones but after repeated discrimination
become refined and dogs could associate one
particular tone with reward and salivate .The figure
shows dog’s response with tone of 256c/s and
392c/s. In case of tone of 256c/s dog salivate
because food is given at this tone . while in case of
tone of 392c/s dog do not salivate.

17. DISCRIMINATION
EXAMPLE:
• In Wisconsin General Test Apparatus (WGTA),a
monkey is provided with various shaped wooden
blocks .whenever the monkey picked up triangle it
was given a mild electric shock .After a few trials
monkey completely stopped picking up triangle
.This discrimination can be accelerated because of
the punishment (negative reinforcement) by
picking up triangle .

19. Sadiia rehaman