Premium Essay

Classical Conditioning Experiment

Submitted By
Words 741
Pages 3
Fear admits a strong presence in children around certain animals. Some of these fears can turn into phobias such as Bovinophobia , Cynophobia , and Ophidiophobia . All of these animals seeming harmless but to their ‘victim’ they are horribly dangerous. A well-known person with ophidiophobia is everyone’s favorite archeologist/professor, Indiana Jones. Most phobias are created at childhood, teenage years or early adulthood (before the age of 35). How phobias are created can be seen through classical conditioning responses. Phobias also represent a process of overgeneralization. An easy way to understand phobias is evaluating the experiment on “Little Albert”, an experiment conducted by Watson and Rayner to show evidence of classical conditioning in humans. In the process, they showed ‘Albert’ (a 9-month-old baby) who did not show any fear to rats. They then put a white rat on the table in front of ‘Albert’ and he did not react. On the second attempt, they placed the rat on the table and also made loud noises. Alberts response was crying. After repeating this process many times Albert was conditioned to cry when the white rat was exposed without a loud noise. They then concluded that this experiment was a prototypical example of classical conditioning. …show more content…
We will start with teaching her a deep muscle relaxation techniques and breathing exercises. During this step, we will be practicing reciprocal inhibition where one's response is incompatible with another. Next, we will have kate create a fear hierarchy starting with the stimuli that create the least amount of fear for her. We will then build up to more events that produce more fear. Starting with thinking about a snake and working her way up to holding a snake with bare hands. We will meet every weekday and each week progressing onto a higher frequency of fear-inducing activities. Kate will be determined no longer afraid of snakes when Kate has reached a comfortable state with

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Little Albert Experiment: Classical Conditioning

...Little Albert Experiment- Classical Conditioning Adaora Nwokedi PSY1001 S02 - General Psychology Raymond Brogan South University Online 06/06/2017   A stimulus is anything that stimulates your senses. It is anything you can hear, feel, touch, taste or smell. Stimuli produces responses. When something is said to be conditioned, it means it had to be learned and when it is unconditioned, it means it happens naturally. With that said, given the study, we can explain unconditioned stimulus to be understood as the stimuli that produces a response based on one’s normal physiological response, these types of responses are not taught, and are called Unconditioned responses. Initially, the baby was calm and showed no fear (unconditioned stimulus) to the unconditioned stimulus placed in front of him (rat, dog, etc.)...

Words: 463 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

The Use of Classical Conditioning in Advertising

...The Use of Classical Conditioning in Advertising IT Carlow Consumer Insights Y3 12/10/2012 April Brophy Introduction Classical conditioning in advertising has been used by firms who sell products to get consumers to purchase from them instead of their competition. (CALVIN BIERLEY, 1985) This essay will briefly explain what classical conditioning is. It will examine the problems with experiments on classical conditioning in advertising and briefly look at two experiments which try to overcome these problems in testing classical conditioning in advertising. The first experiment will look at the effects of background features in advertising by Gerald J.Gorn. The second experiment will investigate whether consumer attitudes towards a product can be conditioned and it will examine weather classically conditioned attitudes can be stronger with larger numbers of trials. The essay will then look at what advertisers need to remember when using classical conditioning and then give examples of companies that use classical conditioning in their advertising campaigns. Classical Conditioning was discovered by Ivan Pavlov by accident while he was researching the digestive system of dogs where he presented food to the dog. Pavlov noticed that the dog would start to salivate when he just walked into the room even without food in his hand. Pavlov’s main belief was that learning occurred through association. The dog associated Pavlov with the food and would then salivate. It occurs...

Words: 2556 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Behaviorism and Its Effect on the Understanding of Learning

...history of behaviorism, starting with experiments conducted by Franklin Henry Giddings and Ivan Pavlov, a sociologist and a physiologist whom established the groundwork for behaviorism, particularly in America. In addition, this paper also explains the main components of behaviorism, which are classical conditioning and operant conditioning, connectionism, and the contiguity theory. It moves forward to explain four experiments that are popular through the study of behaviorism: the reason behind conditioned salivation in Ivan Pavlov’s dogs, conditioned responses in humans through Watson’s little Albert experiment, Thorndike’s research with cats and a puzzle box to demonstrate the law of effect through the use of reinforcements, and B.F. Skinner’s experiment with rats to prove how an organism learns through operant conditioning. Finally, this paper examines how, according to behaviorists, there are three principles of learning new and intricate behaviors, known as shaping, chaining, and fading. Behaviorism and Its Effect on the Understanding of Learning Behaviorism suggests that an organism learns from its environment. It is the result of the association between a stimulus and a response. An organism learns new behavior through classical or operant conditioning. It is a theory that does not base its ideals on emotions or prior knowledge. Some say behaviorism came about accidentally, specifically within the works of Ivan Pavlov and his experiment with dogs. Watson, known as the father...

Words: 3343 - Pages: 14

Free Essay

Examining Classical Conditioning in a Clockwork Orange

...Examining Classical Conditioning in A Clockwork Orange: Realizing its potential for good and bad Cory Latour St. Lawrence University Psychology blossomed as a relevant field of study in the 19th century, as emerging social constructs like individualism and romanticism encouraged scholars to evolve the study of human behavior (Carlson, Miller, Heth, Donahoe, & Martin, 2010). At the beginning of the 20th century, one question provoked notable research: how can learning be studied? Learning is defined as an enduring shift in behavior or knowledge due to experience, and Ivan Pavlov and Edward Thorndike both designed experiments that measured how these long-lasting changes occurred; the pair’s research introduced the idea of conditioning into the field of psychology (Carlson et al., 2010). Pavlov and Thorndike differed in experimental methods, but their research ultimately concluded that one achieves learning through conditioning, which is a construct that modifies behavior through the operant and classical procedures (Carlson et al., 2010). Thorndikes’s investigation exemplifies operant conditioning, while Pavlov’s study highlights classical conditioning. Operant conditioning is a type of learning where responses are the result of consequences (Carlson et al., 2010). One example of the experiment placed a cat in a box where a latch was the only means to get out; whenever the cat successfully pulled the latch (the response), Thorndike rewarded it with food (eliciting...

Words: 2026 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Classical and Operant Conditioning

...Classical and Operant Conditioning BEH/225 Ah’Nonda Bates March 28, 2014 Classical and Operant Conditioning Two behavior modification techniques important to behavioral psychology are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning and operant conditioning are both types of learning processes, but each with different focuses. Classical conditioning was developed by Ivan Pavlov. Ivan Pavlov contributed to the world of psychology through his study of behaviorism. His development of classical conditioning began through his experiments known as Pavlov’s Dogs. In these experiments, Pavlov studied classical conditioning, learning through association between environmental stimulus and natural occurring stimulus. Classical conditioning included four main principles: the unconditioned stimulus, the unconditioned response, the conditioned stimulus, and the conditioned response. An example of this type of learning process would be a person’s reaction to a cold medicine. The subject drinks the cold medicine and immediately becomes sick to their stomach and vomits due to having the flu. Over time, the subject becomes nauseated just at the sight of the cold medicine. The flu is the unconditioned stimulus, vomiting is the unconditioned response, the cold medicine is the controlled stimulus, and the nausea is the controlled response. Operant conditioning is a learning process that was developed by B.F. Skinner. B.F. Skinner also contributed through...

Words: 536 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Soft Sciences

...Addiction as it Relates to Classical and Operant Conditioning Social phobia is also known as social anxiety which is a persistent phobia from negative assessment of others. Most people suffering from this type of phobia or social anxiety would turn to drugs and alcohol to lessen the anxiety (Lak, Sedaghat, and Almadv, & 2012), and then the self-medicated or self with illegal drugs leads to addiction. The paper essay will focus phobias and addictions as related to classical and operant conditional. Phobia is an irrational fear of a specific object or situation. Phobias can be developed through classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is learning by stimulus from the environment. In layman’s term, a toddler learns that a pot on the stove is hot and should not be touch. The toddler then develop phobia that hot stove burn the skin and as a result stay away from it. Following Pavlov’s observations, John Watson a behaviorist and his associate Rosalie Rayner (1920) did studies on how classical conditioning relates to phobias. Watson and Rayner selected a white rat to be in their experiment and proceeded to condition a fear response in Little Albert and each time Albert would reach out to touch the rat, they struck the steel bar. After doing this a few times, Albert learned to fear the rat. This is all true in adults as well because I have a friend who goes in panic when they see the police or anything that is connected to the police. If he hears a police siren,...

Words: 1327 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Behaviorism and Learning

...a counter for mentalists who emphasized on experimenting and understanding the mind. Behaviorists argue that the mind cannot be entirely tested to provide the true picture of learning. Instead, actions and reactions that people exhibit can be essential learning points about behavior. Behaviorist argued that what occurs in mind is non-observable hence focus should be on what is observable. Such perception led to the rise of behaviorism. Body Behaviorism is a hypothesis of learning based on the belief that behavior is acquired through conditioning. The responses that people demonstrate towards a certain environment shape his behavior. Behaviorism arose in early 20th century as a rejection of the analysis of the conscious and the unconscious mind. Ivan Pavlov is the earliest psychologists associated with the theory of behaviorism. Ivan discovered that behaviors could be learned through conditions association. Ivan conducted an experiment involving the digestive system of dogs to prove his theory. However, it is American psychologist John Watson who is recognized as the advocate of behaviorism. Watson introduce the theory of behaviorism in 1913 in the publication “psychology as the behaviorist views it” who later went ahead to state that any person has the potential to receive training and expertise in any field, regardless of underlying factors such as genetic background, personal traits and thoughts. Other psychologists such as Skinner came later and supported the theory...

Words: 860 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Compare and Constrast Classical and Operant Conditioning

...Compare and contrast classical and operant conditioning, their theories, terminology, famous psychologists and applications of the theory for teaching. Classical and operant conditioning are two important concepts central to behavioral psychology. While both result in learning, the processes are quite different. In order to understand how each of these behavior modification techniques can be used, it is also essential to understand how classical conditioning and operant conditioning differ from one another. Both classical and operant learning are psychological processes that lead to learning. Here learning refers to the process by which changes in behavior, including actions, emotions, thoughts, and the responses of muscles and glands, results from experience or practice. Classical conditioning was first described by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist. Classical conditioning theory involves learning a new behavior via the process of association. In simple terms two stimuli are linked together to produce a new learned response in a person or animal. Pavlov famous experiment was with dogs. Ivan Pavlov noticed dogs began to salivate in response to a tone after the sound had been repeatedly paired with the presentation of food. Pavlov quickly realized that this was a learned response and set out to further investigate the conditioning process. Classical conditioning involves placing a neutral stimulus before a reflex (such as the sound of a bell) with an unconditioned stimulus...

Words: 730 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Conditioning

...Classical Conditioning Classical conditioning shapes many of society’s common, everyday tasks. Why are we conditioned to stop at stop signs and red lights? Why does our heart start beating faster when a certain type of music plays in a horror film? Why do we sometimes get excited when we smell or see our favorite food? Anyone who has taken psychology will tell you that this is because of the way humans act is known as classical conditioning, founded by Pavlov half a decade ago while experimenting on a hungry, dog. Whether we are aware of it or not, many actions that we do so many times a day are a direct result of classical conditioning. To better understand why we act the way we do in society, classical conditioning must be defined and described. Classical Conditioning Defined Classical conditioning is defined as: a process by which a previously neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to elicit a response through association with a stimulus that already elicits a similar or related response. Classical conditioning stems from the experiments conducted by Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov's experiments assumed a simplified conditioned response based upon just three primary components: How often the stimulus is presented, how recently it is presented, and response itself. The method whereby the conditioned response is strengthened is through both the frequency that the stimulus is presented and how recent it is presented. ...

Words: 975 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Nothing

...Behaviorism as a Theory of Personality: A Critical Look Payal Naik Northwestern University This paper explores the theory of behaviorism and evaluates its effectiveness as a theory of personality. It takes into consideration all aspects of the behaviorism theory, including Pavlov's classical conditioning and Skinner's operant conditioning. Additional research in this field by scientists such as Thorndike is also included. As a result of this critical look at behaviorism, its weaknesses as a comprehensive personality theory are revealed. At the same time, its merits when restricted to certain areas of psychology and treatment of disorders are discussed. For as long as human beings can remember, they have always been interested in what makes them who they are and what aspects of their being set each of them apart from others of their species. The answer according to behaviorists is nothing more than the world in which they grew up. Behaviorism is the theory that human nature can be fully understood by the laws inherent in the natural environment. As one of the oldest theories of personality, behaviorism dates back to Descartes, who introduced the idea of a stimulus and called the person a machine dependent on external events whose soul was the ghost in the machine. Behaviorism takes this idea to another level. Although most theories operate to some degree on the assumption that humans have some sort of free will and are moral thinking entities, behaviorism refuses to acknowledge...

Words: 3684 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Enis

...learning can be explained in terms of stimulus response links, reinforcement and punishment. Behaviourists use methods such as laboratory experiments to study their theories in greater depth. They use animals to experiment on rather than humans, as it is seen to be more ethical but still results in valuable information. The behaviourist approach uses 2 main applications for explaining and studying behaviour, which are called classical and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is a form of learning in which a stimulus adopts the ability to cause a specific behavioural response, which was originally evoked from another stimulus. An example of classical conditioning is Pavlov’s dog experiment (1902). Pavlov noticed that when a dog saw food (food being the unconditioned stimulus (UCS)), the dog then started to salivate (the salivation being the unconditioned response (UCR)). Pavlov then realised that if a dog associated food with any event/object, it would result in the same response (salivation). Whenever Pavlov gave the dog food, he would also ring a bell (neutral stimulus (ns)), so the dog would associate the bell with the food. After conditioning, the dog would then salivate (conditioned response (cr)) after only hearing the bell. The experiment is very important in proving the behaviourist approach and has evoked other experiments like it, like the case study of Little Albert. The 2nd main application in behaviourism is operant...

Words: 559 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Behaviorism

...on operant conditioning and negative reinforcement. He developed a device called the "cumulative recorder," it showed rates of responding using a line, this device, he establish that behavior did not depend on the previous stimulus as Watson and Pavlov believed. Instead, Skinner found that the behaviors were dependent upon what happens following the response.(Waston, J. B. 1913) The behaviorism movement believes that behavior can be, measured also it can be trained; Watson set the stage for behaviorism, which soon become to lead psychology. While behaviorism did lose the hold it had on the other theories after 1950, however many of the main concepts are widely used today. The main components of the theory There are two concepts of behavioral theory that are very important one is classical and the other is operant conditioning, each involve the process of learning, however the processes are each different. Classical conditioning involves making an association between an involuntary response and a stimulus, while operant conditioning is about making an association between a voluntary behavior and a consequence. Classical conditioning can be used to increase the amount of a behavior, but it can also be used to decrease behavior. Classical conditioning theory involves learning a new behavior via the process. In simple terms two stimuli are linked together to produce a new learned response in a person or animal. There are three stages to classical conditioning. In each stage...

Words: 766 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Classical Conditioning

...In order to fully comprehend classical and operant conditioning , first we need to understand what exactly behaviourism is and what it focuses on. This essay will outline behaviourism and look at the explanations for how we learn, these include classical and operant conditioning. Both learning methods have several practical applications used to treat people, these will also be discussed. Behaviourist’s believe that when you are born your mind is blank and behaviorism focuses on learning based on the concept that all actions are acquired through conditioning processes. John Watson who was considered “the father of behavioursim”, argued that conditioning occurred through interaction with the environment and our responses to the environmental stimuli shape our behaviours. Conditioning can be separated into two types, classical and operant. Classical Conditioning is defined as the conditioning of reflexes so that they occur in response to new situations. It was first discovered by Ivan Pavlov when he was working on dogs, studying their digestive systems. He noted that the dogs produced saliva when a bell(auditory stimulus) and food (unconditioned stimulus) were presented together. Eventually the bell alone(conditioned stimulus) would come to evoke the salivating response(conditioned response) . The link between the saliva and the bell is defined as conditioned stimulus and response because the dogs were conditioned to associate the bell with receiving the food. However if the...

Words: 706 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Okokokokok

...Classical conditioning is a learning procedure that happens through associations between a naturally occurring stimulus and an environmental stimulus. It was discovered by Ivan Pavlov who was a Russian physiologist. Classical conditioning is based on behaviorism which states that learning happens through interactions with the environment. Classical conditioning is used to decrease or increase a behavior. This theory occurs by placing a neutral signal before a naturally occurring reflex. Additionally, classical conditioning focuses on involuntary, automatic behaviors. The most effective way for classical conditioning to be successful is if the signal comes a half second before the reflex. The dictionary states that classical conditioning is “a process of behavior modification by which a subject comes to respond in a desired manner to a previously neutral stimulus that has been repeatedly presented along with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits the desired response” Ivan Pavlov conducted an experiment using classical conditioning with dogs. In this experiment he used the sound of a tone as the neutral signal and the dogs salivating when he presented with food as the naturally occurring reflex. The conclusion of his experiment was the dogs would salivate at the sound of the tone because they knew they would be getting food right after the sound of the tone. The key concepts associated with classical conditioning are the unconditioned stimulus, the unconditioned response, the...

Words: 746 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Cognitive Views on Learning

...“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.” Viktor Emil Frankl, M.D., Ph.D (Man's Search for Meaning; 1946 ) Everyone of us, Human or animal alike, have been living in this world since the primordial time. Coping with every change that had happened and developing new routine in everyday life. Routines that may soon be etch with in our system. That will eventually turn out to be a habit. A habit that will consume our senses until it will all become our Behavior. As to Psychologists, Behaviorism is more concerned with behavior than with thinking, feeling, or knowing. It focuses on the objective and observable components of behavior. Behaviorism focus on behaviors that can be observed only. Behaviorism deals with the consequences of behavior and those behaviors can be rewarded or punished. (Huitt, W., & Hummel, J. (2006). An overview of the behavioral perspective. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. ) HISTORY Behaviourism is derived from the belief that free will is an illusion. According to a pure behaviourist, ( John B. Watson (1878-1958)) human beings are shaped entirely by their external environment. Alter a person's environment, and you will alter his or her thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. Provide positive reinforcement whenever someone perform a desired behaviour, and soon they will learn to perform the behaviour...

Words: 3462 - Pages: 14