Classical Conditioning
By: Carina Kim
What is Classical Conditioning?
Classical Conditioning refers to learning through association. This means that two stimuli together allows an organism to learn a new response. Classical conditioning is also known as Pavlovian conditioning as it was discovered by a Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavlov.
The most famous example of classical conditioning was Pavlov's experiment with his dogs.
By: Carina Kim
Pavlov & Experiments
In Pavlov's experiment, he taught his dog that if he salivated to the tone of the bell, then he will receive a treat. Eventually, the dog started to salivate to the sound of the bell even though a treat was not given. This is because the dog associated food with the sound of the bell.
Before conditioning, the dog did not salivate due to the sound of the bell. During conditioning, the dog hears the sound of the bell and sees the food or treat in front of him, therefore due to the presence of the treat, he starts to salivate. Then finally after conditioning, the dog will salivate whenever he hears the sound of the bell no matter if there is food present or not.
The first stimulus is the sound of the bell and the second stimulus is the food, and when associated together, a new learned response is created, and which in this case is salivating to the sound of the bell.
Classical condition has a significant impact on the everyday lives of organisms without us realizing it. Classical conditioning has an effect on human health, emotions, motivations, and treatment of psychological disorders. Many people that are addicted to drugs associate a specific type of environment or people with the drug(s) they crave. Therefore, counselors will often warn their patients to stay away from the associated environments and people so that it does not trigger their desire to turn to those drugs. Additionally, classical conditioning can cure phobias and even serve as therapy for bed wetting. O.H Mower had a child who had a history of wetting the bed sleep on a liquid sensitive pad that was connected to an alarm. If the sensors sense liquid (urine) then the alarm would go off and that would wake the child up. Bladder relaxation became associated with waking up in the middle of the night and the child stopped wetting the bed.