Name: Mark Jerick E.

Ebit
Program: MAT-Chemistry
Learning Theory: Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning Theory
Subject: Psychology of Learning for Psychology

Learning is the process by which new knowledge, behaviors, attitudes, and ideas
are acquired. Learning can occur through both unconscious and conscious pathways.
Classical conditioning is one of those unconscious learning methods and is the most
straightforward way in which humans can learn. Classical conditioning is the process in
which an automatic, conditioned response is paired with specific stimuli. Although Edwin
Twitmyer published findings pertaining to classical conditioning one year earlier, the
best-known and most thorough work on classical conditioning is accredited to Ivan
Pavlov, a Russian physiologist born in the mid-1800s. Pavlov had such a great impact
on the study of classical conditioning that it is often referred to as Pavlovian
conditioning.

In the past, some psychology experts believed that classical conditioning (CC)
could explain nearly all aspects of human psychology — including our ability to learn
how to communicate, cooperate with others and control our emotions. While this theory
remains controversial, we do know that classical conditioning is behind many learned
behaviors, both good and bad. In fact, it’s considered the most straightforward way in
which humans can learn.

Learning — the process by which new knowledge, behaviors, attitudes and ideas
are acquired — can occur through both unconscious and conscious pathways, and in
CC it happens below the level of conscious awareness. The broader
term conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments
for behaviors. This term is used in the field of behaviorism (or behavioral psychology) to
help explain why people act the way they do.

The field of behaviorism in psychology assumes that all behavior is determined

by one’s environment. According to Simply Psychology, the definition of classical
conditioning is “learning through association.” It involves associations being made
between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus.

CC deals with responses that are “natural” and involuntary. It works by pairing
two stimuli together to produce a new learned response. CC helps determine
behaviors in both people and animals. This type of learning goes by several other
names too, including Pavlovian conditioning — since Ivan Pavlov, a Russian
physiologist in early 20th century, had such a great impact on the study of CC. It’s also
sometimes referred to as respondent conditioning or type I/type S conditioning.

Classical conditioning was stumbled upon by accident. Pavlov was conducting

research on the digestion of dogs when he noticed that the dogs’ physical reactions to
food subtly changed over time. At first, the dogs would only salivate when the food was
placed in front of them. However, later they salivated slightly before their food arrived.
Pavlov realized that they were salivating at the noises that were consistently present
before the food arrived; for example, the sound of a food cart is approaching.

To test his theory, Pavlov set up an experiment in which he rang a bell shortly
before presenting food to the dogs. At first, the dogs elicited no response to the bells.
However, eventually, the dogs began to salivate at the sound of the bell alone.

Pavlov had identified a fundamental associative learning process called classical

conditioning. Classical conditioning refers to learning that occurs when a neutral
stimulus (e.g., a tone) becomes associated with a stimulus (e.g., food) that naturally
produces a behavior. After the association is learned, the previously neutral stimulus is
sufficient to produce the behavior.

Psychologists use specific terms to identify the stimuli and the responses in
classical conditioning. The unconditioned stimulus (US) is something (such as food) that
triggers a naturally occurring response, and the unconditioned response (UR) is the
naturally occurring response (such as salivation) that follows the unconditioned
stimulus. The conditioned stimulus (CS) is a neutral stimulus that, after being repeatedly
presented prior to the unconditioned stimulus, evokes a similar response as the
unconditioned stimulus. In Pavlov’s experiment, the sound of the tone served as the
conditioned stimulus that, after learning, produced the conditioned response (CR),
which is the acquired response to the formerly neutral stimulus. Note that the UR and
the CR are the same behavior — in this case salivation — but they are given different
names because they are produced by different stimuli (the US and the CS,
respectively).

Conditioning is evolutionarily beneficial because it allows organisms to develop

expectations that help them prepare for both good and bad events. Imagine, for
instance, that an animal first smells a new food, eats it, and then gets sick. If the animal
can learn to associate the smell (CS) with the food (US), it will quickly learn that the
food creates the negative outcome and will not eat it the next time.

After he had demonstrated that learning could occur through association, Pavlov
moved on to study the variables that influenced the strength and the persistence of
conditioning. In some studies, after the conditioning had taken place, Pavlov presented
the sound repeatedly but without presenting the food afterward. As you can see, after
the initial acquisition (learning) phase in which the conditioning occurred, when the CS
was then presented alone, the behaviour rapidly decreased — the dogs salivated less
and less to the sound, and eventually the sound did not elicit salivation at
all. Extinction refers to the reduction in responding that occurs when the conditioned
stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus.

To understand classical conditioning, it is essential to be familiar with the

following terms. A neutral stimulus is a stimulus that at first elicits no response. Pavlov
introduced the ringing of the bell as a neutral stimulus. An unconditioned stimulus is a
stimulus that leads to an automatic response. In Pavlov’s experiment, the food was the
unconditioned stimulus. An unconditioned response is an automatic response to a
stimulus. The dogs salivating for food is the unconditioned response in Pavlov’s
experiment. A conditioned stimulus is a stimulus that can eventually trigger a
conditioned response. In the described experiment, the conditioned stimulus was the
ringing of the bell, and the conditioned response was salivation.
 It is important to note that the neutral stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus.
Furthermore, it is important to realize that the unconditioned response and the
conditioned response are the same except for which stimulus they are elicited by. In this
case, salivation was the response, but the unconditioned response was triggered by
food, whereas the conditioned response was triggered by the bell which indicated the
coming of food.

Teachers can apply classical conditioning in the class by creating a positive

classroom environment to help students overcome anxiety or fear. Pairing an anxiety-
provoking situation, such as performing in front of a group, with pleasant surroundings
helps the student learn new associations. Instead of feeling anxious and tense in these
situations, the child will learn to stay relaxed and calm.
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