Psychology of Learning

Module 04: Classical Conditioning 1

Key Terms

Acquisition: The initial learning phase in classical conditioning during which the CS-US association is formed and the CR begins to appear.

Appetitive US: An unconditioned stimulus, such as food, that is sought out and elicits approach behaviors.

Autoshaping: Another term for sign tracking; the tendency for organisms to direct behavior toward stimuli that predict relevant events.

Aversive US: An unconditioned stimulus, such as electric shock, that is avoided and elicits avoidance or withdrawal behaviors.

Backward Conditioning: A timing arrangement in which the US precedes the CS, producing minimal or no conditioning.

Classical Conditioning: A learning process in which a neutral stimulus comes to elicit a response after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Compensatory Responses: A conditioned response that is opposite to the UR and seems to compensate for the UR’s effects; the CR opposes rather than mimics the UR, as seen in drug tolerance where contextual cues elicit responses opposite to drug effects.

Conditioned Emotional Response (CER): An emotional reaction elicited by a CS that has been paired with an aversive US, often measured by its ability to suppress ongoing behavior.

Conditioned Excitation: A type of conditioning in which the presence of the CS predicts that the US will appear shortly, causing production of a CR.

Conditioned Inhibition: A type of conditioning in which the presence of the CS signals that the US will not occur, inhibiting or preventing the expected response.

Conditioned Response (CR): The learned response elicited by the conditioned stimulus after conditioning has occurred.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A previously neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Suppression: The reduction in ongoing behavior caused by presentation of a CS that has been paired with an aversive US.

Contingency: The predictive relationship between the CS and US; the probability that the US will follow the CS.

CS+ (Excitatory CS): A conditioned stimulus that has been paired with the US and signals that the US will occur.

CS- (Inhibitory CS): A conditioned stimulus that signals the US will not occur; a safety signal.

Delay Conditioning: A timing arrangement in which the CS begins before the US and continues during US presentation, producing the strongest conditioning.

Discrimination: The learned ability to respond to one stimulus but not to similar stimuli; the converse of generalization.

Experimental Neurosis: Neurotic behavior created by bringing excitatory and inhibitory tendencies into conflict through impossible discrimination tasks.

Exposure Therapy: A clinical treatment for anxiety disorders based on extinction principles, involving repeated presentation of feared stimuli without the aversive outcome.

Extinction: The reduction in conditioned responding that occurs when the CS is presented repeatedly without the US.

First-Order CS: A conditioned stimulus that has been directly paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Fistula: A surgical opening created by Pavlov to collect and measure salivation directly from a dog’s salivary gland.

Forward Conditioning: A timing arrangement in which the CS precedes and predicts the US, producing effective conditioning.

Generalization: The tendency for stimuli similar to the CS to elicit the CR; the more similar the stimulus, the stronger the response.

Generalization Gradient: The pattern of responding across stimuli varying in similarity to the CS, showing maximum responding to the original CS and decreasing responding as stimuli become less similar.

Higher-Order Classical Conditioning: A procedure in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an already-conditioned CS, allowing the neutral stimulus to elicit a CR without ever being paired with the original US.

Negative Contingency: A predictive relationship in which the presence of the CS decreases the probability of US occurrence; produces conditioned inhibition.

Positive Contingency: A predictive relationship in which the presence of the CS increases the probability of US occurrence; produces conditioned excitation.

Psychic Secretions: Pavlov’s term for salivation that occurred in response to stimuli associated with food, rather than to food itself.

Resistance to Extinction: A measure of conditioning strength based on how many CS-only presentations are required before the CR disappears.

Retardation Tests: A procedure for measuring conditioned inhibition by assessing how slowly a CS- can be converted to a CS+.

Second-Order CS: A stimulus that elicits a CR after being paired with a first-order CS, without ever being paired with the original US.

Sensory Preconditioning: A procedure in which two neutral stimuli are paired before one is conditioned to a US, allowing the other stimulus to also elicit a CR.

Sign Tracking: The tendency to investigate and explore stimuli that predict relevant events; organisms direct attention and behavior toward CSs.

Simultaneous Conditioning: A timing arrangement in which the CS and US occur together at the same time, producing weak conditioning.

Spontaneous Recovery: The reappearance of a previously extinguished CR after a rest period, demonstrating that extinction does not erase original learning.

Summation Tests: A procedure for measuring conditioned inhibition by presenting a CS- and CS+ together to determine how much the CS- reduces responding.

Taste Aversion Learning: A special case of classical conditioning in which consumption of a novel flavor (CS) followed by illness (US) results in avoidance of that flavor (CR); can develop after a single pairing and with delays of many hours between CS and US.

Trace Conditioning: A timing arrangement in which the CS ends before the US begins, leaving a temporal gap and producing weaker conditioning.

Unconditioned Reflex: An innate stimulus-response connection that does not require learning.

Unconditioned Response (UR): The unlearned, naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus.

Unconditioned Stimulus (US): A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without prior learning.

Zero Contingency: A predictive relationship in which the CS provides no information about US occurrence; no conditioning occurs.