A Closer Look At Classical Conditioning

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Classical conditioning is a part of everyday life, and it has been around for as long as living organism have been around. Most people have no idea that classical conditioning occurs on a daily basis. It can happen anywhere, our homes simply watching TV, or being outside in the public. Classical conditioning is a way of learning that happens when two stimuli are presented together, which then become associated with each other. Classical conditioning was first discovered by Ivan Pavlov, and it is so closely associated to him that it is sometimes even called Pavlovian Conditioning. Classical conditioning was later reinforced by John Watson with the “Little Albert” experiment, and recently with the Cockroach experiment by Makoto Mizunami and Hidehiro Watanabe . Classical conditioning does not only affects humans, it affects all animals ranging from the smallest bacteria to dogs and cockroaches. This type of conditioning is also used in marketing and even treating phobias.

Classical conditioning is a type of conditioning that links two stimuli together to produce a new response. Classical conditioning has three stages. The first step, before conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) makes an unconditioned response (UCR). This means that there is a stimulus that produces a response, usually a natural response. One example of this would be is if someone blows into our eye, our eye would close, humans didn't have to learn this response it came by nature. Another example of an unconditioned response would be someone touching a stove and jerking the hand back, or salivation at the sight of food. Stage two, during the conditioning, a new response is presented, the conditioned stimulus (CS). The unconditioned stimulus is tied in ...

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...s. It is one of the best treatments for phobias. It is even used by almost all of the best commercials on TV and the internet.

References

Allen, C. T., & Madden, T. J. (1985). A Closer Look At Classical Conditioning. Journal of Consumer Research, 12(3), 301.

McLeod, S. (2008). Classical Conditioning.Simply Psychology. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/classical-conditioning.html

Classical Conditioning. (2010). - Simply Psychology. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/classical-conditioning.html

Watanabe H, Mizunami M (2007) Pavlov's Cockroach: Classical Conditioning of Salivation in an Insect. PLOS ONE 2(6): e529. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000529

Marks, I. M. (1987). Fears, phobias, and rituals: Panic, anxiety, and their disorders. New York: Oxford University Press.

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