There are four main elements used in Ivan Pavlov’s conditioning experiment. These are unconditional stimulus, unconditional response, conditional stimulus and conditional response. Unconditional stimulus is things like the loud clap of thunder, or the food that Pavlov placed in the dog’s mouth during his experiment. These are just everyday stimuli that don’t require conditioning or learning to trigger a response. The responses caused by these type of stimuli like when you jump because you are startled by the loud clap of thunder or the dog salivating when the food was placed in his mouth known as unconditioned responses or reflex responses.
As opposed to unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus is things associated with an elicited response like the smell of a rose causing you to cough. In the case of Pavlov’s experiment the ringing of a bell causing a dog to salivate. The responses to these stimuli like coughing just because you smell a rose or the salivating of the dog because of the ringing of the bell are conditioned responses.
In John B. Watson’s fear experiment the unconditioned stimulus was the loud sound of a hammer hitting a metal bar causing the unconditioned response of crying in fear by baby Albert. Watson then conditioned baby Albert to cry in fear every time he saw a white rate. In this case the white rate was the conditioned stimulus and the crying in fear was the conditioned response.
If the white rat is repeatedly shown to baby Albert and no loud noise was heard, baby Albert will eventually stop associating the white rat with loud noise and fearing it. Then if they waited an hour without repeating the stimulus and then show baby Albert the white rat he would cry in fear which is an example of spontaneous recovery.
A child who sees a dog in the park after learning that his pet at home was called a ‘cat’ is a generalization of all pets are called ‘cat’. The child is unable to discriminate between the two different pets.
Operant and classical conditioning differ in the following ways. Operant conditioning works by eliciting a response by manipulating the consequences of that response. While classical conditioning works by repeatedly pairing a neutral stimulus with a response producing stimulus until the neutral stimulus creates the same response.
Positive reinforcement is defined as a situation in which a response is followed by the addition of a reinforcing stimulus, increasing the likelihood that the response will be repeated in similar situations. An example of this would be doing a great job on delivering a report so that your boss will give you a positive review.
Negative reinforcement is defined as a situation in which a response results in the removal of, avoidance of, or escape from a punishing stimulus, increasing the likelihood that the response will be repeated in similar situations. An example of this would be doing a great job on delivering a report so that your boss doesn’t fire you. Partial reinforcement is an inconsistent pattern of reinforcement. An example of this would be practicing your strike making skills while bowling. Sometimes you make a strike and sometimes you don’t.
The following are schedules of reinforcement. Fixed ratio is defined as a reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is delivered after a fixed number of responses have occurred. Fixed interval is defined as a reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response that occurs after a preset time interval as elapsed. Variable ratio is defined as a reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is delivered after an average number of responses, which varies unpredictability from trial to trial. Variable interval is defined as a reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response that occurs after an average time interval, which varies unpredictability from trial to trial.
I feel that fixed-ratio and fixed-interval are the most resistance to extinction.