PSYCH 1X03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Classical Conditioning
Document Summary
Two types of learning o classical conditioning: allows us to associate two different events. An organism is able to respond to a signal (stimuli) before a event occurs. For example, a dog presented with a conditional stimuli may salivate even before he is given food. For example, salivating may make digestive processes easier: instrumental conditioning: allows us to associate actions with consequences. Every time the metronome was activated, the dog was presented with food. Eventually, the dog learned to associate the rhythm of the metronome with food and salivated even when no food was presented: contingencies form when a animal learns to associate a signal to a specific event. Terminology: unconditional stimulus: naturally/automatically triggers a response without any learning required, unconditional response: the response that naturally occurs when a unconditional stimulus is presented. For example, salivating when food is presented is a unconditional response generated by the body.