PSYCH 9B Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Edward Thorndike, Icq, Automatic Behavior
Document Summary
Habituation: a decrease in the strength of a response after repeated presentation of a stimulus. Sensitization: an increase in response strength to repeated dangerous, irritating, or both stimuli. Classical conditioning: a change in a response elicited by a formerly neutral stimulus, following its recurrent pairing with an unconditioned stimulus. Similarities: both reduce response tendencies, both target reflexive, automatic behaviors. Differences: habituation: stimuli not perceived of as highly threatening, and initial responses extreme, desensitization: initial response is intense and often due to intense fear/threat; active efforts to reduce responses. Puppies as they get used to car horns, noises, and doorbells in urban apartment settings. Older dogs with intense fear of thunderstorms; play audiotapes of storms at low levels, gradually increase volume: so that the dogs" response to the thunderstorm gets less and less intense. Experiments with baby demonstrate the power of classical conditioning. Excellent example of classical conditioning and generalization.
