PAVLOV and WATSON

1.What was Pavlov actually studying when he developed his theory of classical conditioning?

Pavlov was actually studying the digestive processes of dogs.
2. Explain (in detail) how Pavlov's experiment was conducted.

First, he did a surgery on the dogs that put a hole in his where a bottle, that would hold saliva, was put in. The dog was brought food. Seeing the food brought saliva to the dogs mouth. The food was called the unconditioned stimulus. Later, he put the dog behind a wall so he couldn’t see when the food was coming. He rang a bell every time before giving the food. The bell is the conditioned stimulus because it will only produce salivation on condition that it is presented with the food. Salivation to the bell is a conditioned response. That means it is a response to the conditioned stimulus.
3. Identify the conditioned stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned response from Pavlov's experiment.

The conditioned stimulus is the bell. The unconditioned stimulus is the food. The conditioned response is that the dog will salivate to the bell.
4. Explain what extinction means in relation to classical conditioning.

If a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly without the unconditional stimulus, then the conditioned respons will disappear. This is called extinction. If a dog learned to associate the sound of the bell with the food and then the bell is rung repeatedly, without food being presented, then the dog will soon stop salivating at the sound of the bell.
5. Explain what stimulus generalization means in relation to classical conditioning.

Stimulus generalization is when a dog who has been conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell of one tone, may well salivate to a similar sounding bell or a buzzer. Stimulus generalization is the extension of the conditioned response from the original stimulus to similar stimuli.
6. Explain what stimulus discrimination means in relation to classical conditioning.
An animal or person can be taught to discriminate between different stimuli. For example, if a dog is shown a green square every time he is fed, then he will salivate at the sight of the green square alone. Initially, the dog may generalize and salivate at squares of any color. If the dog is only fed when the green square is presented and not when other colors are shown, he will learn to discriminate between green and the other colors.
7. Explain at least two limitations of this experiment.
First, the dogs had a surgical procedure done, we as a class can’t repeat this. Second, This experiment was performed only on dogs. Perhaps there are different results on other species.
8. Explain what Pavlov theorized about how we learn.
He called it ‘respondent conditioning’. Condition means something learned. Unconditioned means it is innate, or we are born with it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_conditioning
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1904/pavlov-bio.html

notes from class


John B. Watson:
1. Explain (in detail) how Watson's "Little Albert" study was conducted.
John b. Watson exposed furry objects such as rats, rabbits, fur coats, and dogs to Little Albert. At first, the baby was not afraid of any of the objects. Then, every time the rat was produced, Watson made a loud noise. This would cause the baby to cry. This caused the baby to fear furry objects.
2. Identify the conditioned stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned response from Watson's study.
The conditioned stimulus was the rat. The unconditioned stimulus was the bell. The conditioned response was to fear furry creatures.
3. Explain at least two limitations of this study.
First, Watson only used one child. Perhaps, only this child would react this way to these circumstances. Second, this experiment was done unethically, so it cannot be replicated.
4. Explain Watson's law of frequency.
.  The more often two things or events are linked, the more powerful will be that association.  If you have an eclair with your coffee every day, and have done so for the last twenty years, the association will be strong indeed -- and you will be fat.
5. Explain Watson's law of recency.
Other things being equal, the things learned last will be best remembered. The opposite is also true. The longer the student is away from a new fact or understanding, the harder it is to remember. For example, it is fairly easy to recall a telephone number dialed a few minutes ago, but it is usually impossible to recall a new number dialed last week. The instructor must recognize the law of recency when planning a good summary. He should repeat, restate, or reemphasize the training objectives. He also repeats important information the students need to remember.
6. Explain the basic assumptions of behaviorism according to Watson.
Watson said that behaviourism in its most basic terms is all behavior is determined by our environment. http://www.mysdcc.sdccd.edu/Staff/Instructor_Development/Content/HTML/Laws_of_Learning.htm
notes from class