Human Growth and Development

Classical Conditioning Classical conditioning is a learning method discovered by Ivan Pavlov . His experiment demonstrated how a neutral stimulus can become associated with a natural response through repeated pairings. Pavlov noticed that dogs salivated when presented with food (an unconditioned stimulus , or UCS) — a natural response called the unconditioned response (UCR). Pavlov repeatedly paired a neutral stimulus (e.g., a bell) with the presentation of food. Initially, the bell alone did not elicit salivation. After several pairings, the dogs began to salivate upon hearing the bell, even when no food was presented. The bell had become a conditioned stimulus (CS), and the salivation in response to the bell was now a conditioned response (CR). Here's a breakdown of the experiment: ●​ Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): Food (naturally triggers salivation) ●​ Unconditioned Response (UCR): Salivation (reflexive response to food) ●​ Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Bell (initially a neutral stimulus) ●​ Conditioned Response (CR): Salivation (learned response to the bell Little Albert Experiment

The Little Albert experiment, conducted by John B. Watson, is a well-known but ethically controversial example of classical conditioning on humans. The experiment involved conditioning a young boy (Albert) to fear a white rat (originally a neutral stimulus evoking no fear whatsoever) by making a loud noise whenever the white rat was present. ●​ UCS: Loud noise (naturally causes fear) ●​ UCR: Fear/crying (natural response to loud noise) ●​ CS: White rat (previously a neutral stimulus associated with no fear) ●​ CR: Fear/crying (learned response to the white rat) Albert’s fear also generalized to similar objects (e.g., white beards), demonstrating stimulus generalization . Extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus (e.g., the white rat) is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus (e.g., the loud noise), leading to a gradual weakening of the conditioned response.

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