Classical Conditioning

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Classical conditioning is a type of learning that involves acquisition of elicited responses (i.e.

responses such as the defensive eye blink, that are proceed by an identifiable eliciting stimulus. In other words classical conditioning is learning through association. Similarly Operant conditioning is regarded as a type of learning that acquisition by of emitted responses which helps organisms to adapt their behaviour to the environment. Behaviour is learnt through positive and negative reinforcement. These principles Pavlov 1849-1936 (and B F Skinner 1904-1990. Their theories provided studies that have contributed to the field of psychology especially for behavioural psychologists as they have recent studies. They have also contributed in terms of explaining phobias, mental disorders,
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He conducted a study with dogs to find out why they salivate before being fed. Originally he was studying the digestive process in dogs when he discovered that dogs salivated before they received their food. Instead of ignoring the confounding variable, he coined the phenomena, he also noted they did not only respond to their biological need but also developed learning behaviour. He spent the rest of his life researching why the associate occurred which is known as classical conditioning. Pavlov gave the dogs food, which caused them to salivate, and then he established a tone that caused the dogs to salivate. He then presented the tone before the food, the dogs salivated in response to food this time unconditioned stimulus conditioned stimulus = Unconditioned response. The unconditioned response became conditioned stimulus. After several pairings of the tone and food, Pavlov found that the dogs would salivate to the tone when it was presented alone without the food. Pavlov's study contributed to the field of psychology by providing explanations about how behaviour can be learned due to stimulus.