a biological response is paired with a new stimulus that then results in the

same reaction. The most famous work in classical

conditioning was done by Ivan Pavlov in the 1890s. During this time Pavlov did a

lot of research around the digestive processes of dogs. One day during his

research Pavlov noticed that the dogs began to salivate in the presence of the

technician who normally fed them. He wondered if the technician was a trigger

that stimulated a response associated with food? To find out he constructed an

experiment that would allow him to measure a dog's output of saliva. First

he served the dog food. Then he served food while playing the sounds of a

metronome and repeated the process a few times.

finally he removed the food and only played the metronome. The dogs began to

salivate in response to the metronome alone. Pavlov concluded that if a new

stimulus was present when the dog was given food then that stimulus became

associated with food and caused salivation on its own.

When he published his findings Pavlov called the food an "unconditioned

stimulus" because its effects on the dog were not learned instead they triggered

an "unconditioned response" that happened naturally and completely out of the

dog's control. the metronome is at first a "neutral stimulus" through the process

of repetitive pairing with food the dog learns to connect the two. This means

that the "neutral stimulus" becomes the "conditioned stimulus" and the response to

that a "conditioned response". He also reported that 1) learning occurred most

rapidly when the interval between the sound and the appearance of the food was

short. 2) the saliva produced by the sound differed in composition from that

produced by the food, which means that the conditioned response was not an

exact replica of the unconditioned response. 3) while there are several forms

of conditioning such as forward and backward conditioning, classical

conditioning cannot create new behavior or be used for training, but instead

triggers involuntary biological responses. 4) we can almost entirely

undo the conditioning. This happens through extinction: when we repeatedly

present the conditioned stimulus in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus.

So what occurs inside the brain? When a dog sees the food the signals from the

eyes and nose stimulate the brain which activates the salivation glands to

secrete saliva to aid the dog with the digestion. When a dog hears a sound the

ears send a signal to the brain which takes note but has no reason to activate

anything. When the two different neurological processes are being

activated simultaneously new synaptic connections occur between the auditory

stimulus and the behavioral response. Over time these synapses are

strengthened so that it only takes the sound to activate the pathway leading to

salivation. You can try this popular classroom

exercise: take a friend, sit down and relax for two minutes. Then allow your

partner to check and record your pulse rate. Your partner will then tap a pencil

on the desk, five times. Right after stand up and hop on one leg for 30 seconds and

then check your pulse again! Repeat the procedure four times having the partner

record all data. After relaxing for the fifth time your partner will tap the

pencil five times as usual now instead of getting up for your exercise, only

check your pulse. If the conditioning was successful your

pulse rate will rise even without engaging in exercise!

What do you think does classical conditioning always work? If so, are

commercials a form of mental manipulation and should we limit

advertising in public spaces?

Sprouts videos are published under the Creative Commons license that means our

videos are free and anyone can download edit and play them for personal use, and

public schools governments and nonprofit organizations can also use them for

training, online courses, or designing new curriculums.

To help us stay independent and support our work you can join our patrons and

contribute just visit www.patreon.com/sprouts. Even one dollar can make a

difference! If you have deep insights into academic topics and want to help us

explain complicated ideas in simple language please contact us at www.sproutsschools.com

you