How does suggestion use conditioned responses

On the other hand, a conditioned stimulus produces a conditioned response. A conditioned stimulus CS is a signal that has no importance to the organism until it is paired with something that does have importance. Before the dog has learned to associate the bell CS with the presence of food US , hearing the bell means nothing to the dog. However, after multiple pairings of the bell with the presentation of food, the dog starts to drool at the sound of the bell.

This drooling in response to the bell is the conditioned response CR. Although it can be confusing, the conditioned response is almost always the same as the unconditioned response.

However, it is called the conditioned response because it is conditional on or, depends on being paired with the conditioned stimulus e.

To help make this clearer, consider becoming really hungry when you see the logo for a fast food restaurant. Another example you are probably very familiar with involves your alarm clock. In this case, waking up early US produces a natural sensation of grumpiness UR. Rather than waking up early on your own, though, you likely have an alarm clock that plays a tone to wake you. After enough pairings, this tone CS will automatically produce your natural response of grumpiness CR.

Thus, this linkage between the unconditioned stimulus US; waking up early and the conditioned stimulus CS; the tone is so strong that the unconditioned response UR; being grumpy will become a conditioned response CR; e. Modern studies of classical conditioning use a very wide range of CSs and USs and measure a wide range of conditioned responses.

Although classical conditioning is a powerful explanation for how we learn many different things, there is a second form of conditioning that also helps explain how we learn. First studied by Edward Thorndike, and later extended by B. Skinner, this second type of conditioning is known as instrumental or operant conditioning.

Operant conditioning occurs when a behavior as opposed to a stimulus is associated with the occurrence of a significant event. At first, the rat may simply explore its cage, climbing on top of things, burrowing under things, in search of food. Eventually while poking around its cage, the rat accidentally presses the lever, and a food pellet drops in.

Now, once the rat recognizes that it receives a piece of food every time it presses the lever, the behavior of lever-pressing becomes reinforced. As you drive through one city course multiple times, you try a number of different streets to get to the finish line. On one of these trials, you discover a shortcut that dramatically improves your overall time. You have learned this new path through operant conditioning.

That is, by engaging with your environment operant responses , you performed a sequence of behaviors that that was positively reinforced i. Operant conditioning research studies how the effects of a behavior influence the probability that it will occur again. Effects that increase behaviors are referred to as reinforcers, and effects that decrease them are referred to as punishers. An everyday example that helps to illustrate operant conditioning is striving for a good grade in class—which could be considered a reward for students i.

One of the lessons of operant conditioning research, then, is that voluntary behavior is strongly influenced by its consequences. The illustration above summarizes the basic elements of classical and instrumental conditioning. The two types of learning differ in many ways.

However, modern thinkers often emphasize the fact that they differ—as illustrated here—in what is learned. In classical conditioning, the animal behaves as if it has learned to associate a stimulus with a significant event.

In operant conditioning, the animal behaves as if it has learned to associate a behavior with a significant event. Another difference is that the response in the classical situation e. Instead, operant responses are said to be emitted. Understanding classical and operant conditioning provides psychologists with many tools for understanding learning and behavior in the world outside the lab. This is in part because the two types of learning occur continuously throughout our lives.

A classical CS e. Pavlov emphasized salivation because that was the only response he measured. But his bell almost certainly elicited a whole system of responses that functioned to get the organism ready for the upcoming US food see Timberlake, For example, in addition to salivation, CSs such as the bell that signal that food is near also elicit the secretion of gastric acid, pancreatic enzymes, and insulin which gets blood glucose into cells.

All of these responses prepare the body for digestion. Additionally, the CS elicits approach behavior and a state of excitement. And presenting a CS for food can also cause animals whose stomachs are full to eat more food if it is available. In fact, food CSs are so prevalent in modern society, humans are likewise inclined to eat or feel hungry in response to cues associated with food, such as the sound of a bag of potato chips opening, the sight of a well-known logo e.

Classical conditioning is also involved in other aspects of eating. Flavors associated with certain nutrients such as sugar or fat can become preferred without arousing any awareness of the pairing. For example, protein is a US that your body automatically craves more of once you start to consume it UR : since proteins are highly concentrated in meat, the flavor of meat becomes a CS or cue, that proteins are on the way , which perpetuates the cycle of craving for yet more meat this automatic bodily reaction now a CR.

In a similar way, flavors associated with stomach pain or illness become avoided and dis liked. For example, a person who gets sick after drinking too much tequila may acquire a profound dislike of the taste and odor of tequila—a phenomenon called taste aversion conditioning. The fact that flavors are often associated with so many consequences of eating is important for animals including rats and humans that are frequently exposed to new foods.

And it is clinically relevant. For example, drugs used in chemotherapy often make cancer patients sick. Classical conditioning occurs with a variety of significant events. Here, rather than a physical response like drooling , the CS triggers an emotion.

Another interesting effect of classical conditioning can occur when we ingest drugs. That is, when a drug is taken, it can be associated with the cues that are present at the same time e. This conditioned compensatory response has many implications. Conditioned compensatory responses which include heightened pain sensitivity and decreased body temperature, among others might also cause discomfort, thus motivating the drug user to continue usage of the drug to reduce them.

This is one of several ways classical conditioning might be a factor in drug addiction and dependence. A final effect of classical cues is that they motivate ongoing operant behavior see Balleine, Similarly, in the presence of food-associated cues e. And finally, even in the presence of negative cues like something that signals fear , a rat, a human, or any other organism will work harder to avoid those situations that might lead to trauma.

Classical CSs thus have many effects that can contribute to significant behavioral phenomena. As mentioned earlier, classical conditioning provides a method for studying basic learning processes. Somewhat counterintuitively, though, studies show that pairing a CS and a US together is not sufficient for an association to be learned between them.

Consider an effect called blocking see Kamin, In the illustration above, the sound of a bell stimulus A is paired with the presentation of food. Once this association is learned, in a second phase, a second stimulus—stimulus B—is presented alongside stimulus A, such that the two stimuli are paired with the US together. In the illustration, a light is added and turned on at the same time the bell is rung. The reason? Learning depends on such a surprise, or a discrepancy between what occurs on a conditioning trial and what is already predicted by cues that are present on the trial.

However, if the researcher suddenly requires that the bell and the light both occur in order to receive the food, the bell alone will produce a prediction error that the animal has to learn. Blocking and other related effects indicate that the learning process tends to take in the most valid predictors of significant events and ignore the less useful ones.

This is common in the real world. For example, imagine that your supermarket puts big star-shaped stickers on products that are on sale. This is not intended to suggest that such forms of learning are without consequence, but simply that they are not required by the available evidence. In this way, a retrieved stimulus, or stimulus trace, might acquire associative strength while limiting that acquired by other stimuli present on a conditioning trial.

As we have noted, retrieved stimuli will also affect performance through the proportion terms in Equations 5—8 see Holland, This analysis joins others that have attempted to provide a more specific account of the process of retrieval mediated learning, albeit that they do not apply as readily to higher-order conditioning as they do to other phenomena e. We should briefly comment on the complexity of the model.

It can also be summarized in two simple statements: 1. The perceived intensities of stimuli present during a test affect how learning represented within an extended associative structure affects performance; and 2. The similarity of the perceived intensities of the tested stimuli to conditioned stimuli within that structure modulates the translation of learning into performance.

Our use of the term perceived intensity clearly affords a potential analysis of individual differences in both Pavlovian conditioning and higher-order conditioning at the level of learning and performance see Honey et al.

Pavlov ; p. The model upon which our analysis is based, HeiDI, represents a prosaic approach to accommodating both quantitative and qualitative individual differences in conditioned behavior. RH and DD contributed to the ideas presented in this article and to its preparation for publication. Both authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers.

Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher. Allman, M. Transfer of configural learning between the components of a preexposed stimulus compound: implications for elemental and configural models of learning. Amiro, T. Second-order appetitive conditioning in goldfish. Arcediano, F.

Bidirectional associations in humans and rats. Archer, T. Higher-order conditioning and sensory preconditioning of a taste aversion with an exteroreceptive CS1. B 34, 1— Asch, S. The principle of associative symmetry. Google Scholar.

Asratian, E. Compensatory Adaptations, Reflex Activity, and the Brain. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Barnet, R. Comparing the magnitudes of second-order conditioning and sensory preconditioning effects. Second-order excitation mediated by a backward conditioned inhibitor. Boakes, R. Davis and H. Brogden, W. Sensory pre-conditioning. Cheatle, M. Cole, R.

Temporal encoding in trace conditioning. Conditioned excitation and conditioned inhibition acquired through backward conditioning. Crawford, L. Second-order sexual conditioning in male Japanese quail Coturnix japonica.

Davey, G. Topography of signal-centred behavior in the rat: effects of deprivation state and reinforcer type. Anal Behav. Persistence of CR2 following extinction of CR1. The effects of post-conditioning revaluation of CS1 and UCS following Pavlovian second-order electrodermal conditioning in humans. B 35, — Dickinson, A. Within-compound associations mediate the retrospective revaluation of causality judgements.

B 49, 60— Dwyer, D. Licking and liking: the assessment of hedonic responses in rodents. Avoidance but not aversion following sensory-preconditioning with flavors: a challenge to stimulus substitution. Simultaneous activation of the representations of absent cues results in the formation of an excitatory association between them. Field, A. Is conditioning a useful framework for understanding the development and treatment of phobias?

Flagel, S. Individual differences in the attribution of incentive salience to reward-related cues: implications for addiction. Neuropharmacology 56, — Gerolin, M.

Bidirectional associations. Gewirtz, J. Using Pavlovian higher-order conditioning paradigms to investigate the neural substrates of emotional learning and memory. Gilboa, A. Higher-order conditioning is impaired by hippocampal lesions. Hall, G. Learning about associatively activated stimulus representations: implications for acquired equivalence and perceptual learning.

Haselgrove, M. Clinical Applications of Learning Theory. UK: Psychology Press. Hearst, E. Hebb, D. The Organization of Behavior. Heth, C.

Holland, P. Second-order conditioning with and without the US. Acquisition of a representation-mediated conditioned food aversion. Representation-mediated overshadowing and potentiation of conditioned aversions. Origins of behavior in Pavlovian conditioning.

Conditioned stimulus as a determinant of the form of the Pavlovian conditioned response. Enhancing second-order conditioning with lesions of the basolateral amygdala. Second-order conditioning with food unconditioned stimulus. Honey, R. HeiDI: a model for Pavlovian learning and performance with reciprocal associations. Elaboration of a model of Pavlovian learning and performance: HeiDI..

Individual variation in the vigor and form of Pavlovian conditioned responses: analysis of a model system. Associative components of recognition memory. Negative priming in associative learning: evidence from a serial-habituation procedure. Hippocampal lesions disrupt an associative mismatch process. Hull, C. Stimulus intensity dynamism V and stimulus generalization. Iliescu, A. Individual differences in the nature of conditioned behavior across a conditioned stimulus: adaptation and application of a model.

The nature of phenotypic variation in Pavlovian conditioning. Inman, R. Homage to Professor N. Mackintosh , eds J. Trobalon and V. Chamizo Barcelona: Edicions de la Universitat de Barcelona , — Another example, money, is only worth something when you can use it to buy other things—either things that satisfy basic needs food, water, shelter—all primary reinforcers or other secondary reinforcers.

If you were on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and you had stacks of money, the money would not be useful if you could not spend it. What about the stickers on the behavior chart? They also are secondary reinforcers. Sometimes, instead of stickers on a sticker chart, a token is used. Tokens, which are also secondary reinforcers, can then be traded in for rewards and prizes. Entire behavior management systems, known as token economies, are built around the use of these kinds of token reinforcers.

Token economies have been found to be very effective at modifying behavior in a variety of settings such as schools, prisons, and mental hospitals. For example, a study by Cangi and Daly found that use of a token economy increased appropriate social behaviors and reduced inappropriate behaviors in a group of autistic school children. Autistic children tend to exhibit disruptive behaviors such as pinching and hitting. When they hit or pinched, they lost a token. The children could then exchange specified amounts of tokens for minutes of playtime.

Behavior modification uses the principles of operant conditioning to accomplish behavior change so that undesirable behaviors are switched for more socially acceptable ones. Some teachers and parents create a sticker chart, in which several behaviors are listed Figure. Sticker charts are a form of token economies, as described in the text.

Each time children perform the behavior, they get a sticker, and after a certain number of stickers, they get a prize, or reinforcer. The goal is to increase acceptable behaviors and decrease misbehavior. Remember, it is best to reinforce desired behaviors, rather than to use punishment. In the classroom, the teacher can reinforce a wide range of behaviors, from students raising their hands, to walking quietly in the hall, to turning in their homework. At home, parents might create a behavior chart that rewards children for things such as putting away toys, brushing their teeth, and helping with dinner.

In order for behavior modification to be effective, the reinforcement needs to be connected with the behavior; the reinforcement must matter to the child and be done consistently. Time-out is another popular technique used in behavior modification with children. It operates on the principle of negative punishment. When a child demonstrates an undesirable behavior, she is removed from the desirable activity at hand Figure.

For example, say that Sophia and her brother Mario are playing with building blocks. Sophia throws some blocks at her brother, so you give her a warning that she will go to time-out if she does it again. A few minutes later, she throws more blocks at Mario.

You remove Sophia from the room for a few minutes. There are several important points that you should know if you plan to implement time-out as a behavior modification technique. First, make sure the child is being removed from a desirable activity and placed in a less desirable location. If the activity is something undesirable for the child, this technique will backfire because it is more enjoyable for the child to be removed from the activity. Second, the length of the time-out is important.

Sophia is five; therefore, she sits in a time-out for five minutes. Setting a timer helps children know how long they have to sit in time-out.

Finally, as a caregiver, keep several guidelines in mind over the course of a time-out: remain calm when directing your child to time-out; ignore your child during time-out because caregiver attention may reinforce misbehavior ; and give the child a hug or a kind word when time-out is over. Remember, the best way to teach a person or animal a behavior is to use positive reinforcement.

For example, Skinner used positive reinforcement to teach rats to press a lever in a Skinner box. At first, the rat might randomly hit the lever while exploring the box, and out would come a pellet of food.

After eating the pellet, what do you think the hungry rat did next? It hit the lever again, and received another pellet of food. Each time the rat hit the lever, a pellet of food came out. When an organism receives a reinforcer each time it displays a behavior, it is called continuous reinforcement. This reinforcement schedule is the quickest way to teach someone a behavior, and it is especially effective in training a new behavior. Now, each time he sits, you give him a treat.

Timing is important here: you will be most successful if you present the reinforcer immediately after he sits, so that he can make an association between the target behavior sitting and the consequence getting a treat.

Watch this video clip where veterinarian Dr. Once a behavior is trained, researchers and trainers often turn to another type of reinforcement schedule—partial reinforcement.

In partial reinforcement , also referred to as intermittent reinforcement, the person or animal does not get reinforced every time they perform the desired behavior. There are several different types of partial reinforcement schedules Table.

These schedules are described as either fixed or variable, and as either interval or ratio. Fixed refers to the number of responses between reinforcements, or the amount of time between reinforcements, which is set and unchanging. Variable refers to the number of responses or amount of time between reinforcements, which varies or changes.

Interval means the schedule is based on the time between reinforcements, and ratio means the schedule is based on the number of responses between reinforcements. A fixed interval reinforcement schedule is when behavior is rewarded after a set amount of time.

For example, June undergoes major surgery in a hospital. During recovery, she is expected to experience pain and will require prescription medications for pain relief. June is given an IV drip with a patient-controlled painkiller. Her doctor sets a limit: one dose per hour.

June pushes a button when pain becomes difficult, and she receives a dose of medication. Since the reward pain relief only occurs on a fixed interval, there is no point in exhibiting the behavior when it will not be rewarded.

With a variable interval reinforcement schedule , the person or animal gets the reinforcement based on varying amounts of time, which are unpredictable.

Say that Manuel is the manager at a fast-food restaurant. Manuel never knows when the quality control person will show up, so he always tries to keep the restaurant clean and ensures that his employees provide prompt and courteous service. His productivity regarding prompt service and keeping a clean restaurant are steady because he wants his crew to earn the bonus. With a fixed ratio reinforcement schedule , there are a set number of responses that must occur before the behavior is rewarded.

Carla sells glasses at an eyeglass store, and she earns a commission every time she sells a pair of glasses. She always tries to sell people more pairs of glasses, including prescription sunglasses or a backup pair, so she can increase her commission. She does not care if the person really needs the prescription sunglasses, Carla just wants her bonus. This distinction in the quality of performance can help determine which reinforcement method is most appropriate for a particular situation.

Fixed ratios are better suited to optimize the quantity of output, whereas a fixed interval, in which the reward is not quantity based, can lead to a higher quality of output. In a variable ratio reinforcement schedule , the number of responses needed for a reward varies. This is the most powerful partial reinforcement schedule. An example of the variable ratio reinforcement schedule is gambling. Imagine that Sarah—generally a smart, thrifty woman—visits Las Vegas for the first time. She is not a gambler, but out of curiosity she puts a quarter into the slot machine, and then another, and another.

Nothing happens. Two dollars in quarters later, her curiosity is fading, and she is just about to quit. But then, the machine lights up, bells go off, and Sarah gets 50 quarters back. Now might be a sensible time to quit. And yet, she keeps putting money into the slot machine because she never knows when the next reinforcement is coming.

Because the reinforcement schedule in most types of gambling has a variable ratio schedule, people keep trying and hoping that the next time they will win big. This is one of the reasons that gambling is so addictive—and so resistant to extinction. In operant conditioning, extinction of a reinforced behavior occurs at some point after reinforcement stops, and the speed at which this happens depends on the reinforcement schedule.

In a variable ratio schedule, the point of extinction comes very slowly, as described above. But in the other reinforcement schedules, extinction may come quickly. For example, if June presses the button for the pain relief medication before the allotted time her doctor has approved, no medication is administered. Among the reinforcement schedules, variable ratio is the most productive and the most resistant to extinction.

Fixed interval is the least productive and the easiest to extinguish Figure. Skinner uses gambling as an example of the power and effectiveness of conditioning behavior based on a variable ratio reinforcement schedule.

Beyond the power of variable ratio reinforcement, gambling seems to work on the brain in the same way as some addictive drugs. The Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery n. Specifically, gambling may activate the reward centers of the brain, much like cocaine does. Research has shown that some pathological gamblers have lower levels of the neurotransmitter brain chemical known as norepinephrine than do normal gamblers Roy, et al. According to a study conducted by Alec Roy and colleagues, norepinephrine is secreted when a person feels stress, arousal, or thrill; pathological gamblers use gambling to increase their levels of this neurotransmitter.

Another researcher, neuroscientist Hans Breiter, has done extensive research on gambling and its effects on the brain. Deficiencies in serotonin another neurotransmitter might also contribute to compulsive behavior, including a gambling addiction. However, it is very difficult to ascertain the cause because it is impossible to conduct a true experiment it would be unethical to try to turn randomly assigned participants into problem gamblers.

It also is possible that some overlooked factor, or confounding variable, played a role in both the gambling addiction and the differences in brain chemistry. Although strict behaviorists such as Skinner and Watson refused to believe that cognition such as thoughts and expectations plays a role in learning, another behaviorist, Edward C.

Tolman , had a different opinion. This finding was in conflict with the prevailing idea at the time that reinforcement must be immediate in order for learning to occur, thus suggesting a cognitive aspect to learning. In the experiments, Tolman placed hungry rats in a maze with no reward for finding their way through it. He also studied a comparison group that was rewarded with food at the end of the maze.

As the unreinforced rats explored the maze, they developed a cognitive map : a mental picture of the layout of the maze Figure. After 10 sessions in the maze without reinforcement, food was placed in a goal box at the end of the maze. As soon as the rats became aware of the food, they were able to find their way through the maze quickly, just as quickly as the comparison group, which had been rewarded with food all along. This is known as latent learning : learning that occurs but is not observable in behavior until there is a reason to demonstrate it.

Latent learning also occurs in humans. Children may learn by watching the actions of their parents but only demonstrate it at a later date, when the learned material is needed. Instead, Ravi follows the same route on his bike that his dad would have taken in the car.

This demonstrates latent learning. Ravi had learned the route to school, but had no need to demonstrate this knowledge earlier. However, some buildings are confusing because they include many areas that look alike or have short lines of sight. Psychologist Laura Carlson suggests that what we place in our cognitive map can impact our success in navigating through the environment. She suggests that paying attention to specific features upon entering a building, such as a picture on the wall, a fountain, a statue, or an escalator, adds information to our cognitive map that can be used later to help find our way out of the building.

Operant conditioning is based on the work of B. Operant conditioning is a form of learning in which the motivation for a behavior happens after the behavior is demonstrated.

An animal or a human receives a consequence after performing a specific behavior. The consequence is either a reinforcer or a punisher. All reinforcement positive or negative increases the likelihood of a behavioral response. All punishment positive or negative decreases the likelihood of a behavioral response. Several types of reinforcement schedules are used to reward behavior depending on either a set or variable period of time. Which of the following is not an example of a primary reinforcer?

Slot machines reward gamblers with money according to which reinforcement schedule? Explain the difference between negative reinforcement and punishment, and provide several examples of each based on your own experiences. Think of a behavior that you have that you would like to change.

How could you use behavior modification, specifically positive reinforcement, to change your behavior? What is your positive reinforcer? Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Module 5: Learning, Memory, and Intelligence.

Search for:. Classical and Operant Conditioning Learning outcomes By the end of this section, you will be able to: Explain how classical conditioning occurs Summarize the processes of acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination Define operant conditioning Explain the difference between reinforcement and punishment Distinguish between reinforcement schedules.

Kate holds a southern stingray at Stingray City in the Cayman Islands.