Classical conditioning explained
Classical conditioning, otherwise known as pavlovian conditioning, is an associative learning process of which derives from the behaviourist school of thought in psychology. It was famously discovered by Ivan Pavlov through his observations of lab dogs’ salivation. This post aims to briefly explain classical conditioning utilising its key concepts.Â
Classical conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus (something of which does not naturally elicit a response from the subject) becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits an unconditioned response (something that elicits an automatic or reflexive response, such as a loud bang that generally makes us scared). This association occurs through a process known as pairing. The neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus have to occur together in contiguity (close in space or time) in order to become associated. This can be better explained using an analogy:
The subject is instructed to listen to a sequence of words: ‘bag, purse, tag, hearse’. The experimental word in this sequence is ‘bag’ and at the start of the experiment it acts as the neutral stimulus as simply hearing the word won’t typically elicit a reflexive response. Now, the researchers bang a frying pan behind the subjects head each time the word ‘bag’ is said (hence why it is an experimental word) the frying pan will act as the unconditioned stimulus as it evokes the unconditioned (reflexive) response of fear in the subject, perhaps in the form of them flinching when it is banged. The idea now is that as these two stimuli are paired together consistently over a series of trials they will become associated. The visible result of this would be the participant begins to flinch upon hearing the word ‘bag’ even if there is not a bang because they have learned that the word is indicative of a drum banging. The neutral stimulus (bag) has now become a conditioned stimulus that evokes the conditioned response of fear upon hearing itÂ
There are other assets to this learning process. For instance, ‘stimulus generalisation’ could occur where stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus can also elicit the conditioned response. Using the word sequence as an example, ‘tag’ could also make the subject flinch because it is acoustically similar to bag. Furthermore ‘extinction’ could also occur, where, if the pairing of the two stimuli stops for a lengthy period of time they are no longer associated, this would be shown in the example above through the participant no longer flinching upon hearing the word ;bag’.
I hope this served as a useful introduction to classical conditioning, there is of course a lot more to cover including experiments and the application of this learning principle in the real world that I would hope to cover in future if desired.









