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Classical conditioning

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Classical conditioning (also called Pavlovian conditioning) is a kind of learning in which a stimulus that at first has no particular effect comes to produce a response because it has been repeatedly paired with another stimulus that already produces that response.[1][2] It was first studied in detail by the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov.

Discovery

Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) ran a large research institute from 1895 and won a Nobel Prize in 1904 for his work on digestion.[2] He studied the substances that a dog's digestive system produces, including saliva, using surgery to redirect the saliva through a tube so that it could be measured.[3] Dogs that had been through the procedure several times began to salivate before the food arrived, apparently at the sight of the experimenter. Pavlov reasoned that things which always came before food had gained the power to cause salivation.[1] He at first called these "psychic" secretions; they were a nuisance for measuring, but they showed him a behaviour that could be studied objectively.[4] From 1910 his institute built a soundproofed laboratory for this work, sometimes called the "Tower of Silence".[4]

How it works

Conditioning starts with a stimulus that already produces a response without any learning. In Pavlov's experiments food in the dog's mouth was the unconditioned stimulus (US), and salivation was the unconditioned response (UR).[1] A neutral stimulus, such as a tone, is then presented just before the food. This becomes the conditioned stimulus (CS). After several pairings the dog salivates as soon as the CS is presented, before any food appears. This learned salivation is the conditioned response (CR).[5] Pavlov's own Russian word is better translated as "conditional", because the response depends on the pairing of the tone and food.[6] Although the story is often told with a bell, Pavlov rarely used one, because it startled the dogs; he more often used tones or a metronome.[7]

Main findings

  • Acquisition is the stage in which the CS and US are first paired and the CR gradually appears and grows stronger, up to a maximum level.[8]
  • Extinction happens when the CS is presented again and again without the US; the CR gradually weakens and disappears.[9]
  • Spontaneous recovery is the return of some conditioned responding after a rest following extinction. Pavlov took this as proof that extinction does not completely destroy what was learned.[10]
  • Generalisation means that a dog trained with one tone will also respond, though less strongly, to a similar tone. If only one tone is paired with food and the other is not, the dog learns to tell them apart, which Pavlov called differentiation.[7]
  • In second-order conditioning a response is passed from one CS to another. In one experiment Pavlov paired a metronome with food, then showed a black square followed by the metronome, with no food; the square itself then began to produce salivation.[11]

When dogs were trained to tell a circle from an ellipse and the ellipse was made more and more like a circle, their ability to discriminate broke down and they became agitated. Pavlov called this "experimental neurosis".[12]

Influence and limits

Pavlov's work strongly influenced the early behaviourists, including John B. Watson.[2][13] As research went on, however, it became clear that classical conditioning is "a rather poor model" for much of what humans and animals do. It is automatic and not directed at goals; learning in which behaviour is shaped by its consequences, called operant conditioning, is a better model of purposeful action.[13] Pavlov's idea that the CS simply becomes a substitute for the US is now thought to be incorrect by most psychologists, partly because the CR is almost never an exact copy of the UR.[14]

See also

== References ==

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mazur, James E. (2017). Learning and Behavior (8th ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-138-68994-7. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Staddon, John (2014). The New Behaviorism (2nd ed.). New York: Psychology Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-84872-688-8. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  3. ↑ Mazur, James E. (2017). Learning and Behavior (8th ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-138-68994-7. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Goodwin, C. James (2015). A History of Modern Psychology (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 277. ISBN 978-1-118-83375-9. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  5. ↑ Mazur, James E. (2017). Learning and Behavior (8th ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-138-68994-7. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  6. ↑ Staddon, John (2014). The New Behaviorism (2nd ed.). New York: Psychology Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-84872-688-8. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Goodwin, C. James (2015). A History of Modern Psychology (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 279. ISBN 978-1-118-83375-9. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  8. ↑ Mazur, James E. (2017). Learning and Behavior (8th ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-138-68994-7. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  9. ↑ Mazur, James E. (2017). Learning and Behavior (8th ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-138-68994-7. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  10. ↑ Mazur, James E. (2017). Learning and Behavior (8th ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-138-68994-7. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  11. ↑ Mazur, James E. (2017). Learning and Behavior (8th ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-138-68994-7. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  12. ↑ Goodwin, C. James (2015). A History of Modern Psychology (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 280. ISBN 978-1-118-83375-9. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Staddon, John (2014). The New Behaviorism (2nd ed.). New York: Psychology Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-84872-688-8. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  14. ↑ Mazur, James E. (2017). Learning and Behavior (8th ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-138-68994-7. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
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