Ch. 5 Theories & Research on Classical Conditioning
Terms
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- S.1A - Notation conventions for CC experiments
- Capital letter indicates different CSs. (e.g. T for tone and L for light) For US, superscript + and o indicate presence and absence of US. Ex: T+ is a trial with 1 CS (tone) followed by the US. TLo is a trial with 2 CS (tone & light) presented simultaneously and not followed by the US.
- blocking
- There is little or no conditioning to a stimulus when it's presented along with a previously established CS. (Intuitive explanation: Prior conditioning blocks later conditioning because the later CS is redundant and CC won't occur if the CS adds no new info about the US.)
- Rescorla-Wagner model
- A mathematical theory of CC that states: on each trial, the amount of conditioning (excite or inhibit) depends on the associative strengths of (subjects *expectations* about) all the CSs present and on the intensity of the US. Learning will only occur when what actually happens differs from what the subject expected.
- S.1B - Six rules for Rescorla-Wagner model
- 1. Excitatory conditioning = actual US greater than expectation 2. Inhibitory conditioning = actual US less than expectation 3. No conditioning = actual US equal to expectation 4. The larger the discrepancy (between the strengths of expectation and US), the greater the conditioning. 5. More salient CS condition faster 6. If 2 or more CSs presented together, you sum the subject's expectations about them (CS+ and CS- canceling each other out)
- S.1A - Kamin's experiment on Blocking Effect
- 2 groups of rats: Blocking group & control group Blocking group: phase 1 - L+ trials (L becomes strong CR), phase 2 - LT+, test phase - T in extinction (to see strength of CC to this CS); Control Group: same except no stimuli in phase 1 Results: Control group showed strong CR; Blocking group showed no CR Conclusion: Prior conditioning (w/L) "blocked" the later CC of the T stimulus.
- overshadowing
- There is less conditioning to a weak CS if it is presented simultaneously with an intense CS. (When conditioned together, only the intense CS produces a CR). Rescorla-Wagner model explains this with rule 5 (salience).
- overexpectation effect
- A decrease in the strength of CR to 2 separately trained CSs occurs when they are presented together as a compound CS and followed by the usual US. Rescorla-Wagner model explains: The subject expects a larger US when presented with the compound CS (2 strong CSs presented together, expectation for each summed - Rule 6) but receives the same size US as before. So, inhibitory conditioning occurs (Rule 2).
- CS preexposure effect
- The finding that CC goes slower if the CS is repeatedly presented by itself before CS-US parings (before conditioning trials start). Not explained by Rescorla-Wagner. One explanation is that salience of CS changes during preexposure (Because of pre-exposure subject pays less attention to CS, so it takes longer for CC to occur)
- S.1c - Mackintosh's Theory of Attention & CC
- The salience of a CS changes with experience in such a way that the better predictor of the US increases in salience and the worse predictor decreases until it reaches zero. The CS effectiveness (and thus conditioning) depends on salience - or the amount of attention the subject pays the CS. Learning can only occur for a CS that receives the subject's attention.
- comparator theories
- Classical conditioning theory stating the CR (& its strength) depends on the subject's comparison of the likelihood of the US in the presence of the CS vs. its absence. Looks at the overall, long-term CS-US correlation (not trial-by-trial). Proposes CS-US correlation does not affect CR learning but rather CR performance. A CS that has equal probability of occurring w/ & w/out the US doesn't elicit a CR because both the CS & contextual stimuli have acquired equal excitatory strengths (not because the CS has not acquired any excitatory strength as other theories say). The CS only elicits a CR if it has greater excitatory strength than the contextual stimuli.
- contextual stimuli
- The sights, sounds, & smells of a creature's environment.
- sensory preconditioning
- 2 CSs are frequently paired before the US is introduced
- occasion setter
- A stimulus (CS) that does not itself elicit a CR, but its presence causes another stimulus (CS) to elicit a CR. (It is a stimulus that regulates the CR to a CS.)
- equipotentiality premise
- CS choice doesn't matter. A CS or CR difficult to condition in one context should be difficult in all other contexts too.
- compensatory CR
- A CR that is opposite of the UR (it compensates for, counteracting, the UR)
- tolerance
- The decrease in effectiveness of a drug with repeated use
- conditioned opponent theory
- By Schull, like opponent-process theory (ch. 3, Solomon & Corbit), BUT increase in size of b-process is a CR elicited by a CS (not Solomon/Corbit's idea of increas by use & weakened by disuse)