Classical Conditioning in real life

Running head: Classical Conditioning in real life

Classical Conditioning Assignment

Student name: Mathota Samaraweera
Student number: 823-069-448
College: Humber
Course Name and Code: 162818 Psychology 001-N6
Professors Name: Neil McGrenaghan
Date: Nov 26 2013

Classical Conditioning in real life

Classical Conditioning in real life

Classical conditioning is one of the basic forms of learning that influence our lives in
various ways. This important learning theory was introduced to the world by Russian
psychologist Ivan Pavlov who won the Nobel Prize in 1904 for his research on digestion in dogs.
It is defined as a process through which a response previously made only to a specific stimulus is
made to another stimulus that has been paired repeatedly with the original stimulus (Wood-The
World of Psychology). Purpose of this short essay is to describe my real life experience to
explain how classical conditioning theory works, and identify the terms of neutral stimulus,
unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, conditional response, and
stimulus generalization.
Classical conditioning often plays a significant role in our everyday life emotional
responses such as fears. This is my own experience that unpleasantly affects my youngest sons
emotions. This particular incident occurred when he was about three year old. While playing
outside in one summer, he had a bumble bee sting in his right hand and experienced a severe pain
which brought him to cry uncontrollably for a long time. Since then, whenever he catches the
sight of bumble bees, he gets so nervous with great fear, screams, and runs away from the area.
That incident has negatively affected his life and as a consequence he has grown a specific
phobia for all kind of flies.
According to classical conditioning, seeing a bumble bee is a neutral stimulus and there is
no response before conditioning. In this context stimulus is any event or an object in the
environment to which an organism respond (Wood-The World of Psychology). Further, a
bumble bee sting could be described as an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) meaning a stimulus

Classical Conditioning in real life

that automatically elicits a particular unconditioned response and crying with great fear in this
particular situation is regarded as an unconditioned response (UCR) which in other words is an
unlearned, automatic response to a particular unconditioned stimulus (Lester M .Sdorow &
Cheryl A Rickabough-Psychology). During classical conditioning, in this given situation seeing a
bumble bee (neutral stimulus) and bumble bee sting (UCS) occurs one after the other in a quick
sequence and then comes crying with great fear (UCR). After conditioning, seeing a bumble bee
becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) which means a previously neutral stimulus that has,
through conditioning, acquired the capacity to evoke a conditioned response. Also crying with
great fear becomes a conditioned response (CR) which could be described as a learned reaction
to a conditioned stimulus that occurs because of previous conditioning (Weiten & McCannPsychology Themes & Variations).
Since this incident, my son seems to have developed a great fear for any kind of flies.
According to classical conditioning, it is the stimulus generalization that means giving a
conditioned response to stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus (Lester M.Sdorow & Cheryl
A Rickabough-Psychology). However, today at the age of nine, my son seems to have grown out
of his fear for other kinds of flies, but only left for bumble bees. This is discrimination.
According to Wood- the World of Psychology, discrimination stated as the learned ability to
distinguish between similar so that conditioned response occurs only to the original conditioned
stimulus but not to similar stimuli. Relationship between stimuli and responses is depicted in
following CC Diagram.

Classical Conditioning in real life

CC Diagram
Before Conditioning:
Seeing a bumble
bee

No Response

(Neutral Stimulus)
Sting a bumble bee

Crying with
great fear

(UCS)

(UCR)

During Conditioning:
Seeing a bumble
bee
(Neutral Stimulus)

Sting a bumble
bee
(UCS)

Crying with
great fear
(UCR)

After Conditioning:
Seeing a bumble bee
(Previously Neutral
Stimulus)

Crying with great

fear

(CS)

(CR)

Classical Conditioning in real life

It could be concluded that, classical condition affects our lives in many different ways
such as emotional responses, attitudes, likes and dislikes. The term conditioned as meaning
learned and the term unconditioned as meaning unlearned (Wood-The World of
Psychology). The incident described above shows how unconditioned stimulus becomes
conditioned stimulus and how unconditioned response becomes conditioned response. My sons
great fear of bumble bee is a learned response that he never experienced before. I must also odd
that, even though classical conditioning affects my sons emotions negatively, it has some
positive consequences.

Classical Conditioning in real life

References
Lester M. Sdorow (2006). Psychology (Pages 235-237).Sixth Edition. Atomic Dog Publishing.
Samuel E. Wood, Ellen Green Wood, Denise Boyd, Eileen Wood, Serge Desmarais (2011).
The World of Psychology (Pages141-145). Sixth Canadian Edition. Pearson Canada.
Weiten McCann (2007). Psychology Themes & Variations (Pages227-231). First Canadian
Edition. Nelson Canada.