Hello, in this section we begin
to discuss schedules of classical conditioning. We talked a little bit about
the classical conditioning paradigm, some aspects that influence the
conditioned response and other things. In this section, we describe some of
the different ways that classical conditioning is used and the schedules
that are associated with them.
So let’s begin by going to page two. What we see as we go
here is that there’s several different types of conditioning. The first is
Simultaneous Conditioning. In this case, the conditioned stimulus and the
unconditioned stimulus occur and stop at the same time. However, the problem
is that it produces minimal conditioning. Thus it is often used as a control
condition. As you see on page three in an example. We turn on the
conditioned stimulus and then turn off the conditioned stimulus.
Simultaneously, we turn on the UCS and we turn off the UCS. And we do them
both at exactly the same time. So that’s Simultaneous Conditioning.
Let’s talk about the next type of conditioning and that’s
what we begin to see on slide four and that is called Delayed Conditioning.
In this case, the conditioned stimulus is presented before the UCS. Then the
conditioned stimulus is stopped, and finally, the unconditioned stimulus is
stopped. This is presented in two models on slide five. In version one, it’s
exactly what I described to you. What we do is turn on the conditioned
stimulus, then we turn on the unconditioned stimulus and then we turn them
both off at the same time.
In version two, we turn on the conditioned stimulus, then
we turn on the unconditioned stimulus, then we turn off the conditioned
stimulus and then we turn off the unconditioned stimulus. Either way gives
you excellent conditioning and in essence both models gives you the best
conditioning within the classical conditioning paradigm.
Now delayed conditioning is a little bit different from
the next model that I’m going to describe in slide six and seven and is
called Trace Conditioning. In trace conditioning, the conditioned stimulus
occurs prior to the unconditioned stimulus, but stops before you present the
unconditioned stimulus. In addition, the longer the delay between the
conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus, the poorer the
conditioning. And we see in slide seven, in trace conditioning, we turn on
our conditioned stimulus, then we turn it off. There is some period of
delay. Then, we turn on our unconditioned stimulus, let it go for a period
of time, then we turn it off. Again, the longer the delay period, the poorer
the conditioning is.
The next conditioning model is called Backward
Conditioning and is presented in slide eight. We have talked about this
before. In this case, the unconditioned stimulus is presented before the
conditioned stimulus, but both stop exactly at the same time. This is
demonstrated in slide nine. We turn on our unconditioned stimulus, then we
turn on our conditioned stimulus and we turn them both off at the same time.
This gives the worst conditioning of all the different models.
And finally we have Temporal Conditioning. Temporal
conditioning is a little different from the other conditioning models. In
this case (as we see in slide 10) , what you’re only doing is presenting the
unconditioned stimulus. And you’re presenting it alone at discrete time
intervals, for example, every ten or 20 or 30 or 40 seconds. Eventually the
time elapses since the last stimulus present, and that time period becomes a
signal for the delivery of the unconditioned stimulus. Thus, in temporal
conditioning, time actually becomes a conditioned stimulus. In the classic
example, individuals have food related thoughts or other kinds of things
before lunch or dinner, whether they’re hungry or not. So what you see on
slide 11, is a classic example. We turn on our unconditioned stimulus, then
we turn it off, then we turn it on again, then we turn it off, on and off,
and so forth, until we’re ultimately conditioned. This can give very good
conditioning if you do it over a prolonged period of time. Like I said, time
is really the conditioned stimulus. And so around noon, you get hungry.
Around 5 you get hungry. Around 9 or 10 o’clock you want a midnight snack
and on and on. And even if you have just eaten an hour before and should not
be hungry, you still become hungry again.
So, these are the various types of schedules of
conditioning. In the next section we’ll begin the talk about some models and
theories of classical conditioning. So until then, have yourself a wonderful
day.
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