PSY 5150

Fall 2012

Possible Classical Conditioning Questions

 

1.  Diagram and explain the sequence in a classical conditioning procedure. Label the following components:  Conditioned Stimulus, Unconditioned Stimulus, Conditioned Response, Unconditioned Response, Conditioned Reflex, Unconditioned Reflex. Explain why they get a particular label.

2. Choose a situation from your area of professional interest that is likely to have produced a classical conditioning effect. Describe the unconditioned reflex and the conditioned reflex. What in the situation would make you describe the result as a conditioned reflex?

3.  Describe the “spontaneous recovery” effect and the “rapid reacquisition” effect. What causes these effects to occur according to Pavlov and according to Bouton?  Who makes the stronger case and why?

4. Rescorla (1988) points to work by himself and by Kamin as changing the interpretation of Classical Conditioning. What was done? What was found? How did these results change our view of Classical Conditioning?

5. Choose a situation from your area of professional interest in which you could produce a classical conditioning effect. What event(s) would you choose to function as a UCS according to Pavlov vs Kamin? What would be a UCS that would discriminate between the approaches of Pavlov vs Kamin?

6. Choose a situation from your area of professional interest in which you could produce a classical conditioning effect. What events would likely be a strong CS, a medium-effect CS, and a weak CS according to a contingency analysis vs. a contiguity analysis?

7. Apply Siegel's conditioning model of addiction to the case of coffee drinking. (Assume that caffeine is the UCS.) How does he explain tolerance, craving, and withdrawal effects? What should be the effect of drinking decaffeinated coffee according to Siegel? What should be the effect according to Pavlov?

8. There are many potential CSs in the report about the woman who was addicted to Diet Coke. Three potential CSs are (a) being in the car, (b) seeing the McDonalds sign, and (c) seeing money when paying for the drink. How would Pavlov analyze the situation and what would be his answer about the relative strength of these stimuli? How would Rescorla analyze the three stimuli and what would be his answer?