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Name ________________________________
Classical Conditioning
Directions: Read the passage below and ANNOTATE (Circle the UCS & UCR, Underline the CS, CR)
The "Little Albert" experiment was a famous psychology experiment conducted by behaviorist John B. Watson and
graduate student Rosalie Raynor. Previously, Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov had conducted experiments
demonstrating the conditioning process in dogs. Watson was interested in taking Pavlov's research further to show
that emotional reactions could be classically conditioned in people.
The participant in the experiment was a child that Watson and Raynor called "Albert B.", but is known popularly
today as Little Albert. Around the age of nine months, Watson and Raynor exposed the child to a series of stimuli
including a white rat, a rabbit, a monkey, masks and burning newspapers and observed the boy's reactions. The boy
initially showed no fear of any of the objects he was shown.
The next time Albert was exposed the rat, Watson made a loud noise by hitting a metal pipe with a hammer.
Naturally, the child began to cry after hearing the loud noise. After repeatedly pairing the white rat with the loud
noise, Albert began to cry simply after seeing the rat.
Watson and Raynor wrote:
"The instant the rat was shown, the baby began to cry. Almost instantly he turned sharply to the left, fell over on
[his] left side, raised himself on all fours and began to crawl away so rapidly that he was caught with difficulty
before reaching the edge of the table."
In addition to demonstrating that emotional responses could be conditioned in humans, Watson and Raynor also
observed that stimulus generalization had occurred. After conditioning, Albert feared not just the white rat, but a
wide variety of similar white objects as well. His fear included other furry objects including Raynor's fur coat and
Watson wearing a Santa Claus beard.
A.
B.
C.
D.
What is the Unconditioned Stimulus: ____________________________
What is the Unconditioned Response: ____________________________
What is the new Conditioned Stimulus: ____________________________
What is the new Conditioned Response: ____________________________
E. Looking at our definition of generalization, and reading the last paragraph. Did Little Albert experience
generalization when his new behavior was trained? If so what proof do you have?
F.
Look at your definition of extinction, being creative, what is one way that we could get rid of this
conditioned behavior towards rats?
Part 2 Independent Practice
1.
What is classical conditioning?
2.
What famous scientist first studied classical conditioning? __________________
Name ________________________________
3.
Define the following:
a. Extinction - ____________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
b. Discrimination - __________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
c. Generalization - __________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4.
A friend has learned to associate the sound of a dentist’s drill to a fearful reaction because of a painful
experience she had getting a root canal. In this example, what is the:
a. UCS? _____________________________________________b. UCR? _____________________________________________
c. CS? _______________________________________________
d. CR? ______________________________________________
(Hint: replace the word “conditioned” with “learned” and it will be easier.)
5.
Using the example in question 4, give an example of how each of the following may occur:
a. extinction - ___________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
b. spontaneous recovery - __________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
c. generalization - ________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
d. discrimination - __________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
For each of the following, identify the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR:
6. A BMW commercial has lots of pretty people in it. People who watch the commercial find the people
pleasing to look at. With repeated viewing, they begin to associate the car with the pleasant feeling.
a. UCS? _____________________________________________b. UCR? _____________________________________________
c. CS? _______________________________________________
d. CR? ______________________________________________
7. You get in a car accident and find you are afraid to get in a car.
a. UCS? _____________________________________________b. UCR? _____________________________________________
c. CS? _______________________________________________
d. CR? ______________________________________________
8. You go to a fancy restaurant and decide to try an appetizer you’ve never tried before – snails. After dinner,
you go to a concert and get violently ill. From then on, you can’t even look at snails without feeling sick.
a. UCS? _____________________________________________b. UCR? _____________________________________________
c. CS? _______________________________________________
d. CR? ______________________________________________
9.
You are cruising on 440 at 75 mph when you see flashing police lights behind you. You pull over and the
policeman gives you a ticket. You get in insane amounts of trouble from your parents. The next time you
see flashing police lights, your heart rate speeds up.
a. UCS? _____________________________________________b. UCR? _____________________________________________
c. CS? _______________________________________________
d. CR? ______________________________________________