The curve of acquisition

In classical conditioning, the initial period of learning is known as acquisition, when an organism learns to connect a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus.

During acquisition, the neutral stimulus begins to elicit the conditioned response, and eventually the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus capable of eliciting the conditioned response by itself. Timing is important for conditioning to occur.

Typically, there should only be a brief interval between presentation of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus. Depending on what is being conditioned, sometimes this interval is as little as five seconds. However, with other types of conditioning, the interval can be up to several hours.

Taste aversion

Taste aversion is a type of conditioning in which an interval of several hours may pass between the conditioned stimulus (something ingested) and the unconditioned stimulus (poison or bacteria entering the digestive system) which causes the unconditioned response (nausea or illness).

Chicken curry

Between classes, two students grab a quick lunch from a food cart on campus. One orders a dish of chicken curry and then go to their next class. A few hours later, the student who ate the curry feels nauseous and becomes ill. Although they've eaten chicken curry many times before without becoming unwell. The dish itself is not the culprit, just the way it was prepared on this occasion. They've developed a taste aversion.

The next time the student is at a restaurant and someone orders curry, they immediately feel ill. While the chicken dish is not what made them sick, they've been conditioned to be averse to a food after a single, negative experience.

How does this occur?

Conditioning based on a single instance and involving an extended time lapse between the event and the negative stimulus? Research into taste aversion suggests that this response may be an evolutionary adaptation designed to help organisms quickly learn to avoid harmful foods.

Not only may this contribute to species survival via natural selection, but it may also help us develop strategies for challenges such as helping cancer patients through the nausea induced by certain treatments.

Once we have established the connection between the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned stimulus, how do we break that connection and get the dog, cat, or child to stop responding?

Remember the cat, Tiger?

In the section of this course we used a cat called 'Tiger', a special can opener and a squeaky cabinet to demonstrate conditioning.

In Tiger's case, imagine what would happen if you stopped using the special can opener for its food and began to use it only for human food. Now, Tiger would hear the can opener, but it would not get food.

In classical conditioning terms, you would be giving the conditioned stimulus, but not the unconditioned stimulus. Pavlov explored this scenario in his experiments with dogs: sounding the tone without giving the dogs the meat powder. Soon the dogs stopped responding to the tone.

Extinction

Extinction is the decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented with the conditioned stimulus. When presented with the conditioned stimulus alone, the dog, cat, or other organism would show a weaker and weaker response, and finally no response.

In classical conditioning terms, there is a gradual weakening and disappearance of the conditioned response.

What happens when learning is not used for a while—when what was learned lies dormant? In his experiments, Pavlov found that when he repeatedly presented the bell (conditioned stimulus) without the meat powder (unconditioned stimulus), extinction occurred; the dogs stopped salivating to the bell.

However, after a couple of hours of resting from this extinction training, the dogs again began to salivate when Pavlov rang the bell.

Spontaneous recovery

What do you think would happen with Tiger's behaviour if your special can opener broke, and you did not use it for several months? When you finally got it fixed and started using it to open Tiger's food again, Tiger would remember the association between the can opener and its food. Tiger would get excited and run to the kitchen when it heard the sound.

The behaviour of Pavlov's dogs and Tiger illustrates a concept Pavlov called spontaneous recovery: the return of a previously extinguished conditioned response following a rest period.

The following diagram shows the curve of acquisition, extinction, and spontaneous recovery.

The rising curve shows the conditioned response quickly getting stronger through the repeated pairing of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus (acquisition). Then the curve decreases, which shows how the conditioned response weakens when only the conditioned stimulus is presented (extinction). After a break or pause from conditioning, the conditioned response reappears (spontaneous recovery).

Applying the curve to humans

These processes also apply in humans. For example, let's say that every day when you walk to campus, an ice cream truck passes your route. Day after day, you hear the truck's music (neutral stimulus), so you finally stop and purchase a chocolate ice cream.

You take a bite (unconditioned stimulus) and then your mouth waters (unconditioned response). This initial period of learning is known as acquisition, when you begin to connect the neutral stimulus (the sound of the truck) and the unconditioned stimulus (the taste of the chocolate ice cream in your mouth).

During acquisition, the conditioned response gets stronger and stronger through repeated pairings of the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus. Several days (and ice creams) later, you notice that your mouth begins to water (conditioned response) as soon as you hear the truck's musical jingle—even before you bite into the ice cream bar. Then one day you head down the street. You hear the truck's music (conditioned stimulus), and your mouth waters (conditioned response). However, when you get to the truck, you discover that they are all out of ice cream. You leave disappointed.

The next few days you pass by the truck and hear the music, but don't stop to get an ice cream bar because you're running late for class. You begin to salivate less and less when you hear the music, until by the end of the week, your mouth no longer waters when you hear the tune. This illustrates extinction.

The conditioned response weakens when only the conditioned stimulus (the sound of the truck) is presented, without being followed by the unconditioned stimulus (chocolate ice cream in the mouth). Then the weekend comes. You don't have to go to class, so you don't pass the truck.

Monday morning arrives and you take your usual route to campus. You round the corner and hear the truck again. What do you think happens? Your mouth begins to water again. Why? After a break from conditioning, the conditioned response reappears, which indicates spontaneous recovery.

What are stimulus discrimination and stimulus generalisation?

Acquisition and extinction involve the strengthening and weakening, respectively, of a learned association. Two other learning processes, stimulus discrimination and stimulus generalisation are involved in distinguishing which stimuli will trigger the learned association.

Animals (including humans) need to distinguish between stimuli. For example, between sounds that predict a threatening event and sounds that do not, so that they can respond appropriately (such as running away if the sound is threatening).

When an organism learns to respond differently to various stimuli that are similar, it is called stimulus discrimination.

In classical conditioning terms, the organism demonstrates the conditioned response only to the conditioned stimulus. Pavlov's dogs discriminated between the basic tone that sounded before they were fed and other tones (e.g., the doorbell), because the other sounds did not predict the arrival of food.

Similarly, Tiger, the cat in the section of this course, could discriminate between the sound of the can opener and the sound of the electric mixer. When the electric mixer is going, Tiger recognises that it's not about to be fed, so it does not come running to the kitchen looking for food.

On the other hand, when an organism demonstrates the conditioned response to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus, it is called stimulus generalisation, the opposite of stimulus discrimination.

The more similar a stimulus is to the conditioned stimulus, the more likely the organism is to give the conditioned response. For instance, if the electric mixer sounds very similar to the can opener, Tiger may come running after hearing its sound. If you do not feed her following the electric mixer sound, and you continue to feed her consistently after the can opener sound, she will quickly learn to discriminate between the two sounds (provided they are sufficiently dissimilar that she can tell them apart).

Habituation

Sometimes, classical conditioning can lead to habituation. Habituation occurs when we learn not to respond to a stimulus that is presented repeatedly without change.

As the stimulus occurs over and over, we learn not to focus our attention on it. For example, imagine that your neighbour or roommate constantly has the television blaring. This background noise is distracting and makes it difficult for you to focus when you're studying.

However, over time, you become accustomed to the stimulus of the television noise, and eventually you hardly notice it any longer.