Classic Conditioning

Definitions:

Classical conditioning: learning in which a stimulus that does not elicit a given response is repeatedly linked with one that does until the neutral stimulus elicits the response by itself.

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): agent that leads to a response without training.
Unconditioned response (UCR): automatic response to a ucs.
Neutral stimulus (NS): agent that initially has no effect.
Conditioned stimulus (CS): a former ns that comes to elicit a given response after pairing with a ucs.
Conditioned response (CR): a learned response to a cs.

Directions:

Identify the ucs/ucr/ns/cs/cr in the following situations.

Helpful Hints:

Look for the UCR first, UCS next. The NS always becomes the CS.

The young child who reaches out to pet a barking dog is bitten by the dog and cries. Every time she hears a dog bark, she whimpers.

UCR:

UCS:

NS:

CS:

CR:

A boy is fond of sour pickles, which make his mouth water whenever he eats them. He passes an open vat of pickles in the supermarket and begins to salivate.

UCR:

UCS:

NS:

CS:

CR:

A boy who is trained in karate often practices by throwing mock punches at his sister. One day, he accidentally hits her in the eye and hurts her. From that day on, every time he raises his hands, his sister blinks.

UCR:

UCS:

NS:

CS:

CR:

When they were going together, a guy and his former girlfriend had a favorite record album which they frequently listened to together. Although they broke up over a year ago, whenever he hears a song from that album, a wave of bittersweet sadness comes over him.