Psych: Classical Conditioning

According to psychologists, learning is

• memorizing facts.

• a relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience

• getting good grades.

• writing an essay.

Classical conditioning is a type of learning where a stimulus gains the power to cause a response.

• True

• False

A __________ is anything in the environment that one can respond to

• response

• stimulus

• axon

• neuron

A __________ is any behavior or action.

• stimulus

• neutral ion

• response

• axon

A neutral stimulus does not produce any response prior to conditioning.

• True

• False

Identify the unconditioned stimulus in the scenario:

Jim goes to the dentist to have a cavity filled. He hears the shrill sound of the drill, his muscles tense and he experiences pain as the dentist works on his teeth. After that experience, whenever Jim hears the sound of the drill, his muscles tense and he becomes anxious. 

• Hearing the sound of the drill

• Anxiety/ tense muscles

• Having Cavity filled

• The dentist

Identify the conditioned stimulus in the scenario:

Jim goes to the dentist to have a cavity filled. He hears the shrill sound of the drill, his muscles tense and he experiences pain as the dentist works on his teeth. After that experience, whenever Jim hears the sound of the drill, his muscles tense and he becomes anxious. 

• Having the cavity filled

• The dentist

• The sound of the drill

• Tense muscles / anxiety

Identify the conditioned response in the scenario:

Jim goes to the dentist to have a cavity filled. He hears the shrill sound of the drill, his muscles tense and he experiences pain as the dentist works on his teeth. After that experience, whenever Jim hears the sound of the drill, his muscles tense and he becomes anxious. 

• The anxiety / muscle tension in response to having a cavity filled

• The anxiety / muscle tension in response to the sound of the drill

• The anxiety / muscle tension in response to the dentist

• The dentist's frustration with his patients