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Classical conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus (CS) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US). Usually, the conditioned stimulus is a neutral stimulus (e.g., the sound of a tuning fork), the unconditioned stimulus is biologically potent (e.g., the taste of food) and the unconditioned response (UR) to the unconditioned stimulus is an unlearned reflex response (e.g., salivation).
Association in psychology refers to a mental connection between concepts, events, or mental states that usually stems from specific experiences. [1] Associations are seen throughout several schools of thought in psychology including behaviorism , associationism , psychoanalysis , social psychology , and structuralism .
The Rescorla–Wagner model ("R-W") is a model of classical conditioning, in which learning is conceptualized in terms of associations between conditioned (CS) and unconditioned (US) stimuli. A strong CS-US association means that the CS signals predict the US.
Two important processes for learning associations, and thus forming associative memories, are operant conditioning and classical conditioning.Operant conditioning refers to a type of learning where behavior is controlled by environmental factors that influence the behavior of the subject in subsequent instances of the stimuli.
In Kamin's blocking effect [1] the conditioning of an association between two stimuli, a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US) is impaired if, during the conditioning process, the CS is presented together with a second CS that has already been associated with the unconditioned stimulus.
For example, a rat first learns to press a lever through operant conditioning. Classical conditioning follows: in a series of trials the rat is exposed to a CS, often a light or a noise. Each CS is followed by the US, an electric shock. As an association between the CS and US develops, the rat slows or stops its lever pressing when the CS comes on.
Human contingency learning has its roots connected to classical conditioning; also referred to as Pavlovian conditioning after the Russian psychologist, Ivan Pavlov. [5] It is a type of learning through association where two stimuli are linked to create a new response in an animal or person. [3]
Some formal theories of learning incorporate a quantified form of the concept of association value. For example, in the Rescorla–Wagner model of classical conditioning, the parameter β, which expresses the capacity of the unconditional stimulus to support learning, is sometimes referred to as its association value. [11]