Video Transcript: Classical Conditioning

Every morning, I get up and my cat comes into our bedroom, meowing, jumping  on the bed, purring and doing all kinds of funny things, trying to get my attention, as if to say, Hey, Dad, I'm hungry. I'm hungry, and that becomes a routine, but  sometimes I'll go downstairs into our basement and I'll see that the bowl that my  cat eats out of is empty. She's not around the moment. She's not trying to get  my attention. She's not trying to say, Dad, I'm hungry. But I grab a hold of that  bag of cat food, and I shake the cat food makes that shh, shh sound, the food  going up and down in the bag, and as that bag makes that sound, all of a  sudden, I see two eyes coming around the corner and her running down the  stairs because she heard the shh, shh, shh and thought to herself, ah, food. I'm  hungry. I want some that fish and chicken tasting food. I want some of that.  conditioning. Conditioning, maybe you have a dog like Ivan Pavlov had, and that dog, when he hears that noise, or hears you with that shh, shh with that bag of  dog food, and you have the big bowl for the dog, and the dog is, is, is, is he?  There are these cues and these noises, and begins to salivate and and he  knows he's about to eat, dig in and be satisfied. Conditioning. Our dog and our  cat. They hear the sounds of food, they hear the sounds of stimuli. They hear  the sounds that stimulate the brain and say, Aha, it's time to eat, even if, even if,  they may not be necessarily hungry, that shh, shh sound of the Food Bag tells  them otherwise, and they want it now, and they rush in where you are, by the  bowl and the bag, and you could put your or he, he or she, that dog or cat can  put its face into that food now. Gotta have it, because then I will be satisfied.  Well, Ivan Pavlov. He brings us into this area of psychology that has to do with  how stimuli stimulates the brain, outside forces, and that causes a desire, a  demand, and also one of our urges to be to be met, conditioning. We are  conditioned to respond to certain cues and triggers all around us. For example,  when we think about addiction and we think about how there are certain triggers and cues and signs that trigger our brain, and we got to have the drug of choice, because that's something we're attached to, like the cat food. We we need it. So we think, of course, with our pets, they do need the food, but then at times, do  they really need the food? At that time, they just think, oh, there's that that sign,  there's that cue, there's that that sound, there's that trigger, there's that that that  sense of rejection. There's that that person I just saw and reminded me of that,  that past event that was so traumatic. Ooh, I got I got it using the My drug of  choice. And sometimes our drug of choice may be food. You see, Ivan Pavlov  and his groundbreaking work and his time. Time helped us to understand and  really what the Scriptures say in the book of Proverbs. So often as everything  comes out of Scripture. We've been saying all the way along in this course,  psychology comes right out of Scripture. You can see it, you can read it and  experience it. Because psychology and the whole phenomena of conditioning  can be seen in the book of Proverbs, for instance, of course, as we read about a a kind word settles down to paraphrase, settles down a harsh comment, and 

other dynamics. So let's take a look at Pavlov. Let's take a look at what Pavlov  has to show us here about the term classical conditioning, because compared to Pavlov, will again to BF Skinner. We'll look at operant conditioning, which is  similar yet different. What was Pavlov teaching us? What did he learn with his  experiments? Was he? Pavlov? He came up with this term classical or  conditioning, called Classical conditioning, now, but it's that learning that occurs  when a neutral stimulus that is a tone, say from a horn or a car or perhaps of  something else, becomes associated with a stimulus that is food or drugs or  other things that naturally produces a behavior, a behavior. So we'll see this  again. Conditioning is learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus or tone  becomes associated with a stimulus or food that actually produces a behavior.  Now, Pavlov's experiment was with his dog. You may have heard about this from before, from people talking about it, and maybe you took a different class, and  this came up well for review. Conditioning goes like this. As you can see in the  top left corner, we have the dog before the conditioning. The food is there. It's an unconditioned stimulus. The dog sees the food, he begins to salivate. It's an  unconditioned response. And then the image just below that during conditioning, there is a a bell, plus the food. Now let's go back up to before conditioning food  and the response the dog sees food, but then the image next to that image is  the dog and the bell. There's no salvation. It's a neutral stimulus. As far as the  bell is concerned, no conditioned response. There's nothing really going on  there. The dog is just looking at looking at the bell. Of course, the dog is looking  at the food and begins to salivate because he can smell it. He knows what that  is. And you could almost make an argument that the dog smells it therefore he  salivates. That could be a form of conditioning, true. However, Pavlov was more  interested in in the tone of the bell. So during conditioning, the bell is associated  with the food, hence a response, yet is the unconditional response. So Pavlov is noticing, observing and learning that as a dog sees the food, there is salivation,  but then what about associating or the dog realizes that that the food with the  bell, the bell that is rung right by the food. There's some kind of connection. So  after a while doing this, a day came where he then rang the bell, only without the food being present, and the dog hears that tone, an unconditioned stimulus, a  conditioned response. Dog hears the bell. Dog begins to salivate, just like with  my cat. Shh, Shh, Shh. Hears the sound of the food, the dry cat food, going up  and down in the bag, making the noise and then knowing that, oh, if I that sound like none other in the house, means I can eat. I want that I'm going to behave in  a behavior in a manner of desire to go down and partake in the food my my dad  is now pouring into my bowl, Pavlov too the dog and the bell, the dog and the  bell, then, as you can see, became very well connected. That Bell became very  well connected with the food and the bowl, the bowl with the dog and so on. And so we look at these components of classical conditioning. First of all,  unconditioned stimulus. An unconditioned stimulus is something such as the 

food, which we saw in the image, that triggers a naturally occurring response.  And the unconditioned response is the naturally occurring response such as  salivation, that follows the unconditioned stimulus. In other words, the food  triggers a natural occurring response, and then the naturally occurring response  happens then where the dog begins to salivate and begins to desire the food.  But the food is an unconditioned stimulus. It is we do not need to condition that  stimuli. And so as the food becomes it is static. It's just there. However, it has a  smell to it. The real conditioning happens when the bell is rung and the dog  hears the bell as opposed to smelling the food. Then we know that the dog  begins to salivate and want to eat. So that's the unconditioned response, or  stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus. And so we go from the unconditioned  stimulus, which produces the unconditioned response, to a neutral stimulus that  produces no particular response to a conditioned response. And that's, again,  what we were seeing here in a flow chart here of what was going on with the  dog and the bell and the food and Pavlov was beginning to put two and two  together. Put all the components together, from the unconditioned stimulus now  to the conditioned stimulus. The conditioned stimulus, or CS for short, is a  neutral stimulus that, after being repeatedly presented prior to the unconditioned stimulus, evokes a similar response as the unconditioned stimulus. Let's take a  look more deeper into this, we have the higher order and second order  conditioning. We go back to our kitty cat here, not my cat, but a different cat.  And as you can see, the condition stimulus is the electric can opener, kind of like the bell, the food, of course, is the unconditioned stimulus. Salivation happens in the in the cat as an unconditioned response. But then we have, let's say we  have the squeaky cabinet door, the second orders, which is a second order  stimulus, first order, the higher order is the electric can opener. Now we have a  squeaky cabinet door associated with the electric can opener, which is  conditioned stimulus. The cat knows what that is, but let's say that we associate, we connect the condition stimulus, the electric can opener, with the squeaky  cabinet door and salvation happens with the cat, still with the camera for going,  and then you have the squeaky door cabinet, just like the dog and the bell.  Hence, instead of the bell, here we have the squeaky cabinet door. So every  time that cat hears the squeaky cabinet door, in this example, he or she begins  to think, and therefore respond by with salivation and also desire to eat, as  opposed to the electric can opener. So Pavlov was discovering, also proving, is  that there are other stimuli that can associate, associate with key stimuli, that  first high order stimuli, such that the cat or the dog will then hear that others.  tone and then associate in their brains with the food that they so love and  desire, stimuli, conditioning. Think about you, your own self, if you are driving  down the road, and you see that just a flashing sign on the on that road, or the  billboard as you're driving down the freeway, and that next exit, you don't smell  the food, you just see that the color, and you see the image on the on the 

Billboard. And then you begin to want that hamburger. You begin to want that  steak. You begin to want to stop for pancakes. Because, ooh, ah, color image,  pancakes. Yum, satisfied. Conditioned and unconditioned stimuli, Pavlov was on to something. He had a breakthrough. And what he had a breakthrough with  was this is that he began to discover that the brain begins to associate, the brain begins to learn, because with a conditioned response, as far as the  unconditioned response that it is in the acquired response to the formerly neutral stimulus. So the acquired response, the formerly neutral stimulus going back, is  that we see that the cat responds to that squeaky cabinet door. And so that  neutral stimulus, second order stimulus, as opposed to the condition stimulus,  brings a condition response. So then there's a term extinction. Extinction.  Extinction is the reduction in responding that occurs when a conditioned  stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus. What do  we mean? It means that there's adaptation, there's tolerance and adaptation  that begins to happen, and the things begin to become too familiar, and  something else that Pavlov was discovering as well. Then there's some another  component called spontaneous recovery, which is the increase responding to  the conditioned stimulus following a pause after extinction. So for example, let's  say that you stop doing the squeaky door with the cat, and that because the cat  has become too familiar. Oh, there's that squeaky door again. Oh, there's that  electric can opener. And after a while, that doesn't really become as much of a  of a stimulus that really evokes a response, cat becomes used to it. In other  words, that's where we get this whole understanding that we get used to things,  and we don't respond to things as we used to when things were fresh and new  and regular for a while. But at some point we can become, become used to it,  and it becomes ineffectual in terms of evoking a response from a stimulus. But  then there's a spontaneous recovery. Let's say you stop that stimulus. Let's say  you you pull back with a squeaky cabinet, or pull back with the electric can  opener, or the shaking of the of the food bag. Then you return to it after a while,  a good month or so, maybe, and then what happens is this. It's a spontaneous  recovery. Oh, I remember that. This is the increase in responding to the  conditioned signals following a pause after extinction, kind of like when I want  my coffee. Even seeing me a lot with my coffee mug, I often, we often, as a  family, buy whole bean coffee. Ooh, very good. Maybe you do too. And I put  those beans into the coffee grinder, and I press the button and makes the  sound. And when that sound goes off, it's like, ah. I can't wait to get it into that  coffee maker, get the water flowing, get it hot and get it smelling good, that  Kenyan coffee, or that, that, that Kona blend or, or maybe it's the Ethiopian  blend, whichever, it's amazing. Ooh, and the olfactories, the brain says, yes,  now you're talking. But even before I say, I taste this thing, ah, yes. When I hear  that of the grinding, my brains are already salivating, if you will, and begin to put  a desire in my in my mouth, saying I've got to taste it. Let's say I get too used to 

that, that grinding sound of the beans, that grinding sound the beans. This does  not. It's like, it's just routine. Well, then I, let's say I stopped grinding the beans  for a while, and and let's say that I buy, I stopped buying beans for that, that very reason, it's just becoming routine, regular. And I go ahead and I buy the store  brand coffee already, ground in a big tub and put it in my cupboard. Well, then  month later, because they buy some whole bean coffee, again, I do, and I get  out the bean grinder, get that bag of beans start, even the sound of the beans  all, all, all of a sudden, you know, your mind begins to get, get ahead of yourself. And do you want to have that coffee now? Now, now, and the grinding, ooh,  can't wait, because the brain is then stimulated to say, I want that taste of that  great coffee. Spontaneous recovery and spontaneous recovery is that increase  in responding to that stimulus, condition stimulus, following a pause after  extinction, generalization. Generalization is that tendency to respond to stimuli  that resemble the original conditioned stimulus. So we begin to put things  together in our minds, where we get to to put it in groups and and how  something with some stimuli, that something I become unique because it stands out, kind of like that, that unique mug I never I had this mug for I never had A  Yeti mug before. I was having the ceramic mugs and some other plastic mugs,  but I didn't like them too well. But once I got this Yeti mug, it stood out, unique,  and I began to realize how is insulated and and I could have that coffee in there. Stayed hot, fresh. What a great invention. But then I put it in my cupboard with  my other mugs, and I begin to generalize this unique mug, this great mug with  all the others. So your mind begins to generalize, just like how we generalize  ideas and generalize experiences Yeah, I've been overseas many times. Oh  yes, I I fly regularly. And I have seen from my own experience, I fly almost now  with covid. Of course, have not been able to, but every year I would fly to Asia  and back, look forward to that, that layover in in the Middle East, and then off to  Asia from there. Well, with that experience, I begin to generalize the experience  of flying 13 hours straight and then flying another eight hours from there. My first time and second time doing it, it was like, Oh, this is, this is this is a bit. This is  exciting. It's adventurous. I can do this, but after a while, we begin to generalize  the experience. Okay, I understand what that is. Hence how the brain processes this Pavlov was was beginning to note, to mark that so as Pavlov was putting us all together, just helping us to learn how our minds, our brains are conditioned to respond to certain stimuli and therefore evoke certain behaviors. From  generalization we go to discrimination. Discrimination, the tendency to respond  to stimuli that resemble the original condition stimulus. I'll repeat the tendency to respond to stimuli that resemble the original condition stimulus. And so what we  begin to do is we begin to discriminate. Oh, okay, if that stimulus as opposed to  that stimulus, it is that sound of the coffee bean, coffee beans being grinded, as  opposed to the shh, shh sound of the food in the food bag and perhaps, or a  food, again, in our cereal bag, that we tend to eat for breakfast because you 

have cereal and coffee. Cereal evokes one stimulus, one response that is from  that stimulus, the coffee beans grinding them evokes a different response from  that stimulus. I get to drink that great coffee. I get to eat that great cereal  because I enjoy the taste, and I've been to discriminate, to differentiate. That is  to sort out each one in my mind, and there are different responses to based on  the different stimuli. Discrimination so from discrimination, we then go to second  order conditioning. A second order conditioning is an existing conditioned  stimulus that could serve as an unconditioned stimulus for a pairing with a new  conditioned stimulus. I'll say it again. An existing conditioned stimulus can serve  as an unconditioned stimulus, for appearing with a new conditioned stimulus.  Let's take a look at what that means. Stimulus generalization. We look at after  stimulus has been conditioned to produce a particular response. Stimuli that are  similar to the original stimulus can produce the same response. The greater the  similarity between two stimuli, the greater the likelihood that stimulus  generalization will occur. And this is what we were talking about earlier. And so  we have these different stimuli. We have first order, we have second order, we  have discrimination, we have generalization stimuli, and we then go through  these things such that what we are then understanding is that there are different  things that cause different responses within our minds and also our behaviors.  Let me give you two other examples that give us understanding of how this also  works, not only about coffee and cereal, but also about how we fight and how  we flight, what we fear as well as what we welcome, but also how we respond to trauma and also maybe other things. So what comes to these other examples?  Think about too, how people that you work with, how they respond based on  different stimuli you have, the abused wife that you're counseling in your  ministry. Perhaps you're then looking at, of course, helping that the young kid in  the student ministry the youth group, and he is, he's depressed, and he's going  through a lot of adolescent change and up and down, whoever it may be, there  are different stimuli. Again, as we were learning from Kohlberg and Fowler, there are different stages in physical, emotional, mental and also spiritual  development. Take all that together and then bring that together now with  stimuli, stimuli, then that then produces behavior. Well, there are times when we  then have certain stimuli that cause certain fears, phobias. And just tell this mind map here, this word association, fear. Phobia be trapped or terror or danger,  fear about being around the spider, germs we fight, or other things, a phobia is a strong and irrational fear of a specific object, activity or situation, perhaps that is  that fear of spiders, arachnophobia or or agoraphobia, or all these other  phobias, These different fears of people, places and things, fear. Because there  are cues and triggers and signs stimuli that are there, like that crowded elevator, for example, and there's claustrophobia, that fear of being in that enclosed  space and seeing how the limits are within the space and how that produces a  response in you of fear, saying, I'm not going to go in. There you go, or that 

spider that runs across the room and you are freaking out, obviously you have  these unconditioned stimuli producing a conditioned response. But also we then  look at another thing, another fear, a response to trauma, and that is fear that  comes through PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to a traumatic  experience. That's where we get into the whole area of mental health we look at, of course, you see these other words here, stress, insomnia, irritability,  flashbacks, amnesia, mental health, of course, which is generic, looking at all  things development of things being mental health, but also survivor needing  support because of the memories of the violence and and on these other things. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop  over after exposure to a fearful event, such as the threat of death. You see when we look at PTSD, it brings us to those things and events and people, things  where that have have caused us stress and causes anxiety, and also that  stimulus and response we where we've been conditioned. And often people  come to you in your ministry saying, I need to get through this. I was in the war. I get through this abusive situation and all the examples from there, they need  someone to walk with them, come alongside them, not fix them, but come  alongside them. In another video to come, we're talking about personality  disorders, how to understand them, what they mean, how they work, and how to help biblically, responsibly and also ethically. My hope is that as you learn about  classical conditioning today, that Pavlov has inspired you and also helped you to understand not only about how stimuli evoke responses and behavior, but also  how we learn because of this form of psychology.