Classical Conditioning Essay

Total Length: 635 words ( 2 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 1+

Page 1 of 2

Classical Conditioning

The subject of conditioning is something that has been established and proven for quite some time. Many point solely or at least mainly to Pavlov's Dog. However, there is a litany of other examples and situations that can be identified as conditioning and thus are worthy of further review. Even though Pavlov will not be the focus in this report, Pavlov did set the tone for what was picked up by John Broadus Watson starting talking about behaviorism. While it might be possible to attribute too much behavior to classical and other types of conditioning, it is without a doubt that conditioning is what influences and causes a lot of what makes up human behavior in the world today.

Watson & Conditioning

Watson had some things to say that would be quite controversial today. Indeed, he said that he could take a dozen healthy infants and that, given the right upbringing and resources, could turn any of those babies into whatever he wished in terms of life and career outcomes such as doctor, lawyer, artist and so on. Watson noted that there were three stages that one could witness when it came to conditioning. There is a stimulus that can be applied to any random person.
For someone that is not yet conditioned, the stimulus will probably do nothing. However, if such the stimulus occurs after conditioning takes place, then a certain reaction or set of patterns of reaction would take place (McLeod, 2014).

The aforementioned Pavlov had his famous dog. However, he also had a conditioning experiment with humans called the Little Albert experiment. Albert was a nine-month-old infant and his reactions to certain stimuli were tested. He was shown a set of animals that included a rat, a rabbit, a monkey and a series of masks. At first, there was no fear or horror expressed by Albert as these animals or masks were shown to him. However, another thing that was tried was someone slamming a hammer on an iron bar just above Albert's head. Predictably, this alarmed Albert and made him cry. What then happened is that Albert was shown only the rat several times over seven weeks. Each of those seven times, the iron bar incident above was done as well. Each of those seven times, Albert would cry. After those seven times, Albert was shown the rat but without the bar being slammed.….....

Show More ⇣


     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


Related Essays

History of Psychology Annotated Bibliography

Clark, R. E. (2004). The classical origins of Pavlov's conditioning. Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science, 39(4), 279-294. Classical conditioning is the cornerstone of behaviorism. However, it is often taken for granted how classical conditioning was introduced to the field of psychology. This article starts with a brief section about the precursors of Pavlov’s famous dog salivation response experiments. The precursor to Pavlov was Twitmyer’s knee-jerk reflexes. Like Green (2009), Clark (2004) talks a little of William James and his contributions to the early evolution of psychology. Then, Clark (2004) delves into the meat of the matter: Pavlov’s experiments. Using dogs as subjects, the Russian scientist revolutionized the… Continue Reading...

Psychology Journal

5 readings are "language acquisition," "reading anxiety," and "classical conditioning." Language acquisition can essentially be defined as the process of acquiring the ability to comprehend and communicate in a certain language. For instance, children naturally acquire their first language through interaction with their surroundings -- family members, adults, school, the media, and forth. In essence, language acquisition is the process of learning a language. Learning a language means one becomes proficient in comprehending, speaking, reading, and writing in the language. For some learners, reading may cause anxiety. Reading anxiety denotes the nervousness caused by reading tasks. Often characterized… Continue Reading...

Self Management in Nursing

meaning and give it new application are the theories of classical conditioning developed by Pavlov (1927) and Skinner (1953). These two theories helped to lead the way to cognitive behavior theory, which was then developed into one of the leading psychoanalytic therapies today—cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT plays a part in behavior self-management in that the target behavior is identified by the patient with the assistance of the psych nurse and the patient is then given the tools and empowered to self-manage his or her own behavior in order to reach the target. Literature Review Databases Searched · PsycINFO ·… Continue Reading...

sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Classical Conditioning" (2015, March 21) Retrieved June 15, 2026, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/classical-conditioning-2149448

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Classical Conditioning" 21 March 2015. Web.15 June. 2026. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/classical-conditioning-2149448>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Classical Conditioning", 21 March 2015, Accessed.15 June. 2026,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/classical-conditioning-2149448