Classical Conditioning
I really enjoyed learning about classical conditioning. I am
a dog lover and it fascinated me how dogs were used in these experiments.
Pavlov was a prominent figure in psychology and he did research that was
focused on classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is a form of learning
where animals or humans make a connection between two stimuli. These stimuli
occur together and one can predict the other. Pavlov used the salivation in
dogs to identify the stimuli. He found a neutral stimulus which was a bell and then
used food to get a salivation response from dog. I think it is amazing how
Pavlov figured the conditioning response and how it relates to the learning response.
The dog in the experiment related the bell with the food when it was placed in
front of him several times and the bell by itself began to get the same
response salivation later in the study.
The bell changes from a neutral stimulus to a conditioned
stimulus after the dog related the sound of the bell with food.
We display classical conditioning when we respond to a
stimulus such as when we smell or hear a sound that relates to something we
enjoy. An example for me is when I smell bread or cookies baking or see someone eating a cookie my mouth
waters. Even if I am not hungry for cookies or bread, the stimulus to my senses gives me
this response.
Classical conditioning is important in medicine because of
the placebo effect. Medically inactive pills have been given to patients and
somehow have a positive effect when the patients believe that the pill have
active ingredients. A research study was done with an ointment to treat
psoriasis with medically active ingredients and a non-medically reactive
ingredient. The first group had a 78%
improvement with the medically active ingredient and the second group with no active ingredient had a 73%
improvement. It is fascinating to me how the brain works and how placebo
medication caused a response similar to the medicated ointment.
Reference:
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I liked the example you share about Medically inactive pills, and how its effect is valued by the people who take them, because they think they are receiving active medications. Although this could be a way of lying to patients, which affects medical professional ethics, their practice has become common. It is interesting as the use of these pills that do not cause a physiological effect in the human body, these cause a conditional effect that favors the patient's recovery making them feel better and show a reduction in symptoms. Thanks Cindy for your post!
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