Running head: CLASSICAL CONDITIONING PAPER

Classical Conditioning
Christan Langsfeld
PSY/390
August 26, 2013
Patty Anstatt

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING PAPER

Classical Conditioning
Learning has been described by behaviorism as a change in behavior due to the environment.
The use of classical conditioning became famous in because of its founder Ivan Pavlov. His
experiments with dogs salivating at the sight of food being conditioned to salivate at the sound of
a bell paved the way for researchers such as B.F. Skinner. For the understanding of classical
conditioning I will be using a scenario that involves teaching a horse how to back up using
classical conditioning.
Classical Conditioning Theory
Classical conditioning (discovered accidentally by Ivan Pavlov), who was a Russian
physiologist. Classical conditioning according to Pavlov is learning through acquired experiences.
Classical conditioning is a previously neutral stimulus causing a reflex to a physical response
(Olson & Hergenhahn, 2013). According to Olson and Hergenhahn while studying the digestive
system by observing dogs drool when food was presented Pavlov could predict other forms of
stimulation. Pavlov found that with the introduction of a bell that he could reproduce the reaction
of the dog to salivating with just a bell and no food needing to be present. He divided this process
into four components (2013).
The four components involved are, the unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned stimulus,
the unconditioned reflex, and the conditioned response. The unconditioned stimulus is anything
that causes a response without previous learning or conditioning. The unconditioned response is a
natural response to the unconditioned stimulus. The conditioned stimulus is learned and is not
created without prior conditioning. The last step in Pavlovs classical conditioning is the
conditioned response. This is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus (Olson &
Hergenhahn, 2013).

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING PAPER

Scenario
The scenario being used is training a horse to back up using a verbal cue. There are
different techniques that can be used to train a horse to back to a verbal cue but for the purpose of
this paper classical conditioning will be used. As explained by Training horses naturally.com
Classical conditioning refers to how a horse would make an association with a particular stimulus
to a behavior and then the presence of that stimulus would cause the behavior to be repeated
(Training Horses nd.). To start out we will look at the unconditioned stimulus. For this scenario
this stimulus will be the tapping of a crop to the front legs of the horse. Then the unconditioned
response or reflex is for the horse to back up away from the tapping. The conditioned stimulus
will be the verbal cue BACK and then the conditioned response will be for the horse to back up.
To begin the training a person would stand holding the lead rope in one hand and a crop in
the other. Then gently tap the horses front legs to observe the unconditioned response or reflex of
the horse backing away from the tapping. Then you would pair the unconditioned stimulus
(tapping) with the conditioned stimulus (verbal cue) by gently tapping the front legs of the horse
while saying the word BACK to observe the conditioned response of the horse backing. After a
pairing the conditioned stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus a few times the horse will soon
associate the verbal cue with backing and will back when the word is said. One important thing to
remember when training horses using classical conditioning is that they cannot hold a thought for
longer than a few seconds. When pairing the unconditioned stimulus with the conditioned stimulus
it needs to happen at the same time. If the tapping occurred and the horse backed up then the
verbal cue happened the horse may not correlate the two together.

Chart
Conditionedstimulus

NoResponse

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING PAPER

(verbalcue)
Conditionedstimulus
(verbalcue)
ConditionedStimulus
(verbalcue)

Unconditionedstimulus
(tapping)

Unconditionedresponse
(backingup)
Conditionedresponse
(backingup)

Conclusion
In conclusion classical conditioning is learning from experiences. In the wild horses
classically condition themselves all the time for survival. If a horse hears a bush rustling and a dog
pops out right away the horse will startle and run. The next time he hears a bush rustle he will run
right away rather than wait for the dog to jump out.

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING PAPER

5
References

Olson, M. H. & Hergenhahn, B. R. (2013). An introduction to theories of learning (9th

ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
(n.d.).Retrievedfromhttp://www.traininghorsesnaturally.com/classicalconditioning.html