Classical Conditioning

Author: Steven Player

Level/Subject: 11-12 Psychology

Overview:

The learner will be able to discuss and define various types of learning.

Purpose:

The learner will see the effect of classical conditioning in their everyday life.

Objectives:

The learner will be able to define classical conditioning and identify its four parts.

Resources:

none

Activities:

I. Cue-Set:

Have a student sit in a desk in the front of the classroom, facing the class. The teacher will stand behind the student with a yardstick in hand. The teacher will tap the desk three times then tap the student once on the head. The teacher does this three times, and on the fourth time taps the desk, but not the student's head. The class is able to see the student's reaction.

2. Classical Conditioning Experiment:

a) Students will pair up and decide who will be the subject and who will be the experimenter. The subject will sit and relax for 2 minutes. He will then take his pulse for 30 seconds, multiply by two, and record this as his "resting pulse."

b) The experimenter will tap a pencil five times on the desk and immediately have the subject stand up and hop on one leg for 30 seconds. He will take his pulse rate again, double it and record it as "Hop #1." This procedure will be repeated four more times, and data recorded each time.

c) Now the subject will sit and relax until his pulse returns to the initial resting pulse rate. The experimenter will then tap the pencil five times and the subject will take his pulse without having to hop. He will record the data.

Tying it all Together:

The students and teacher will then discuss the experiments and answer the question "What is classical conditioning?" and identify: unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, and conditioned response.