The 5 Principles of Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is demonstrably intuitive and practical, as we saw with the Burger King example earlier. But, to get it, you must understand the five key principles that make it work.

Classical conditioning starts with Acquisition, the phase where the conditioned stimulus starts to trigger the conditioned response. Even though this learning occurs through strong and repeated associations, the conditioned response can be unlearned gradually through Extinction. Extinction occurs when a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus, causing the conditioned response to fade away. During this phase, the conditioned response gradually reduces as the unconditioned stimulus is no longer followed by the conditioned stimulus. But, a second acquisition phase isn’t necessary to relearn the association. After extinction, a brief break where no learning happens allows the connection between the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus to recover. This break is called Spontaneous Recovery, where the conditioned stimulus begins to re-elicit the conditioned response. Remember that the conditioned response after spontaneous recovery isn’t as strong as before extinction, and extinction happens faster for the re-triggered conditioned stimulus.

Let’s examine how these three principles play out in our Burger King story.

In the initial acquisition phase, you pair Burger King (NS) with the Whopper (US). This association is made once Burger King (CS) makes you salivate (CR). Now, suppose you decide to join the gym and the first order of business is to cut down on junk food. You drive by the Burger King joint without going in every day, for a week. Gradually, as Burger King no longer signals the Whopper's arrival, the response of salivating at the thought of Burger King goes extinct. But alas, a week has passed and you finally have your first cheat day, and you know exactly what you want. You go to the joint and after having your first Whopper in a week, you realize that you can once again salivate at the mere thought of Burger King. The connection between the Whopper and Burger King has spontaneously recovered after a break following the extinction phase.

You remember that your friend Joseph loves burgers too. So you take him to try the Whopper and before he bites into it you inform him that it has light mayo instead of regular may which he prefers. After taking a bite, Joseph tells you that even though it tastes different to regular mayo, he still likes it! This ability to respond similarly to 2 stimuli resembling each other can be attributed to Stimulus Generalization, which is the tendency to respond to something similar to a conditioned stimulus without needing prior conditioning. 

After visiting Burger King so often, you have been completely won over and tell everyone about it. You even drag your Rachel to the local joint and suggest he get a Whopper, too. Unbeknownst to you, she despises pickles and doesn’t know the Whopper has them. She takes a bite, spits it out, and tells you about her pickle aversion. She begins to avoid the Whopper, and you finally notice that she has consistently avoided burgers with pickles on them. The pickles created an aversion, making her respond differently to burgers with pickles compared to those without. This differential response to similar stimuli is called Stimulus Discrimination. This kind of discrimination isn’t just about taste aversions; perceptions and preferences can also be attributed to it to a certain extent. You might know two very similar people, but their personalities help you recognize and interact with them differently. Maybe you prefer one to the other due to how they talk or present themselves. Additionally, a positive association with a certain colour might influence you to buy items only in that colour.

These five basic principles—Acquisition, Extinction, Spontaneous Recovery, Stimulus Generalization, and Stimulus Discrimination—are at the core of classical conditioning. You can understand any form of conditioning by breaking it down and looking at it through these five principles.

References: -

Stangor, C., & Walinga, J. (2014). Introduction to psychology – 1st Canadian edition. BCcampus.