Chapter 8Respondent Conditioning

Chapter Outline

Examples of Respondent ConditioningDefining Respondent ConditioningTiming of the Neutral Stimulus and the US

Trace ConditioningDelay ConditioningSimultaneous ConditioningBackward Conditioning

Higher-Order ConditioningConditioned Emotional ResponsesExtinction of Conditioned Responses

Spontaneous RecoveryDiscrimination and Generalization of Respondent BehaviorFactors that Influence Respondent Conditioning

The Nature of the US and the CSThe Temporal Relationship between the CS and the USContingency between the CS and the USThe Number of PairingsPrevious Exposure to the CS

Distinguishing Between Operant and Respondent ConditioningRespondent Conditioning and Behavior ModificationChapter SummaryPractice TestChapter 8, Quiz 1Chapter 8, Quiz 2Chapter 8, Quiz 3

Ideas for Class Activities

1. You can conduct an exercise in class in which you present an unconditioned stimulus to generate an unconditioned response and then pair a neutral stimulus with the US to demonstrate respondent conditioning. Borrow a starter’s pistol from your school’s track or cross country coach. This is a pistol that shoots blanks to start races. It does not fire a bullet but makes a very loud noise when fired. Show the pistol to the class and explain that it is harmless. Also tell the students that you will fire the pistol some time in class as part of a demonstration (if anyone in class objects, do not proceed with the demonstration). At some point without warning, raise the pistol suddenly and fire it while it is pointed up in the air. Have the students describe the bodily responses they are experiencing as a result of being startled by the loud noise. This is an unconditioned reflex (Loud noise elicits autonomic arousal as a startle response). A few minutes later fire the pistol again without warning. Have the class note their bodily response. The third time, raise the pistol as if to fire it but do not fire it. Have the students describe their bodily responses to the raised pistol. Many will report a startle response or autonomic arousal. The raised gun is neutral stimulus that was paired with the loud noise and should now elicit the same type of autonomic arousal in the students.

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2. Describe a variety of examples of respondent conditioning and have the students identify the US, UR, CS, and CR in the examples. Examples may involve simple conditioned responses such as an eye blink or more clinically relevant responses that involve anger, anxiety, or sexual arousal.

Answers to Practice Test Questions

1. US - unconditioned stimulus; UR - unconditioned response; CS - conditioned stimulus; CR - conditioned response.

2. An unconditioned stimulus (US) is one which elicits a response with no prior learning or conditioning. For example, bright light in the eye, painful stimulation to the body, and a loud noise are examples of unconditioned stimuli.

3. An unconditioned response (UR) is one which is elicited by an antecedent stimulus (a US) even though no conditioning has taken place. It is a natural reflexive action of the body that occurs when a US is present. For example, an eye blink in response to bright light, rapid withdrawal from a painful stimulus, and a startle reflex to a loud noise are examples of unconditioned responses.

4. A neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) by being paired with an unconditioned stimulus (the neutral stimulus and US are presented together). This process is called respondent conditioning.

5. The outcome of respondent conditioning is that the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) and elicits a conditioned response (CR) similar to the unconditioned response (UR).

6. In delay conditioning, the NS is presented and the US is then presented before the termination of the NS; Trace conditioning is similar to delay conditioning (the NS precedes the US) except that the presentation of the US does not overlap with the presentation of the NS; Simultaneous conditioning involves the simultaneous presentation of the NS and the US; Backward conditioning occurs when the US is presented prior to the NS.

7. In most cases of respondent conditioning, trace and delay conditioning, in which the CS is presented first, are most effective. Backward conditioning is least likely to result in respondent conditioning.

8. Higher order conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus is paired with an already established CS and the neutral stimulus becomes a CS. For example, a light precedes an electric shock delivered to a person, which elicits a UR of autonomic arousal. Later the light will be a CS and elicit autonomic arousal as a CR. Now, when a tone (neutral stimulus) is paired with the light, the tone becomes a CS elicits the same CR of autonomic arousal.

9. By pairing a neutral stimulus with one which elicits an emotional response (such as autonomic arousal), the neutral stimulus will come to elicit the emotional response, which thereby becomes a conditioned emotional response (CER). Examples are positive CERs are happiness, love, and excitement. Examples of negative CERs are fear, anger, disgust, and prejudice.

10. Respondent extinction involves the repeated presentation of the CS without presenting the US until the CS no longer elicited a CR. For example, if Pavlov continued to present the sound of the metronome (CS) but never paired the metronome with the delivery of meat powder (US), the dog would begin to salivate less and less to the sound of the metronome until the dog quit salivating altogether when it heard the metronome.

11. When the CS elicits the CR sometime later after extinction had taken place, spontaneous recovery has occurred. For example, when Pavlov presented the sound of the metronome repeatedly without putting meat powder in the dog’s mouth, eventually the dog quit salivating to the sound of the metronome. However, when Pavlov presented the metronome sometime later, the dog again salivated, although to a lesser extent than before extinction.

12. Taste aversion differs from other types of respondent conditioning in that the UR (nausea and vomiting) elicited by the US (tainted food) may occur many minutes after the occurrence of the NS (the taste of the food).

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Nonetheless, the taste of food becomes a CS that elicits nausea.

13. Discrimination develops in respondent conditioning in the following manner: When a particular stimulus (S1) is paired with the US, but similar stimuli (S2, S3, S4, etc.) are presented without the US, only S1 will elicit a CR. Consider the example of Madeline who is attacked by a German Shepherd. Every time she walks by the yard with the German Shepherd, the sight of the dog (CS) elicits autonomic arousal or a fear response (CR). However, when she walks past other houses with different dogs that are friendly, she does not have the fear response.

14. Generalization develops in respondent conditioning in the following manner: If S1 is paired with the US but similar stimuli (S2, S3, S4, etc.) are never presented in the absence of the US, the CR is more likely to generalize to these other stimuli. If Madeline was attacked by the German Shepherd but she never had encounters with friendly dogs, her fear response would be more likely to generalize to other dogs that are similar in some way to German Shepherds.

15. The following 5 factors influence respondent conditioning:(1) The nature of the US and CS. The intensity of a stimulus will influence the effectiveness of the

stimulus as a CS or a US. In general, a more intense stimulus will be more effective than a less intense stimulus as a US.

(2) Temporal relationship between the CS and US. For conditioning to be most effective, the CS should precede the US (as in delay and trace conditioning).

(3) Contingency between the CS and US. Contingency between the CS and US means that the CS and the US are presented together on every trial.

(4) Number of pairings. Although one pairing between a neutral stimulus and a US is often sufficient to establish the neutral stimulus as a CS, in general, more pairings of the CS and US produce stronger conditioning.

(5) Previous exposure to the CS. A stimulus will be less likely to become a CS when paired with a US if the individual has been exposed to that stimulus in the past without the US.

16. Public speaking is a situation which may produce increased autonomic arousal in the speaker (autonomic arousal is a respondent behavior elicited by the situation). As a result, the student might engage in operant behaviors, such as avoiding classes which require public speaking, the avoidance behaviors are then negatively reinforced. As a result, in the future the student is more likely to avoid classes in which public speaking is required.

17. By exposing the child to a number of “safe” dogs (the presence of the dog is not paired with barking, biting, or any other stimulus events which may elicit the autonomic arousal or behavior pattern labeled as “fear” in the child), the child’s fear of dogs will eventually be extinguished. In using positive reinforcement, the child could be praised, or another reinforcer could be delivered for gradually approaching the dog, petting the dog, playing with the dog, etc.

Answers to Quizzes

Quiz 11. respondent, operant 2. unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus 3. neutral stimulus 4. See Table 8.1 5. c 6. d 7. conditioned emotional response 8. conditioned response or CR 9. US=loud noise, UR=startle reflex, CS=raising the gun, CR= startle response 10. the nature of the US and CS, the temporal relationship between the US and CS, contingency between the US and CS, the number of pairings, previous exposure to the CS

Quiz 21. consequences, antecedents 2. unconditioned response, conditioned response 3. CR 4. see Table 8.2 5. a 6. b 7. fear, anxiety, anger, sadness, happiness, love 8. spontaneous recovery 9. precedes 10. startle response or autonomic arousal, running to mommy

Quiz 31. US, CS 2. US 3. it becomes a CS and elicits a CR 4. UR, US 5. CS (initially a neutral stimulus) 6. CR 7. respondent conditioning 8. CS 9. CS 10. US=lions roar, UR=startle response or autonomic arousal,

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CS=sight of the lion, CR= autonomic arousal

Test Questions

1. In behavior modification, operant conditioning involves the manipulation of ____________ and respondent conditioning involves the manipulation of ____________.

a) consequences ; antecedent stimulib) antecedent stimuli ; consequencesc) causes ; effectsd) effects ; causes

ANS: A

2. Responses that are elicited by antecedent stimuli without any conditioning or learning taking place are referred to as ____________ responses.

a) automaticb) uncontrolledc) conditionedd) unconditioned

ANS: D

3. Which of the following is NOT an example of an unconditioned response?a) an eye blink in response to a puff of air in the eyeb) pupil constriction due to bright light in the eyec) salivation in response to food in the mouthd) salivation in response to the sound of a dinner bell

ANS: D

4. Which of the following is NOT an example of a conditioned response?a) a positive emotional response when a man smells his girlfriend’s perfumeb) startle response in response to the sight of a gunc) fear response (autonomic arousal) when walking down a dark streetd) startle response in response to loud noise

ANS: D

5. Stimulation that is painful to the body is as example of a(n) ____________ stimulus.a) neutralb) conditioned c) unconditionedd) environmental

ANS: C

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6. If a neutral stimulus comes to elicit a response similar to the unconditioned response as a result of being paired with an unconditioned stimulus, ____________ conditioning has occurred.

a) respondentb) operantc) instrumentald) all of these

ANS: A

7. Another name for respondent conditioning isa) instrumental conditioningb) classical conditioningc) operant conditioningd) verbal conditioning

ANS: B

8. A response elicited by the conditioned stimulus is referred to as a(n) ____________ response.a) learnedb) conditionedc) unconditionedd) automatic

ANS: B

9. A previously neutral stimulus that is able to elicit a response similar to the unconditioned response as a result of being paired with an unconditioned stimulus is called a ____________ stimulus.

a) pairedb) secondaryc) dependentd) conditioned

ANS: D

10. When a neutral stimulus is paired with a CS, the neutral stimulus will become a CS and elicit a CR. This process is called.

a) spontaneous recoveryb) respondent extinctionc) higher-order conditioningd) operant-respondent interaction

ANS: C

11. The behavior that is elicited by the presence of an unconditioned or conditioned stimulus is referred to as __________ behavior.

a) respondentb) operantc) automaticd) learned

ANS: A

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12. What will happen if the CS is presented many times in the absence of the US?a) the CS will elicit a CRb) the CS will no longer elicit the CRc) The US will no longer elicit a URd) B and C

ANS: B

13. In behavior modification, who was the first person to demonstrate the process of respondent conditioning?a) Freudb) Watsonc) Pavlovd) Skinner

ANS: C

14. Which of the possible temporal relationships between the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus is least likely to be effective?

a) delay conditioningb) backward conditioningc) trace conditioningd) simultaneous conditioning

ANS: B

15. Which type of conditioning is it if the unconditioned stimulus is presented before the neutral stimulus ends?a) delayb) tracec) backwardd) concurrent

ANS: C

16. In which temporal relationship between the unconditioned stimulus and the neutral stimulus is the unconditioned stimulus presented after the neutral stimulus ends?

a) delay conditioningb) simultaneous conditioningc) trace conditioningd) backward conditioning

ANS: C

17. When the neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus are presented at the same time it is called ____________ conditioning.

a) traceb) simultaneousc) delayd) backward

ANS: B

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18. If the unconditioned stimulus is presented before the neutral stimulus it is referred to as ____________ conditioning.

a) backwardb) forwardc) delayd) trace

ANS: A

19. Which type(s) of respondent conditioning is(are) generally most effective?a) traceb) delayc) simultaneousd) A and B

ANS: D

20. When a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus due to pairing with an already established conditioned stimulus, it is called ____________ conditioning.

a) first-orderb) higher-orderc) operantd) instrumental

ANS: B

21. Which of the following is an example of a conditioned emotional response?a) fearb) angerc) happinessd) all of these

ANS: D

22. As a result of being paired with a loud noise, a flashing light has come to elicit a startle reflex. When the flashing light is repeatedly presented without the loud noise, the startle reflex eventually stops occurring. This process in which a conditioned stimulus is no longer able to elicit a conditioned response is referred to as:

a) respondent extinctionc) secondary conditioningb) operant extinctiond) reverse conditioning

ANS: A

23. Following extinction, a conditioned stimulus is presented and the conditioned response occurs. This process is referred to as:

a) backward conditioningb) reverse extinctionc) spontaneous recoveryd) reinforcement

ANS: C

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24. Which of the following can develop through the process of respondent conditioning?a) generalizationb) discriminationc) A and Bd) none of these

ANS: C

25. Which of the following factors does NOT influence the strength of respondent conditioning?a) temporal relationship between the NS and USb) contingency between the NS and USc) number of pairings of the NS and USd) formal relationship between the NS and US

ANS: D

26. The ____________ pairing of the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus has the single strongest effect on respondent conditioning.

a) initialb) finalc) secondd) next to last

ANS: A

27. Spontaneous recovery occurs whena) the behavior is no longer reinforcedb) a CS elicits a CR in the future after respondent extinction had taken placec) a neutral stimulus can elicit a CR after one pairing with a USd) the CS is no longer paired with the US

ANS: B

28. In order for respondent conditioning to be most effective, the neutral stimulus should occur ____________ the unconditioned stimulus occurs.

a) afterb) at the same timec) befored) more often than

ANS: C

29. In ____________ conditioning, a response is elicited by an antecedent stimulus, and conditioning involves the pairing of two stimuli.

a) operantb) respondentc) instrumentald) none of these

ANS: B

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30. In ____________ conditioning a response is emitted, and conditioning involves a contingency between the response and the consequence.

a) respondentb) classicalc) Pavloviand) operant

ANS: D

1. An unconditioned stimulus elicits a(n) .

ANS: UR; unconditioned response

2. Respondent conditioning occurs when a(n) is paired with a(n) .

ANS: neutral stimulus; US, unconditioned stimulus

3. As a result respondent conditioning, the becomes a conditioned stimulus and elicits a(n) .

ANS: neutral stimulus; CR, conditioned response

4. When a neutral stimulus (NS) is paired with an already established CS and the NS becomes a CS, this is called ..

ANS: higher-order conditioning

5. When Pavlov presented the sound of the metronome repeatedly without putting the meat powder in the dog’s mouth, the dog quit salivating to the metronome. What is this process? ___________________

ANS: respondent extinction

6. After respondent extinction occurred in which the dog no longer salivated to the sound of the metronome, later Pavlov presented the metronome and the dog began to salivate (to a lesser extent). This is called .

ANS: spontaneous recovery

7. For respondent conditioning to be most effective, the US should _____________ (precede / follow) the CS.

ANS: follow

8. Respondent conditioning is not likely to occur when the CS ______________ (precedes / follows) the US.

ANS: follows

9. _______________ is an example of a conditioned emotional response.

ANS: Fear; Anger; Happiness; Love

1 T F Unconditioned responses have survival value for the individual.

ANS: T

2. T F Ideally, the US should occur immediately before the onset of the CS.

ANS: F

3. T F Backward conditioning is most likely to result in respondent conditioning.

ANS: F

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4. T F During spontaneous recovery, the magnitude of the CR is usually smaller than the magnitude of the CR that occurred prior to extinction.

ANS: T

5. T F Respondent and operant behaviors cannot occur together in the same situation.

ANS: F

6. T F One pairing between a neutral stimulus and a US is often sufficient to establish the neutral stimulus as a CS.

ANS: T

7. T F CERs are always negative.

ANS: F

8. T F A neutral stimulus becomes a CS by being paired with a US.

ANS: T

9. T F In respondent extinction, the target behavior is no longer reinforced.

ANS: F

10. T F In respondent extinction, the CS occurs without the US and eventually the CS no longer elicits a CR.

ANS: T

11. T F A less intense stimulus will be a more effective US.

ANS: F

A. delay conditioning B. trace conditioning C. simultaneous conditioning D. backward conditioning

1. The CS precedes the US and the presentation of the US does not overlap with the presentation of the CS.

ANS: B

2. The US is presented prior to the CS.

ANS: D

3. The CS is presented and the US is then presented before the termination of the CS.

ANS: C

4. The CS and the US are presented at the same time.

ANS: A

1. Define respondent extinction.

ANS: Respondent extinction involves the repeated presentation of the CS without the presentation of the US.

2. In respondent conditioning, how is discrimination developed? How is generalization developed?

ANS: Discrimination develops in respondent condition in the following manner: When a particular stimulus (S1) is paired with the US, but similar stimuli (S2, S3, S4, etc.) are presented without the US, only S1 will elicit a CR. Generalization develops in respondent conditioning in the following manner: If S1 is paired with the US but similar stimuli (S2, S3, S4, etc.) are never presented in the absence of the US, the CR is more likely to generalize to these other stimuli.

3. List 5 factors that influence respondent conditioning.

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ANS: The following 5 factors influence respondent conditioning: a) the nature of the US and CS intensity; b) contingency between the CS and the US; c) previous exposure to the CS; d) temporal relationship between the CS and US; and e) number of pairings.

4. If Pavlov occasionally (1 out of 10 times) gave the dogs the meat powder following the sound of the metronome, the dogs would be more or less likely to salivate to the metronome.

ANS: Less

5. John is playing in the front yard when a big dog starts running and barking towards him. The dog attack makes John’s heart beat faster and John runs into the house to get away from the dog. Identify both the respondent and operant behaviors that occurred.

ANS: The respondent behavior is the autonomic arousal (heart beating faster). The operant behavior is running into the house.

6. Provide 3 examples of unconditioned responses (identify the US and UR in each example.

ANS: Three examples of unconditioned responding are as follows (see Table 8.1): a) eye blink (UR) in response to a bright light (US); b) rapid withdrawal (UR) from a painful stimulus (US); and c) startle reflex (UR) to a loud noise (US).

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