Classical Conditioning Theory Research Articles

Perception, binocular fusion, and an image theory of classical conditioning.

According to an image theory of classical conditioning and a theory of images, after viewing a visual complex consisting of S1 and S2, focusing on S1 should lead to two types of temporary brain events (Ts), Ta1, produced directly by receptor stimulation, and Ts2, produced through learning by way of S1. It is assumed that in everyday perception Ts1 and Ts2 combine by a binocular-fusion-like process. This idea makes sense, partly because both in everyday perception and in binocular fusion Ts1 and Ts2 appear to combine to yield a report of a single, composite, smoothly integrated whole. The present proposal is compared to Hebb's and Konorski's views of perception.

A theoretical and empirical integration of the rational-emotive and classical conditioning theories.

A theoretical and empirical integration of the rational-emotive and classical conditioning theories.

An image theory of classical conditioning.

It is proposed that the CR results from a CS-produced image of the UCS. This hypothesis makes sense, e.g., for salivary conditioning, the CS produces an image of food and salivation therefore occurs, just as salivation occurs when we imagine food. The theory is supported by the finding that image-produced responses are similar to the ones produced by real stimuli, evidence which has been neglected by learning theorists. The proposed explanations of many of the basic findings in classical conditioning are described. The theory is feasible neurophysiologically and can be tested with the use of the hypothesis that a positive association exists between vividness of imagery and image-produced response strength. Its relation to other theories of classical conditioning is discussed.

Pavlovian conditioning of drug reactions: some implications for problems of drug addiction.

This paper reviews the classical conditioning of drug reactions, with special emphasis on the relationship of this phenomenon to drug addiction. Several aspects of drug addiction such as drug craving, high relapse tendencies, and the recurrence of withdrawal symptoms are reviewed and interpreted in light of classical conditioning theory and data. A theory is proposed that attempts to account for various aspects of the addictive process. The implications and empirical methods for testing this theory are outlined.

Effects of foreperiod interval upon reaction time, alpha blocking, and heart rate under variable conditions with reduced learning factors

The present experiment was to investigate the effects of foreperiod interval upon reaction time (RT), alpha blocking, and heart rate (HR) under conditions in which learning factors and conditional probability were minimized. Twenty college students were given a series of 44 randomized foreperiod intervals (0–30 sec). The fastest RT was obtained at 0.6 sec foreperiod. Alpha blocking provided the same trend as that of RT, showing that the 0.6 sec foreperiod yielded the largest alpha blocking. Positive correlation was observed between the speed of RT and alpha blocking ( r = 0.56, p<0.001). HR curve was different from those of RT and alpha blocking. No significant correlation was obtained between RT and HR. The results were discussed, particularly, in terms of the theory of classical conditioning.

Subjective, attitudinal and physiological effects of electrical aversion therapy

In an attempt to clarify some of the theoretical problems of electrical aversion therapy, two investigations were conducted. In the first, 16 patients were asked for their subjective experiences of the treatment. Contrary to expectation, the major changes were those of repulsion or indifference and not of anxiety. The treatment was well-tolerated and followed by few unwanted effects. In the second study, 10 alcoholics who received aversion were compared with 8 who did not. No evidence of conditioned cardiac or skin resistance changes was found post-treatment. The successful cases, regardless of type of treatment given, showed a significant heart rate sensitivity to alcoholic stimuli. The aversion subjects found alcoholic stimuli distasteful after treatment but this change was not related to clinical outcome. The results pose problems for classical conditioning theory.

Heart-rate conditioning in rats as a function of interstimulus interval.

Classical aversive conditioning of heart rate in rats was studied using a 2 × 6 factorial design involving comparisons of trace and delayed conditioning procedures and six CS-US intervals (.0, .1, .3, .5, 1.0, and 6.0 sec.). Positive evidence of decelerative HR CRs was obtained at the .5, 1.0 and 6.0 ISIs, with maximum conditioning occurring at the 6.0 value. The results supported a modified version of the temporal gradient of reinforcement theory of classical conditioning. Problems relating to the separation of true CRs from nonassociative reactions to the CS were also discussed.

Cardiovascular generalization and differentiation: the relationship between heart rate and blood pressure.

The present study was designed to study generalization and differentiation and to check the relation between heart rate and blood pressure in cardiovascular conditioning. Five naive mongrel dogs were presented with 10 sec 1000 cps tone regularly reinforced with 0.5-sec shock to a left foreleg. Four other 10-sec tones (600, 800, 1200, 1400 cps), never reinforced, were administered in a randomized and counterbalanced fashion using a differential reinforcing technique. The response measures were heart rate and three indices of blood pressure,i.e., systolic, diastolic, and pulse pressures.“Initial response” of heart rate showed rapid tachycardia to all tones, with no generalization and differentiation among five tones.“Terminal response” clearly indicated generalization gradients that tachycardia to 800 and 1200 cps tones were higher than those to 600 and 1400 cps tones, respectively. Some differences were noted among systolic, diastolic, and pulse pressures, with pulse pressure showing a trend of generalization and differentiation in the“initial response.” No statistical difference, however, was obtained in blood pressure scores. Beat-by-beat analyses of correlations between heart rate and diastolic blood pressure showed that the correlations successively decreased during the“terminal response.” Overall correlations between heart rate and three indices of blood pressure were obtained, with the highest correlation between heart rate and pulse pressure. Considering the above results in relation to the classical conditioning theory, it was tentatively concluded that“initial response” includes non-conditional factors, while“terminal response” reflects mainly a true conditional response, particularly, at a long CS-US interval. This interpretation leads to the hypothesis that conditional response with a short CS-US interval may attain better conditioning scores in terms of the summation effect between a non-conditional factor and a true conditional factor.

Conditioned suppression with no CS-US contingency in the rat.

ess were presented to rats licking sucrose after one of several off-the-baseline Pavlovian defense conditioning procedures. Two random procedures in which there was no cs-us contingency were constructed by programming ess and uss on independent random schedules which had either a long or a short variable inter-cs interval (vrn). Because the cs took up more of the session in the short vrn procedure, it contained more cs-us pairings and produced cs-elicited suppression of ticking. Suppression occurred with neither the long vrn group nor with shock alone controls. Conditioning was all-or-none after both classical and random procedures. ACCORDING TO THE CONTINGENCY THEORY of classical conditioning, excit

A theory of classical conditioning.

A theory of classical conditioning.