Introduction Conditioning refers to the process whereby predictable response is made from neurological patterns that have been established through reinforcement. Classical conditioning also called Pavlovian conditioning is one of the most influential conditional theories in Psychology (Bergin &Bergin, 2012). It was put forward by the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov in the 20th century. It is based on the association between environmental stimulus and unlearned or naturally occurring stimulus. Classical conditioning can be used to explain my childhood fear for people dressed in nursing gear. There are four basic components of classical conditioning namely; unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus and condition response. Unconditioned stimulus refers to a naturally occurring or unlearned stimulus that is capable of evoking a response (Nevid, 2013). For instance, pain is unconditional stimulus that elicits crying. Unconditional response is a natural reflex or unlearned reaction to a stimulus. Crying is an example of unconditioned response. On the other hand, conditioned stimulus is a stimulus that elicits a response because of repeated pairing with unconditional stimulus. For instance, Mathematics can be paired with threats to invoke fear for the subjects. In this case, Mathematics becomes the conditioned stimulus triggering fear. On the other hand, conditioned response refers to a response invoked by conditioned stimulus. Pavlov discovered classical conditioning while studying digestive system processes. He observed that the dogs salivated in the presence of food. However, the same dogs also salivated in the presence of lab attendants. These strange observations made Pavlov conclude that the dogs salivated because of repeated pairing of food and the lab attendants. He used the term ‘psychic secretions’ to refer to the phenomena. He investigated the phenomena further through experiment commonly referred Pavlov’s experiment. In this experiment, Pavlov rang a bell and realized that the ringing bell did not trigger any response in dogs. He then rang the bell and immediately gave meat powder to the dogs. The sequence was conducted many times. Initially, the dog only salivated in the presence of meat powder but after repeated introduction of food and ringing bell, the dogs began to salivate when the bell was rang. Pavlov conditioned dogs to salivate when the bell was rung even if there was no meat powder (Miller, Stoeckel & Babcock, 2011). This behavior was reinforced through repeated exposure. The ringing bell is a neutral stimulus that does not elicit any response from dogs. Food is the unconditioned stimulus that elicits salivation which is unconditioned response. The repeated pairing of ring bell and food evoked salivation in dogs. Therefore, the ringing bell was a conditioned stimulus while salivation was a conditioned response. The unconditioned response, salivation, became conditioned response associated because its association with the conditioned stimulus, ringing bell. Watson and Rayner successfully applied classical conditioning to explain fear responses. They conducted an experiment using eleven month baby known as Albert B. Albert had no fear for white rat placed next to him. He even curiously reached out to the rat. However, the boy expressed signs of fear shrouding and crying when he heard a loud bang. Watson and Rayner, therefore, created a loud gong by hitting steel rods while placing the white rat near the boy. The sequence was done several times. After repeated exposure to both neutral and unconditioned stimulus Albert developed a fear response to rat in accordance to Watson and Rayner’s predictions (Levine & Munsch, 2011). Before conditioning Albert had no fear for white rat. Consequently, the white rat was a neutral stimulus. On the other hand, Albert just like other human beings expressed fear sign when he heard a loud gong. The loud gong was the unconditioned stimulus that evoked crying and shrouding that are unconditional responses. The repeated pairing of loud gong and white rat elicited fear in Albert. Thus, the white cat that was previously a neutral stimulus became the conditioned stimulus. The classical conditioning can used to explain my childhood fear people dressed in nursing gear. Initially, I had no fear for people dressed in nursing gear because this was a neutral stimulus. I had neighbors who were nurses and I did not cry or ran away upon seeing them. However, when I occasionally fell sick, my mother took me to a nearby hospital. While at the hospital, the nurses wearing nurse gear injected me on many occasions. The injection was very painful and often cried in the process. Consequently, I developed fear for people dressed in nursing gear because I associated them with pain. I would cry and attempt to run away anytime I sighted a person dressed in white dress and cap. Normally children do not cry when they see people putting on decent dresses. Consequently, such people are neutral stimuli. However, children cry when subjected to pain. Pain is the unconditioned response while crying is unconditioned stimulus. The repeated pairing of injection that created pain and people dressed in nursing gear evoked fear in me. This fear was manifested through crying. The people dressed in nursing gear become the conditioned stimulus while crying was conditioned the response. Although, the nurses at the hospital wore white dresses and caps, I soon developed fear for people Catholic nuns who had similar dresses though were not putting on similar caps. The fear for nuns can be explained by generalization principle of classical conditioning. Generalization is the process by which similar, but unrelated stimuli evokes the same response elicited by conditioned stimuli (Coon & Coon, 2006).Bottom of FormAs I became old, the injections were uncommon at the hospital. The nurses gave me tablets and liquid medicine to swallow. These drugs did not produce painful experiences. Consequently, the fear of people dressed in nursing gear faded away slowly due to extinction. In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that classical conditioning is very useful and widely applied learning theory. Conditioned stimuli can be used to shape behavior to achieved desired learning outcomes. Pavlov, Watson and Rayner have shown that repeated exposure of both neutral and unconditioned elicits desired response.
References
Bergin, C. A. C., & Bergin, D. A. (2012). Child and adolescent development in your classroom. Australia: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Coon, D., & Coon, D. (2006). Psychology: A modular approach to mind and behavior. Australia: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Levine, L. E., & Munsch, J. (2011). Child development: An active learning approach. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE.
Miller, M. A., Stoeckel, P. R., & Babcock, D. E. (2011). Client education: Theory and practice. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Nevid, J. S. (2013). Psychology: Concepts and applications. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
