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Classical Conditioning
Background: Learning vs. Memory
First of all, you may find it interesting that “learning” and “memory” make up two different
chapters in the text, though the two terms seem very much related. In fact, “learning” and
“memory/cognition” are also usually taught as two separate classes and represent two fairly
distinct disciplines within psychology. One way to understand the distinction between the two is
to consider B.F. Skinner’s often quoted definition of learning, “a relatively permanent change in
behavior as the result of experience.” One basic difference between memory and learning is that
memory is not necessarily relatively permanent. In fact, sensory memory, by definition, lasts for
a few seconds at most. Second, note that the term “behavior” is an important part of Skinner’s
definition, with the clear implication that learning is something that is empirical, which can be
observed. On the other hand, most cognitive psychologists consider memory to be an abstract
construct, which can only be studied indirectly through empirical measures. It is also helpful to
consider the historical roots of these two sub-disciplines. Learning grew from the behaviorist
school, while the area of memory/cognition was the direct result of the cognitive school of
thought. As a result, these two areas share many of the characteristics of the historical
behaviorist and cognitive movements. As mentioned, those who study learning are more
concerned with observable measures, as opposed to unobservable constructs. Further, research
in learning often involves non-human animals as subjects, while cognitive/memory research
usually involves humans, or computer simulation. With these distinctions in mind, we now turn
our attention to the study of learning.
The Model
We will discuss the oldest (within the modern study of psychology) and, one of the most often
cited models of learning,
classical conditioning
. The researcher with which classical
conditioning is most often associated is
Ivan Pavlov
. In fact, classical conditioning is
sometimes referred to as “Pavlovian” conditioning. Pavlov was a Russian physician and
researcher who did a lot of important work studying the digestive system, for which he won a
Novel prize in 1904. He’s best known however, for his development of a model for describing a
basic non-conscious instinctual type of learning.
The “classic” classical conditioning experiment conducted by Pavlov goes as follows: A dog is
hooked to a mechanism that measures the amount that the dog salivates. A tone is sounded just
before a dog is given meat powder. This occurs several times. Eventually, conditioning occurs
in that the dog salivates just to the bell alone. Of course, the dog salivates instinctively in
response to the food, but “learns” to salivate to the sound of the bell, much as you might find
your mouth watering at the site, smell, or even memory of your favorite food. Pavlov used this
relatively simple experiment as a model for describing much of the automatic/nonconscious
learning that occurs in everyday life. In any case where you have “learned” to respond
automatically to some sort of stimulus with fear, joy, excitement, or anticipation you have
become classically conditioned. In fact, a basic characteristic of classical conditioning, in
comparison to another popular model, operant conditioning, is that the learning is automatic and
non-conscious. Pavlov identified four basic components in this classical conditioning model.