Behaviorism and Social
Learning
Both the behaviorist and social learning theories came about during the 20th century. The behaviorist theory focuses on the importance of human actions rather than their thought processes. The social learning theory states that our thinking, behaviors, and attitudes are a result of the things that we learn from our society/environment. Both theories include a multitude of concepts and theorists but this section will only cover Ivan Pavlov and his concept of classical conditioning.
Ivan Pavlov
Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who developed "classical conditioning" in 1904. Classical conditioning is the act of using a stimuli to create and involuntary response in a subject. Pavlov's experiments with dogs helped us to better understand the principles of classical conditioning.
Classical Conditioning: Pavlov's Dogs
Ivan Pavlov proved that through the use of classical conditioning, you could cause dogs to salivate at just the sound of a bell. Pavlov did this by performing an experiment which included 3 phases; The preconditioning phase, the conditioning phase, and the post conditioning phase.
During the preconditioning phase, there is an unconditioned stimulus and an unconditioned response. An undconditioned stimulus is something that naturally causes a certain reaction (response) in a subject. The reaction does not have to be taught or conditioned which is what makes it an unconditioned response. In Pavlov's experiments, the dogs unconditioned stimulus was meat and their unconditioned response was salivating.
Next comes the conditioning phase. During this phase, a neutral stimulus (a stimulus that causes no response in the subject) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus. Pavlov's neutral stimulus in his experiment was a bell that he would ring every time he presented meat to the dogs. Pavlov continued to do this over and over again until the post conditioning phase.
During the post conditioning phase, since the dog had been so used to receiving meat at the sound of the bell, the dog would salivate when the bell rang and no meat was given. The bell became the conditioned stimulus and the salivation at the sound of it became the dog's conditioned response. These stimuli and responses are considered "conditioned" because they had to be taught to the animals.
Preconditioning Phase
Conditioning Phase
Post Conditioning Phase
Stimulus Generalization
Stimulus generalization refers to the subject having the conditioned response to something that is very similar to the conditioned stimulus but not the same. For example, in Pavlov's experiments, a doorbell could have made the dogs begin to salivate because it sounds just like the bell to them.
Stimulus Discrimination
Stimulus discrimination refers to the ability of the subject to discriminate between the actual stimuli and similar things. An example would be when the dogs in Pavlov's experiment see that there is no meat presented after the door bell rings, and they realize that it is not the same sound as the bell.
Stimulus Extinction
Stimulus extinction refers to the removal of the conditioned response by removing the unconditioned stimulus. An example would be Pavlov constantly ringing the bell and not giving the dogs food anymore. After so many times of no longer receiving food at the sound of the bell, the dogs no longer associate it with food and no longer salivate.
Self Connection
There are so many examples of me being classically conditioned to things in my everyday life without me even realizing it. One example of an everyday conditioned stimulus is the ringtone sound that I have for certain people. When I hear it, I know a loved one is calling which makes me happy. Happiness is my conditioned response. Another is the sound of my alarm clock. When I hear it, I know that its time for me to get ready for work which also has an effect of my mood. Another often overlooked example of a conditioned stimulus is every second Friday. I know I get paid on those days which definitely puts me in a good mood.
Application to Nursing
Classical conditioning plays a big part in the healthcare field. Many people have been conditioned to not like doctor's offices or hospitals because they or a peer of their's has had a negative experience or because they associate them with poor health and death. This negative association with healthcare (conditioned stimulus) causes negative attitudes and a lack of willingness to visit a doctor even when one is sick and in need of care (conditioned response).