Educational Psychology / Unit 4 EDP 0312 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Labeling a Conditioning Episode
The idea
To label a classical-conditioning episode, find the response that happens without learning and the stimulus that causes it: those are the unconditioned response and the unconditioned stimulus. Then find the stimulus that was neutral at first but became paired with the unconditioned one; after pairing it is the conditioned stimulus. The learned reaction to it is the conditioned response, usually the same reaction as the unconditioned one, now triggered by a new signal.
In practice
Worked example: a student is repeatedly reprimanded harshly during math and feels afraid; later, the sight of a math worksheet alone brings the fear. The worksheet is the conditioned stimulus.
Where people slip
The same reaction can be unconditioned or conditioned, so label it by what triggers it. Fear caused by the reprimand is unconditioned; fear caused by the worksheet, after pairing, is conditioned. Classical conditioning explains such emotional responses, not how students learn to read or solve problems.
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