When a neutral stimulus evokes a response?
Think Like a Psychologist: Principles in Action Show MACHINE The mind is a product of a physical machine, the brain. In animals, fear conditioning such as Little Albert experienced is the result of changes in a brain region called the amygdala. People with damage to the amygdala don’t seem to be afraid of anything, so it would be impossible to induce fear conditioning in them.  UNCONSCIOUS We are consciously aware of only a small part of our mental activity. People subjected to classical conditioning report that they do not consciously produce the conditioned response; it seems to happen on its own, in a reflexive fashion. Little Albert’s fearful responses certainly appear reflexive. If Albert Barger was indeed Little Albert, and if his dislike of dogs was a result of Watson’s manipulations, he was unaware of the connection. SOCIAL We constantly modify our behavior, beliefs, and attitudes according to what we perceive about the people around us. Whichever child was the true Little Albert, he was available for Watson’s study because his mother, pregnant out of wedlock, had few options to support them. This was the result of social attitudes at the time, which heaped shame on unwed mothers. Was Watson more willing to conduct his experiment on a child in such circumstances than a child of middle-class parents? EXPERIENCE Our experiences physically alter the structure and function of the brain. Whatever Little Albert’s true name, he became terrified of many furry objects as a result of experiencing the pairing of such stimuli with loud, startling sounds. Indeed, all instances of learning result from experience. It is possible that Albert Barger’s lifelong dislike of dogs was a result of his experiences as an infant. Classical ConditioningClassical condition is best explained by the famous experiments done by Ivan Pavlov.Ivan Pavlov In his experiments, Pavlov would ring a bell just before giving food to dogs. Eventually, only ringing the bell would cause the animals to salivate, even in the absence of food. The ringing of the bell is called the neutral stimulus (NS), the salivation due to the presence of food is called the unconditioned response (UR), and the salivation in response only to ringing a bell in the absence of food is called the conditioned response (CR). In the case of drug addiction, withdrawal effects need to be present in order for classical conditioning to be a factor. There needs to be a neutral stimulus attached to the behavior. For instance the environment, or sensations associated with the behavior. An unconditioned response would be the compensatory
withdrawal reactions of the brain in response to the presence of the drug. Once the unconditioned response is associated with the neutral stimulus, the presence of that neutral stimulus evokes the conditioned response of the compensatory mechanisms associated with the presence of the drug, while actually in absence of the drug. An Assortment of Drug Paraphernalia For More Information on Classical Conditioning: Classical Conditioning Home,
Definition, Development, What is neutral stimulus and response?A neutral stimulus is a stimulus that at first elicits no response. Pavlov introduced the ringing of the bell as a neutral stimulus. An unconditioned stimulus is a stimulus that leads to an automatic response. In Pavlov's experiment, the food was the unconditioned stimulus.
Does a stimulus evoke a response?The word stimulus (or its plural stimuli) is often used by human behavior researchers. In terms of psychology, stimuli are those actions, acts, or procedures that evoke a reaction from the human mind.
What is an example of a neutral stimulus?A stimulus that doesn't naturally elicit a response is a neutral response. For example, food is a UCS for dogs and can cause salivation. But ringing a bell by itself doesn't trigger the same response. The bell's sound is hence a neutral stimulus.
What is a neutral response in classical conditioning?In classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus (NS) is a stimulus that initially does not evoke a response until it is paired with the unconditioned stimulus. For example, in Pavlov's experiment the bell was the neutral stimulus, and only produced a response when it was paired with food.
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