Classical conditioning, also known as Pavlovian conditioning, is a type of learning in behavioral psychology that occurs through unconscious or automatic processes. It was discovered by Ivan Pavlov, who first conducted experiments on a dog. From the experiment, it was concluded that if two stimuli are paired together repeatedly, they’ll produce a new response.
Classical conditioning not only occurs in animals but also in humans and is extensively studied in a variety of fields such as psychology, marketing, education, and therapy. Then, what are some examples of classical conditioning that occur in everyday life? Okay, let’s see our post to find them!
10 Examples of Classical Conditioning That Commonly Occur in Everyday Life
The classical conditioning that occurs will always involve several elements, including:
- Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): It can be called a natural stimulus that will automatically trigger a specific response without having to learn before.
- Unconditioned Response (UCR): It occurs automatically as a reflex response to an unconditioned stimulus (UCS).
- Neutral Stimulus (NS): It is a stimulus that does not initially trigger any kind of response.
- Conditioned Stimulus (CS): It is a neutral stimulus that becomes a conditioned stimulus through a pair process with the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). It will occur when a neutral stimulus is repeatedly presented before or at the same time as an unconditioned stimulus.
- Conditioned Response (CR): This is a learned response that will occur in response to a conditioned stimulus. At first glance, it is similar to the unconditioned response, but it is now triggered by the conditioned stimulus alone.
After learning it, there are lots of classical conditioning processes that usually occur in everyday life. Here are some examples:
Example 1: Fear of Horses
- Neutral Stimulus (NS): There is a black horse in the park, and people see it as a good animal.
- Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): A black horse to rent in the park and a little girl to ride it.
- Unconditioned Response (UCR): A black horse flicked his tail hair at the little girl’s head, causing her to freak out.
- Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A girl sees a horse, not a black horse, in some places, but not in the park.
- Conditioned Response (CR): A girl becomes afraid every time she looks at a horse, even though the horse is not black and not aggressive.
Example 2: Bad experience with food taste
- Neutral Stimulus (NS): Raw seafood in the restaurant that many people like.
- Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): A boy eats a certain food in a restaurant (e.g., raw seafood).
- Unconditioned Response (UCR): He becomes nauseous or gets sick later.
- Conditioned Stimulus (CS): He may not have liked raw seafood before.
- Conditioned Response (CR): He may then experience feelings of nausea when he sees or even thinks about that food.
Example 3: Homework and parents
- Neutral Stimulus (NS): Homework
- Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): The parents yell at their children for not doing homework.
- Unconditioned Response (UCR): The children feel annoyed and miserable.
- Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Their teacher asks them to do homework.
- Conditioned Response (CR): The children will then associate misery with it and dislike it.
Example 4: Phobia
- Neutral Stimulus (NS): Elevator and power outages
- Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): A woman is trapped in a mall elevator during a power outage.
- Unconditioned Response (UCR): She experiences intense fear and anxiety.
- Conditioned Stimulus (CS): She may associate elevators with fear and negative emotions.
- Conditioned Response (CR): Every time she looks at an elevator (not only a mall elevator), she develops a phobia of elevators and experiences fear, even though the elevator is safe and works normally.
Example 5: Phone and ringtone
- Neutral Stimulus (NS): Phone’s ringtone
- Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): A guy hears the ringtone from his mobile phone.
- Unconditioned Response (UCR): He then reached for his phone to check for notifications or messages.
- Conditioned Stimulus (CS): He is in the public area (e.g., in the bus) and hears a familiar tone that is coming from someone else’s phone.
- Conditioned Response (CR): He will instinctively reach for his mobile phone when he feels it vibrating in his pocket, even if it is not his.
Example 6: Allergic reaction
- Neutral Stimulus (NS): A girl with allergies is repeatedly exposed to a certain scent.
- Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): She then receives an allergen.
- Unconditioned Response (UCR): Her body starts associating the scent with the allergic response.
- Conditioned Stimulus (CS): She then smells the scent that he had previously been allergic to.
- Conditioned Response (CR): Every time she smells the scent, it can trigger an allergic reaction, even without the presence of the allergen.
Example 7: Students hate a school subject due to a bad teacher
- Neutral Stimulus (NS): A school subject that the students initially like (e.g., a science subject).
- Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): A teacher who teaches a certain subject often insults students.
- Unconditioned Response (UCR): Students start to hate the teacher.
- Conditioned Stimulus (CS): The teacher teaches a science subject.
- Conditioned Response (CR): Students will also start to hate the science subject.
Example 8: Celebrities in a product advertisement
- Neutral Stimulus (NS): Dwayne Johnson and drink products
- Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): Celebrities (e.g., Dwayne Johnson)
- Unconditioned Response (UCR): You like him because he has positive values.
- Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Dwayne Johnson becomes a star advertisement for a drink product, e.g., Zoa Energy Drink.
- Conditioned Response (CR): You start to purchase Zoa Energy Drink, although you have not consumed it before.
Example 9: Dog walking
- Neutral Stimulus (NS): The owner is wearing a sweatshirt, and the dog shows the common response of not being excited by this.
- Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): A dog owner who just comes home after work changes his clothes into sweatshirts and invites his dog for a walk in the park.
- Unconditioned Response (UCR): A dog will be happy to walk after he stays inside all day.
- Conditioned Stimulus (CS): After work, a dog sees his owner put on a coat, change into a sweatshirt, and grab the keys.
- Conditioned Response (CR): The dog will automatically think that they will be going out, and he will be excited for walking.
Example 10: A child gets routine immunizations
- Neutral Stimulus (NS): The doctor and a white coat
- Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): A little boy is getting an injection for routine immunization.
- Unconditioned Response (UCR): He starts to cry after the doctor gives an injection.
- Conditioned Stimulus (CS): When giving an injection to his arm, the doctor is wearing a white coat.
- Conditioned Response (CR): He will start crying every time he sees anyone wearing a white coat.
Well, those are some examples of classical conditioning that usually occurs in humans’ lives. Of course, there are still lots of classical conditional examples that you can find in everyday life.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
