Title: Conditioned emotional responses | Psychology Wiki | Fandom
Headings: Conditioned emotional responses
Conditioned emotional responses
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Content: Conditioned emotional responses | Psychology Wiki | Fandom
Conditioned emotional responses
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Conditioned emotional responses can develop as a consequence of classical conditioning. For example in the rat where the pressing of the lever in response to food has been effectively conditioned, if a conditioned stimulus such as a loud tone precedes the presentation of an aversive unconditioned stimulus, such as an electric shock, the animal suppresses responding with a lever press for food, even though it is available and is independent of the tone and shock. This has been taken as evidence that the rat has acquired a conditioned emotional response (fear) that is incompatible with the feeding behavior, and this accounts for its suppression. Further information: Classical conditioning#Conditioned emotional response
The conditioned emotional response, specifically here the conditioned fear response, is an emotional response that results from classical conditioning, usually from the association of a relatively neutral stimulus with a painful or fear-inducing experience. As a result, the formerly neutral stimulus elicits fear. For example, if seeing a dog (a neutral stimulus) is paired with the pain of being bitten by the dog (unconditioned stimulus), seeing a dog may become a conditioned stimulus that elicits fear (conditioned response). In 1920 Watson and Rayner demonstrated such fear conditioning in "little Albert". They started with a nine month boy called “Albert”, who was unemotional but was made to cry by the loud noise (unconditioned stimulus) of a hammer striking a steel bar.