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Conditioning (including recent related patents.)
ConditioningConditioning is a psychological term for what Ivan Pavlov described as the learning of "conditional" behavior. Most psychologists believe that there are two types of conditioning: classical conditioning and operant conditioning. As psychologists use the term, conditioning is less prescriptive than descriptive. While Pavlov explicitly conditioned his dogs to salivate to tones, the interest in Pavlov's work is that his explicit conditioning procedures are considered useful laboratory models for what happens in the natural world. People also display natural food-related behavior in response to stimuli that are reliably paired or associated with food. Pavlov merely provided a procedure for modeling and investigating these natural phenomena in the laboratory. Pavlov's model is still used to investigating the natural behavior of organisms. Similarly, reinforcement and punishment are understood to be natural phenomena occurring moment by moment in the lives of all animals. Laboratory studies are designed to enlighten the investigator into the nature of these phenomena rather than to discover better techniques of social, political, or economic control. Table of contents showTocToggle("show","hide") 1 Pavlov's Dogs 2 Classical Conditioning 3 Operant Conditioning 4 References 5 See Also 6 External Links Pavlov's Dogs The most famous example of conditioning involves the development of conditional salivary responses in Pavlov's dogs. If a tone was reliably sounded before the dogs were fed, the dogs would eventually start salivating when they heard the tone, even if no food was present. The dog's responses (salivation) to the tone are said to be conditional upon the dogs' experience with the pairings of the tone and food. Dogs that have not experienced this condition do not salivate when they hear tones. Pavlov's dogs are therefore said to have been conditioned. Their reactions to the tone have been changed through experience. Classical Conditioning Classical conditioning--also called "pavlovian conditioning" or "respondent conditioning"--involves learning about the association of two or more (usually external) stimuli. Classical conditioning is generally associated with Ivan Pavlov. When two things generally occur together, encountering one can bring the other to mind (c.f., Aristotle's law of contiguity). Thus, when Pavlov's dog hears the tone, salivation and other food-related responses occur because the tone and food commonly occurred together in the dog's experience. In the most famous example of classical conditioning, Pavlov exposed dogs to repeated pairings of a tone and food. Again and again, a tone was audible for several seconds and then the dog was given a small portion of food. Before these pairings, the dog had innate, unconditional, food-related responses (most famously, salivation) to the food, but no food-related reactions to the tone. The food, therefore, was called an unconditional stimulus (abbreviated US or UCS), and salivation was called an unconditional response (abbreviated UR or UCR). These terms were chosen to reflect that no experience or conditions were needed for this stimulus-response relationship to occur. The food and tone were part of an unconditional reflex. The tone, however, initially elicited no food-related responses, and was therefore termed a neutral stimulus (abbreviated NS). After the dog experienced the pairings of the tone and food, however, the effects of the tone were changed. The previously neutral tone began to elicit salivation. The newly conditioned tone, therefore, was called a conditional stimulus (abbreviated CS) because its effects on food-related responses were conditional upon the dog's experiences. The salivation elicited by the tone, also conditional upon the dog's experience, was called a conditioned (or conditional) response (abbreviated CR). After conditioning, the tone and salivation were part of a conditional reflex. Extinction of a conditional reflex occurs when the conditional stimulus is repeatedly presented in the absence of the unconditional stimulus. Food-related responses to conditional stimulus generally cease over the course of extinction. Classical conditioning is involved in a number of important phenomena, like taste aversions, phobias, sexual fetishes, immune function, drug tolerance, and drug overdose. Operant Conditioning Operant conditioning, also called "instrumental conditioning", involves the modification of behavior due to the consequences of behavior. When a response or act is followed by a reinforcing consequence, the future probability of the response increases. When a response or act is followed by a punishing consequence, the future probability of the response decreases. Operant conditioning is generally associated with B.F. Skinner (1938, 1953, 1957). During reinforcement and punishment, the behavior of an organism is changed by the experience of the coincidence of the response and consequence (some would say the contingency between the response and consequence). The organism (or the response) is thus said to have been conditioned. A typical example of operant conditioning in the laboratory would be a comparison of the response rates of rats under two conditions. In the first, rats are allowed to press a lever with no programmed consequence. In the second, rats are allowed to press a lever with the result that each lever press is immediately followed by giving the rat a small portion of food. Generally, the rate of lever pressing is higher in the second condition. It is then said that lever pressing was reinforced by the presentation of food, or that the response-contingent presentation of food strengthed lever pressing. Consequences can be either reinforcing (strengthening the response) or punishing (weakening the response). References
Conditioning is also an engineering term for putting something (for example a communications link) into a particular condition. This article is adapted from from Wikipedia All Wikipedia article text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License Core Performance : The Revolutionary Workout Program to Transform Your Body and Your Life by Mark Verstegen Stretching: 20th Anniversary by Bob Anderson The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer by David A. Whitsett 8 Minutes in the Morning to a Flat Belly: Lose Up to 6 Inches in Less than 4 Weeks--Guaranteed! by Jorge Cruise Training for Speed, Agility, and Quickness by Lee E. Brown 4 Months to A 4 Hour Marathon by Dave Kuehls Jumping into Plyometrics by Donald A. Chu Women's Strength Training Anatomy by Frederic Delavier Training Plans for Multisport Athletes (Ultimate Training Series) by Gale Bernhardt Power of 10 : The Once-A-Week Slow Motion Fitness Revolution by Adam Zickerman 8 Minutes in the Morning to Lean Hips and Thin Thighs : Lose Up to 4 Inches in Less Than 4 Weeks-- Guaranteed! by Jorge Cruise The Whartons' Stretch Book by Jim Wharton The Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling by Daniel D. Chiras The Bodybuilder's Nutrition Book by Franco Columbu The Ultimate Guide to Weight Training for Golf by Robert G. Price Recent Conditioning related patents From USPTO: 6718296: Measurement of signal quality 6718285: Operator replaceable component life tracking system 6718279: Vehicle stability regulating system 6718277: Atmospheric control within a building 6718269: Apparatus, program product and method of estimating the stress intensity factor ratio of a material 6718255: Method and system for matching engine torque transitions between closed and partially closed accelerator pedal positions 6718251: System for controlling exhaust emissions produced by an internal combustion engine 6718244: Skid steer vehicle having an anti-diving system 6718240: Remote keyless entry system 6718213: Variable base load energy management system and method 6718174: Method and apparatus for estimating velocity of a terminal in a wireless communication system 6718170: Dynamic allocation of microprocessor resources in a wireless communication device 6718093: Integrated optical multiplexer and demultiplexer for wavelength division transmission of information 6718039: Acoustic correction apparatus 6717919: Imprinting method for automated registration and configuration of network devices 6717806: Component alignment and retention mechanism 6717792: Emitter assembly 6717789: Power supply rejection circuit for capacitively-stored reference voltages 6717706: State of polarization detector 6717671: System for simultaneously measuring thin film layer thickness, reflectivity, roughness, surface profile and magnetic pattern 6717601: Printing apparatus with dot-gain compensation using spatial filter 6717576: Deferred shading graphics pipeline processor having advanced features 6717541: Fast low cost multiple sensor readout system 6717529: Radio telemetry system and method 6717524: Voice acquisition system for a vehicle 6717513: Electronic message delivery system utilizable in the monitoring of remote equipment and method of same 6717410: Bore location system 6717406: Parallel magnetic resonance imaging techniques using radiofrequency coil arrays 6717376: Automotive information systems 6717369: Driver circuit with load discharge detection 6717299: Isolation system for a motor 6717288: Multiple-voltage power supply circuitry for motor vehicles 6717282: Combined motor and generator dynamometer system 6717228: Infrared image sensor with temperature compensation element 6717154: Evaluation of irradiated foods and other items with telemetric dosimeters and associated methods 6717150: Solid-state CT detector modules with improved scintillator/diode coupling 6717115: Semiconductor handler for rapid testing 6717102: Laser tissue processing for cosmetic and bio-medical applications 6717097: Data path for high performance pattern generator 6717053: Work surface power module system with interchangeable covers 6716899: Flame-proofed polyester molding materials 6716808: Detergent compositions comprising hybrid zeolite builders containing an occluded nonsilicate 6716786: Supported catalyst comprising expanded anions 6716775: Range-dyed face finished fabrics exhibiting non-directional surface fiber characteristics 6716640: Stabilization and amplification of electrochemiluminescence signals 6716599: Method of hydrolyzing defatted jojoba meal with protease enzymes 6716547: Air condition assisted water recovery device integrated with cell stack assembly 6716520: Structural reflective insulating material for ducts and other purposes 6716511: Propylene polymer fibers and yarns |