Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning (Learning by Association)

Classical conditioning is used by trainers mostly to create an association between a stimulus that normally would not have any effect on the animal and a stimulus that would.
This type of learning was made famous by Pavlov's experiments with dogs.
In his experiment Pavlov presented dogs with food, then measured the amount of saliva they produced. He then began ringing a bell just before presenting the food.
At first, the dogs did not begin salivating until the food was presented, but after a while, the dogs began to salivate when they heard the sound of the bell.
They learned to associate the sound of the bell with the presentation of the food.
So to the dogs, the sound of the bell became equivalent to the presentation of the food, which caused an increased production of saliva in the dogs mouths.

An example of learning by classical conditioning:
Voice commands are not something the horse automatically understands, and responds to.
However if they are always followed consequences that cause the horse to canter, the animal can become conditioned to respond to the voice cue "canter".


Primary Reinforcers
A primary reinforcer is something that animals are "hard wired" to like and seek out. Food, water, and the chance to mate are all primary reinforcers because they satisfy biological desires. So any behavior which is followed by a Primary Reinforcer, is likely to be repeated.
The value of the reinforcement will depend on the animals current physiological state. So if the animal has just had a drink, then the chance to drink will not be reinforcing to the animal. Similarly if the animal has just had a big feed, food will lose it's value as a reinforcer.

Conditioned Reinforcers
A conditioned reinforcer is something the animal does not naturally find rewarding and has to learn to like. This can occur through classical conditioning, where a stimulus is repeatedly paired with the presentation of a primary reinforcer.

When the stimulus is paired with a primary reinforcer it acquires the same reinforcement value as the primary reinforcer. In other words the conditioned reinforcer is something Is a stimulus the animal has learned to like because it is repeatedly followed by something the horse wants..

Money is a conditioned reinforcer. The actual paper and coins are not themselves reinforcing. However, they can be used to acquire primary reinforcers such as food, water, and shelter.
Therefore, the paper and coins become reinforcers as a result of pairing them with the acquisition of food, water, shelter and other things we want.