Classical Conditioning: real-world example

Hi.

So today, I'd like
to talk to you

about classical conditioning,
or what's sometimes

called Pavlovian
conditioning, because it comes

from research by Ivan Pavlov.

So Pavlov was interested
in digestion, specifically

salivation in dogs.

So dogs, and all
creatures really,

will salivate in
response to food.

But Pavlov noticed
that his dog started

salivating before the food
actually reached their mouths.

They were responding to other
stimuli in the environment.

So he wanted to
test this, to see

if he could get the
dogs to salivate

in response to a
neutral stimulus that

became associated with the food,
and he found that he could.

So classical conditioning
isn't too hard to understand.

Most people seem to
catch on pretty quickly

to what's going on.

The problem is that
people don't always

see how classical conditioning
can happen outside of this very

contrived setting, like a lab.

So today, I'd like to
talk to you about a time

that I was classically
conditioned

in a natural environment
by natural events.

So to tell you a bit
about the situation.

I went to college in a small
Kansas town in this small campus

covered with trees.

And every winter, often
during finals week, we

would have ice storms.

So ice would coat
all of these trees.

And as you can imagine, when
branches get coated with ice,

they get very heavy, and they
come crashing down, usually

onto our heads.

So like I said, this
happened during finals week.

There was no escaping
being on campus, as we were

going to and from our exams.

And often branches would come
crashing down on our heads,

leading us to respond by
shielding our heads and ducking,

it's a reflex response.

Fortunately for
us, these branches

don't come crashing
soundlessly down,

they're usually preceded
by a crackling sound.

So crackling above
our heads, branches

come crashing down,
shield our head.

Crackle, branch, shield.

So that's when something
really strange happened.

After a couple of
times of branches

falling down and
shielding our heads,

one time there was
a crackling sound,

and I quickly reached
up and shielded my head

without even thinking,
even before the branch

had come crashing down.

I had been classically
conditioned

to respond to this neutral
stimulus of crackling,

because it had become
associated with the branch

and shielding my head.

So you can see how
this is actually

a pretty useful response.

You get that many more
seconds to shield your head

and, hopefully, protect
yourself from injury.

So classical conditioning
can happen really

at any time, anywhere
in the world.

And it can lead to some really
helpful and survival responses.

So classical conditioning
is about much

more than salivating
dogs, it's also

about protecting a
college student's head

from ice-covered branches.

Thank you.