Ivan Pavlov and John B. Watson

Ivan Pavlov:
1. What was Pavlov actually studying when he developed his theory of classical conditioning?

Pavlov was studying the digestion in dogs when he discovered classical conditioning.
2. Explain (in detail) how Pavlov's experiment was conducted.

During the experiment, Pavlov and his assistants inserted both edible and non edible objects, in order to measure salivation each of these objects produced in dogs. Pavlov's findings were that the salivation process is reflexive, and that it happens automatically without conscious thought, in response of a specific stimulus. He then noticed, that the mere presence of the white coats of his assistants, produced salivation on dogs. He then decided to pair another stimuli with the meat aside from the presence of his assistants, so he used a bell. As a result, the dogs salivated when hearing the bell. He suggested salivation was a learned process, which consisted of the dogs associating the bell with the food, justifying why they salivate while the bell is ringing.

3. Identify the conditioned stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned response from Pavlov's experiment. The conditioned stimulus of his experiment, was the pairing of a bell with the food. The unconditioned stimulus was the presentation of the meat itself to the dogs. The conditioned response of the dogs was their salivation, when a stimuli was being paired with the food, like a bell, since dogs expected the food.

4. Explain what extinction means in relation to classical conditioning.

Extinction in relation to classical conditioning, means that a conditioned response either decreases or disappears. This happens when a conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with an unconditioned response.
5. Explain what stimulus generalization means in relation to classical conditioning.

Stimulus generalization relating to classical conditioning means that the same conditioned responses occur with similar but not equal conditioned stimulus.
6. Explain what stimulus discrimination means in relation to classical conditioning.

Discrimination relating to classical conditioning, means the ability of the organism to differentiate the conditioned stimuli, from other stimuli which have not yet been paired with the unconditioned stimuli.
7. Explain at least two limitations of this experiment.

The study has the purpose to describe the learning process, and this experiment only specifies responses by pairing stimulus. Rather than also describing how we learn language, or mathematics. Another limitation is that it was done on dogs rather than on humans, which should be the ones tested because we are so different and superior than animals. So, we should be tested in order to get a better understanding of our complexity.
8. Explain what Pavlov theorized about how we learn.
He theorized that by paring a natural stimuli with a neutral stimuli, we learn that the neutral will produce the same effect as the natural one. Which turns the neutral stimuli, into what is known as a conditioned stimuli.

John B. Watson:
1. Explain (in detail) how Watson's "Little Albert" study was conducted.

The study was conducted on a male infant. Watson and his partner paired loud noise with animals or other objects which had the characteristic of being hairy. Watson first showed some of the hairy objects to the infant and noticed he felt no fear of them . Then by triggering a loud noise each time a hairy object was presented to the infant, he noticed that the little guy had developed a fear for the hairy objects. Meaning that classical conditioning is a major factor that has developed fears on humans and animals.
2. Identify the conditioned stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned response from Watson's study The conditioned stimulus were the hairy animals and objects. The unconditioned stimulus was the loud noise triggered each time the hairy things were presented to Albert. The conditioned response was that the infant felt uncomfortable in the presence of furry things and cried.
3. Explain at least two limitations of this study.

To begin with, this experiment was done on an infant rather than on an adult, which would display different responses based on experience and knowledge. Secondly, this experiment can not be repeated.

4. Explain Watson's law of frequency. Through this law Watson stated that the more two stimuli are paired, the stronger the correspondence between these two will be.
5. Explain Watson's law of recency. Through this law, Watson stated that responses occur immediately after a stimulus.
6. Explain the basic assumptions of behaviorism according to Watson.

Watson believed behaviorism was Psychology itself, meaning behavior of human beings was the basis of all Psychology according to him.

References

1. http://psychology.about.com/od/classicalconditioning/a/pavlovs-dogs.htm
2. http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/classcondbasics.htm
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Albert_experiment
4. http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/watson.htm

3 evaluations of sleep studies regarding teenagers

1.The study was led by Barbara Phillips. The title of the article which displayed the findings of the study was "Starting high school one hour later may reduce teen traffic accidents". The institution which sponsored this study was The UK Healthcare Good Samaritan Sleep center in Lexington, Ky; which is directed by Barbara Phillips. The study was done on a wide range of school districs in Kansas. School hours were delayed for one hour on these school districs. Various positive results amongst teenagers were reported from the study. Daily sleepiness diminuished, also "catch up sleep", but most important of all crash rates dropped since the school times were influenced. I believe this source displays wise and valid information. It's findings should be taken in account and applied on schools, since it would only promote the wealthfare of teenagers in general.

2. The study was authorized by Zaw W. Htwe who is the MD, of Norwalk Hospitals Sleep Disorders Center in Norwalk, Conn. The author of the study was Mary B. O'Malley. Before the study was actually performed, students filled out a survey referring t their daily sleep. They reported to sleep around 7 hours in the survey. 259 high school studens did the survey and were part of the study. Their school times were delayed 40 minutes. Students reported to feel really good with much less day time sleepiness. Also, weekend sleep decreases. I believe this study is really thorough and presents good evidence. Feeling with less day time sleepiness is really important since we humans can function much better. Meaning this study was meant for a very important purpose.

3.The study was lead by Judith A. Owens, M.D., M.P.H., of the Hasbro Children's Hospital, and some collegues of hers. In the study, 201 students of a high school in Rhode Island participated. Each filled a report regarding their sleep habits. After delaying school times for a half an hour, their was a vast change in the students. They reported less day time sleepiness, less fatigue throughout the day, more motivation and hapiness. Overall, the study proved that a delay in school hours can as a product produce a beeter mood amongst teenagers. I believe that the validity of this study is certain, because I myself have a much better mood when I get a good night sleep. Sleep is necessary, specially to youngsters and its benefits to us are endless.