Liezl P.
Orion Date: December 2, 2023
MAEd 1
Assignment in Philo, Psycho, Socio – Foundations of Education
Ivan Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning Theory
Classical conditioning is a concept where a neutral stimulus elicits a naturally occurring
reflex. Pavlov's experiment with his dogs is an iconic example of classical conditioning. In this
experiment, Pavlov noticed his dogs began salivating before their meals, but this was not a natural
response caused by their hunger; it was caused by the fact that Pavlov always rang a little bell before
giving the dogs their meal. Hence, every time the dogs heard the bell, they knew food was on its way
and they got excited. In this case; the neutral stimulus is the ringing of the bell and the naturally
occurring reflex is the dogs salivating. This reflex, in fact, is commonly seen in students as well. But
how?
Imagine if a group of children have math class everyday before lunch break. Towards the end of the
class, students begin feeling hungry, since they know they will be able to eat their lunch after the
class ends. Eventually, students might associate hunger with their math class! This is because of
classical conditioning. In this situation, we can see the stimuli and responses of the students as
follows -
Neutral stimulus (NS): After math class
Unconditional stimulus (US): Eating lunch
Unconditional response (UR): Feeling hungry
Conditional stimulus (CS): Math class
Conditional response (CR): Feeling hungry
Here’s a table to guide you through the process of classical conditioning in the classroom -
If the teacher... Then the students...
Counts down from twenty Will not clean up.
Before conditioning
Tells the class to clean up Will clean up.
Tells the class to clean up and
During conditioning Will clean up.
counts down from twenty
After conditioning Counts down from twenty Will clean up.
Applying Classical Conditioning in Classrooms
A classroom has a variety of students, which can include star kids who know all the answers, class
clowns who love making jokes to entertain their peers and even silent ones who know the answers,
but are too shy to come out of their shells. With a dynamic mix of students like this, is it possible to
apply a classical conditioning method that works with all of them? Yes, it is!
Here are three examples of classical conditioning that you can use in your classroom:
1. Reward Positive Behaviour
As a teacher, when you reward positive behaviour in class, it naturally incentivises students to
inculcate good habits. For example, when a child gets an "A" on a test, they can be rewarded with a
sticker or a candy bar. This way, while students are focused on getting the reward, they
subconsciously end up studying for the test they once dreaded.
2. Answer Cueing
Answer cueing is a great way to establish a system that helps students answer questions in class.
Generally speaking, high-performing students tend to blurt out the right answers as soon as the
question is asked. This means the other students don’t get a chance to participate in the discussion,
thus lowering their attention spans. To prevent this from happening, you could raise your hands up
while asking the question, keep them up for an extra few seconds, and then bring them down,
indicating that students are now allowed to answer the question.
3. Maintaining Discipline
One way to ensure students are disciplined is to enforce a practice such as the "three clap technique"
– the teacher claps thrice and the class falls silent. If a student violates that rule, they can be
punished with a time-out or extra homework. No one likes extra homework, so students will become
more alert and quiet down as soon as they hear you clapping.
Classical conditioning is useful in many ways for teachers and students alike. By applying such
techniques in the classroom, teachers will be able to improve classroom instruction and behaviour
management to a great degree.
