Conditioning is something that fascinates me. It is a teaching practice introduced by a man named Ivan Pavlov in 1890. The form of conditioning Pavlov studied is known as classical conditioning. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Classical conditioning is the process of pairing a neutral stimulus, such as a bell in Pavlov's case, with a meaningful stimulus, such as food. This is a psychological phenomenon and once enough matching has been done, the mere presence of the neutral stimulus is strong enough to naturally trigger the behavior. Studies suggest that it is never too early to try to influence a person. For example, there is a study where children were presented with a smell for 30 seconds and simultaneously given tactile stimulation similar to a caress. There were also two control groups in this study. One of the control groups received only the odor while the other received the stimulus, caressing, without odor. One day later, with all the babies still under 96 hours old, all the babies were presented with the same odor. Only children who had received both the odor and the stimulus the day before showed increased activity levels when presented with that odor again. The neutral stimulus, the presented odor, was meaningless unless paired with the significant, caressing stimulus. This demonstrates that classical conditioning can occur in infants as none of the control groups showed increased signs of activity when presented with the odor. This could be useful in schools because if a teacher pairs the class with a neutral stimulus with a meaningful stimulus such as high fives or sweet aromas, children are likely to begin to associate the class with good feelings and therefore become more likely to attend. and participate. I too have experienced classical conditioning in my life. Growing up, I got sick a lot, like most other little kids. My dad gave me chocolate milk whenever I felt bad and told me it would make me feel better. He initially waited until I was already improving naturally to give me the placebo as I was skeptical that chocolate milk had any healing properties. Since I continued to get better every time I felt bad after having the chocolate milk, my mind automatically paired the neutral stimulus, the chocolate milk, with the unconditioned response, making me feel better. This pairing still makes me crave chocolate milk when I'm sick to this day. Even though I know that chocolate milk has no healing properties, I have developed an involuntary milk craving response. A more common example of classical conditioning is something many people have experienced in advertisements. Many beer or cigarette companies feature beautiful young women dressed in very little clothing in their advertisements. A substantial portion of the target audience of these companies has an unconditional response of feeling a pleasant sensation towards a beautiful woman. Once paired enough times, the target audience pairs the good feeling with the cigarettes or beer it makes them crave and subsequently purchases the products. In schools the bell usually rings to signal lunch time. Students automatically associate the bell, a neutral stimulus, with lunch food, a significant stimulus. After the pairing has been done multiple times and the ringing of the bell alone is likely to make him hungry. I have personally witnessed that if something happens that disrupts the schedule.