Monday, November 18, 2013
Split Pea Soup and Classical Conditioning
This is a very less traumatic experience, but still a core example of classical conditioning. I know of a girl whom as a child loved split pea soup. One day she was eating split pea soup, and then soon after threw it up because of the stomach flu. Since then, she couldn't look at or think about split pea soup without feeling terribly queasy. It took her more than 10 years until she could even begin to consider eating split pea soup again, and today she will only eat it if it is given to her. In this example, the girl had a positive feeling towards split pea soup. It wasn't until she went through the traumatic experience of throwing up after eating the soup that she began to associate that awful queasy feeling with split pea soup.
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Julia,
ReplyDeleteYour story of the girl who detested split pea soup was very interesting. In addition, it is an effective example of classic conditioning because the girl, who originally had loved split pea soup, vomited because of the split pea soup, and thus gained a hatred and disliking for split pea sup.
Julia,
ReplyDeleteThis example demonstrates that classical conditioning does not always equate to situations, but can relate to foods as well. I am what may be considered a picky eater, and I can only wonder what foods I would enjoy if I tried them!
Julia,
ReplyDeleteI know what you friend experienced; I have the same feelings about iced chai tea, American cheese, lobster bisque, rainbow bread, and anything associated with McD's (I had several rough vacations ending in stomach flu). It's unfortunate that something simple as a virus can change the whole appeal of a possibly delicious meal. The neutral stimulus of something simple as soup should not be sacrificed due to illness.
That is a solid example of classical conditioning. The pea soup was the neutral stimulus and conditioned stimulus. The stomach flu was the unconditioned stimulus. The sickness she feels is the unconditioned and conditioned response.
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