Unconditioned stimulus: what it is and how it is applied

This is one of the main concepts of behaviorism and conditioning processes.

Let's imagine that we have not eaten for a long time and we are hungry. Let us also imagine that in this situation our favorite dish is placed in front of us. Surely we will begin to notice more intensely how hungry we are, and we will notice how we begin to secrete saliva. In a less perceptible way our digestive system, spurred on by the sight and smell of food, will begin to prepare for the act of eating. Let us imagine now that we get a cramp, or a pinprick. We will immediately move away from its source, as a reflex.

All these examples have one thing in common: the source of the cramp or the pinprick or the presence of food are stimuli that have generated an immediate response in themselves. These are unconditioned stimulia concept that we are going to deal with throughout this article.

What is an unconditioned stimulus?

It receives the name of unconditioned stimulus all that stimulus or element that possesses the capacity to generate an autonomous and regular response to a person or form of life, being this stimulus something biologically biological.This stimulus being something biologically relevant to the person or life form.

This unconditioned stimulus can be either appetitive or aversive, and can be either beneficial or detrimental to the subject who experiences it. The response generated in the organism or living being, for example the activation of some body systems or reflex movement, are also called unconditioned. It is important to bear in mind that these responses are innate, and are not the result of reflection or subjective evaluation of whether something is pleasant or unpleasant.

Although there are many stimuli that can be considered unconditioned, the truth is that they are generally linked to basic processes for our survival. are generally linked to basic processes for our survivalThe most common unconditioned stimuli are: Pain or the fight/flight response to an attack, the presence of food, or the presence of sexually attractive stimuli. However, it should be noted that the specific stimulus can vary greatly depending on the species or even the brain configuration.

Its role in classical conditioning

The unconditioned stimulus, which generates an unconditioned and natural response, is not only important in its own right but is also the basis (according to the behaviorist perspective) for the creation of associations, which are in turn the basis of the emergence of learning and behavior according to classical behaviorism.

The fact is that in the environment there are a large number of stimuli that do not generate a direct reaction, which in principle are neutral. But if they are repeatedly and consistently associated with an unconditioned stimulus, they can be associated with it and generate a response identical or similar to that generated by the unconditioned stimulus itself.

Thus, the association between unconditioned and neutral stimuli, which become conditioned, is a basis for the ability to learn and acquire simple behaviors. This process is what is called conditioning (since one, the unconditioned, conditions the other) that with regard to the simple association between stimuli and responses is called classical conditioning..

Unconditioned but not unalterable

The unconditioned stimulus has the capacity to generate a response by itself, but this does not mean that it will always generate an unconditioned response. It is possible for an unconditioned stimulus to devalue and lose its properties.

An example of this is satiation, a process in which abundant exposure to a stimulus that generates a reflex response eventually causes the response to the stimulus to diminish. For example, if we eat a lot and are exposed to food (unconditioned stimulus) it will not generate a response since we are already satiated.

Also habituation to the stimulus can also occurThe repetition of exposure to the stimulus over time makes the response it generates less intense. For example, if exposure to sexual stimuli is habitual, the stimulus in question may lose (but also increase, with sensitization rather than habituation) part of its appetitive power.

Finally counterconditioning may occurFinally, counterconditioning can occur, in which an unconditioned stimulus is paired with another stimulus that generates an opposite response. We could say that the unconditioned stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus, generating a response where before there was another.