What is happening in this video is a very cut-dry, simple example of classical conditioning. The computer sound is being paired with the offering of an altoid. The unconditioned stimulus was guy#1 offering guy#2 an altoid. The unconditioned response was guy#2 accepting the altoid. The conditioned stimulus was when guy#1 played the computer sound without offering guy#2 an altoid. The conditioned response was guy#2 putting his hand out/imagining a bad taste in his mouth when only hearing the computer sound without being offered an altoid.
I could use classical conditioning in many ways in my band/orchestra rehearsals and classes. I could associate each letter A-G of the musical alphabet with different fingerings on a powerpoint presentation, and make a game out of it. Eventually I would only call out the letter, showing that the students have learned the new fingerings on their instruments.
I really like the scenario that you've invented for classical conditioning. I could definitely see you taking it a step further, though, and create shapes or nicknames for fingerings. (As long as we're talking about TV shows, an episode of "Friends" comes to mind, when one of the characters tries to teach another chords on a guitar, calling them names like "bearclaw" and "old lady".) Then you could reinforce it by having "races" within/between sections. A little competition never hurts.
ReplyDeleteRemember that behaviorism would only describe the behaviors involved (putting out his hand, and not 'imagining'). They might call saying 'wow, I have a bad taste in my mouth' a behavior.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see more details of how this pairing would happen.... I do like the example, though, because it's very direct. I like it because the letters aren't arbitrary--knowing them will become important later as they read the music and do the fingerings.