Classical conditioning is "the process by which a stimulus acquires the capacity to elicit a response through association with a stimulus that already elicits a similar or related response." Classical conditioning is like the famous case of Pavlov's dogs that we learned about in Psychology 101: The dogs learn to associate the ringing of the bell with food, and, once conditioned, the dogs could not hear the bell without salivating.

The Japanese were masters at using classical conditioning with their solders. Early in World War II, Chinese prisoners were placed in a ditch on their knees with their hands bound behind them. And one by one, a select few Japanese soldiers would go into the ditch and bayonet "their" prisoners to death. Up on the bank, countless other young soldiers would cheer them on in their violence. Comparatively few soldiers actually killed in these situations, but by making the others watch and cheer, the Japanese were able to use these kinds of atrocities to classically condition

Children usually like bland, sweet food. As we become desensitized over time, we usually start seeking foods with more and more flavor. We start out eating pureed peas, progress to hamburgers and soda, and finally end up eating pork rinds and drinking barley pop. We push the sensory envelope as we become desensitized.

From my earliest memories I remember watching commercials of famine struck nations, with people in dire need of help. At one time I am sure that I was shocked at this atrocity but now I, like many others, flip right by such programs.

There are also some clear-cut examples of classical conditioning established by the media today. Our culture watches vivid pictures of human suffering and death, and we learn to associate it with our favorite soft drink and candy bar, or our girlfriend's/boyfriend's perfume/cologne. This occurs at the movies or even at home watching TV we laugh and cheer and keep right on eating popcorn and drinking pop while in front of us are images of death. We are in a generation where we have learned to associate the media with pleasure. So it is no surprise that when we view starving people in the world we are not startled, or very upset by the images displayed.

When a child is born, it has had very little sensory experience. It's brain is very sensitive, and can be easily overloaded depending on how much experience someone gets in an

Some common words found in the essay are:
II Chinese, Corol Tavris, , Martin Seligman, classical conditioning, learned associate, learn associate, conditioning process,
Approximate Word count = 937
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)