| Info-Psychology | Timothy Leary |
The notion of imprinting has created some confusion in psychology because it suggests a form of "learning" which is immediate and irreversible, quite in contrast to conditioned learning which is the foundation of most psychological theories. According to the classic definition: "Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as the result of practice." Learning is based on associating one stimulus or response with another on the basis of reward or punishment. Psychological theories of learning are based upon observations of external visible behavior and pay little attention to the internal, invisible neurological situation.
The classic studies of conditioning were executed by Ivan Pavlov, the Russian physiologist.
'While studying the relatively automatic reflexes associated with digestion, Pavlov noticed that the flow of saliva to food placed in the mouth of the dog was influenced not only by the food placed in the dog's mouth but also by the sight of food. He interpreted the flow of saliva to food placed in the mouth as an unlearned response, as he called it, an unconditioned response. But surely, he thought, the influence of the sight of food has to he learned. Hence this is a learned or conditioned response.' - Hilgard and Atkinson, Introduction to Psychology, Harcourt Brace.
Later research demonstrated that animals could be conditioned to salivate in response to a flashing light, sounds, visual forms, etc. 'The conditioned response may be considered a simple habit because 1) an association is demonstrated to exist between a stimulus and a response, and 2) this association is a learned one.'
To understand the learning process it is necessary to understand the primary role of the imprint and the secondary role of the conditioned-association. The imprint hooks the natural unconditioned response to an external stimulus - the releaser mechanism. The conditioned stimulus is associated with the imprinted stimulus. Imprinting is the basic connection between the external stimulus and the nerve endings; and between the nerve endings and the response.
Conditioning then connects (wires up neurally) other stimuli which are associated with the imprinted stimuli. The learned stimuli can then trigger off the response connected neurally to the original imprinted stimulus.
If the infant's First Circuit is positively imprinted to Mother, other stimuli associated with Mother become learned cues which can trigger off the "positive-approach" response. The infant's First Circuit is negatively imprinted to stimuli - tastes, smells, forms - which are noxious or dangerous. Stimuli associated with "danger" trigger off the withdrawal reaction (fear).
Conditioning psychologists have studied the relationships between unconditioned stimulus-response units and learned reactions in terms of the similarity of stimuli (generalization), the reinforcement or reward of the conditioned stimulus-response by the unconditioned, the waning or extinction of the learned association in the absence of the unconditioned reward, discrimination of differences between stimuli, etc.
Classical (Pavlovian) conditioning focuses on the presentation of conditioned stimuli in association with the original unconditioned stimulus to the response (e.g., salivation).