Throughout life we are subjected to countless stimuli, and our responses to those stimuli shape and affect our lives and those surrounding us. This example of real life classical conditioning is one that took a negative effect on a close friend of mine. My senior year in high school my friend formed a new group of people he associated with. This was not a problem until drugs entered the equation, and soon after he began to associate drug use with fun, and enjoyment whereas before just hanging out with his new friends provided his fun and enjoyment. This conditioning occurred because he was too ignorant to realize that it was his friends and not the drugs that provided the good times.
This example is one of classical conditioning, because it involves the association of two stimuli, drugs and friends, one of which had no previous effect one him (the drugs).
English: An example of classical conditioning wher...
English: drug response in classical conditioning
English: The course of classical conditioning.Eventually through classical condition
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Many associate drug use with risk taking, if he could find some risky yet healthy behavior such as sky diving or mountain climbing, those new risks could take the place of the drugs.
Using the example of my friend there are several ways to change his response to his continued drug use. These friends of his naturally and automatically triggered a response in him, and that response was enjoyment and happiness. This is a somewhat similar method as when hardcore heroin addicts are placed on methadone to satisfy the cravings. The conditioned response was the same as the unconditioned response, happiness, and enjoyment. Through one or perhaps all three techniques my friends drug use will stop, I guess I will have to wait and find out. He began to associate this stimulus, which was neutral when introduced, with the enjoyment he...