Unconditioned reflex: what it is and what it implies in Psychology

Not all the behaviors we perform are thought or learned. There is an important repertoire of behaviors that are innate, that we do in a totally natural and automatic way.

Next We will see what exactly is meant by unconditioned reflex, differences with conditioned responses, how they can be transformed into conditioned behavior and examples in the human species.

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What is an unconditioned reflex?

An unconditioned reflex is understood to be a response that occurs to an unconditioned stimulus, naturally, automatically, and without thought. That is, it is a response that has not required prior conditioning or training for it to occur. This type of response is part of the natural abilities, already present innately, that an animal has, both human and non-human.

A very clear example of an unconditioned reflex is the act of salivating while looking at a piece of cake. In this particular case, the organism, upon receiving the visual stimulus of the cake,

initiates physiological processes to facilitate digestion once we have eaten the sweet.

Another example of an unconditioned reflex would be sneezing when a particle or speck of dust is introduced through our nose. Sneezing is not something that is learned, but something that is well present from the moment of birth. It is a natural mechanism to expel waste and pathogens from the respiratory tract.

• Other simple examples of unconditioned reflexes are:
• Shout or wince when a bug bites us.
• Jump when you hear a loud noise.
• Keep your hand away from something that is hot.
• Shiver when cold.
• Giving a little kick when the doctor hits the knee with a hammer (patellar reflex).

All these responses occur from birth or from a very early age and without prior training. Every day we carry out unconditioned reflexes without realizing it., which is an indicator of the little conscious processing behind them. Many responses of this type are physiological, including salivation, nausea, pupillary dilation and contraction, and changes in heart rhythm.

Differences between unconditioned reflex and conditioned response.

The main differences between an unconditioned reflex and a conditioned response are:

• The reflex or unconditioned response is natural and automatic.
• The unconditioned reflex is innate and does not require prior learning.
• The conditioned response is learned.

The conditioned response occurs only after the unconditioned stimulus is associated with the conditioned stimulus.

Unconditioned reflex and classical conditioning

The concept of the unconditioned reflex, understood as an unconditioned response, was experimentally investigated by a Soviet physiologist Ivan Pavlov. This Russian scientist was researching about the canine digestive system, seeing that his dogs began to salivate every time they were fed. It was a natural reflex, something that was not conditioned. The dogs saw food and began to salivate to aid digestion.

It was then that Pavlov, realizing that this was an unconditioned reflex, wondered if he could condition this response, that is, to make the natural act of salivating appear without being in front of the dogs the meal. Pavlov decided that, before presenting the food, he would ring some bells, to see what would happen.

In these Pavlov experiments, which are a classic in the history of psychology, food is the unconditioned stimulus.. The presence of the unconditioned stimulus is what triggers the response, naturally and automatically, in the form of a reflex. Pavlov's dogs salivated completely involuntarily when presented with food. The sound of the bells would be the conditioned stimulus.

Pavlov he managed to make his dogs start salivating when they heard the bell, which implied that the unconditioned reflex will become a conditioned response. The dogs had associated the noise of the bells with food, after a training of several attempts.

But a conditioned response doesn't last forever. Over time, if the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned response will eventually disappear.

Pavlov saw that, picking up those same dogs, if they were presented with the sound of bells but no food was given afterwards, after a few more tries, the dogs stopped salivating. That is, they stopped associating the ringing of bells with food, giving rise to the phenomenon of extinction.

It is safe to say, however, that after extinguishing the response and retrying to condition it, this would be ringing a bell again and presenting food, reassociating that conditioned stimulus with the conditioned stimulus will not take as long as it did in the first few Attempts. This phenomenon of reappearance of the conditioned response is called spontaneous recovery., and can be given after a period of rest from previously taught behavior.

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This process in humans

As we have previously commented, the repertoire of unconditioned reflexes that our species presents is extensive. There are many reflexes that the health sciences have described, such as the knee jerk reflex or the sucking reflex of babies. The latter is a reflex that ends up being lost as it grows, but it is an unconditioned response. innate and instinctive very important for human survival, since it occurs when you have the maternal nipple near. Automatically, the baby begins to suck and feed on breast milk.

In certain cases, innate human reflex behaviors combine with conditioned stimuli, giving rise to conditioned behavior. For example, if a small child accidentally touches a boiling pot, will withdraw the hand immediately when feeling that it burns. This is innate behavior. However, it is possible that the shock was so great that the child has developed some trauma, which prevents him from feeling comfortable in the presence of a pot, no matter how cold it is.

In fact, the appearance of apparently irrational and exaggerated behaviors are usually related to having lived through an unpleasant experience in which the a mechanism as innate and instinctive as reflexes to avoid feeling pain or that our bodily integrity is harmed.

For example, there are people who have phobia to certain biting arthropods (for example, spiders, praying mantises, mosquitoes), and they have an extreme fear of these little animals because one of them once bit them. This activated a natural reflex, which is to get away from the source of the pain, but it happened in such an exaggerated way that it has crystallized in the form of trauma.

Bibliographic references:

• Cherry, K. (2018). “Unconditioned Response in Classical Conditioning.” Verywell Mind: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-an-unconditioned-response-2796007.
• Crain, W. (2005) Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. 5th ed., Pearson Prentice Hall.
• Goldman, J. g. (2012) "What is Classical Conditioning? (And Why Does It Matter?) Scientific American. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful-animal/what-is-classical-conditioning-and-why-does-it-matter/.