A Brief Note On Leah Herein And A Co Op Preschool Class

Over the period of four separate babysitting sessions of five hours, a four year-old was observed going about her daily routine and interacting with her two grandmothers. This subject, identified as Leah herein, is a Caucasian female currently enrolled in a co-op preschool class in her local community of Redondo Beach, California. Leah lives in a middle class income home with her birth mother age 45 who works as a hair stylist, her birth father age 33 who manages an auto repair shop, and her little sister age 1. Leah’s two grandmothers Bettie and Cecilia babysit every Wednesday and Thursday from 8am until 7pm. Leah’s grandmother Bettie lives in an upper class home about 5 minutes drive from Leah’s home. Bettie is aged 60 with a college†¦show more content†¦The theory of Classical Conditioning is one based on the idea that an individual can learn a new form of behavior simply from the process of association. Or simply put according to the Encyclopedia Bri tannica, â€Å"Classical Conditioning occurs when two stimuli are linked together to produce a new learned response† (â€Å"Classical,† 2015, para.2). In order to better understand Classical Conditioning, it is important to first define several key terms. A stimulus is any feature of the environment that affects behavior. A response is the behavior elicited by the stimulus (â€Å"Stimulus,† 2015, para.1). Before Classical Conditioning even takes place, there is what one refers to as an unconditioned stimulus (US), which is something in the environment that naturally and automatically triggers an individual to respond. This in turn causes an unconditioned response (UR), which is a natural (meaning is has not been taught), reaction that occurs in the presence of an unconditioned stimulus. The next term we must be familiar with is neutral stimulus. A neutral stimulus (NS), can be either a person, place or object that does not produce a response until it is paired with the unconditioned stimulus. Imagine for example, your grandmother has just baked a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies. As the cookies (the US) sit by the window to cool,