Final answer:
Conditioning is influenced by factors such as timing between stimuli, environmental conditions, and the organism's previous experience. The conditioning protocol can be affected by the intensity and duration of stimuli, as well as interfering substances or conditions. The ceteris paribus assumption helps isolate and study these factors individually.
Step-by-step explanation:
Factors that affect conditioning in the realm of psychology are crucial to understanding how learning occurs. For instance, in classical conditioning, the timing between the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (US) is paramount, often requiring only a short time interval for effective learning. This interval can range from a few seconds to several hours depending on the specific conditioning process. Additionally, the process begins with acquisition, where the neutral stimulus starts to elicit the conditioned response, becoming a conditioned stimulus.
Environmental conditions also play a significant role as they can alter the effectiveness of the conditioning protocol. These might include the presence of distracting stimuli or other environmental events that could strengthen or interfere with conditioning. In classical conditioning, factors such as the intensity and duration of the stimuli, as well as the organism's prior experiences, will affect the strength and persistence of the conditioned response. For example, cardiac output can be influenced by a myriad of factors including autonomic innervation, endocrine control, preload, contractility, afterload, and environmental factors like electrolytes and temperature. These variables can be classified as positive or negative inotropic agents.
The presence of organic matter can interfere with conditioning, as it may impede the effectiveness of the stimulus or make the responses less distinct and therefore harder to associate. To systematically study these effects, researchers often rely on the ceteris paribus assumption, which means 'all other things being equal.' This assumption helps isolate the effect of one factor at a time on conditioning outcomes.