Classical Conditioning (Initiation/Acquisition of the Phobia): A phobia is acquired through association between a neutral stimulus (e.g. a white rat) and an unconditioned stimulus (e.g. a loud noise) which results in a new stimulus response being learned.
How can phobias be developed through classical conditioning?
The process of classical conditioning can explain how we acquire phobias. For example, we learn to associate something we do not fear, such as a dog (neutral stimulus), with something that triggers a fear response, such as being bitten (unconditioned stimulus).
How is classical conditioning used to treat phobias?
Classical conditioning can also be used to treat phobias in a process known as desensitization. In this process, the person with the phobia is exposed to the thing of which they are afraid. The ...
What are the principles of classical conditioning?
So here are some most important principles of classical conditioning:
- ACQUISITION The process in which a conditioned stimulus has the ability to elicit a conditioned response. ...
- HIGH ORDER CONDITIONING High-order conditioning occurs when a strong conditioned stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus. ...
- EXTINCTION This is the most important principle of classical conditioning. ...
What are some examples of classical conditioning in the classroom?
How to Apply Classical Conditioning in the Classroom
- Attention-getters. Attention-getters such as turning off the lights, rhyming, student callbacks, hand signals, a bell, music, or when the teacher simply stops talking could be used to obtain students’ attention.
- Transition notifications. ...
- Positive feedback. ...
- Answer cueing. ...
How does classical conditioning create fear and anxiety?
The person has learned to be anxious via classical conditioning. Once this learning has occurred, the previously neutral stimulus (the grocery store) becomes a conditioned stimulus that spontaneously evokes a fear response. The grocery store now prompts a cued panic attack due to the learning that took place.
How does operant conditioning maintain phobias?
Operant conditioning can help to explain how the phobia is maintained. The conditioned (i.e. learned) stimulus evokes fears, and avoidance of the feared object or situation lessens this feeling, which is rewarding. The reward (negative reinforcement) strengths the avoidance behavior, and the phobia is maintained.
Are phobias classical or operant conditioning?
The process of classical conditioning can explain how we acquire phobias. For example, we learn to associate something we do not fear, such as a dog (neutral stimulus), with something that triggers a fear response, such as being bitten (unconditioned stimulus).
What is the two process model for explaining phobias?
According to the two-process model, phobias are initiated through classical conditioning (learning through association) and maintained through operant conditioning (negative reinforcement).
Which classical conditioning process is associated with the development of phobias?
Phobia and Human Evolution There is a long tradition of understanding phobias as learned through Pavlovian fear conditioning, in which a stimulus that is in itself relatively innocuous (the conditioned stimulus (CS)) comes to signal the occurrence of a threatening stimulus (the unconditioned stimulus (US)).
What type of learning is enforced in phobias?
Associative learning types that can create phobias include Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, and Cognitive-Social Learning. Each learning condition takes the subject through different forms of stimuli that all have a similar effect on the human mind, both conscious and subconscious.
How does the behaviourist approach treat phobias?
The Behavioural approach to treating phobias is based on the idea that there is a faulty association between a stimulus and a response that has been learned, so treatment involves exposure to un-learn this association and replace the learned response.
How are phobias reinforced?
Once a phobia is learned, it can be maintained through operant conditioning, negative reinforcements and positive punishments. There is still an element of operant conditioning here in the punishment that lead to the phobia being developed. Another operant explanation for avoiding dogs would be negative reinforcement.
Who is the father of classical conditioning?
The best-known example of this is from what some believe to be the father of classical conditioning: Ivan Pavlov. In an experiment on canine digestion, he found that over time dogs were salivating not only when their food was presented to them, but when the people who fed them arrived.
How does a negative stimulus affect a phobia?
Experiencing a negative stimulus can affect your response. The important thing to remember is that phobias are based on irrational fears. Just as classical conditioning may have played a part in “learning” that phobia, it can also help treat it by counterconditioning.
What is the term for the unconditioned stimulus and unconditioned response that wasn't taught?
Before conditioning. Before conditioning is when the unconditioned stimulus and unconditioned response come into play. This is the natural response that wasn’t taught. For instance, food produces salivating, or a stomach virus produces nausea.
What stimulus is associated with the unconditioned response?
We begin to associate the neutral stimulus with the unconditioned response.
How does operant conditioning work?
In operant conditioning, you learn a behavior by the consequence of that behavior, which in turn affects your future behavior.
What is PTSD in psychology?
PTSD. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe anxiety disorder that develops after you experience a traumatic event. It can cause you to feel danger even when you’re safe. This severe anxiety is learned through conditioning. People with PTSD have strong associations surrounding the trauma.
Is classical conditioning exposed?
We’re all exposed to classical conditioning in one way or another throughout our lives.
How can phobias form through classical conditioning?
In many cases, a single pairing of a neutral stimulus (a dog, for example) and a frightening experience (be ing bitten by the dog) can lead to a lasting phobia (being afraid of dogs).
How does classical conditioning work?
Classical conditioning involves forming an association between two stimuli resulting in a learned response. 4 There are three basic phases of this process.
What would happen if the smell of food was no longer paired with the conditioned stimulus?
However, if the unconditioned stimulus (the smell of food) were no longer paired with the conditioned stimulus (the whistle), eventually the conditioned response (hunger) would disappear. Extinction in Classical Conditioning.
What happens in the after conditioning phase?
In the after conditioning phase, the conditioned stimulus alone triggers the conditioned response.
What happens to the previously neutral stimulus during classical conditioning?
During the second phase of the classical conditioning process, the previously neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with the unconditioned stimulus. As a result of this pairing, an association between the previously neutral stimulus and the UCS is formed.
What are the components of classical conditioning?
Let's take a closer look at the two critical components of this phase of classical conditioning: 1 The unconditioned stimulus is one that unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers a response. 4 For example, when you smell one of your favorite foods, you may immediately feel very hungry. In this example, the smell of the food is the unconditioned stimulus. 2 The unconditioned response is the unlearned response that occurs naturally in response to the unconditioned stimulus. 4 In our example, the feeling of hunger in response to the smell of food is the unconditioned response.
What is the term for when the occurrences of a conditioned response decrease or disappear?
Extinction is when the occurrences of a conditioned response decrease or disappear. In classical conditioning, this happens when a conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with an unconditioned stimulus. 6
How does classical conditioning work?
Classical Conditioning in plain terms is a method by which an organism determines why and the cause of a condition, while also what brought it about, and whereas, ‘operant conditioning is a method ofilearning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behaviour’ (psychology.about.com). Classical Conditioning can be used to create phobias. ‘A phobia can be defined as an intense and irrational fear. There are three types of phobias: specific phobia, social phobia and agoraphobia. Each typeiof phobia has its own unique diagnostic criteria’ (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Phobias can then be discarded by a process known as systematic desensitisation.
What are the determinants of classical conditioning?
These determinants of strong conditioning include: 1. The temporal contiguity between the NS and the CS (Blackboard) and 2.
How many types of phobias are there?
There are three types of phobias: specific phobia, social phobia and agoraphobia. Each typeiof phobia has its own unique diagnostic criteria’ (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Phobias can then be discarded by a process known as systematic desensitisation.
What is a phobia?
Phobias are unreasonable fears of specific objects or situations, such as’ Arachnophobia ‘ (spiders) and cars’ (Martin, Carlson and Buskist, 2010, pg. 262). At a certain time in early life, the organism ‘was exposed to the now-feared in conjunction with a stimulus that elicited’ (Martin, Carlson and Buskist, 2010, pg. 262) either fear or pain.
What is the flinching response?
An example of such includes the ‘Flinching Response’. In summary, this involves an inflated balloon getting larger and larger until it bursts. In response, one feels pain or fear. Following this if a needle is brought towards an inflated balloon, one will flinch again showing the conditioned response. This is a typical method of stimulating a phobia. The needle ‘now trigger (s) the defensive flinching response by itself (Martin, Carlson and Buskist, 2010, pg. 262)’.
How to overcome phobias?
As well as this, there are many ways to assuage phobias by ways of muscle tension or cognitive therapy. Classical Conditioning not only develops phobias but is used worldwide in marketing.
How is discrimination training accomplished?
Discrimination training is accomplished by using two different CS’s during training. One CS is always followed by the UCS; the other CS is never followed by the UCS.’ (Martin, Carlson and Buskist, 2010, pg. 261).
What is classical conditioning?
Classical conditioning is a theory of pairing one stimulus with another neutral stimulus that causes changes in the response to the neutral stimulus ( Goldstein). This type of theory was first developed around John Watson and his outlook on behaviorism where he argued that a person’s behavior can be studied ...
Who developed the theory of behavior?
This type of theory was first developed around John Watson and his outlook on behaviorism where he argued that a person’s behavior can be studied without any reference to the mind. With saying this, Watson conducted an experiment with a little boy, Albert, and a rat.
Why did Albert learn to crawl away?
When the rat used to crawl toward Albert after a couple trials of loud noises, Albert learned to crawl away because he knew that the noise was coming. To me it seems like in a way phobias can be learned through classical conditioning.
Is classical conditioning a good theory?
In conclusion, classical condition seems to be a good theory to use when to test for learning behavior, like Watson did. It also has its downfalls for example with the little Albert experiment I remember reading what happened to him later on in life and this experiment actually made him not only scared of little white rats, but other soft, cuddly animals that were also white. Classical conditioning is a very interesting theory used in the world of Psychology and I would love to focus more on this particular subject as the class goes.
What is a phobia?
Phobias are emotional reactions that often interfere with one’s life on a chronic basis or acutely when the person is confronted with certain situations. While everyone has fears, people afflicted with phobias will often suffer from panic attacks when faced with phobic stimuli. Potential physiological responses of a panic attack are a release ...
How to get rid of a dog phobia?
4. Approach the dog. 3. Enter the room with the dog. 2. Enter the house. 1. Enter the yard. From a state of complete relaxation, the phobia sufferer and therapist are able to visualize these steps one at a time and counter any phobic reactions which may occur.
What is counterconditioning in psychology?
The counterconditioning idea suggests that the sufferer can be taught or “conditioned” to produce a non-fearful emotion to the phobic stimuli. Just as they were conditioned to be fearful of certain stimuli, they can be reconditioned to be fearless and unafraid instead.
What is the extinction of phobia?
The extinction idea suggests that the sufferer should be exposed to the stimulus for an either an extensive amount of time or on a repeated basis. The thought is that the more time that an individual is in contact with a phobic stimulus, the greater their anxiety and of that stimuli will dissipate. However, the problem that many with phobias encounter is that they try to avoid specific phobic stimuli. While this may prevent a phobic reaction in the short-term, it does nothing to actually treat the underlying issue.
What is systematic desensitization?
Systematic desensitization relies on achieving a state of relaxation and then visually progressing through an anxiety hierarchy. In this hierarchy, small successive steps are added until full contact with the phobia is achieved. To demonstrate systematic desensitization, I will create a sample anxiety hierarchy for someone who has a phobia of dogs.
What is the best method of reducing phobic reactions?
Several ideas exist as to the best method of reducing phobic reactions; extinction, counterconditioning, and systematic desensitization. The extinction idea suggests that the sufferer should be exposed to the stimulus for an either an extensive amount of time or on a repeated basis. The thought is that the more time that an individual is in contact ...
How to help a phobic person with anxiety?
Lately there has been a trend toward a more direct approach in relieving phobias. Exposure treatments, which are a form of desensitization, expose the phobic person to increasing doses of their feared stimulus. Each dose builds upon itself until the phobic stimuli is fully realized. This forces the phobic person to control their anxiety in successive steps. This method has shown to be very effective given the belief that extinction occurs at a faster rate after anxiety levels risen then fallen (Carver, 2008).
Why is classical conditioning important?
Classical conditioning emphasizes the importance of learning from the environment, and supports nurture over nature. However, it is limiting to describe behavior solely in terms of either nature or nurture, and attempts to do this underestimate the complexity of human behavior. It is more likely that behavior is due to an interaction between nature (biology) and nurture (environment).
Who were the first psychologists to apply the principles of classical conditioning to human behavior?
Watson & Rayner (1920) were the first psychologists to apply the principles of classical conditioning to human behavior by looking at how this learning process may explain the development of phobias.
What is generalization in psychology?
Generalisation. In psychology, generalisation is the tendency to respond in the same way to stimuli that are similar but not identical to the conditioned stimulus. For example, in Pavlov's experiment, if a dog is conditioned to salivated to the sound of a bell, it may later salivate to a higher pitched bell.
What is the term for the gradual weakening of a conditioned response?
In psychology, extinction refers to gradual weakening of a conditioned response by breaking the association between the conditioned and the unconditioned stimuli.
What are some examples of classical conditioning?
The most famous example of classical conditioning was Pavlov's experiment with dogs, who salivated in response to a bell tone.
When does conditioned stimulus occur?
For classical conditioning to be effective, the conditioned stimulus should occur before the unconditioned stimulus, rather than after it, or during the same time. Thus, the conditioned stimulus acts as a type of signal or cue for the unconditioned stimulus.
How many times did the rat frighten Albert?
This occurred seven times in total over the next seven weeks. By this time the rat, the conditioned stimulus (CS), on its own frightened Albert, and fear was now a conditioned response (CR).
Classical Conditioning Definitions
How Classical Conditioning Works
- Classical conditioning involves forming an association between two stimuli, resulting in a learned response.4There are three basic phases of this process.
Key Principles
- Behaviorists have described a number of different phenomena associated with classical conditioning. Some of these elements involve the initial establishment of the response while others describe the disappearance of a response. Here is a closer look at five key principles of classical conditioning.
Classical Conditioning Examples
- It can be helpful to look at a few examples of how the classical conditioning process operates both in experimental and real-world settings.
A Word from Verywell
- In reality, people do not respond exactly like Pavlov's dogs. There are, however, numerous real-world applications for classical conditioning. For example, many dog trainers use classical conditioning techniques to help people train their pets. These techniques are also useful for helping people cope with phobias or anxiety problems. Therapists mig...