Phobias and Addictions through Classical and Operant Conditioning - Essay Example

Phobias and addictions through ical and operant conditioning 18 September Table of Contents Table of Contents Introduction 2 Classical and Operant Conditioning 3 Phobia and Classical Conditioning 4 Addictions and Operant Conditioning 4 Conclusion 5 References 6 Introduction Operant conditioning and classical conditioning are two kinds of associative learning. Associative learning happens when people or animals connect stimuli with responses (Lilienfeld et al., 2010, p. 182). These responses to stimuli can be removed, however, through the process of extinction.

Extinction demonstrates that learned responses that are not reinforced right away will slowly lose its impact on animal/human behaviors (Lilienfeld et al., 2010, p. 165). This paper differentiates classical and operant conditioning. It also explains how classical conditioning can lead to phobias and how operant conditioning can result to addictions. Classical and Operant Conditioning Reinforcement is any event that enhances the chances that a specific response will happen (Lilienfeld et al., 2010, p. 161). An unconditioned stimulus (US) is a stimulus that can intrinsically draw out a response (Lilienfeld et al., 2010, p. 182).

An unconditioned reflex (UR) is a reflex reaction to an unconditioned stimulus. A conditioned stimulus (CS) extracts a response because it has been frequently linked with an unconditioned stimulus (Lilienfeld et al., 2010, p. 182). A conditioned response (CR) is a learned response that happens before a conditioned stimulus. An operant reinforcer is any incident that comes after a response and improves the probability that the reaction will recur (Lilienfeld et al., 2010, p. 182). Operant conditioning is dissimilar from classical conditioning in several ways.

In operant conditioning, the subject is an active learner in his/her environment. On the contrary, the learner is passive to learning in classical conditioning (Lilienfeld et al., 2010, p. 161). The character of the response in operant conditioning is voluntary, while for classical conditioning, it is involuntary and acts as form of reflex (Lilienfeld et al., 2010, p. 161). The timing of positioning for the reinforcer varies for operant and classical conditioning too: for classical conditioning, reinforcement is introduced before the response, while for operant conditioning, it happens after the reinforcement (Lilienfeld et al., 2010, p. 161).

For classical conditioning, pairing a formerly-neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus results to a conditioned response (CR). An example is ringing a bell before feeding a rat. Repeating this several times can help the rat associate the bell to food. Eventually, when the rat hears the bell, the CR is salivation for food. The sound of the bell becomes the conditioned stimulus and salivating is characterized as the conditioned response (CR). For operant conditioning, the reinforcement comes after the conditioned response.

The rat will only be fed after training it to ring a bell. The feeding becomes the positive reinforcement for the CR of ringing the bell. Phobia and Classical Conditioning Phobias can be developed through classical conditioning by associating a neutral stimulus with something that results to pain (Powell et al., 2009, p.182). Phobia responses can be enduring, unless the person experiences an extinction process. In the extinction process, people confront the fear without the attendance of the unconditioned stimulus (Powell et al., 2009, p.182).

For instance, in Watson’s experiment, Little Albert had a phobia of white rats (and other furry objects), because the white rat had been paired with a loud bang (Powell et al., 2009, p.182). Every time Little Albert sees a white rat, even without the loud bang, he continuously fears it. He has developed a phobia for white rats because of the conditioned stimulus of the loud bang that is paired with the white rat. His phobia could be removed or extinguished by frequently exposing Little Albert to the white rat sans the loud bang (Powell et al., 2009, p.182).

One more way of removing his phobia is through counter conditioning (Powell et al., 2009, p.182). In counter conditioning, the conditioned stimulus is associated with an enjoyable stimulus. Little Albert could have removed his phobia of the white rat by relating it to something pleasurable, such as food or positive encouragement (Powell et al., 2009, p.182). Every time a white rat is shown to him, he is given food, for instance. Addictions and Operant Conditioning Addiction can be explained by operant conditioning because of the pleasure that follows after taking the drug of choice.

Moreover, removing the drug results to withdrawal symptoms, such as pain, and these symptoms represent negative reinforcement for addicts. The biological factors of addiction can help elucidate the operant conditioning process: “The addicted brain is distinctly different from the nonaddicted brain, as manifested by changes in brain metabolic activity, receptor availability, gene expression, and responsiveness to environmental cues” (Pietras, 2002). In the brain, there are numerous changes that happen as drugs go through the individual’s bloodstream.

From the bloodstream, the drug goes to the ventral tegmentum, and then to the nucleus accumbens, before it travels to the limbic system and the orbitofrontal cortex, which is called the mesolimbic reward system. The triggering of this reward system becomes the positive reinforcement of the addiction (Pietras, 2002). Drugs can produce surges in dopamine neurotransmitters and trigger pleasure brain messengers (Pietras, 2002). After repeated use, the brain rapidly adapts and these circuits desensitize, which produces withdrawal symptoms (Pietras, 2002).

In order to get the pleasurable feeling again, addicts increase the dosage or frequency of drug usage. As a result, they become more and more addicted to their drugs or other addictions. Several rehabilitation centers have used classical conditioning to help drug addicts extinguish their addictions. They pair exposure to drugs with cognitive scripts, like statements on how drugs have devastated their lives, or how better a life can be without using drugs (Pietras, 2002). Through classical conditioning, addicts can connect drugs with pain or negative emotions (Pietras, 2002).

The idea is to remove the pleasure as reinforcement and to replace it with pain and other negative feelings. Conclusion Operant and classical conditioning can help explain the development of phobias and addictions. Operant conditioning shows that feelings of pleasure and other positive emotions lead to addicts believing that drugs are good and so must be repeatedly consumed. As for phobias, stimuli that are paired with certain objects or events can produce aversive reactions to the latter. Hence, these associative learning processes illustrate the power of stimuli manipulation in driving and changing human behaviors.

References Lilienfeld, S.O., Lynn, S.J., Namy, L.L., & Woolf, N.J. (2010). Psychology: A framework for everyday thinking. Boston : Pearson/Allyn & Bacon. Pietras, N. (2002). Drug addiction: A brain disease? Serendip. Retrieved from http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1891 Powell, R.A., Symbaluk, D.G., MacDonald, S.E., & Honey, P.L. (2009). Introduction to learning and behavior (3rd ed). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage.