A Brief Note On Classical Conditioning And Fear

Classical conditioning is a form of learning that is taught to us through experiences we encounter in our lives. It involves outside stimuli to trigger the condition we have learned to expect. For example, the sound of a lunch bell would trigger our stomach to start growling soon after hearing the bell ring. The expectation of food to come soon after hearing the bell and satisfy our hunger is what makes our stomach growl. This is something learned over time. Expectations can be both good and bad. Sometimes these negative experiences cause us to have certain behaviors when we are reminded of such an event.

Watson and Rayner aimed to investigate; ‘Can we condition fear of an animal, e.g., a white rat, by visually presenting it and simultaneously striking a steel bar?’ (B.Watson, R.Rayner, 2000). To test this method the case study was carried out in a controlled lab-based setting, with participant observation. To first eliminate any participant variables, little Albert at nine months of age was subject to a successive viewing of a white rat, a rabbit, a monkey, a dog, with masks and without hair, along with cotton wool, burning newspaper and other variables. (B.Watson, R Rayner , 1920). Manipulation was the most common reaction to these encounters (attempts to touch or engage with the stimulus presented), Watson and Rayner (1920) write ‘At no time did this infant ever show fear in any situation.’

How Lauren learned she had a fear in flying? Using the Classical Conditioning theory the possibilities could be endless. Classical conditioning in simple terms is the method in which one determines why and the cause of a condition as well as what has brought it about. There are many stimulus both conditioned and unconditioned that can cause fear or other problems, but the major reason for causes regarding the fear of flying has been mentioned in several articles regarding anxiety disorders.

In Chapter 8 “Where the Wild Things Are,” the author Le Doux looked at the how our brain regions and systems functioned during the development of anxiety disorders. He introduced many researchers’ ideas and theories such as Pavlovian conditioning and instrumental conditioning; then, he listed the brain regions that were associated with anxiety and fear conditioning such as hippocampus, amygdala, sympathetic nervous system, and various brain cortexes. He also explained how our brain became conditioned for different anxiety disorders.

To begin, it is said in "Where Does Fear Come From?" by Charlene Brusso, that the limbic system is responsible for interpreting senses and giving humans the fear response, it also keeps memories of dangerous experiences in order to help organisms with basic survival. (paragraph 2) Clearly, these responses are engraved into the human body and its inner workings. There is an

Some ideas cannot be learned while asleep and must be associated with feelings. The way the government in Brave New World manipulates feelings is through a process called classical conditioning. This process was first made famous by a man, which the book alludes to quite frequently, Ivan Pavlov. Classical conditioning is the process of associating a negative or positive feeling with a specific action. The more complex ideas can be taught to children using classical conditioning, which the Director explains as he gives students a tour of the Hatchery. After children of the Delta class are shown books and flowers, the Director initiates an electric shock and a series of sirens, explosions, and other unpleasant noises in order to make the children

The formation of new memories requires protein synthesis dependent changes in synaptic structure and plasticity in the hippocampus. Studies in humans and animals suggest that these memories are initially stored in hippocampus but later transferred to cortex for permanent storage. This phenomenon is described as systems consolidation of memories. While the specific role for new protein synthesis in hippocampus in early encoding of memories is established, whether protein synthesis in medial prefrontal cortex play a major role in encoding of memories is unclear. To address this question, we used contextual fear conditioning (CFC) of mouse, a behavior training that induce long lasting memories. A single training session produces robust lifelong memory (8) that can be measured using automated procedures (9). Several studies have used CFC training as a model to study hippocampal-cortical communications and mechanisms underlying systems consolidation of memories. Contextual fear memories are initially stored in hippocampus and then moved to medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) for long-term storage.

Fearful situations make the brain release chemicals like dopamine, adrenaline, and endorphins. In Allegra Ringo’s “Why Do Some Brains Enjoy Fear?”, an interview with Dr. Margee Kerr, who earned her PhD in sociology at The University of Pittsburgh, and wrote Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear, explaining the psychological process in

Studying parts of the brain that are involved in dealing with fear and stress also helps researchers understand possible causes of PTSD to begin formulating a plan to treat PTSD. The amygdala is known for its role in emotion, learning, and memory. The amygdala appears active in learning to fear an event as well as in the early stages of fear extinction. In storing extinction memories and dampening an existing fear the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in problem solving, decision making, and judgement, is seemingly

All the experiments performed by Rau, Decola, & Fanselow support a phenomenon in which prior exposure to several shocks enhances subsequence learning of conditional fear. Based on the data they suggested that this effect occurs because the potent pre-shock experience sensitized the subject’s susceptibility to acquire conditional fear. It also proves that this procedure may serve as a model of specific components of PTSD. This series of experiment provides insight into the possible treatments for PTSD. Neither behavioral nor pharmacological elimination of the fear to the original traumatic context was capable of alleviating the effects of the stressor. It will is important for future studies to determine the mechanisms for this sensitization, which will be able to provide a complete treatment for PTSD.

Is it possible to rouse fear from a stimulus that at first caused no such response? Classical conditioning is a type of learning where a response is produced from combining a conditioned stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to produce an unconditioned response. Ivan Pavlov did a famous study, pairing the sound of a bell with food to produce salivation. After a while, just the sound alone would produce salivation. “Little Albert”, an infant that belonged to a wet nurse at the Harriet Lane Home was experimented on by John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner. Watson and Rayner claim that “Little Albert” was a healthy, unemotional, and stable child. The experiment began with the introduction of a white rat, which alone, produced no fear response. At 11 months and 3 days, the rat was paired with a loud noise. The loud noise frightened “Little Albert”. He began to associate the fear he experienced with the white rat since it was paired with the loud noise.

In general, a phobia refers to “extreme [and] irrational fear reactions” (Powell, Honey, & Symbaluk, 2013, p. 190). Phobias are developed through a process called classical conditioning. Classical conditioning involves “a process in which one stimulus that does not elicit a certain response is associated with a second stimulus that does; as a result, the first stimulus also comes to elicit a response” (Powell et al., 2013, pp. 109-110).

Our understanding of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning has allowed us to unlock many of the answers we sought to learn about human behavior. Classical conditioning is a technique of behavioral training, coined by Ivan Pavlov, which basically states that an organism learns through establishing associations between different events and stimuli. This helps us understand human behavior in an assortment of ways. It makes it clear that almost everything we do is based on patterns of stimulus and response. For example, if you were bitten aggressively by a dog as a child, you may be still scared of dogs today. That is because the dog caused you pain, which in turn caused you have anxiety towards dogs.

For this Psychology Field Journal, you will demonstrate your understanding of the components of classical conditioning by labeling two classical conditioning scenarios and reflecting on examples of classical conditioning in everyday life.

Aversive conditioning is a manufactured negative response to certain things, much like the operant conditioning developed by Skinner. The contingent behavior is behavior that, when performed, results in the delivery of specific consequences or reinforcers. This article described the measures taken to make coyotes stop wanting to kill lambs for food. The authors’ contention is that it may be possible to reconcile the desires of both ranchers and conservationists. The latter group wishes to enable the coyote and, perhaps other predators, to survive in the open range, as they have for millions of years.