Behavior Modification Plan for Public Speaking

In the eleven chapter of A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking, the authors talk about

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.

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.

Classical conditioning is learning that occurs when two stimuli- a conditioned stimulus (originally a neutral stimulus) and a unconditioned stimulus are paired and become associate with each other. Sarah was not afraid of ballet or anything to do with ballet before her mother’s death. However because she blames herself for it and it occurred on the day of her audition she associated her mother’s death with ballet. As a result she refused to dance or watch ballet. In the movie Derek takes her to this ballet show and she almost ran off because she was so emotional when she realized where he was about to take her. Sarah also had classical conditioned attitudes as a result of her classical conditioning. Sarah felt upset whenever Derek or anyone questioned about her mother or her term ‘used to dance’. She became annoyed or uninterested that was an attitude she learned to have due to the event. Sarah also acquired motives through her classical conditioning (leaned motives) where she avoided ballet or placed a mental block between her and dancing ballet.

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.

“Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus”.

The classical conditioning model was one of the first theories used to describe phobias. Many years ago, scientists observed that one could willingly elicit a fear response in an animal or human through systematic teaching. For example, if every time a rat is presented with a low buzzing noise, it is electrically shocked, eventually, when it hears the noise alone (with no shock), it will exhibit symptoms of fear. (3) Scientists

My example of classical conditioning would be the time I had gotten into a car accident on the highway. Now the accident wasn’t serious, but it left me scared. After the incident, every time I got into a car my body would tense up. I also would feel like I was unable to breathe. As of now I still have miniature panic attacks at the thought of riding in a car or getting on the highway.

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 Britannica, “Classical Conditioning occurs when two stimuli are linked together to produce a new learned response” (“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 (“Stimulus,” 2015, para.1).

A phobia can be acquired by a person by making the person associate one thing with something not pleasant or painful to them. The effect of this can be permanent if the extinction process on the person

First of all, I would like to begin by describing my experience of learning to fear roller coasters, with regards to classical conditioning. To give some context to the situation, I was a brave girl wanting to tame a structure much larger than herself because I had the belief that I was invincible. I strongly believe that my fear of roller coasters can be explained using Pavlov’s “classical conditioning.” Classical conditioning is the type of learning that occurs via making associations. In other words, classical conditioning is a type of learning by which a natural stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus and acquires the capacity to elicit a similar response (Feist, 2008, p.449).

The classical conditioning is a condition that focuses on the learning process in which a biological potent stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus, a good example is Pavlov dog salivating (Corey, 2016). Operant conditioning focuses on the involvement of learning in which behavioral can be influenced by the consequences. The social learning approach is different from the Classical and Operant condition; its main focus is understanding the behavior of the environmental event that occurs with the individual. This approach is significant in identifying the way the environment can affect a person behavioral

Public speaking is a fear faced by over 75% of the Earth’s population. In fact, 5.3 million of Americans today face social phobia and speech anxiety. Commonly referred to as “glossophobia”, speech anxiety is fear people face when delivering speeches and/or lectures to large audiences. The article, “Conquer Fear of Public Speaking through Emotional Intelligence”, written by Gleb Tsipursky, provides people with expert advice on how to conquer their speech anxiety. As someone who presents ideas and projects on a daily basis, I have started to conquer my speech anxiety. When I first moved to Hillsborough in 2013, I was petrified when delivering my student council speech. No one knew me, and I only had a scant amount of friends. I patently remember being extremely

Classical conditioning is the theory that involves a subject learning a new behavior by the process of association. A naturally occuring stimulus (the unconditioned stimulus) is paired with a response (the unconditioned response). Then, a neutral stimulus (the conditioned stimulus) is paired with the unconditioned stimulus and eventually the conditioned stimulus produces the initial response of the unconditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus being present. The response, therefore, becomes the conditioned response. This study had a major influence on the psychological study of behaviorism. “Behaviorism is based on the assumption that learning occurs through interactions with the environment” (Cherry 1). Classical conditioning

I used the search engine Google with the search term “public speaking fear” and it brought up a great deal of interesting websites pertaining to public speaking. The first one I decided to peruse was 5 Tips to Reduce the Fear of Public Speaking on Psychology Today’s website. I learned that public speaking is the number one fear in America, while the fear of death is second in line. This means that we’re more afraid of speaking in public than we are of dying. I also learned five tips on how to reduce public speaking nervousness.