Classical Conditioning Phobias

The classical conditioning theory is a theory where an organism learns to associate two things together. In this case, pain and fear are associated with needles. This theory includes an uncontrolled stimulus (UCS), uncontrolled response (UCR), controlled stimulus (CS), and controlled response (CR). An uncontrolled stimulus (UCS) creates an uncontrolled response (UCR) that has not been learned yet by relating the two. This leads to a controlled stimulus (US) creating a controlled response (CR) that act upon one another. With my brothers fear of needles he went to the doctors to get a shot. He got the

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.

Classical conditioning is a type of associative learning which occurs when two stimuli are paired together repetitively and therefore become associated with each other eventually producing the same response. Classical conditioning was developed from the findings of Ivan Pavlov to account for associations between neutral stimuli and reflexive behavior such as salivation. Pavlov (1927) accidently discovered that dogs began to salivate before they had tasted their food. To support his theory, he carried out experiments using dogs which involved measuring the amount of saliva they produced. In his experiments, food started off as an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) which produced salivation, an unconditioned response (UCR). They are both unconditioned as they occur naturally without being learned. The dogs were presented with a bell (NS), this provided no salivation. The bell and food were presented together and after many trails an

Agoraphobia starts suddenly with an unexpected panic attack. This usually strikes while the person is outdoors. This is likely to cause the person to avoid the situation or place where the original panic attack occurred. The panic attacks then begin to occur more frequently, and once they begin to happen monthly or more often, it is likely that the full agoraphobic pattern will emerge. The reason why these initial panic attacks occur is not known, but stress is a major factor in the majority of cases. The antecedents of the panic attack response of agoraphobia are simply the four key elements in classical conditioning. One of these is the unconditioned response (UCR). The UCR is an unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus that occurs without previous conditioning. In the case of agoraphobia, the UCR would be a panic attack. The unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is a stimulus that evokes an unconditioned response without previous conditioning. In the case of agoraphobia, the UCS would be the situation the panic response first occurred in, for example, a busy street. The conditioned response (CR) is a learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus that occurs because of previous conditioning. In agoraphobia, this would be the panic responses of fear and anxiety. The conditioned stimulus (CS) is a previously neutral stimulus that has, through conditioning, acquired the capacity to evoke a conditioned response. In agoraphobia, this would be the

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

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.

Fear can cause a change in organ functions that changes your behavior towards something or someone. This can cause rapid heart rate, increasing blood pressure, tight muscles, dilated pupils, and sweating. The most common response to fear is panic. Panicking will only make it worse and make you fear it more. This would be the time to use the techniques to control your fear.

Especially since the pain in these incidences were severe, the association developed very rapidly. The unconditioned stimulus was the bites/stings that Timmy received from the wasps and spider. This was the US because a bite or sting will naturally trigger a response. The conditioned stimulus was seeing the bugs. Once Timmy associated his interactions with bugs to the pain that he felt when he was bitten, the mere sight of bugs became the CS. The unconditioned response was the pain that Timmy felt. The welts from the wasp and pain from the spider bite naturally elicited a response (pain). The conditioned response was fear. Timmy learned to exhibit fear at the sight of bugs to protect himself from the possibility of pain.

Every one of us either experiences or feel fear in certain situations or under some scenarios or conditions. Moreover, when we grow and step into the outside world, we get scared of everything,

There are many theories could be applied to understand why Victoria behaves the way she does. Attachment theory is the first theory. In the article written by Timothy Page the topic of attachment behavioral system functions and the direct relation to fear/wariness is discussed. The study that was discusses was done by John Bowlby, and says that the instinct is to withdraw from the feared object. (Page).

Dogs are known as a man’s best friend. They are loyal companions that most people love to have around and enjoy their time with. Unfortunately, there are others who cannot enjoy this companionship because of the intense fear and anxious behavior connected to having a specific phobia. (Rosenberg & Kosslyn, 2014, page 182) Specific phobia is defined as an “anxiety disorder characterized by excessive or unreasonable anxiety about or fear related to a specific situation or object.”(182) It is crucial for those suffering to seek out professional help and treatment to overcome their fears and not feel restricted by them. This paper will argue that my patient, Princess Sophia, was suffering from cynophobia, the fear of dogs. I explored different cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) treatments and used the best form of treatment called systematic desensitization. It was effective and the best path to take when dealing with specific phobias.

The process of classical conditioning follows the procedure from Pavlov’s salivation experiment. Before conditioning, when a bowl of dog food is presented the dog would “naturally” salivate at the mouth “in response to food”. Because this response occurs “automatically” and “prior training” isn’t required for hunger, this reaction is called an unconditioned response (UCR) which “is the response that is naturally elicited by the [UCS]” (Powell et al., 2013, pp. 112-115). When referring to a natural response--one is referring to an elicited reaction that is characterized as “an unlearned or innate reaction to [a] stimulus” (Powell et al., 2013, p. 115). Furthermore, the dog food is considered an unconditioned stimulus (UCS), which “is a stimulus that naturally elicits a response” (Powell et al., 2013, p. 115). According to Pavlov’s experiment, when a bell chimes without the presentation of dog food, the dog will not instinctually salivate (Powell et al., 2013, p. 112). Since the bell didn’t initially “elicit salivation” naturally, it’s called a neutral stimulus (NS) (Powell et al., 2013, p. 112). However, through conditioning, as the bell tone pairs with dog food continuously, the dog begins to salivate. Finally, after the conditioning process is completed, the pairing of “food” and the bell “now elicits salivation” (Powell et al., 2013, p. 112). Since the dog’s salivation required some type of continual prompting or, “prior training”, it’s reaction is considered a conditioned response (CR) “and the [bell]” is the conditioned stimulus (CS). By definition, a conditioned stimulus “is any stimulus that, although initially neutral, comes to elicit a response because it has been associated with an unconditioned stimulus” (Powell et al., 2013, p. 115). Responses triggered by a

Fear can create an instinctual response to perceived danger. A good example is of the time my husband and I were alone on a long hike in the jungles of Belize and came upon a fer-de-lance snake that would most likely have killed us with its bite. Without any time passing, my instinct of fight or flight emerged and I pushed my husband out of the way, telling him to run as I did. Also, in an instinctual state of fear, someone can perform tasks they did not think were possible such as being able to lift a

Fear is a normal and an important human reaction to something dangerous, it keeps one out of danger, because fear is disliked and one tries ones best to avoid the object or situation of fear. It causes physical changes known as fight-or-flight reaction, which causes blood pressure to increase and the heart rate to speed up to pump blood to the large muscles used to run away, to balance this the human body has sweat glands which produce perspiration to cool the body.

As a dog owner, I know how important it is to teach your pets how to behave. Yet, it is important to understand how learning works so that you can develop a strategy to properly and quickly teach your dog. The example of training a dog to roll over is a great model for analysing the aspects of learning involved with this process. Understanding how operant conditioning works and how to reinforce a desired response to that stimuli will help trainers effectively teach dogs. Psychologists, such as Myers (2013), define learning as the process of acquiring new knowledge and behaviors. In this case we are specifically discussing the acquisition of a certain response to a stimulus. The stimulus is the trainer’s command and the desired behavior is the dog to roll over onto his back. These ideas all are based on Edward L. Thorndike’s principle called the law of effect, wherein he stated that behaviors followed by a positive outcomes are more likely to increase in probability. These are all important components of the learning process, especially on the level of training a dog or instilling a simple behavior.