Essay on Fear of Flying and Classical Conditioning Theory

An irrational fear of something can cause a person to alter the way they live, and can dictate

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.

I have this fear that causes my body to shake. When I think about it, my skin becomes pale and cold. It’s death speeding through my mind. Once I have seen these monstrous roller coasters, the only thing in my mind was fear. Knowing that I’m afraid to go on these rides, I didn’t want to look like a fool in front of my friends. My mind is thinking of deadly thoughts. My palms were sweaty and I was twitching like a fish. I was petrified of heights.

Classical conditioning effects everyday life especially in relation to phobias and addiction which will be discussed in this essay. Classical conditioning was founded by Ivan Pavlov. He believed that if a behaviour can be learned, it can also be unlearned too. This essay will highlight the importance of conditioning principles in explaining and treating problem behaviours. Classical conditioning has revolutionised behavioural therapies, such as flooding and systematic desensitisation to treat phobias, and aversion therapies to treat addictive behaviour.

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.

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

The child interpreted the sound of the hammer hitting the steel bar in coincidence with the visualization of the white rat. Even in nine months the child had been programmed by repeatedly hitting the bar and visual stimulation of contact with the white rat, had now become an unconditioned stimulus response by automatically changing physical and emotional outcomes from the child (Porter, B., 2013).

Avoidance and numbing represent a flight response to stimuli associated with the traumatic event(s). In fact, avoiding people,

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.

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).

You must be asking yourself “what could have possibly happened that led to this erratic fear of slip and slides?”

The concept of the Stimulus – Response Theory describes an external neutral signal /event (stimulus) (to unconditionally and automatically trigger (a behaviour or reflex. (Response).

Allison has experienced a few panic attacks in her life, but has not had a panic attack in more than two years. But she still carries Xanax with her everywhere she goes, just in case she needs it. Ever since she was 7 years old, she has worried about random issues. Allison remembers walking through her house at 7 years old, checking on all of the appliances to make sure that they were all unplugged before everyone fell asleep in fear that a fire would break out and burn the house down. Allison was also worried as a 3rd grader about her mother dying any day from cancer, since her mother was a smoker. When Allison was 16, she had great difficulty with learning how to drive in fear that she would be involved in a car accident. Indeed, Allison was involved in 2 car accidents, none of which were her fault.

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).