Behavior Principles in Everyday Life

1
Behavior Principles in Everyday Life

• Chapter 2
• Pavlovian Conditioning

2
Forming Associations

• In this chapter you will learn how biologically
  established reflexes such as emotional
  responses, sexual responses, and psychosomatic
  symptoms can become associated with new stimuli
  through Pavlovian conditioning. You will also
  learn when and why the effects of Pavlovian
  conditioning can fade over time though they do
  not always fade.

3
Repeated Presentation of an Eliciting Stimulus

• Habituation vs. Sensitization
• Habituation is a decrease in the strength of an
  elicited behavior (a reflex) following repeated
  presentations of the eliciting stimulus.
• For example, we quickly stop attending to
  low-intensity background noises such as the
  ticking of a clock or the distant noise of
  traffic. Similarly, a sudden, unexpected tap on
  the shoulder may elicit a startle response, while
  further taps have no such effect.

4
Habituation and Sensitization

• By contrast, sensitization is an increase in the
  strength of an elicited behavior following
  repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus.
  
• For example, soldiers under attack generally do
  not habituate to the sound of artillery shells
  exploding nearby. Instead, their startle reaction
  grows stronger.
• Needless to say, this greatly contributes to the
  stress they experience and the inevitable
  breakdown virtually all soldiers suffer after
  repeated, prolonged exposure to battle
  conditions.

5
Habituation and Sensitization

• Why does repeated exposure to certain stimuli
  sometimes result in habituation and sometimes in
  sensitization? One factor is the intensity of the
  eliciting stimulus.
• A low-intensity stimulus, such as the ticking of
  a clock, generally results in habituation.
• A high-intensity stimulus, such as exploding
  artillery shells, generally results in
  sensitization.
• And a stimulus of intermediate intensity often
  results in an initial period of sensitization
  followed by habituation. For example, at a
  shooting range, the first few shots you hear
  might produce an increasingly strong startle
  reaction. But you then begin to habituate to the
  shots, and after a while they are hardly noticed.

6
Habituation and Sensitization

• Habituated responses can also reappear following
  the presentation of a seemingly irrelevant novel
  stimulus, a phenomenon called dishabituation.
• For example, Cheryl might quickly habituate to
  the sound of gunshots at a shooting range. If,
  however, a handsome stranger approaches and
  stands nearby, she might again be startled when
  the next shot is fired.
• Likewise, couples can sometimes rekindle their
  romance by traveling to a new and different
  environment- or even just by treating themselves
  to a night in a hotel room rather than staying at
  home.

7
Pavlovian Conditioning

• Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) studied biologically
  established reflexes and the processes by which
  new stimuli become associated with the reflexes.
  The type of learning he discovered is commonly
  called Pavlovian conditioning but it is also
  known as classical conditioning and respondent
  conditioning.

8
Pavlovian Conditioning Cont.

• Stated simply, Pavlovian conditioning occurs when
  some neutral stimulus is so closely associated
  with an existing reflex that it takes on the
  power to elicit the reflective response.

9
Two Types of Reflexes

• A reflex consists of a stimulus-response sequence
  in which come stimulus (S) elicits a
  biologically based response (R).
• S ? R
• The most basic and primitive type of reflex is
  the biologically established (or innate) reflex,
  which is called an unconditioned reflex to
  indicate that no conditioning no learning is
  involved in its origin.

10
Two Types of Reflexes Cont.

• Each inborn reflex can only be activated by one
  specific type of biologically determined
  stimulus, which is called an unconditioned
  stimulus (US) to indicate the no conditioning
  (no learning) is needed for this stimulus to
  elicit a reflexive response.
• The response elicited by the US is called an
  unconditioned response (UR) to indicate that no
  conditioning is necessary for that response to
  occur.

11
Two Types of Reflexes Cont.

• A bee sting can elicit an unconditioned reflex.
  We are born with nerves that cause us to respond
  to a bee sting as a US that elicits the UR of
  pain and jerking away. A sting is a US that
  elicits the UR of pain and flinching.
• A second type of reflex, called a conditioned
  reflex, can be learned through the process of
  Pavlovian conditioning when some new sensations
  become associated with an innate or conditioned
  reflex.

12
Two Types of Reflexes Cont.

• When a young child first sees a honeybee, the
  child has no innate fear of the bee The bee is
  a neutral stimulus (NS) upon first sight. But
  once the child learns that touching bees can be
  associated with pain, the sight of a bee becomes
  a conditioned stimulus (CS) that elicits the
  conditioned response (CR) of fear.
• During Pavlovian conditioning, the neutral
  stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) that
  elicits a conditioned response (CR).

13
Two Types of Reflexes Cont.

• Although a CS is capable of eliciting a reflexive
  response, the conditioned response (CR) is not
  identical to the unconditioned response (UR).
• After a child has been stung by bees, the sight
  of bees is a CS that elicits the CR of fear.
  This CR of fear is not as strong as the UR of
  pain and crying that is elicited by the US of an
  actual bee sting.
• Although the CR resembles the UR in some ways,
  the CR is usually less intense and slower to
  appear than the UR, although other differences
  are possible.

14
Predictive Stimuli

• A CS contains important information about things
  that may come next.
• A CS functions as a predictive stimulus
  indicating that a reflex might soon be elicited.
• The sight and odor of a beautifully cooked meal
  are CSs that can elicit salivation and
  pleasurable anticipation of delicious food, even
  before dinner comes out of the oven. In this
  case, the CSs are predictive stimuli for
  pleasurable feelings.

15
Predictive Stimuli Cont.

• Our brains have evolved to be quite sensitive to
  correlations or contingent relations between
  reflexes and the cues that precede them. The
  cues that most reliably precede and predict the
  onset of a reflex are usually the stimuli that
  become CSs.
• The stimuli most predictive of the accident tend
  to be causally or contingently related to the
  onset of the unconditioned reflex.

16
Predictive Stimuli Cont.

• When you are served a delicious dinner in a
  restaurant, you may notice the mouth-moistening
  salivation reflex. Which of the countless
  stimuli present in the room become associated
  with the moistening reflex? Will it be the
  sounds of background music and silverware
  clinking on plates, sights of the server and
  other people, words on the menu, topics of
  conversation, or the odor of the food?

17
Predictive Stimuli Cont.

• The stimuli most closely associated with a
  delectable meal such as seeing it listed on the
  menu or smelling it at a nearby table are most
  likely to become CSs that elicit the CR of happy
  anticipation and a moistened mouth.

18
Common Conditioned Responses

• Why do we have reflexes?
• Most animals evolve to have numerous reflexes
  because the reflexes are crucial for basic
  biological functioning, survival, and
  reproduction.
• Most animals have evolved to be capable of
  Pavlovian conditioning, and humans are no
  exception.

19
Common Conditioned Responses Cont.

• Pavlovian conditioning allows us to respond not
  only to US, but also to the numerous CSs that
  become associated with our reflexes.

20
Voluntary Muscles

• Babies are born with a variety of muscular
  reflexes of the skeletal muscular system that
  help ensure their early survival.

21
Voluntary Muscles Cont.

• Although some of the infants reflexes such as
  the sucking response disappear in childhood,
  many continue to function all through life.
  Adults jerk away from pricks with sharp objects,
  get startled by sudden stimuli, and calm down
  with gentle stroking. In infancy and all through
  adulthood, people tend to smile or cry when very
  positive or aversive things happen to them.
  Smiles, tears, and many other facial responses
  are based on reflexes, and they help communicate
  our emotional state to others.

22
Circulation

• There are numerous reflexes based on the
  involuntary muscular responses of the circulatory
  system.
• For example, physical exertion increases heart
  rate and blood flow to the entire body. Sexual
  stimulation also causes increased heart rate, but
  blood is shunted especially to the genital areas,
  causing vaginal lubrication and penile erection.

23
Digestion

• Several reflexes have to do with the digestive
  system, including the salivation reflex studied
  by Pavlov.
• Food in the mouth is the US that elicits the
  unconditioned reflex of salivation. Through
  Pavlovian conditioning, we learn to salivate when
  exposed to cues that are predictive stimuli
  associated with food. Merely sitting down to a
  delicious dinner (a CS) can literally make a
  hungry persons mouth water (a CR), before food
  is put in the mouth.

24
Digestion Cont.

• Extreme stress, shocks, and pain are USs capable
  of eliciting other digestive and excretory
  reflexes such as butterflies in the stomach,
  nausea, vomiting, and even urination or
  defecation.

25
Digestion Cont.

• Unfortunately, cancer patients who receive
  chemotherapy often experience nausea and vomiting
  as side effects of the strong chemicals used in
  therapy. Chemotherapy is the unconditioned
  stimulus (US) that elicits unconditioned sickness
  (the UR). After having chemotherapy, some
  patients begin to experience conditioned nausea
  and vomiting before they come to therapy.

26
Digestion Cont.

• Seeing that it is time to go to therapy is a
  predictive cue (CS) correlated with chemotherapy
  (the US) hence the calendar and clock provide
  the predictive stimuli that can elicit nausea
  illness before therapy actually begins.

27
Digestion Cont.

• Although the brain is sensitive to correlations
  between predictive cues and reflexes, it does not
  always make the correct associations. --For
  example, cancer patients who receive chemotherapy
  sometimes learn to associate the foods that they
  have eaten before going to therapy as CSs that
  elicit nausea. Patients who eat ice cream before
  their chemotherapy may later find that ice cream
  causes them to become nauseous.

28
Respiration

• Reflexes of the respiratory system include
  coughing, sneezing, hiccups, and asthma attacks.
• Some psychosomatic illnesses result from
  Pavlovian conditioning.

29
Reproduction

• There are a number of reflexes in the
  reproductive system, related to making babies,
  delivering babies, and breast-feeding them.
• Touch to the genitals is the US (unconditioned
  stimulus) that elicits the URs (unconditioned
  responses) of vaginal lubrication, penile
  erection, nipple erection, and other signs of
  sexual arousal, including orgasm.

30
Reproduction Cont.

• These sexual responses are biologically
  established reflexes mediated by the lower spinal
  cord, and Pavlovian conditioning allows many
  stimuli that are associated with these reflexes
  to become eroticized, hence capable of
  eliciting sexual responses. Thoughts, words,
  visual images, odors, and a multitude of other
  stimuli can become CSs (conditioned stimuli) that
  elicit CRs (sexual responses) after the CSs have
  preceded the US of the unconditioned sexual
  reflex.

31
Reproduction Cont.

• CSs that elicit sexual arousal are commonly
  called erotic stimuli or sexual turn-ons.
• Each individual learns a unique set of sexual
  CSs, depending on his or her unique history of
  Pavlovian conditioning.
• Because we all have different life experiences,
  it is only natural that each person learns a
  unique set of erotic CSs many or few
  depending on her or his unique conditioning
  experiences.

32
Reproduction Cont.

• People with unusual histories of sexual
  conditioning can acquire some unique CSs for
  sexual arousal. Beyond a certain point, a
  persons unusual conditioning may strike others
  as odd or abnormal, but the conditioning
  process that produces unusual sexual CSs is the
  same Pavlovian conditioning that produces
  normal CSs. The clinical literature
  demonstrates how unusual sexual CSs can be
  conditioned without anyone planning it.

33

• There is good evidence that sexual responses can
  be classically conditioned. For example, Rachman
  and Hodgson (1968) took seven male volunteers and
  presented them with conditioning trials in which
  a picture of black, knee-length boots was
  followed by a picture of a nude woman.
• After about 30 trials, five of the males became
  sexually aroused by the sight of the boots. The
  researchers later eliminated the conditioning by
  repeatedly presenting the picture of the boots
  without the picture of the nude- a process known
  as extinction.
• This result was replicated at the University of
  North Dakota in 1995 by pairing colored geometric
  shapes with erotic stimuli.

34

• As you may have already guessed, this same
  process might partially account for the
  development of masochistic tendencies (the
  tendency to perceive painful stimulation as
  pleasurable) in humans. The painful stimulation
  from being whipped, for example, has for some
  people become associated with feelings of sexual
  arousal, as a result of which the painful
  stimulation itself can elicit arousal.

35

• Interestingly, as with Pavlovs dogs, people who
  are masochistic do not perceive all pain as
  pleasurable rather, it is only the type of pain
  that is connected with their erotic experiences
  (e.g., being whipped) that is perceived as
  pleasurable. The pain they feel from accidentally
  stubbing a toe or banging a shin is as aversive
  for them as it is for anyone else (Rathus, Nevid,
  Fichner-Rathus, 2000).

36
Emotional Responses

• Most unconditional reflexes have an emotional
  component that is either pleasurable or aversive.
  Therefore, eliciting a reflex often brings up
  emotional responses. The USs that elicit sexual
  responses, salivation, and reflexes associated
  with all the other biologically based rewards
  also elicit pleasurable sensations. In contrast,
  the USs associated with all the biologically
  based punishers such as sharp, hot, and
  stinging stimuli elicit aversive sensations.

37
Emotional Responses Cont.

• When neutral stimuli precede reflexes that have
  an emotional component, the CSs that are created
  via Pavlovian conditioning can also elicit
  emotions.
• The emotional response elicited by a CS is called
  a conditioned emotional response (CER).
• Just as conditioned responses (CRs) are not
  identical to the URs that they predict, CERs do
  not completely resemble the unconditioned
  emotions on which they are based.

38
Emotional Responses Cont.

• Because CSs are predictive stimuli, CSs
  associated with USs that have emotional
  components can elicit pleasant or unpleasant
  emotions before a US appears.
• New CSs with emotional associations can be
  created any time that Pavlovian conditioning
  occurs.

39
Emotional Responses Cont.

• For example, when a mother first begins
  breast-feeding her new baby, the infants sucking
  on her nipples is a US that elicits the
  milk-release reflex, which is pleasurable for the
  mother. Through Pavlovian conditioning, the
  predictive stimuli that precede just seeing the
  baby tugging at her blouse and trying to reach
  her nipples is a CS capable of eliciting the
  milk-release reflex and pleasurable feeling (the
  CER), even before actual breast-feeding begins.

40
Emotional Responses Cont.

• Even cognitive stimuli can serve as CSs that
  elicit CERs. When a mother thinks about
  breast-feeding, she may experience warm and
  pleasant feelings.
• Hearing the national anthem can elicit goose
  bumps. Hearing an inspiring speech or song can
  cause the skin to tingle or send chills down our
  spine. Criticism can elicit sweat on our face,
  palms of our hands, and armpits.

41
Understanding Emotions

• If you want to better understand your feelings
  and emotions, pay closer attention to the stimuli
  that precede them.
• People are often influenced by environmental cues
  including the emotional responses of others when
  labeling their own emotions.
• Identifying our emotions involves both internal
  sensations and external cues.

42
Understanding Emotions Cont

• As you learn to search for and locate the stimuli
  that elicit emotions, you can begin to use
  behavior modification with your emotions. You
  can practice mood control by selecting USs and
  CSs that elicit the emotions you want.

43
Please forgive me for using such a sexist image
but advertisers are always trying to change how
you feel about their products
44
Make yourself really relax

• An athlete can get themselves into a very relaxed
  state with some muscle relaxation exercises (USs)
  that can be very time consuming but while so
  doing, if the word relax is repeated, the word
  would acquire CS properties.
• If at the time of competition, the word relax is
  said to themselves, some of the same bodily
  effects of the exercises would be achieved

45
Empathy

• How is it that one person can empathize with the
  emotions of another? When we see other people
  smile with twinkling eyes, we often feel happy
  because years of prior Pavlovian conditioning
  lead us to associate genuine smiles with happy
  situations. Thus, smiles become CSs for our
  emotions of happiness. Likewise, seeing other
  people sobbing and shaking with grief become CSs
  for most of us to feel sad, too.

46
Empathy Cont.

• Whenever people have had similar Pavlovian
  conditioning with any given emotional situation,
  their similar conditioning allows them to
  empathize with each other.
• People who have had unique emotional experiences
  may know things that only a few other people
  who have had similar experiences can empathize
  with.

47
The Dynamics of Conditioning

• For decades, people thought of Pavlovian
  conditioning in simple mechanistic terms. If you
  pair a neutral stimulus with a reflex long
  enough, the neutral stimulus eventually becomes a
  CS that can elicit a conditioned response.
• Today we realize that the brain is a very active
  stimulus-processing organ.

48
The Dynamics of Conditioning Cont.

• Due to evolutionary processes, the brain has
  evolved to search for contingent relationships
  among stimuli, as when one stimulus causes the
  next. All the reflexes mediate biologically
  important life functions, including responses to
  food, sex, sharp objects, fire, allergens, and so
  forth. When the brain detects some new stimuli
  that seem to be causally connected with
  contingently related to the onset of the
  unconditioned reflex, it build connections that
  associate the new stimuli and the US ? UR reflex.

49
The Dynamics of Conditioning Cont.

• Any stimulus provides an enormous amount of
  biologically useful information to the brain if
  it accurately predicts that a US is likely to
  appear, and this facilitates the stimulus
  becoming associated with the unconditioned
  stimulus becoming associated with the
  unconditioned reflex.
• Pavlovian conditioning can occur without our
  being consciously aware of the processes.

50
The Dynamics of Conditioning Cont.

• Many people with fears and phobias cannot recall
  any experiences that would explain the onset of
  their phobia.
• Of course, Pavlovian conditioning can also occur
  when people are conscious of things that caused
  them to have conditioned responses.

51
The Dynamics of Conditioning Cont.

• Nevertheless, the brain can do an amazing amount
  of cause-effect analysis (actively searching for
  contingent relationships among stimuli) even when
  we are not consciously aware of the brainwork and
  Pavlovian conditioning that is happening at an
  unconscious level. If you fear spiders,can you
  recall the time and events that produced this
  conditioning? If you cannot, you are not alone.

52
The Dynamics of Conditioning Cont.

• Much early research on Pavlovian conditioning
  focused on simple models with one cause and one
  effect.
• But today we know that the brain can detect
  complex patterns among all sorts of stimuli that
  can predict the onset of a reflex.

53
The Dynamics of Conditioning Cont.

• The brains sensitivity to complex stimulus
  patterns helps explain conditioned inhibition,
  where some special signal inhibits responses to
  CSs that otherwise elicit reflexes. If spiders
  are CSs that elicit fear for you, you may jump
  with anxiety when seeing a spider. But if PJ
  the practical joker in your crowd drops a
  wiggly rubber spider in your lap, you might not
  jump because you have learned that stimuli from
  PJ are usually harmless.

54
The Dynamics of Conditioning Cont.

• Likewise, if PJ gave you a check for 1000, you
  might not jump with joy. Since PJ has a long
  history of doing things while just kidding,
  seeing PJ can produce conditioned inhibitions of
  many responses.

55
Biological Preparedness

• The brain is not equally sensitive to all types
  of stimuli. Some types of stimuli are much more
  important for survival than others, and
  evolutionary processes have prepared the brain to
  locate some types of causal correlations more
  easily than others.
• In Pavlovian conditioning, we often see a
  biological preparedness for making certain
  associations especially easy. The brain is
  biologically structured to connect certain types
  of CSs with life-critical USs, even with limited
  learning opportunities.

56
Biological Preparedness Cont.

• For example, various types of rich, diseased, or
  poisonous food can make a person sick by
  triggering the reflexive responses of nausea and
  vomiting. It may take only one experience with a
  certain type of food and the sickness reflex to
  condition a strong negative response to that
  particular food, even if the vomiting occurs as
  long as 2 to 3 hours after eating the food. Such
  rapid conditioning in spite of long time delays
  reflects considerable biological preparedness for
  the conditioning of the sickness reflex to new
  food flavors and odors.

57
Biological Preparedness Cont.

• The rapid conditioning of negative responses to
  certain foods is not uncommon in everyday life.
  For example, if a friend invites you to a nice
  restaurant and coaxes you to try the seafood, you
  may innocently select something too rich for your
  stomach. When the scallops wrapped in bacon
  arrive, they look and smell delicious. Fried in
  bacon fat and smothered with a rich sour cream
  sauce, they are sweet and succulent.

58
Biological Preparedness Cont.

• Much to your surprise, 1 or 2 hours later, your
  stomach starts complaining. The rich, heavy food
  was too much for you, and you begin to feel weak
  and nauseous. After another half-hour you are
  burping up potent odors, and shortly thereafter
  everything comes up. Terrible taste! And your
  stomach does not calm down for another hour.

59
Biological Preparedness Cont.

• The rich food triggered the unconditioned reflex
  that is a part of a biological safe-guard
  system which rejects bad food from the body.
  Pavlovian conditioning builds from this basic
  reflex.
• In fact, the next time you notice scallops on a
  menu or sit next to someone who orders scallops,
  you may feel weak in the stomach, perhaps a bit
  nauseous.

60
Biological Preparedness Cont.

• Due to Pavlovian conditioning, a new stimulus
  scallops has become a CS associated with the
  biologically established sickness reflex. The
  learning experience has established a conditioned
  food aversion, in this case, a dislike for
  scallops.
• Pavlovian conditioning allows each individual to
  learn the particular foods in his or her
  environment that trigger the sickness reflex.

61
Biological Preparedness Cont.

• We all begin life with the same biologically
  established reflexes, but Pavlovian conditioning
  gives us the flexibility to go beyond the
  biologically determined responses. Each
  individuals unique life experiences create
  patterns of conditioning that reflect that
  persons unique history of learning with
  scallops, abalone, or red frogs.

62
Six Other Determinants of Strong Conditioning

• (1.) Strong USs produce stronger conditioned
  reflexes than do weak USs.
• (2.) The more often a CS is predictive of a US,
  the more power the CS acquires to elicit a CR.
• (3.) When a CS is always associated with a given
  US, the CS takes on a greater ability to elicit
  the CR than if pairing is only intermittent.

63
Six Other Determinants of Strong Conditioning
Cont.

• (4.) Short time lags between the onset of a CS
  and the onset of a US facilitate Pavlovian
  conditioning.
• (5.) Cognitive processes sometimes allow people
  to associate a predictive stimulus and US that
  are normally separated by long time periods.
• (6.) A predictive stimulus must occur before
  not after a US for conditioning to occur.

64
Suboptimal Conditioning

• The brain is sensitive to contingent
  relationships among stimuli and usually
  associates USs with appropriate CSs but this may
  not occur when two or more competing cues are
  possibly associated with one US.
• There are two cue competition effects, called
  overshadowing and blocking, in which conditioning
  does not precede optimally.

65
Suboptimal Conditioning Cont.

• In overshadowing, the presence of intense, large,
  or conspicuous stimuli capture the brains
  attention and interfere with the conditioning of
  the less conspicuous stimuli that better predict
  the onset of the US.
• In blocking, the conditioning of a valuable
  predictive stimulus is hampered by the strength
  of CSs established by prior conditioning.

66
Overshadowing

• If you were stung by a wasp during a walk in the
  woods, would it make sense to develop a
  conditioned fear response to every stimulus
  associated with that event (e.g., the trees
  surrounding you , the butterfly fluttering by,
  and the cloud formation in the sky)? No, it would
  not.
• Rather, it would make more sense to develop a
  fear of those stimuli that were most salient
  (that really stood out, the most attention
  grabbing events) at the time of being stung,
  such as the sight of the wasp or the sound of
  buzzing wings.
• In overshadowing, the most salient member of a
  compound stimulus is more readily conditioned as
  a CS and thereby interferes with conditioning of
  the less salient member.

67
Overshadowing

• Head managers make use of the overshadowing
  effect when they assign an assistant to announce
  an unpopular decision. Although the employees
  might recognize that the head manager is mostly
  responsible, the assistant is the most salient
  stimulus and will, as a result, bear the brunt of
  the blame.
• It is thus the assistant who is likely to become
  most disliked by the employees. On the other
  hand, head managers often make a point of
  personally announcing popular decisions, thereby
  attracting most of the positive associations to
  themselves even if they have been only minimally
  involved in those decisions.

68
Overshadowing

• Similarly, the positive feelings generated by the
  music of a rock band will be most strongly
  associated with the most salient member of the
  band (e.g., the lead singer)- a fact that often
  leads to problems when other band members
  conclude that they are not receiving their fair
  share of the accolades.

69
Blocking

• The phenomenon of overshadowing demonstrates
  that, in some circumstances, mere contiguity
  between a neutral stimulus and a US is
  insufficient for conditioning to occur. An even
  clearer demonstration of this fact is provided by
  a phenomenon known as blocking.
• In blocking, the presence of an established CS
  interferes with conditioning of a new CS.

70
Blocking

• For a real-life example of the blocking effect,
  imagine that you have to make an unpopular
  announcement to your employees. The phenomenon of
  blocking suggests that you would do well to make
  it a joint announcement with another manager who
  is already disliked by the employees (one who is
  already an aversive CS).
• The employees might then attribute most or all of
  the bad news to the unpopular manager, and you
  will be left relatively unscathed.

71
Extinction

• Extinction occurs whenever a CS is present but
  does not precede its US.
• When a CS no longer precedes a US, it gradually
  loses its ability to elicit conditioned
  responses, and the conditioned reflex (CS ? CR)
  becomes weaker. The more often a CS is present
  without a US, the weaker the conditioned reflex
  becomes. Eventually the stimulus ceases to
  elicit a conditioned response.

72
Extinction

• Once a CR has been extinguished, one should not
  assume that the effects of conditioning have been
  completely eliminated. For one thing, a response
  that has been extinguished can be reacquired
  quite rapidly when the CS (or NS) is again paired
  with the US.
• If I somehow manage to overcome my phobia of
  dogs, I might rapidly reacquire that phobia if I
  again have a frightening experience with dogs.

73
Spontaneous Recovery

• Although extinction weakens conditioned reflexes,
  conditioned reflexes regain some of their
  strength during periods after extinction ends,
  due to a process that Pavlov called spontaneous
  recovery. Whereas conditioning takes place when
  a CS precedes a US and extinction takes place
  when a CS appears without its US, spontaneous
  recovery occurs during periods after extinction
  stops when the CS is not present at all.

74
Spontaneous Recovery

• The phenomenon of spontaneous recovery is
  particularly important to remember when
  attempting to extinguish a conditioned fear
  response. For example, we might arrange for a
  dog-phobic child to spend several hours with a
  dog.
• At the end of that time, the childs fear of the
  dog might seem to have been totally eliminated.
  Nevertheless, we should expect that the fear will
  at least partially recover the next time the
  child is confronted with a dog, and that several
  sessions of extinction may be needed before the
  fear is completely eliminated.

75
Spontaneous Recovery

• Similarly, if you feel terribly anxious with a
  new date at the start of the evening but more at
  ease after a couple of hours, do not be
  disappointed if you again find yourself becoming
  quite anxious at the start of you next date. It
  may take several dates with that person before
  you feel comfortable right from the outset.

76
Avoidance Retards Extinction

• If a person avoids contact with a CS, extinction
  cannot take place. If you fear math or computers
  and avoid them, you deprive yourself of chances
  to overcome your fear of math or computers.

77
Avoidance Retards Extinction Cont.

• Conditioned fears and anxieties are less likely
  to extinguish naturally than are conditioned
  pleasures. The reason for this is simple CSs
  that elicit fear motivate avoidance, hence retard
  extinction whereas CSs that elicit pleasure,
  motivate approach, which allows extinction to
  occur if the CSs cease to predict pleasurable
  USs.

78
Therapeutic Extinction

• Extinction can be used in behavior modification,
  especially when people have persistent fears that
  bother them for years and strong avoidance
  responses prevent extinction.
• Therapeutic extinction involves having a person
  confront a fear-inducing CS in a safe environment
  that is free of all types of aversive stimuli.

79
Higher Order Conditioning

• After one stimulus is conditioned into a CS
  because it is predictive of a US, other stimuli
  that are predictive of the first CS can become
  conditioned into conditioned stimuli even in
  the absence of the original US. The process by
  which new CSs are created by being associated
  with a CS alone (with no US present) is called
  higher order conditioning.

80
Higher Order Conditioning Cont.

• Words often become CSs with an ability to elicit
  conditioned emotional responses (CERs) due to
  higher order conditioning.
• Higher order conditioning is not as strong as
  first order conditioning.

81
Higher Order Conditioning Cont.

• There are two main reasons why higher order
  conditioning is weaker than first order
  conditioning.
• (1.) First, USs are the causes of biological
  reflexes and the source from which all Pavlovian
  conditioning takes its strength, and they are not
  present in higher order conditioning.

82
Higher Order Conditioning Cont.

• (2.) Second, the higher order CSs are being
  conditioned from other CSs that are on extinction
  during higher order conditioning since they are
  not being followed by the USs from which they
  take their strength. Hence, the CS2 produces a
  weaker response than the CS1, and the CS1 is
  weaker than the US.

83
Counterconditioning

• After a CS has been conditioned to elicit a
  certain response, the CS may precede a US or CS
  that elicits a different and incompatible
  response, which leads to counterconditioning.
• Counterconditioning can reverse the effects of
  the original conditioning by combining extinction
  and new conditioning.

84
Therapeutic Counterconditioing

• Systematic desensitization is a gentle procedure
  used to reduce peoples fears and anxieties to
  CSs such as flying in airplanes, riding in
  elevators, or speaking in public. It is also
  useful in helping with post-traumatic stress
  syndrome, which can be caused by sexual assaults,
  mugging, battle fatigue, and other horrific
  events.

85
Therapeutic CounterConditioning Cont.

• Aversive counterconditioning is a powerful
  technique for reversing peoples attraction to
  CSs that elicit troublesome positive emotions
  such as addiction to gambling, drugs, or alcohol.

86
Systematic Desensitization

• People can overcome fears and anxieties by
  pairing the CSs that elicit mild anxiety with
  stimuli which elicit relaxation and other
  pleasurable feelings. After they feel
  comfortable at this first mild level of CSs, they
  move up one step at a time to CSs that had, in
  the past, elicited higher and higher levels of
  fear and anxiety.
• This process is called systematic desensitization.

87
Read the rest of slides on systematic
desensitization, etc. on your own!
88
Systematic Desensitization

• Systematic Desensitization is a procedure
  developed by Joseph Wolpe (1958) in which the
  person with a phobia practices relaxation while
  imagining scenes of the fear-producing stimulus.
• A phobia is a fear in which the level of anxiety
  or escape and avoidance behavior is severe enough
  to disrupt the persons life.
• Wolpe determined that a person could decrease
  fear responses by learning to relax while
  imagining progressively greater anxiety-producing
  scenes described by the therapist.

89
Systematic Desensitization

• The key ingredient is to maintain her relaxation
  response as she imagines the fear-producing
  stimulus. Wolpe called the process reciprocal
  inhibition because the relaxation response
  inhibits or prevents the occurrence of the fear
  response.
• There are 3 important steps in the use of the
  systematic desensitization procedure.
• 1) The subject learns relaxation skills using one
  of the procedures to be described.
• 2) The behavior modifier and subject develop a
  hierarchy of fear-producing stimuli.
• 3) The subject practices the relaxation skills
  while the behaviorist describes scenes from the
  hierarchy.

90
Systematic Desensitization

• Developing the Hierarchy
• Once the subject learns the relaxation
  procedures, the behavior modifier and subject
  develop a hierarchy of the fear-producing
  stimuli. The subject uses a fear rating scale and
  identifies the amount of fear that is produced by
  a variety of situations related to the feared
  stimulus.
• The fear rating scale, is called a subjective
  units of discomfort scale (SUDS). On the 0-100
  scale, a rating of 0 corresponds to the absence
  of fear or anxiety and 100 corresponds to the
  maximum amount of fear or anxiety.

91
Systematic Desensitization

• The hierarchy is complete when the client has
  identified 10-20 different situations that are
  progressively more fear producing. Fear-producing
  situations should be identified across the range
  of fear levels so that the hierarchy is composed
  of situations with low, middle, and high fear
  scores.

92
Systematic Desensitization

• Progressing through the Hierarchy
• Having developed relaxation skills and
  constructed the hierarchy with the behavior
  modifier, the subject is ready to begin
  systematic desensitization and progress through
  the hierarchy. At the start of the session, the
  subject practices relaxation exercises.
• After the subject signals a state of relaxation,
  the behavior modifier describes the first scene
  in the hierarchy, which produces very little
  anxiety. The subject imagines this scene while
  continuing to relax. Once the subject has
  successfully imagined this scene while
  maintaining relaxation, the process moves to the
  next step in the hierarchy.

93
Systematic Desensitization

• The behavior modifier describes a slightly more
  fear-producing scene. Again the subject imagines
  this scene while maintaining the relaxation
  response. The behavior modifier might repeat the
  scene a few time, to be sure that the subject can
  imagine the scene while maintaining the
  relaxation response.
• The behavior modifier then describes the next
  scene in the hierarchy, which is again slightly
  more anxiety-provoking than the previous scene,
  and the subject imagines the scene while
  maintaining relaxation.

94
Systematic Desensitization

• This process continues over the course of a
  number of treatment sessions until the subject
  can maintain relaxation through all of the scenes
  in the hierarchy.
• Thus, in systematic desensitization, the subject
  relaxes while imagining the feared stimulus the
  subject does not make actual contact with the
  fear-producing stimulus.

95
In Vivo Desensitization

• In vivo desensitization is similar to systematic
  desensitization, except that the subject
  gradually approaches or is gradually exposed to
  the actual fear-producing stimulus. To use the in
  vivo desensitization procedure, the subject must
  first learn the relaxation response.
• Next, the subject and behavior modifier must
  develop a hierarchy of situations involving the
  fear-producing stimulus. In the in vivo
  desensitization procedure, the subject does not
  imagine each scene in the hierarchy rather, the
  subject experiences each situation in the
  hierarchy while maintaining relaxation as an
  alternative response to replace the fear
  response.

96
In Vivo Desensitization

• During the in vivo desensitization, it is
  important for the subject to advance through each
  step in the hierarchy without an increase in
  anxiety. As we have seen, on way to accomplish
  this is for the subject to practice relaxation at
  each step in the hierarchy.
• However, relaxation training is not always used
  during in vivo desensitization. Instead, the
  behavior modifier might simply provide
  reinforcement for approach behavior at each
  hierarchy step. (In fact, even when relaxation is
  used, the subject should receive positive
  reinforcement at each new step of the hierarchy,
  in the form of praise from the behavior
  modifier.)

97
In Vivo Desensitization

• Alternatively, the therapist must have the client
  engage in other reinforcing activities or in
  distracting activities at each hierarchy step
  for example, the client might recite coping
  statements.
• The therapist might provide reassuring physical
  contact by holding the clients hand or placing a
  hand on the clients back as the client
  progresses through the hierarchy. This variation
  of in vivo desensitization is called contact
  desensitization.

98
Advantages Disadvantages of Systematic and In
Vivo Desensitization

• The advantage of in vivo desensitization is that
  the subject makes actual contact with the feared
  stimulus. Desirable behavior (e.g., approach
  behavior) in the presence of the feared stimulus
  is reinforced as an alternative behavior to
  escaping from or avoiding the feared stimulus
  there is no problem with generalization from
  imagination to the actual fear situation.
• Once the subject has progressed through the
  hierarchy, he or she has demonstrated successful
  performance in the fear-producing situation.

99
Advantages Disadvantages of Systematic and In
Vivo Desensitization

• However, one disadvantage of in vivo
  desensitization is that it is more difficult and
  possibly more time-consuming and costly than
  systematic desensitization.
• This is because the behavior modifier has to
  arrange actual contact with the fear-producing
  situations in the hierarchy they must leave his
  or her office to accompany the subject as he or
  she is exposed to the actual fear-producing
  stimuli. In some cases, it may not be possible to
  arrange contact with the fear-producing stimulus.

100
Advantages Disadvantages of Systematic and In
Vivo Desensitization

• For example, it may not be possible to find
  spiders in the winter in some parts of the
  country.
• However, whenever possible, in vivo
  desensitization is preferred over systematic
  desensitization in treating a fear or phobia
  because successful behavior is demonstrated in
  real life rather than in the imagination, and the
  successful behavior is reinforced, so that the
  behavior is strengthened in real-life situations.

101
Advantages Disadvantages of Systematic and In
Vivo Desensitization

• The advantage of systematic desensitization is
  that it is easier and more convenient for the
  client to imagine the feared stimulus than to
  come into contact with it.
• For example, if the subject has a fear of flying,
  the behavior modifier can describe scenes of
  being in an airport, on an airplane on the
  ground, or on the plane in the air. It would be
  much more time-consuming and difficult to conduct
  treatment that involved actual contact with the
  feared stimulus.

102
Other Treatments for Fears

• Flooding
• Flooding is a procedure in which the person is
  exposed to the feared stimulus at full intensity
  for a prolonged period of time. Initially, the
  person experiences heightened anxiety in the
  presence of the feared stimulus, but over time
  the level of anxiety decreases through a process
  of respondent extinction.

103
Other Treatments for Fears

• For example, a person with a fear of dogs would
  sit in a room (with a therapist) with a dog
  present for a long period of time. Initially, the
  person would be highly anxious, but over time the
  anxiety would decrease and the person would be
  more comfortable with the dog.
• Because the CS (the dog, the feared stimulus) is
  presented without the US (being bitten or
  startled) over a period of time (e.g., a couple
  of hours), the CS no longer elicits the CR
  (anxiety).

104
Relaxation Training

• Relaxation training procedures are strategies
  that people use to decrease the autonomic arousal
  that they experience as a component of fear and
  anxiety problems. The person engages in specific
  relaxation behaviors that result in bodily
  responses opposite to the autonomic arousal.
• Whereas bodily responses such as tense muscles,
  rapid heart rate, cold hands, and rapid breathing
  are part of the autonomic arousal, relaxation
  exercises produce bodily responses such as
  decreases in muscle tension, heart rate, and
  breathing rate and warming of the hands.

105
Progressive Muscle Relaxation

• In progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), the
  person systematically tenses and relaxes each of
  the major muscle groups in the body. Tensing and
  relaxing the muscles leaves them more relaxed
  than in their initial state.
• To use PMR, the person must first learn how to
  tense and relax each of the major muscles of the
  body. The person can learn to do this from a
  therapist or a model, from listening to an
  audiotape of the procedure, or from reading a
  description.

106
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
107
Progressive Muscle Relaxation

• Having learned how to tense each of the muscle
  groups, the subject/client can begin the
  relaxation procedure. First, the client gets into
  a comfortable position in a comfortable chair
  such as a recliner. The relaxation exercise
  should be conducted in a quiet room or some other
  place that has no major distractions.
• Next, the client closes his or her eyes and
  tenses and relaxes each muscle group. Starting
  with the first muscle group, the dominant hand
  and arm, the client tenses the muscles tightly
  for about 5 seconds and then abruptly releases
  the tension.

108
Progressive Muscle Relaxation

• This allows the client to feel the contrast
  between the tension and relaxation in that
  particular muscle group. The client focuses on
  the decreased level of tension in the muscle
  group for 5-10 seconds and then moves to the next
  muscle group on the list the other hand and arm.
  
• After the client tenses the muscles, the
  decreased level of tension or relaxed state of
  the muscles is pleasant and easily detectable.

109
Progressive Muscle Relaxation

• Once people have practiced PMR many times, they
  can begin to relax themselves without tensing and
  relaxing each muscle group. Because PMR procedure
  teaches people to control their own muscle
  tension, they can then decrease muscle tension in
  situations in which they are likely to experience
  more tension.
• To facilitate this process, people often use a
  cue word when practicing PMR and then later
  recite the cue word to help themselves relax.

110
Diaphragmatic Breathing

• Another relaxation exercise involves
  diaphragmatic breathing- also called deep
  breathing or relaxed breathing- in which the
  person breathes deeply in a slow rhythmic
  fashion. At each inhalation, the person uses the
  muscles of the diaphragm to pull oxygen deep into
  the lungs.
• Because anxiety or autonomic arousal most often
  involves shallow, rapid breathing, diaphragmatic
  breathing decreases anxiety by replacing this
  breathing pattern with a more relaxed pattern.

111
Diaphragmatic Breathing

• To illustrate this point, think about what
  happens when people are startled or frightened
  Their breathing becomes rapid and shallow, and
  they have trouble catching their breath. A person
  experiences similar sensations when
  hyperventilating. Contrast this with the slow and
  deep breathing from a person about to fall
  asleep, an extreme state of relaxation.
• To learn diaphragmatic breathing, a person should
  get in a comfortable sitting position and place a
  hand on the abdomen, just below the rib cage.
  This is the location of the diaphragm muscle. On
  inhaling, the person should feel the abdomen move
  outward as the diaphragm pulls the breath of air
  deep into the lungs.

112
Diaphragmatic Breathing

• The shoulders should be motionless in
  diaphragmatic breathing. Upward movement of the
  shoulders during inhalation indicates shallow
  breathing in the upper portion of the lungs
  rather than deep breathing into the lungs.
• Many people believe that the abdomen should be
  pulled in during inhalation. The opposite is
  true The abdomen moves outward when a person
  breathes deeply using the muscles of the
  diaphragm.

113
Diaphragmatic Breathing

• To practice deep or diaphragmatic breathing to
  decrease anxiety, the person sits, stands, or
  lies down in a comfortable position, with eyes
  closed, and inhales slowly for 3-5 seconds until
  the lungs are comfortably filled with air. The
  person then exhales slowly for 3-5 seconds. The
  diaphragm muscle pulls in the abdomen as the air
  is exhaled.
• On inhaling and exhaling, the person should focus
  attention on the sensations involved in breathing
  (e.g., the feelings of the lungs expanding and
  contracting, the air flowing in and out, and the
  movement of the abdomen).

114
Diaphragmatic Breathing

• By focusing attention on these sensations, the
  person is less likely to think anxiety-provoking
  thoughts. Once the person can produce a decrease
  in anxiety by engaging in the diaphragmatic
  breathing during practice sessions, he or she can
  use deep breathing to decrease arousal in
  anxiety-producing situations.

115
Attention-Focusing Exercises

• Attention-focusing exercises produces relaxation
  by directing attention to a neutral or pleasant
  stimulus to remove to persons attention from the
  anxiety-producing stimulus. Procedures such as
  meditation, guided imagery, and hypnosis all
  produce relaxation through a mechanism of
  attention focusing. In meditation, the person
  focuses attention on a visual stimulus, an
  auditory stimulus, or a kinesthetic stimulus.
• For example, the person gazes at an object,
  focuses attention on repetitive mantras (word
  sounds), or focuses on his or her own breathing
  movements. Once focused on the object, mantra, or
  breathing during the meditation exercise, the
  persons attention cannot be focused on stimuli
  that produce anxiety.

116
Attention-Focusing Exercises

• In guided imagery or visualization exercises, the
  person visualizes or imagines pleasant scenes or
  images. Once again, this exercise focuses the
  persons attention so that it cannot be focused
  on anxiety-producing thoughts or images. The
  person listens to an audiotape or to a therapist
  who describes a scene or image.
• The person gets into a comfortable sitting or
  lying position, with eyes closed, and imagines
  the scene. The audiotape or the therapist
  describes sights, sounds, and smells when
  creating the image.

117
Attention-Focusing Exercises

• For example, in describing a scene at the beach,
  the therapist might say, Feel the warm sun on
  your skin feel the warm sand under your feet
  hear the waves gently rolling up on to the beach
  smell the sweet scent of suntan oil. If many
  senses are engaged, the person is more likely to
  imagine the scene fully and to displace any
  anxiety-provoking thoughts or images.

118
Aversive Counterconditioning

• Some people have strong attractions to activities
  that are self-defeating, dangerous, or socially
  unacceptable such as drug abuse, child sexual
  abuse, or compulsive behavior. Behavior
  therapists can help reduce the attractiveness of
  these things via aversive counterconditioning.
  Therapists arrange to have the CS that elicits
  problematic positive emotions to be followed by
  aversive stimuli, causing the CS to gradually
  lose its attractiveness and become either neutral
  or aversive.
• This process is called aversive
  counterconditioning.

119
Aversive Counterconditioning Cont.

• Aversive counterconditioning is usually
  considered only a stop-gap method with
  temporary benefits that must be coupled with
  positive types of behavior modification to create
  lasting success. By pairing alcohol with
  aversive experiences such as nausea-inducing
  drugs, therapists can help problem drinkers learn
  to find alcohol distasteful during therapy. But
  what happens after people leave therapy and
  return to their everyday lives?

120
Aversive Counterconditioning Cont.

• If aversion therapy is not linked with positive
  skills training, many people begin to drink again
  for the same reasons they drank in the past
  They have unhappy marriages, depressing jobs, or
  buddies who like to haunt the local bars. These
  and a multitude of other situations can
  recondition alcohol to be a CS with pleasurable
  associations as effectively as behavior
  therapists had counter conditioned it.