Procedures Based on Principles of Respondent Conditioning

1
Chapter 14

• Procedures Based on Principles of Respondent
  Conditioning

2
Operant vs. Respondent Behavior

• Operant behaviors operate on the environment.
• Respondent behaviors are reflexive behaviors.

3
Principles of Respondent (Classical) Conditioning

• Unconditioned reflexes automatic
  stimulus-response relationships.
• Unconditioned Stimulus and Unconditioned
  Response no training required.
• Respondent Conditioning pair unconditioned and
  neutral stimulus to create a conditioned
  response. The neutral stimulus becomes a
  conditioned stimulus. The relationship between
  the conditioned stimulus and conditioned response
  is a conditioned reflex.

4
Factors Influencing Respondent Conditioning

• Number of pairings ? CS strength
• CS precedes US by ½ second ? CS strength
• Consistent CS/CR pairings ? CS strength
• Intensity of CS or US or both ? CS strength

5
Higher order conditioning

• Establish a CS, then pair CS with a different CS,
  it can become a second order pairing. These
  pairings are not as strong and third order
  pairings are rare.

6
Respondent Extinction

• Presenting a CS without the US results in gradual
  loss of strength of the CS.
• This is why second order conditioning is weaker,
  because the original US is absent in second order
  conditioning.

7
Counterconditioning

• Extinguish a CS while conditioning a different CS
  at the same time.
• Aversive conditioning is one example of this, but
  counterconditioning positive emotions in the
  place of negative emotions (fears, anxieties) is
  more common.

8
Biological Preparedness

• Ability of members of a species to be more
  readily conditioned to some neutral stimuli as
  CSs than to others (taste aversions, life
  threatening situations such as heights, snakes,
  dark)

9
Respondent and Operant Conditioning Compared

• Voluntary vs. Involuntary behaviors
• Presentation of NS before the response vs.
  Presentation of reinforcer after a response.
• Extinction by severing ties between CS and US vs.
  Severing ties between behavior and reinforcer.
• CSs and SDs both produce responses that have been
  conditioned to them
• CSs ELICIT responses (more automatically), SDs
  EVOKE responses (more voluntarily) and operant
  behavior is EMITTED.

10
Applications of Respondent Conditioning

• Aversion Therapy pair aversive event with an
  undesirable behavior (alcohol and Antabuse,
  cigarettes and nausea from satiation or urge to
  smoke and rubber band on wrist, sexual stimuli
  and aversive shock. May use pictures, slides,
  etc. of undesirable reinforcers).
• Problems ethical concerns, high dropout
  rate.
• Bedwetting Nytone apparatus

11

• Chapter 15
• Respondent and Operant
• Conditioning Together

12
Operant-Respondent Interactions

• Any given experience is likely to include both
  respondent and operant conditioing occurring
  concurrently.
• Examples include anything that involves emotions
  and behavior, since emotions are generally
  respondent and behaviors to deal with emotions
  are operant.

13
Respondent and Operant Components of Emotions

• Respondent Physiological ANS arousal components
  (HR, sweating, stomach upset, breathing, dry
  mouth)
• Operant Actions, Descriptions, and Awareness of
  emotions are specific to our past operant
  learning.

14
Causes of Emotions

• Present Reinforcer Happiness
• Withdraw Reinforcer Anger
• Present Punisher Anxiety
• Withdraw Punisher Relief

15
Respondent and Operant Components of Thinking

• Imagery is respondent Conditioned sensing can
  involve all senses we can imagine sights,
  sounds, tastes, touches and smells through
  pairing words/thoughts with sensing our
  environment.
• Covert Sensitization is an example of aversive
  conditioning using imagery only (imagining the
  undesirable reinforcer paired with an aversive
  event).
• Self-talk is operant We can voluntarily think
  thoughts, which serve as CSs for feelings

16

• Chapter 16
• Transferring Behavior to New Settings and
  Making It Last
• Generality of Behavioral Change

17
Stimulus Generalization (One response in many
settings)

• When a behavior becomes more probable in one
  situation because its been reinforced in another
  (similar) situation. Generalization is stronger
  if
• Physical similarityand
• Conceptual similarityand
• Equivalence Class similarity.are stronger.

18
Response Generalization (one stimulus, many
responses)

• Behavior becomes more probable in a situation
  because another behavior was reinforced in that
  situation. Generalization is stronger if
• Physical similarityand
• Conceptual similarityand
• Equivalence Class similarity.are stronger.

19
Behavioral Momentum

• Reinforcing a behavior results in more likelihood
  other behaviors in same equivalence class will be
  emitted.
• Examples Following Instructions, starting a fire.

20
Factors Influencing Generality

• Operant Stimulus Generalization Try to make the
  training conditions approximate the eventual
  target situation. Vary the training conditions
  (stimuli) so the response is elicited from a
  variety of similar stimuli.
• Operant Response Generalization Vary acceptable
  responses from one stimulus.

21
Operant Behavior Maintenance

• Use behavioral traps by allowing natural
  contingencies of reinforcement to take effect.
• Train those in natural environment who will
  continue the reinforcers (CFTs).
• Use Intermittent Schedules of reinforcement.
• Teach the client to use self-management to
  reinforce him/herself.