Classical Conditioning Addictions

Phobias and Addictions
Classical and operant conditioning play a large part in how people learn both good bad habits. Phobias and addictions are just two of the negative behaviors learned or triggered by one of these behaviors. Classical conditioning is a type of learning discovered by Ivan Pavlov. He found that he could use a conditional or neutral stimulus to elicit an unconditioned response. Pavlov proved this theory with both a dog and a child. Ivan first measured the amount of saliva produced by the dog at the sight of food (a natural, unconditioned response). Then Pavlov begins to ring a bell right before he would serve the dog the food. In the beginning, the dog would only salivate when he saw the food, but to Pavlov 's surprise, the
Skinner discovered what is now called operant conditioning with the Skinner box (Kowalski & Western, 2009). Skinner used pigeons and feed as a reward system. If the pigeon pushed one colored button it would get a small but immediate serving of food, but if the pigeon pushed another button it would get a much larger reward but have to wait a brief period before the food delivered. Through the work with the pigeons, Skinner concluded that people operate under a system of rewards and punishments. Operant behavior focuses on the environment and is maintained by its consequences, while classical conditioning deals with the conditioning of reflexive behaviors that are elicited by neutral stimuli. Behaviors conditioned through classical conditioning are not maintained by
The difficulty begins in attempting to determine where these phobias and addictions originate and how are they formed. Learning theorists have used both classical and operant conditioning studies to understand better these anomalies of the psyche. Worldwide, millions of people are plagued with one type of phobia or another. A Phobia is a persistent irrational fear of an object, situation, or activity that the person feels compelled to avoid (). These feelings are uncontrollable and go far beyond that of a natural normal fear. For example, it is normal to have feeling of fear when faced with a life-threatening situation such as being held at gunpoint, but it is abnormal to have this same fear and anxiety when confronted with an insect, such as a spider. Phobias often affect and interfere with an individual’s ability to function normally in everyday activities such as work and socialization. Feelings of horror, terror, panic, or dread bombard them when faced with catalyst. The afflicted persons consistently seek solace, using extreme measures to avoid the object or situations they fear most causing them to lose the ability to enjoy the simple things in life that most take for