Phobias And Addictions: Classical And Operant Conditioning
Phobias and Addictions
PSY/300
Bonnie Johnson
09/22/2014
Phobias and Addictions
Phobias and addictions are two emotional difficulties that people throughout the world suffer from. Herein we will explore these emotional difficulties as they relate to classical and operant conditioning. More precisely, how phobias can be developed through classical conditioning and how addictions can be developed through operant conditioning. Moreover, this paper will distinguish between classical and operant conditioning as well as provide an explanation to what extinction means, and how it is achieved in both classical and operant conditioning. However, prior to giving an explanation for these …show more content…
With this being said, one of the most famous studies conducted by Ivan Pavlov was his study on the digestive system of dogs. During this study Ivan discovered that dogs will most often salivate when presented with food, which is known as a simple reflex (Kowalski & Westen, 2011, Chapter 5). Moreover, he noticed that when a dog was presented or introduced to a stimulus such as a ringing bell simultaneously with being fed, the dog would begin to salivate when he heard the bell even if food was not present when the bell was rang (Kowalski & Westen, 2011, Chapter 5). This formed the conclusion, that the dog had associated the bell with food, and because food produced a reflex of salivation from the dog, the bell then also produced a reflex (Kowalski & Westen, 2011, Chapter …show more content…
However for the sake of this paper we are going to focus strictly on how classical conditioning plays a role in acquiring a phobia through classical conditioning. An example of a formed phobia is the experiment conducted by John Watson and his colleague, Rosalie Rayner, known as the Little Albert. Little Albert formed a phobia of white rats as a result of pairing the white rats (as well as other white fury objects) with loud banging sounds simultaneously as the white rat was visually introduced (Northern Illinois University,
PSY/300
Bonnie Johnson
09/22/2014
Phobias and Addictions
Phobias and addictions are two emotional difficulties that people throughout the world suffer from. Herein we will explore these emotional difficulties as they relate to classical and operant conditioning. More precisely, how phobias can be developed through classical conditioning and how addictions can be developed through operant conditioning. Moreover, this paper will distinguish between classical and operant conditioning as well as provide an explanation to what extinction means, and how it is achieved in both classical and operant conditioning. However, prior to giving an explanation for these …show more content…
With this being said, one of the most famous studies conducted by Ivan Pavlov was his study on the digestive system of dogs. During this study Ivan discovered that dogs will most often salivate when presented with food, which is known as a simple reflex (Kowalski & Westen, 2011, Chapter 5). Moreover, he noticed that when a dog was presented or introduced to a stimulus such as a ringing bell simultaneously with being fed, the dog would begin to salivate when he heard the bell even if food was not present when the bell was rang (Kowalski & Westen, 2011, Chapter 5). This formed the conclusion, that the dog had associated the bell with food, and because food produced a reflex of salivation from the dog, the bell then also produced a reflex (Kowalski & Westen, 2011, Chapter …show more content…
However for the sake of this paper we are going to focus strictly on how classical conditioning plays a role in acquiring a phobia through classical conditioning. An example of a formed phobia is the experiment conducted by John Watson and his colleague, Rosalie Rayner, known as the Little Albert. Little Albert formed a phobia of white rats as a result of pairing the white rats (as well as other white fury objects) with loud banging sounds simultaneously as the white rat was visually introduced (Northern Illinois University,