Chapter 5: Classical Conditioning: Practical Applications

Chapter 5:Classical Conditioning:Practical Applications Phobias Treatments Applications in Medicine

Classical Conditioning • Conditioned emotional response (CER) Suppression ratio = # of presses # of presses + # of pre-conditioning presses SR = 0 SR = .33 SR = .5

Practical Applications • Conditioned emotional response (CER) Suppression ratio = # of presses # of presses + # of pre-conditioning presses

Sniffy’s CER • Movement Ratio • CS Response Strength

Practical Applications • Phobias

Watson & Little Albert • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJthPwb4yMQ&feature=related • Model for development of phobias • Problems with model 1. 2. 3.

Practical Applications • Additional factors important for developing a phobia • Observational learning • Temperament • Preparedness • History of control

Practical Applications • Additional factors important for developing a phobia • Incubation • US revaluation • Selective sensitivity

Aversion Therapy Systematic Desensitisation Implosion and Flooding. Treatments Using ‘Classical Conditioning’

Practical Applications • Aversion therapy

Aversion Therapy Technique • Subject is given a warm saline solution, containing a drug which will make to patient vomit (emetic drug). • Before the vomiting begins the subject is given a glass containing alcohol ( i.e. whiskey). • Patient should drink whiskey and subsequently become violently sick.

Aversion Therapy Technique • Next treatment contains higher amount of sickness drug and different range of alcohol. • Between trials the subject is given other liquids (i.e. water, soft drinks, tea or coffee). THINK ABOUT IT- WHY IS THIS? • The subject should soon be making the association between alcohol and sickness. • In order to avoid to unpleasantness of sickness – the patient must avoid alcohol.

Practical Applications • Systematic desensitization An 18 year-old student feels nervous about seeing blood. For several years this has caused her to become very anxious and makes her feel nauseous and uncomfortable when she is near blood.This will has been causing a severe problem throughout her training and she has decided to seek help.We will look at how psychologist Rardin (1969) used systematic desensitisation to help the trainee deal with herfear.

Systematic Desensitisation Technique • The technique was developed by Wolpe (1969) • And involves the following 4 stages: • Learning how to relax • Listening to all your fears • Constructing a hierarchy of threatening scenes. • Working through those scenes.

Systematic Desensitisation Technique The student went through the following process: • Constructed a hierarchy of fears, including blood from surgery, blood from injury and blood from childbirth. • The student was then asked to visualise the least anxiety provoking situation and rate the anxiety from 1 –10. • During this period she was given help to relax, using breathing techniques. • Slowly the student worked her way through the hierarchy, maintaining her breathing and relaxing more and more. • 12 months later the student was successfullly able to manage her fear of blood.

Systematic Desensitisation Technique • What has happened here? Breathing = Relaxed feeling Blood = Anxious feeling Breathing + Blood = Calm and Relaxed • Blood = Patient feeling calm and relaxed & able to rationalise fear. • This is one of the ways the perspective treats phobias for example spiders, snakes or flying.

Practical Applications • Systematic desensitization • Countering conditioning • Reciprocal inhibition

Practical Applications • Treating phobias • Flooding

Flooding Technique • Fear of Spiders • The client will be put in a room full of spiders or asked to imagine this in great detail. • The client is flooded or overwhelmed – reaches a peak point of fear! • The fear begins to subside – marked reduction in fear.

Practical Applications • Medical applications

Chapter 5: Classical Conditioning: Practical Applications