...Phobias and Addictions Samuel Medina Psy/300 December 10, 2013 Prof. Kathy M. Rupe Phobias and Addictions It is interesting to think about some of the results of learning that can be on the opposite ends of their respective spectrum. For example, when it comes to Phobias and Addictions although these learned behaviors are opposites they both can stem from different learning techniques. A phobia is, “An exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situations” (Merriam-Webster, 2013). On the other hand an addiction can be defined as, “A persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful” (Merriam-Webster, 2013). The similarity between these two behaviors lies in the compulsive and persistent fear or desire of the object or situation. Two of the well-known learning methods, classical and operant conditioning, can contribute to developing phobias and addictions. One behavior that can be developed by classical conditioning is a Phobia. The concept of developing phobia through classical conditioning occurs when one stimulus is paired with another resulting in a different response (Kowalski & Weston, 2011, p. 165). In 1920, John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner conducted a classical conditioning study that paved the way for the development of phobias. In this study, they surmised that emotional responses could be learned from the “Little Albert” experiment. They first frightened...
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...Running head: PHOBIAS AND ADDICTIONS Phobias and Addictions PSY/300 Abstract This essay examines phobias and addictions, how phobias can be developed through operant conditioning and how addictions can be developed through operant conditioning. This essay also examines the distinctions between classical and operant condition and examines “extinction” as it relates to psychological theory and how extinction is achieved in classical and operant conditioning. Phobias and Addictions Numerous psychologists believe that behaviors are learned through conditioning. These conditionings are known as operant, which is based on individual’s response to outside stimuli, and classical conditioning, which is based on the theory that people’s reactions to situations are learned behaviors. Phobias and Addictions can develop when an individual’s ability to function within societal normality’s or adapt to societal complexities are diminished. Addiction is a condition in which the body must have a drug to avoid physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms. Phobias and classical conditioning Phobias are persistent and irrational fears of specific objects, activities, or situations that are excessive and unreasonable, given the reality of the threat. Even though phobias are based on irrational fears, they often cause serious problems in a person’s life. Phobias can result in a person being unable to perform their job, participate in any...
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...Phobias and Addictions Paper Viktorija Canevik-Alex PSY/300 Jacqueline Hall July 20, 2013 University of Phoenix Phobias and Addiction Paper In this paper I will discuss how phobias and addiction are connected to the classical and operant conditioning. I will explain how phobias and addiction are evolve through classical and operant conditioning, what is the difference between classical and operant conditioning, what is extinction and how extinction is accomplish in the classical and operant conditioning. Phobia occur when people are scared or fear without stopping of something genuine and hard to control and usually occur in young age but also it can occur in older age. Phobia is something very common and it influence peoples life every day, but important thing about phobias is that it can be treated. Here are some examples of phobias, like fear from: kissing, drugs, cold, taking medicine, mother-in-law, children, and others. Addiction can occur when people have hard time to control or stop use, do or take something. People can be addictive to many things, not only to alcohol and drugs, people also can be addictive...
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...Phobias and Addictions Lisa Draxler PSY/300-GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY July 12, 2010 Carlton Bowden Abstract The purpose of this paper is to explore how phobias can be developed through classical conditioning, explore how addictions can be developed through operant conditioning, to distinguish between classical and operant conditioning, and to explain what extinction means and how it is achieved in both classical and operant conditioning. * . Phobias and Addictions are two very emotional learning difficulties. Phobias are defined as being an enduring, abnormal, and unfounded fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, regardless of the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous. Addictions are defined as conditions of being consistently or compulsively occupied with or involved in something. Classical Conditioning is defined as a process of behavior variation by which one comes to respond in a preferred manner to a previously neutral stimulus that has been repetitively presented along with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits the desired response. (Dictionary.com, 2010) Fear of heights, spiders, closed spaces (claustrophobia) and other specific or simple phobias are sometimes caused by a type of learning known as classical conditioning. (DeLuca, 2009) Precise phobias or simple phobias are thought to be caused or predisposed by genetics and/ or childhood disturbance...
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...Addiction as it Relates to Classical and Operant Conditioning Social phobia is also known as social anxiety which is a persistent phobia from negative assessment of others. Most people suffering from this type of phobia or social anxiety would turn to drugs and alcohol to lessen the anxiety (Lak, Sedaghat, and Almadv, & 2012), and then the self-medicated or self with illegal drugs leads to addiction. The paper essay will focus phobias and addictions as related to classical and operant conditional. Phobia is an irrational fear of a specific object or situation. Phobias can be developed through classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is learning by stimulus from the environment. In layman’s term, a toddler learns that a pot on the stove is hot and should not be touch. The toddler then develop phobia that hot stove burn the skin and as a result stay away from it. Following Pavlov’s observations, John Watson a behaviorist and his associate Rosalie Rayner (1920) did studies on how classical conditioning relates to phobias. Watson and Rayner selected a white rat to be in their experiment and proceeded to condition a fear response in Little Albert and each time Albert would reach out to touch the rat, they struck the steel bar. After doing this a few times, Albert learned to fear the rat. This is all true in adults as well because I have a friend who goes in panic when they see the police or anything that is connected to the police. If he hears a police siren,...
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...Phobias & Addictions Jessica Riggs PSY/300 08/27/2014 Carl Grossen How and why do people develop phobias and addictions? Some people believe that these conditions come from a person’s environment and the way they were raised. There have been many studies to determine how people develop addictions through operant conditioning and how phobias develop through classical conditioning. To understand how these conditions develop one must first define and understand the differences between classical and operant conditioning. By learning how these conditions are created will in turn help achieve the process of extinction this is a technique to help overcome phobias and addictions. Classical and operant conditioning is two types of behaviors in psychology. These two processes are very different, but they both result in learning. Classical conditioning has an impact on behaviorism that is a school of thought in psychology. Behaviorism is a theory that is learned through experiences in the environment. Classical conditioning involves an environmental stimulus that automatically triggers a response. Phobias are created through classical conditioning. An example of this would be if a snake bit someone as a child they might form a phobia of snakes. Operant conditioning is a method of learning that happens through punishments or reinforcements to increase or decrease someone’s behavior. There are two types of reinforcements; one is positive reinforcements with this the behavior...
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...Phobias & Addictions Psy/300 05/21/2014 Phobias & Addictions According to the Merriam – Webster Dictionary a “phobia” is an irrational persistent fear or dread of something. Phobias are disorders humans possess that are triggered by subconscious fears they may have about something directly or indirectly related to their particular phobia. Phobias are more operant conditions rather than classical conditions; meaning they are more dictated because of environment or other factors surrounding oneself than occurring without any sort of studied behavior. Phobias and addictions are two emotional difficulties which learning theorists can account for. Addiction is both a physiological and psychological disorder where individuals become dependent upon one thing or another. Phobias can be developed through classical as well as operant conditioning. There are distinct factors that play a role in distinguishing between classical and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning plays an important role in the development of certain phobias. This type of conditioning means that certain sounds or circumstances can trigger or elicit certain emotion and/or make a person react in a particular fashion over a period of time and thru trial and error. A phobia can be triggered or made prevalent in the conscious mind because of an idiosyncrasy assisted by one of the five senses. Many circumstances can factor in to addiction. Addiction can be dangerous as well as beneficial in certain...
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...Phobias and Addictions Phobias and Addictions Everyone has a phobia and an addiction. A phobia is an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something: "he had a phobia about being under water"; "a phobia of germs.” An addiction is the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity. Phobias and addictions are related to classical and operant conditioning. Phobias and addictions are two emotional difficulties, which theorists can account for. Phobias can be acquired through classical conditioning by pairing a neutral stimulus with something that causes pain. Phobia responses can be permanent unless the organism is subjected to the extinction process. In the extinction process, one must confront the fear without the presence of the unconditioned stimulus. For example, in Watson’s experiment, Little Albert developed a phobia of white rats (and other furry objects) as a result of pairing the white rat with a loud bang. The phobia could have been extinguished by repeatedly exposing Little Albert to the white rat without the loud bang. Another way to extinguish a phobia is through counter conditioning. In counter conditioning, the conditioned stimulus is paired with a pleasant stimulus. Little Albert could have extinguished his phobia of the white rat by pairing it with something pleasant (e.g., food, praise) ("Phobias,” 2010). Ivan Pavlov is known for his theory...
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...Phobias and Addictions Kevin Hostetler PSY 300 February 16, 2014 Cara Patterson Phobias and Addictions In order to effectively examine any relationship between phobias, addictions and types of conditioning, it is important to first define and examine the differences between classical conditioning and operant conditioning. According to the Free Dictionary (2014), classical conditioning is defined as “A process of behavior modification by which a subject comes to respond in a desired manner to a previously neutral stimulus that has been repeatedly presented along with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits the desired response.” Operant conditioning however is defined by Mirriam-Webster.com (2014) as “conditioning in which the desired behavior or increasingly closer approximations to it are followed by a rewarding or reinforcing stimulus.” The important distinction between the two is that classical conditioning relies on neutral stimulus, where operant conditioning uses positive or negative reinforcement, rewards, or punishment to achieve results. Following from the definition of classical conditioning and working forward, one can see how phobias can be developed through classical conditioning. Since classical conditioning uses a neutral stimulus paired with an unconditioned response it is rather simple for the neutral stimulus to be something that initiates a sense of fear into the subject. Through this manner of bringing on fear in a subject, it is a small leap forward...
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...Phobias and Addictions Camille Sere' PSY/300 October 2, 2012 Shari Tumlin Phobias and Addictions In this paper I will be discussing phobias and addictions in relation to classical and operant conditioning. I will research and explore how phobias can be developed through classical conditioning, and how addictions can be developed through operant conditioning. I will also explain what extinction means in psychology and how it is achieved in both classical and operant conditioning. The first thing you need to know is what exactly a phobia is. A phobia is an uncontrollable fear of an object or situation that is unreasonable and can develop in many ways; one of these ways is through conditioning. People have fears all the time, but a phobia affects a person’s daily life. Phobias for some people make it to where they become reclusive, or they cannot leave the comfort of their own homes, or their safe place. There are two main types or categories of phobias; they are specific phobias and social phobias. A specific phobia is an uncontrollable fear of a specific thing or a specific stimulus. There are animal phobias where a person is afraid of a certain animal or insect, for example the fear of spiders is called arachnophobia. There are environmental phobias like a fear of storms or heights. There are phobias of medical procedures as well as situational phobias like small spaces or flying. A social phobia is an uncontrollable fear of a particular situation such as giving...
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...Phobias and Addictions Justin Flores PSY/300 Dianne Smith Phobias and addictions have been very common in many human beings. Phobia is a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it (Dictionary, 2014). When thinking of the word phobia, a person might think of their own fears that make a person scared or distraught. Take for example, someone who had a bad experience with almost drowning in water as a child may develop a phobia of water in their later years as an adult. Or maybe a person has seen a bad horror movie with clowns that make the person hate them later in life. Another interesting occurrence in humans is addictions. Addiction the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma (Dictionary, 2014). When presenting the word addiction, a person might think of something that a person needs and stresses about. For example, a person who smokes may be addicted to cigarettes. Both phobia and addiction are very common in humans. This paper will discuss how phobias can be developed through classical conditioning, how addictions can be developed through operant conditioning, the difference between classical and operate conditioning, and finally what extinction means and how it is achieved in both classical and operant conditioning. First, we will discuss how...
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...Phobias and Addictions Paper Psy/300 4/26/14 Phobias and Addictions Paper Introduction Several individuals develop phobias or addictions in their lifetime. Phobias are an illogical fear that is of no danger to anyone else. Phobias are developed through classical conditioning. According to Barlett (2013) “addiction is defined as the need for and use of a habit forming substance despite knowledge that the substance is harmful” (p. 349). Additions can be developed through operant conditioning. Phobias and addictions are different forms of behaviors just as classical and operant conditioning are responses learn responses. Extinction is also a form of classical conditioning. Both classical and operant conditioning differ in how an individual responds. Phobias and Addictions Phobias are human developed fears. They are fears seem irrational or harmless to other individuals. Phobias can be developed through classical conditioning according to Kowaski and Westen (2011) “In classical conditioning, an environmental stimulus leads to a learned response, through pairing of an unconditioned stimulus with a previously neutral conditioned stimulus” (p. 169). An environmental stimulus anything in an individual’s surroundings that may affect them. A neutral conditioned stimulus is when a response does not happen automatically. This means that an environment that may not affect others has the potential to leave a person frightened based on a negative experience. For example, if a woman...
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...Phobias and Addictions Have you ever been driving down a street and all of a sudden you hear a sound similar to a police's siren and you start to become nervous? Seconds later you realize it was just a car alarm from a car you just passed up and your nervousness fades away. It could be that every time you are driving and you hear any siren you automatically associated the siren with a police officer, then suddenly become nervous. Any two sensory experiences that occur together will and possibly become associated with one another. Early philosophers called this process associative learning, reason being the two experiences are associated with each other simply by occurring with one another. Only two ways one learns how to associate things together, classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Both classical and operant have their differences on how they condition but both are effective. With conditioning also extinction comes into play. Could phobias and addictions also be a cause of classical and operant conditioning? Conditioning In 1927 a name by the name Ivan Pavlov demonstrated classical conditioning as a form of associative learning. Ivan Pavlov and his assistants would introduce a variety of edibles and non-edible treats to his dogs and measured the saliva production that was caused by the products. Pavlov noticed that his dogs would begin salivating in the absence of the food, Pavlov realized that this salivary response was not due to an automatic physiological...
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...Addiction and Phobias Nina Hernandez PSY/300 February 19, 2014 Kirsten Fowler Phobias and Addictions People are diagnosed with phobias and addictions that keep them in a personal prison everyday. Many cases are studied and researched to find how and why individuals have phobias and addictions. The key points to these studies are to find if it is possible to cure individuals with phobias and assist those with addictions to quit or be cured. This paper will give definitions of phobias and addictions, types of phobias and addictions, and how they were developed. It will also discuss classical and operant conditioning and what extinction means and how it is achieved using both conditioning’s. Phobias Definition Before speaking of phobias one should understand the definition of the word phobia the definition from the text book Psychology (6th ed.) it states “an irrational fear of a specific object or situation” Kowalski, R. & Westen, D. (2014). Another definition from the Encyclopaedia Britannica Online also states that it is classified as an anxiety disorder (2014). Many phobias are believed to be learned emotional reactions that can occur when a fear is exhibited via a tragic situation or an alarming event. This in turn can be conveyed to similar events and can resurface as if they are feeling it for the first time. There are many phobias that exist; some examples are claustrophobia, arachnophobia, and acrophobia. Types ...
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...Phobias and Addictions PSY300 Phobias and Addictions In today’s society, many individuals suffer from phobias and addictions. Phobias and addictions are typically paired because those with an addiction began with a phobia they were unaware of. Phobias and addictions should be fragmented into two groups of conditioning with the effects each partakes on an individual: classical and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning occurs when an individual discovers how to respond to a stimulus in their atmosphere. Operant conditioning is when one responds to a reward or penalty. The foremost difference between classical and operant conditioning is the response and a stimulus, which can lead to addictions and phobias. Addictions An addiction is a determined behavior in wanting and needing something. Most know it can have unsympathetic consequences, but the individual will continue this behavior because of the addictions. Furthermore, the majority of addictions start with a satisfying involvement with something and desires to prolong or recreate the act. The addictive individual will endure the behavior with very little, if any self-discipline, even when it can become damaging or has already taken over their body. A person who is addicted will familiarize with desires and cravings to connect with the behavior and this need will build up, until the behavior kicks in again, typically feeling relief, and ecstasy (Grant, Potenza, Weinstein, & Gorelick, 2010). Additionally...
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