- Emotional learningo Positive and negative emotions are acquired initially and maintained as a result of the classical conditioning processo Conditioned Emotional Response (CER): an emotional response to an initially neutral stimulus (e.g. music- we are conditioned to have an emotional response to it)- Examples of classical conditioningo Salivating in response to the thought of foodo Sexual interests and arousal E.g. US = erotic imagery UR = arousal CS = previously neutral stimulus (like shoes) CR = sexual arousal to the CS E.g. child porn: people may not think children are arousing but when they are paired with things that they find arousing they become conditioned to be aroused by childreno Drug overdoses Your body develops a tolerance of drugs and adjusts to the effects of drugs The conditioned stimuli that normally precede using the drug cause a physiological response (most people are used to taking drugs in a certain environment, like a certain room, and the physical cues in the environment (e.g.the sight of a syringe) cause your body to prepare for the effects of the drug) Many heroin overdoses are due to taking a usual drug in a different environment (because your body didn’t prepare for its effects)o Cocaine and moneyo Advertising Pairing an item with desired qualities or people (e.g. Corona beer is paired with a beach to elicit a feeling of relaxation)o Anticipatory nausea You associate certain procedures or places with nausea (e.g. patients who go through chemo therapy may develop anticipatory nausea- they become nauseous before a treatment- because they are used to feeling sick after they goin for treatment)- Phobias are also caused by classical conditioningo E.g. if you have a fear of flying on airplanes you associate the environment with that fearo To treat phobias, counterconditioning is used (coming up with an opposing feeling to fear)o This is called systematic desensitization (making yourself feel relaxed to countercondition yourself against your phobia) The CS leads to the first CS, fear, but you condition yourself not to be afraid, so the CS produces a different CR- relaxationo Phobias are classified under anxiety disorders People either feel intense anxiety or experience panic attacks (your heart races, you can’t control your breathing, you feel the need to flee, some people feel likethey are going crazy)o Agoraphobia is the fear of open spaces (although it is actually the fear of panic attacks which are brought on by cues in open spaces)o Social phobia is the fear of social situations (such as public speaking or parties)o Specific phobias can be the fear of heights, snakes, closed spaces, etc.o Phobias are caused by classical conditioning and operant conditioning, making people incapable of extinguishing their fears- Systematic desensitization (SD) is used as a treatment for phobiaso SD takes classical conditioning into the realm of cognition (it is a “cognitive-behavioral” method of treatment)o People imagine a situation in which they would be afraid, and then relax Visual imagery and mental associations are actively engaged You pair new and incompatible responses (relaxation, normal breathing, coping thoughts/images, voluntary parasympathetic activity in general) with images of the CS This leads to new CS-CR associations over trials, called “higher-order conditioning”o The technique: The therapist, with the client, develops a hierarchy of feared situations (e.g. seeing a picture of a snake, seeing a snake in the wild, and having a snake around your neck)- You start with fears low in the hierarchy so as not to overwhelm the client, then move up the hierarchy The client is taught relaxation and coping imagery and skills Then the client applies learned skills while imagining CSs- *Phobias start with classical conditioning but are maintained with operant conditioning- you are classically conditioned to fear something, but then actively avoid it, which (through operant conditioning) reinforces your fear- Video on virtual desensitizationo A man deals with his fear of heights by being shown virtual images of scenarios in which he would be afraid. He learns to relax while viewing these images.o Another man is afraid of flying on airplanes and watches virtual images of being in an airplane and also learns to relax.o A third man gets rid of his fear of snakes by moving closer to the snake and training himself to be relaxed, then touching the snake, etc.- Operant conditioning (aka instrumental conditioning) vs. classical conditioningo Operant conditioning depends on the environment, reinforcement and voluntary behavioro Skinner said that the consequences of behavior determine if that behavior is likely to happen again Video on Skinner- ABCs: antecedents, behavior and consequences- Skinner box- a pigeon was put in a box and when it turned left its behavior was reinforced by being given food until it turned in a complete circleo E.g. of operant conditioning: having a gambling addiction- the occasional win is a reinforce, and makes us forget about losingo Reinforcement and punishment Reinforcers increase a certain behavior while punishments decrease a behavior Primary reinforcement: things like food, air, water, etc. Secondary reinforcers: things that aren’t crucial for our survival (e.g. money, a compliment, a smile, etc.)o Positive and negative reinforcement Positive reinforcement is adding something (a pleasant stimulus follows a behavior and strengthens it), while negative is subtracting or removing (removing an aversive stimulus which increases the behavior preceding the removal of the negative stimulus) E.g. giving a fine for speeding is positive (adding) while suspending someone’s license is negative (removing) Positive reinforcement is more effective, because negative enforcement does not always occur (e.g. your parents may not always notice when you go to a party so they can’t punish you every single time) Reinforcement and punishment can be positive or negative:- Positive punishment decreases behavior by presenting an aversive stimulus- Negative punishment decreases the probability of behavior by removinga positive stimuluso Shaping E.g. the pigeon in the Skinner box- as it approximates the intended behavior (like turning its head to the left) it is rewarded, and as it continues to act more closely to how it is intended (by actually turning left) it