[tips] Classical versus Vicarious Conditioning of Phobias
Hi all, When I was a child, I remember my mother telling me about a friend of hers who developed a shower phobia after watching Hitchcock's Psycho. (By today's standards, the scene is quite tame, but it was terrifying to many people at the time the movie was released.) It seems obvious that the woman's shower phobia developed through vicarious conditioning. A textbook example of vicarious conditioning I have often seen is the development of an animal phobia (usually a snake or cockroach) in a child after seeing his/her mother express extreme fear upon coming into contact with that animal. I wonder, however, if classical conditioning is the better way of describing the situation. That is, the mother's expression of terror represents a UCS for the child because of the strong emotional bond between them. It is not simply the degree of empathy the child feels for another that leads to the conditioning of the fear response: the expression of fear in a parent might be seen as a more direct indication of danger because of the parent-child relationship. I hope I'm communicating this in a way that makes sense. If so, what are your thoughts on this: is it better conceptualized as vicarious or classical conditioning? Best, Jeff -- - Jeffry Ricker, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology http://sccpsy101.com/curriculum-vitae/ - Scottsdale Community College 9000 E. Chaparral Road Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626 Office: SB-123 Phone: (480) 423-6213 Fax: (480) 423-6298 --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=34043 or send a blank email to leave-34043-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Classical versus Vicarious Conditioning of Phobias
Jeff, I use that example all the time to describe how common phobias sometimes arise. I never thought to use it as an example of conditioning, but I think I will now. I'm wondering if we could use it as an example of how more than one type of conditioning may take place in the same situation. Beth Benoit Plymouth State University New Hampshire On Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 1:34 PM, Jeffry Ricker, Ph.D. jeff.ric...@scottsdalecc.edu wrote: Hi all, When I was a child, I remember my mother telling me about a friend of hers who developed a shower phobia after watching Hitchcock's Psycho. (By today's standards, the scene is quite tame, but it was terrifying to many people at the time the movie was released.) It seems obvious that the woman's shower phobia developed through vicarious conditioning. A textbook example of vicarious conditioning I have often seen is the development of an animal phobia (usually a snake or cockroach) in a child after seeing his/her mother express extreme fear upon coming into contact with that animal. I wonder, however, if classical conditioning is the better way of describing the situation. That is, the mother's expression of terror represents a UCS for the child because of the strong emotional bond between them. It is not simply the degree of empathy the child feels for another that leads to the conditioning of the fear response: the expression of fear in a parent might be seen as a more direct indication of danger because of the parent-child relationship. I hope I'm communicating this in a way that makes sense. If so, what are your thoughts on this: is it better conceptualized as vicarious or classical conditioning? Best, Jeff -- - Jeffry Ricker, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology http://sccpsy101.com/curriculum-vitae/ - Scottsdale Community College 9000 E. Chaparral Road Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626 Office: SB-123 Phone: (480) 423-6213 Fax: (480) 423-6298 --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: beth.ben...@gmail.com. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aaf72n=Tl=tipso=34043 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-34043-13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aa...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=34044 or send a blank email to leave-34044-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Classical versus Vicarious Conditioning of Phobias
I never viewed vicarious as necessarily conceptually distinct from operant or classical. Thus, if the mom's facial expression functions as UCS then I called it classical vicarious conditioning. Of course, in a natural setting operant is also involved as the child's resulting expression of fear to same or similar stimuli in such contexts may be family-reinforced. - Original Message - From: Jeffry Ricker, Ph.D. jeff.ric...@scottsdalecc.edu To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) tips@fsulist.frostburg.edu Sent: Saturday, February 8, 2014 1:34:49 PM Subject: [tips] Classical versus Vicarious Conditioning of Phobias Hi all, When I was a child, I remember my mother telling me about a friend of hers who developed a shower phobia after watching Hitchcock's Psycho. (By today's standards, the scene is quite tame, but it was terrifying to many people at the time the movie was released.) It seems obvious that the woman's shower phobia developed through vicarious conditioning. A textbook example of vicarious conditioning I have often seen is the development of an animal phobia (usually a snake or cockroach) in a child after seeing his/her mother express extreme fear upon coming into contact with that animal. I wonder, however, if classical conditioning is the better way of describing the situation. That is, the mother's expression of terror represents a UCS for the child because of the strong emotional bond between them. It is not simply the degree of empathy the child feels for another that leads to the conditioning of the fear response: the expression of fear in a parent might be seen as a more direct indication of danger because of the parent-child relationship. I hope I'm communicating this in a way that makes sense. If so, what are your thoughts on this: is it better conceptualized as vicarious or classical conditioning? Best, Jeff -- - Jeffry Ricker, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology http://sccpsy101.com/curriculum-vitae/ - Scottsdale Community College 9000 E. Chaparral Road Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626 Office: SB-123 Phone: (480) 423-6213 Fax: (480) 423-6298 --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: peter...@svsu.edu. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13445.e3edca0f6e68bfb76eaf26a8eb6dd94bn=Tl=tipso=34043 or send a blank email to leave-34043-13445.e3edca0f6e68bfb76eaf26a8eb6dd...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=34047 or send a blank email to leave-34047-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Classical versus Vicarious Conditioning of Phobias
By vicarious learning I assume you are referring to observation learning occurring by the observing another person, like Mom, becoming fearful of a bees, snakes, etc. Children use their parents as references and that's a powerful role--for better or worse. I recall my son coming in from a fall from his bike crying and bleeding a lot from his mouth. But I stayed as calm as possible and, amazingly, he stopped crying--until he looked into a mirror. There endeth my power as a 'calm role reference model.' Joan jwarm...@oakton.edu The best answer is probably yes. As usual, both operant and classical conditioning functions are involved. I'm not sure how a phobia differs from an avoidance response maintained by a conditioned or unconditioned stimulus. The main question would be the function of the mother's fear response to the child. Does a mother's fear stimulate fear in a child without any prior conditioning history? If so, than it is an unconditioned stimulus, and the child's fear is an unconditioned response to it. The phobic stimulus (talking about a shower or a snake, or a snake in the shower for that matter) then becomes a conditioned stimulus, and avoiding it a negatively reinforced operant response. The details of the mother/child relationship are the prior conditioning history that makes the mother's response an effective stimulus for the child's behavior. On Feb 8, 2014, at 12:34 PM, Jeffry Ricker, Ph.D. wrote: Hi all, When I was a child, I remember my mother telling me about a friend of hers who developed a shower phobia after watching Hitchcock's Psycho. (By today's standards, the scene is quite tame, but it was terrifying to many people at the time the movie was released.) It seems obvious that the woman's shower phobia developed through vicarious conditioning. A textbook example of vicarious conditioning I have often seen is the development of an animal phobia (usually a snake or cockroach) in a child after seeing his/her mother express extreme fear upon coming into contact with that animal. I wonder, however, if classical conditioning is the better way of describing the situation. That is, the mother's expression of terror represents a UCS for the child because of the strong emotional bond between them. It is not simply the degree of empathy the child feels for another that leads to the conditioning of the fear response: the expression of fear in a parent might be seen as a more direct indication of danger because of the parent-child relationship. I hope I'm communicating this in a way that makes sense. If so, what are your thoughts on this: is it better conceptualized as vicarious or classical conditioning? Best, Jeff Paul Brandon Emeritus Professor of Psychology Minnesota State University, Mankato pkbra...@hickorytech.net --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: jwarm...@oakton.edu. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=49240.d374d0c18780e492c3d2e63f91752d0dn=Tl=tipso=34046 or send a blank email to leave-34046-49240.d374d0c18780e492c3d2e63f91752...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=34050 or send a blank email to leave-34050-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Classical versus Vicarious Conditioning of Phobias
I readily admit that I know little about vicarious classical conditioning but would like to raise the following points: (1) Not to berate Jeffry Ricker, but outside of anecdotes has anyone ever shown that watching the shower scene from Psycho in fact produces shower phobias, especially in people without pre-existing anxiety, fear, or phobia (or psychotic) tendencies? I'd just like to know there is actual data on this and the results have been replicable. (2) It should be fairly obvious to everyone, I think, that the situation described below is a case of observational learning and, depending upon how radical a behaviorist one, neither operant conditioning or classical conditioning can explain any subsequent responses a person or animal might make because (a) the observer makes no response that can be involved in conditioning (I understand that the observer may have a fear response or anxiety response but it is unlikely to be as strong if they were in the actual situation; talking from experience, there is a big difference in watching someone point a gun at someone else and having them point it at you) and (b) there is the implicit assumption that a mental representation of cs-us-ur set of relationships is created and activates the equivalent neural mechanisms in the observer (assuming the us-ur relationship is a reflex). I think we are way beyond conditioning at this point. (3) From a couple of the references I've read on the internet, it seems best to describe this type of observation learning as an instance of associative learning that transcends either operant or classical conditioning, that is if one still want to maintain a conditioning account in contrast to a more general cognitive process. I think we are beyond even second-order classical conditioning (4) Can someone explain in conditioning terms how one trial learning occurs with the shower scene? I understand how one trial learning can occur in the Garcia taste aversion conditioning studies but I am at a loss to understand what mechanism would cause a phobic response to taking showers from watching the scene in Psycho. Again, I readily admit to being unfamiliar with this phenomenon, so I may be completely off in my comments above. Nonetheless, it seems that the usual conditioning paradigms do not readily account for this (especially if one is a Skinnerian; I think it is even beyond the informational approach described by Rescorla) -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu - Original Message --- On Sat, 08 Feb 2014 11:16:29 -0800, Paul Brandon wrote: The best answer is probably yes. As usual, both operant and classical conditioning functions are involved. I'm not sure how a phobia differs from an avoidance response maintained by a conditioned or unconditioned stimulus. The main question would be the function of the mother's fear response to the child. Does a mother's fear stimulate fear in a child without any prior conditioning history? If so, than it is an unconditioned stimulus, and the child's fear is an unconditioned response to it. The phobic stimulus (talking about a shower or a snake, or a snake in the shower for that matter) then becomes a conditioned stimulus, and avoiding it a negatively reinforced operant response. The details of the mother/child relationship are the prior conditioning history that makes the mother's response an effective stimulus for the child's behavior. On Feb 8, 2014, at 12:34 PM, Jeffry Ricker, Ph.D. wrote: Hi all, When I was a child, I remember my mother telling me about a friend of hers who developed a shower phobia after watching Hitchcock's Psycho. (By today's standards, the scene is quite tame, but it was terrifying to many people at the time the movie was released.) It seems obvious that the woman's shower phobia developed through vicarious conditioning. A textbook example of vicarious conditioning I have often seen is the development of an animal phobia (usually a snake or cockroach) in a child after seeing his/her mother express extreme fear upon coming into contact with that animal. I wonder, however, if classical conditioning is the better way of describing the situation. That is, the mother's expression of terror represents a UCS for the child because of the strong emotional bond between them. It is not simply the degree of empathy the child feels for another that leads to the conditioning of the fear response: the expression of fear in a parent might be seen as a more direct indication of danger because of the parent-child relationship. I hope I'm communicating this in a way that makes sense. If so, what are your thoughts on this: is it better conceptualized as vicarious or classical conditioning? --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=34051 or send a blank email to
Re: [tips] Classical versus Vicarious Conditioning of Phobias
On Feb 8, 2014, at 3:08 PM, Mike Palij wrote: (1) Not to berate Jeffry Ricker Go ahead and berate. I have a thick skin. My anecdote was meant merely as an illustration of what seems to me to be what intro-psych textbooks call vicarious conditioning, so that I could ask my question about other textbook examples of it, especially the one that I mentioned, which seem more like classical Pavlovian conditioning to me. As a graduate student in the 1980s, I read most of the major books and journal articles about conditioning and learning that presented the then-current theories of conditioning/learning, and even performed experimental research in Dipteran learning. But vicarious conditioning was not something that was thought to be an important aspect of learning in various species of flies, so my theoretical understanding of it is limited to what I've picked up when trying to teach the topic. So all input is welcomed--even input that includes berating if you wish. :-) Best, Jeff -- - Jeffry Ricker, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology http://sccpsy101.com/curriculum-vitae/ - Scottsdale Community College 9000 E. Chaparral Road Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626 Office: SB-123 Phone: (480) 423-6213 Fax: (480) 423-6298 --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=34052 or send a blank email to leave-34052-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Classical versus Vicarious Conditioning of Phobias
Mike, Remember how many people were afraid to go into the ocean after seeing Jaws? I think the shower scene in Psycho had the potential to be a pretty powerful stimulus. Beth Benoit Plymouth State University Plymouth, New Hampshire On Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 5:08 PM, Mike Palij m...@nyu.edu wrote: I readily admit that I know little about vicarious classical conditioning but would like to raise the following points: (1) Not to berate Jeffry Ricker, but outside of anecdotes has anyone ever shown that watching the shower scene from Psycho in fact produces shower phobias, especially in people without pre-existing anxiety, fear, or phobia (or psychotic) tendencies? I'd just like to know there is actual data on this and the results have been replicable. (2) It should be fairly obvious to everyone, I think, that the situation described below is a case of observational learning and, depending upon how radical a behaviorist one, neither operant conditioning or classical conditioning can explain any subsequent responses a person or animal might make because (a) the observer makes no response that can be involved in conditioning (I understand that the observer may have a fear response or anxiety response but it is unlikely to be as strong if they were in the actual situation; talking from experience, there is a big difference in watching someone point a gun at someone else and having them point it at you) and (b) there is the implicit assumption that a mental representation of cs-us-ur set of relationships is created and activates the equivalent neural mechanisms in the observer (assuming the us-ur relationship is a reflex). I think we are way beyond conditioning at this point. (3) From a couple of the references I've read on the internet, it seems best to describe this type of observation learning as an instance of associative learning that transcends either operant or classical conditioning, that is if one still want to maintain a conditioning account in contrast to a more general cognitive process. I think we are beyond even second-order classical conditioning (4) Can someone explain in conditioning terms how one trial learning occurs with the shower scene? I understand how one trial learning can occur in the Garcia taste aversion conditioning studies but I am at a loss to understand what mechanism would cause a phobic response to taking showers from watching the scene in Psycho. Again, I readily admit to being unfamiliar with this phenomenon, so I may be completely off in my comments above. Nonetheless, it seems that the usual conditioning paradigms do not readily account for this (especially if one is a Skinnerian; I think it is even beyond the informational approach described by Rescorla) -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu - Original Message --- On Sat, 08 Feb 2014 11:16:29 -0800, Paul Brandon wrote: The best answer is probably yes. As usual, both operant and classical conditioning functions are involved. I'm not sure how a phobia differs from an avoidance response maintained by a conditioned or unconditioned stimulus. The main question would be the function of the mother's fear response to the child. Does a mother's fear stimulate fear in a child without any prior conditioning history? If so, than it is an unconditioned stimulus, and the child's fear is an unconditioned response to it. The phobic stimulus (talking about a shower or a snake, or a snake in the shower for that matter) then becomes a conditioned stimulus, and avoiding it a negatively reinforced operant response. The details of the mother/child relationship are the prior conditioning history that makes the mother's response an effective stimulus for the child's behavior. On Feb 8, 2014, at 12:34 PM, Jeffry Ricker, Ph.D. wrote: Hi all, When I was a child, I remember my mother telling me about a friend of hers who developed a shower phobia after watching Hitchcock's Psycho. (By today's standards, the scene is quite tame, but it was terrifying to many people at the time the movie was released.) It seems obvious that the woman's shower phobia developed through vicarious conditioning. A textbook example of vicarious conditioning I have often seen is the development of an animal phobia (usually a snake or cockroach) in a child after seeing his/her mother express extreme fear upon coming into contact with that animal. I wonder, however, if classical conditioning is the better way of describing the situation. That is, the mother's expression of terror represents a UCS for the child because of the strong emotional bond between them. It is not simply the degree of empathy the child feels for another that leads to the conditioning of the fear response: the expression of fear in a parent might be seen as a more direct indication of danger because of the parent-child relationship. I hope I'm communicating this in a way
Re: [tips] Classical versus Vicarious Conditioning of Phobias
On Feb 8, 2014, at 11:34 AM, Jeffry Ricker, Ph.D. wrote: A textbook example of vicarious conditioning I have often seen is the development of an animal phobia (usually a snake or cockroach) in a child after seeing his/her mother express extreme fear upon coming into contact with that animal What motivated me to send my initial email was the desire to decrease my ignorance about the precise definition and explanation(s) of vicarious conditioning. It seems that textbook discussions often contrast vicarious conditioning to operant conditioning (i.e., a response is strengthened or weakened as a result of watching another being reinforced or punished, respectively, for that response). My question, however, has to do with vicarious conditioning in relation to classical conditioning--that is, a conditioned response may develop as a result of observing another individual being classically conditioned. In the shower scene in Psycho (again, I'm using that example simply to give context to my question), if Janet Leigh's character had lived, she might have developed a classically conditioned fear to shower heads in bathtubs (or shower curtains, or shower rods, or all of these things together). Vicarious conditioning, in my understanding as a nonexpert, might occur in an observer of this scene--that is, he or she might develop a similar conditioned fear to the stimuli in this situation. (I'm not concerned, right now, with empirical issues, such as whether or not this might occur after only one trial, etc.) Watson and Rayner, in a poorly designed, conducted, and analyzed experiment, supposedly created a classically conditioned fear by pairing an animal with a loud noise. My question was: would pairing an animal with a terrified mother be an example of classical or vicarious conditioning? My take on this is that a terrified expression on a mother's face would actually be a UCS for the child (the CS would be the animal). It would not be the same as if the child watched a stranger's expression of fear when viewing the same animal, which is what I understand vicarious conditioning to be. My question probably is theoretically and conceptually muddled, but that is exactly why I'm asking the question: in order to start to clear up my muddled understanding so that I can teach these concepts better. Best, Jeff -- - Jeffry Ricker, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology http://sccpsy101.com/curriculum-vitae/ - Scottsdale Community College 9000 E. Chaparral Road Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626 Office: SB-123 Phone: (480) 423-6213 Fax: (480) 423-6298 --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=34055 or send a blank email to leave-34055-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Classical versus Vicarious Conditioning of Phobias
On Sat, 08 Feb 2014 16:22:10 -0800, Jeffry Ricker wrote: My question was: would pairing an animal with a terrified mother be an example of classical or vicarious conditioning? My take on this is that a terrified expression on a mother's face would actually be a UCS for the child (the CS would be the animal). It would not be the same as if the child watched a stranger's expression of fear when viewing the same animal, which is what I understand vicarious conditioning to be. If you take a look at the following chapter, you'll see that the example you use above is approximated at the beginning (p454, Chapter 20) and is put into the vicarious conditioning situation on page 464 (in the section Learning from others; see: http://books.google.com/books?hl=enlr=id=PLw__BGAGRoCoi=fndpg=PA454dq=%22The+vicarious+learning+pathway+to+fear+40+years+on%22ots=KswKEWrSoosig=IITudYvpXO2S7uVac_ckk5foWIE#v=onepageq=%22The%20vicarious%20learning%20pathway%20to%20fear%2040%20years%20on%22f=false To the observer, the mother's face becomes an unconditioned stimulus and if it expresses fear, the observer associates a fear response to it. That's what's learned. My question probably is theoretically and conceptually muddled, but that is exactly why I'm asking the question: in order to start to clear up my muddled understanding so that I can teach these concepts better. It could be the case that your question is not what is muddled but the explanation that is given that is muddled, in part, because it tries to straddle conditioning and cognitive conceptions. There appears to be both more and less than meets the eye but what do I know. -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu P.S. I suppose that Janet Leigh's shock at being stabbed in the shower is a UCS and the shower is CS but doesn't really sound right to me. --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=34057 or send a blank email to leave-34057-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Classical versus Vicarious Conditioning of Phobias
I needed a guard (sister) at the bathroom door for close to 6 months after seeing Psycho! Joan jwarm...@oakton.edu Mike, Remember how many people were afraid to go into the ocean after seeing Jaws? I think the shower scene in Psycho had the potential to be a pretty powerful stimulus. Beth Benoit Plymouth State University Plymouth, New Hampshire On Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 5:08 PM, Mike Palij m...@nyu.edu wrote: I readily admit that I know little about vicarious classical conditioning but would like to raise the following points: (1) Not to berate Jeffry Ricker, but outside of anecdotes has anyone ever shown that watching the shower scene from Psycho in fact produces shower phobias, especially in people without pre-existing anxiety, fear, or phobia (or psychotic) tendencies? I'd just like to know there is actual data on this and the results have been replicable. (2) It should be fairly obvious to everyone, I think, that the situation described below is a case of observational learning and, depending upon how radical a behaviorist one, neither operant conditioning or classical conditioning can explain any subsequent responses a person or animal might make because (a) the observer makes no response that can be involved in conditioning (I understand that the observer may have a fear response or anxiety response but it is unlikely to be as strong if they were in the actual situation; talking from experience, there is a big difference in watching someone point a gun at someone else and having them point it at you) and (b) there is the implicit assumption that a mental representation of cs-us-ur set of relationships is created and activates the equivalent neural mechanisms in the observer (assuming the us-ur relationship is a reflex). I think we are way beyond conditioning at this point. (3) From a couple of the references I've read on the internet, it seems best to describe this type of observation learning as an instance of associative learning that transcends either operant or classical conditioning, that is if one still want to maintain a conditioning account in contrast to a more general cognitive process. I think we are beyond even second-order classical conditioning (4) Can someone explain in conditioning terms how one trial learning occurs with the shower scene? I understand how one trial learning can occur in the Garcia taste aversion conditioning studies but I am at a loss to understand what mechanism would cause a phobic response to taking showers from watching the scene in Psycho. Again, I readily admit to being unfamiliar with this phenomenon, so I may be completely off in my comments above. Nonetheless, it seems that the usual conditioning paradigms do not readily account for this (especially if one is a Skinnerian; I think it is even beyond the informational approach described by Rescorla) -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu - Original Message --- On Sat, 08 Feb 2014 11:16:29 -0800, Paul Brandon wrote: The best answer is probably yes. As usual, both operant and classical conditioning functions are involved. I'm not sure how a phobia differs from an avoidance response maintained by a conditioned or unconditioned stimulus. The main question would be the function of the mother's fear response to the child. Does a mother's fear stimulate fear in a child without any prior conditioning history? If so, than it is an unconditioned stimulus, and the child's fear is an unconditioned response to it. The phobic stimulus (talking about a shower or a snake, or a snake in the shower for that matter) then becomes a conditioned stimulus, and avoiding it a negatively reinforced operant response. The details of the mother/child relationship are the prior conditioning history that makes the mother's response an effective stimulus for the child's behavior. On Feb 8, 2014, at 12:34 PM, Jeffry Ricker, Ph.D. wrote: Hi all, When I was a child, I remember my mother telling me about a friend of hers who developed a shower phobia after watching Hitchcock's Psycho. (By today's standards, the scene is quite tame, but it was terrifying to many people at the time the movie was released.) It seems obvious that the woman's shower phobia developed through vicarious conditioning. A textbook example of vicarious conditioning I have often seen is the development of an animal phobia (usually a snake or cockroach) in a child after seeing his/her mother express extreme fear upon coming into contact with that animal. I wonder, however, if classical conditioning is the better way of describing the situation. That is, the mother's expression of terror represents a UCS for the child because of the strong emotional bond between them. It is not simply the degree of empathy the child feels for another that leads to the conditioning of the fear response: the expression of fear in a parent
[tips] Westminister dog show/Pavlov
I recall seeing footage of Pavlov at some type of Dog show(similar to Westminister) in Russia.Maybe he was sampling for classical conditioning picks.Hope Allen's dog got a prize. michael --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=34059 or send a blank email to leave-34059-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
[tips] Psycholinguistics: Toronto's Mayor
YEAH MON. I must say that Rob Ford does an excellent rendition of the Jamaican accent and Bob Marley's reggae dance moves. So Mr.Mayor Don't worry about a thing for every little thing gonna be allrright. michael --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=34060 or send a blank email to leave-34060-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
[tips] TRUE or FALSE
We do not improve memory .What we really improve is the ability to strategize on methods facilitating input,storage,and output. michael --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=34061 or send a blank email to leave-34061-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Classical versus Vicarious Conditioning of Phobias
On Feb 8, 2014, at 6:46 PM, Mike Palij wrote: I suppose that Janet Leigh's shock at being stabbed in the shower is a UCS and the shower is CS but doesn't really sound right to me. Yes, I agree that my labeling of these objects as stimuli is not valid if we are designing and conducting an experimental study (e.g., see my previous comments about Watson Rayner, 1920). On the other hand, when trying to explain the basics of classical (and operant) conditioning to intro-psych students, I am much more lax in my use of the terminology. One reason is that I want to make sure that students see the relevance of classical conditioning to their everyday lives. Another reason is that, at that level, few students appreciate the need to describe with extreme precision the stimuli being presented in a conditioning experiment. There are advantages and disadvantages to this strategy, of course; but it's an unavoidable dilemma, and I'm sure that different instructors draw the line at different points. And even I have wavered back and forth between precision in my use of the terminology and trying to make the material understandable/relevant/interesting to students at various levels. That issue also would make a fascinating thread, I think. Best, Jeff --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=34064 or send a blank email to leave-34064-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
