It might be a chain of associations. For example, proximity to a toilet often leads to an increased urge to urinate, probably because contact (so to speak) with toilets is reliably associated with urination -- or at least relaxation of the urinary sphincter. The closer you get to the restroom, the more the conditioned response (relaxation of the sphincter) tends to appear, and the greater effort one has to expend to counteract it (the more urgent the feeling that you're about to wet yourself becomes).
Chain the toilet <-> urination association with flushing (sound of water running) <-> toilet -> urination (relaxation of the sphincter) -> greater sense of urgency. I think some is Pavlovian and some Skinnerian, but I've already procrastinated enough. Can you tell it's the end of the semester? m -- Marc Carter, PhD Associate Professor and Chair Department of Psychology College of Arts & Sciences Baker University -- > -----Original Message----- > From: Rick Froman [mailto:rfro...@jbu.edu] > Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 2:18 PM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: [tips] Classical conditioning of urination > > Has anyone else had the experience of feeling an intense > desire to urinate when filling a glass of water or otherwise > hearing water run like in a creek (I think this is an > auditory experience -- I don't think that just seeing water > causes this response). > > Although one would be tempted to refer to this as a > classically conditioned response, I am not sure how that > would work. At best, the sound of urination is simultaneous > with the act of urinating and it does not predict the US in any way. > > If the US is a full bladder and the UR is urination, how does > the sound of running water become the CS reliably predicting the US? > > Rick > > Dr. Rick Froman, Chair > Division of Humanities and Social Sciences Professor of > Psychology Box 3055 John Brown University 2000 W. University > Siloam Springs, AR 72761 rfro...@jbu.edu > (479)524-7295 > http://tinyurl.com/DrFroman > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) > --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
