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Systematic Conditioning: A Case Study

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This assignment will show how through the use of Classical Conditioning principles that it is possible to develop phobias and that by using Systematic Desensitisation it is possible to overcome fears and phobias. A phobia is a serious or illogical fear of or hatred of something. Classical Conditioning is a process through which we learn about conditions that predict the occurrence of a significant event. It is also where the subject learns to respond to a stimulus that otherwise wouldn’t cause a response. Systematic Desensitisation is a graded exposure to the feared stimulus, which is the conditioned stimulus, thus encouraging extinction to occur. It is a type of behavioural therapy. First, the assignment will discuss Classical Conditioning, …show more content…

In terms of genetics if your mother or father had a phobia of spiders then there is a chance that you will have a fear of them to. If at some point in your childhood you saw a parent or a sibling shouting or screaming at the sight of a spider a number of times you will probably have associated this particular reaction with a spider and then reacted like that yourself in response to seeing a spider. (Ollendick, H. Thomas, Lewis, M. Krystal, Cowart, W. J. Maria, Davis, Thompson, 2012) Systematic Desensitisation is used to effectively help people overcome Phobias and other anxiety orders. For the person who has a fear of something, there are a number of factors that can cause them to become fearful. For example if you have a fear of injections factors such as the waiting room, consulting room, the nurse picking up the syringe and holding it near you. For a person to overcome their fear and for that fear to become extinct they need to be exposed to the conditioned stimulus a number of times. Systematic Desensitisation is how this is done. For the person who has a fear of needles they could at first be shown pictures of needles and perhaps pictures of people receiving …show more content…

W. Norton Ltd pg. 263
2) Field, P Andy, 2006, Is conditioning a useful framework for understanding the development and treatment of phobias, Clinical Psychology Review, 26(7), 857-875
3) Ollendick, H. Thomas, Lewis, M. Krystal, Cowart, W. J. Maria, Davis, Thompson, 2012, Prediction of child performance on a parent-child behavioural approach test with animal phobic children, Behaviour Modification, 36(4),

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Behavior therapy was studied by Ivan Pavlov and his famous dog study in which dogs were conditioned to salivate upon hearing a bell. It was later continued to be studied by John Watson who has the famous “Little Albert” study in which an 11-month old infant was conditioned to be scared of fuzzy white things because a rat was paired with a loud noise. The conclusion of the two conditioning experiences was that, behaviors followed by satisfying experiences tend to increase in frequency and behaviors followed by aversive experiences tend to decrease in frequency” (Thoma, 2015). Watson’s assistant Mary Jones, used this principle to clinical applications reasoning that, “if conditioning could be used to induce a phobia, perhaps it could be used to undo a phobia as well” (Thoma, 2015). Thus, behavior therapy was developed and began being used for

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1.Classical conditioning is a learning process first discovered by the Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov in the early 1900s. The theory of Classical Conditioning deals with the learning process leading us to gain a new behavior via the process of association. Internal mental thoughts and brain mechanisms play a huge role in associative learning. Classical Conditioning works by pairing involuntary response with stimulus. After which, unconditioned response becomes conditioned response.

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Paper 1: BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION Becky Templin Clovis Community College February 17, 2018 Introduction The theory behind behavior modification ethics has a reputation for its accomplishments and disappointments. In addition to this, there are many dangers in using physical punishment as behavior modification with the two primary modifiers of behavior being Classical conditioning and Operant conditioning. The outcome of using negative reinforcement has its share of benefits and downfalls in human behavior whereas; positive reinforcement seems to win over.

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His work mainly revolves around social learning theory. He also acknowledges with behaviourist learning theories of "classical conditioning" and "operant conditioning." He further accumulates 2 concepts: 1) " Mediating process happens between stimuli and responses." 2)

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Therefore, the way this conditioning technique was carried out, and the results of this technique are inaccurate to real world psychological conditioning practices. The goal of this treatment was to condition the criminal subject to have feelings of strong distress whenever he or she experiences feelings and urges to act violently. The idea of classical conditioning is to make the subject understand that with

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