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Classical Conditioning of Abnormal Behavior

Classical conditioning of emotional responses...... WORKING ON

Conditioned neuroses in Pavlov's lab..... WORKING ON

Operant Conditioning of Abnormal Behavior

We can understand the development of many mental disorders by using the concepts of positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. For example, many people in college consume large amounts of alcohol more frequently than is good for them. People drink alcohol because of the reinforcing consequences of this behavior and, therefore, it seems likely that many cases of lifelong drinking problems begin during the college years when students are operantly conditioned to drink excessively and frequently.

Which type of reinforcement — positive or negative — do you think best explains the development of drinking behavior? It probably depends on the person and the situation. Some people drink heavily because alcohol gives them a pleasant feeling that helps them to enjoy themselves more in social situations. In this case, drinking is positively reinforced. On the other hand, some people drink heavily because alcohol removes unpleasant feelings associated with stresses caused by trying to work, go to school, and meet interpersonal obligations, all at the same time. In this case, drinking is negatively reinforced. Since there are plenty of opportunities during the college years for both positive and negative reinforcement of drinking behavior, students may begin the process of operant conditioning that can lead to lifelong problems with alcohol. Drinking may seem innocent enough when it begins, but it soon can explode into a significant problem unless one is aware of the situations that reinforce drinking and finds ways either to avoid those situations or to deal with them in more adaptive ways. The positive and negative reinforcement of alcohol-drinking behavior are illustrated in Figure 1:

Figure 1. The operant conditioning of alcohol-drinking behavior.

Two-Factor Theory of Abnormal Behavior

Other behavioral problems also can be explained by the concepts of positive and negative reinforcement. For example, positive reinforcement probably is important for the development of fetishistic disorders. In Section 5-1, it was stated that the development of an erotic attraction to an inanimate object can be understood as occurring because of the pairing of the inanimate object with an object that automatically elicits sexual arousal (typically a potential partner), which would involve the classical conditioning of sexual arousal to the inanimate object. After this classically conditioned sexual arousal has been acquired, the operant conditioning of approach behavior — behavior that brings the person into contact with the fetish — would occur. In this case, the person engages in voluntary behaviors that allow him to experience the fetish as much as possible. In the example from Section 3-1, the man with the panty fetish began to collect them by stealing panties from family members, friends, and acquaintances. This “collecting behavior” was voluntary and, thus, would have been learned through operant conditioning. The consequence — the feelings of pleasure when coming into contact with panties — was a positive reinforcer because the feelings occurred only after he had performed the operant response:

In this case, the development of fetishism occurred in two steps: the classical conditioning of sexual arousal to an inanimate object followed by the operant conditioning of an approach response to the fetish (contacting and, perhaps, collecting it). This example illustrates the two-factor model of fetish development. The first factor is the classical conditioning of sexual arousal and the second factor is the operant conditioning of approach behavior.

In a similar manner, the development of a phobia also may occur in two steps. There first is the classical conditioning of a fear response to an event, which then is followed by the operant conditioning of escaping from the event or avoiding the event. Thus, the two-factor model also can explain the development of phobias. In the case of phobia development, however, negative reinforcement is involved in the learning of the escape behavior. For example, in the case of Danielle described earlier, a classically conditioned fear of spiders was developed after Danielle saw her relatives become terrified in the presence of spiders. Afterwards, whenever she saw a spider, she would run away from it. In fact, people with a spider phobia may completely avoid situations in which a spider might be present, such as dark and damp places. Whenever they experience such situations, their anxiety increases until they must escape from the situation. This escape behavior is an operant response that is negatively reinforced by anxiety reduction:

There are some problems, however, with the two-factor theory of the development of phobias. First, we cannot always identify an experience that explains the development of a phobic response. In fact, some people just seem to be naturally fearful, and they tend to develop fears of all sorts of objects without having negative experiences involving them. A biological explanation of their phobias may be a better one: perhaps they have a nervous system that reacts strongly to many stimuli, even harmless ones, causing them to feel afraid in a wide range of situations. The second problem with the two-factor theory is that some people have terrible experiences with various objects and, yet, they still do not develop a phobia. Again, a biological approach may explain why this occurs: perhaps they have a nervous system that reacts mildly to most stimuli, even relatively harmful ones, causing them to feel calm and relaxed in a wide range of situations.

Study Questions for Section 5-16

1. How could the development of addictive behaviors be explained with operant conditioning?
2. What is an example from your own experience of the operant conditioning of abnormal behavior?
3. What are the two factors in the two-factor theory of phobic disorders?
4. How might a phobia of enclosed spaces (such as a closet) develop according to the two-factor theory of phobic disorder?

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