Intro to Learning (9) Flashcards
What is extinction therapy?
repeatedly exposing the patient to the CS
What is extinction therapy used for?
Overcoming fear responses
What is counter conditioning?
Response to a stimulus is eliminated by replacing it with a new conditioned response that isn’t compatible with the first
What is reciprocal inhibition?
one response inhibits the other as certain responses cannot occur at the same time
How does systematic desensitization work?
simultaneously present anxiety provoking stimuli and a stimuli evoking response opposite to anxiety
What is systematic desensitization?
Pair relaxation response with increasing levels of the fear response
In systematic desensitization what is an ‘anxiety hierarchy’?
list of least fearful version of stimuli to the most fearful stimuli
What is the end result of systematic desensitization?
overtime pleasure is associated with the original fear stimuli
When is systematic desensitization effective?
for very specific fears e.g. dogs
When is systematic desensitization ineffective?
- fears that have multiple different aspects
2. fears that cannot be recreated
How does avoidance affect extinction therapy?
prolongs therapy as response cannot reach extinction
What is ‘flooding’?
prolonged exposure to maximum fear level of the stimulus.
How does flooding work?
fear cannot last forever, eventually habituation occurs and fear response stops
Biology behind why fear response stops in flooding?
Hebbian learning, fear response neurons eventually decrease in activity.
Weakness’ of flooding?
- Evoking fear to 100% can be unpredictable
- If fear is due to psychiatric illness, could worsen the fear
- Duration has to be for 30 - 45 mins, otherwise it aggravates the fear response
What is Ost (1989) alternate to flooding?
Small bursts of gradual flooding, mix of gradual exposure and 100% exposure
What is aversion therapy?
Replace a conditioned response with another aversive response.
How does aversion therapy work?
- pleasant stimulus is paired with an unpleasant event, encouraging negative associations
- Eventually disgust/fear response occurs to once pleasant stimulus
Example of aversion therapy?
antabuse - alcohol abuse
Weakness of aversion therapy?
After drug stops, extinction may occur quickly and relapse occurs
What is behavior matching theory?
response will match to the ratio of the reinforcement
In behavior matching theory, why is the response on a ratio?
to maximize the reward, however it can be over or under matched or biased
What is melioration?
effort is always located at the largest reward value.
What is the drawback of melioration?
the largest reward may not be the most optimal
