Solomon & Corbit: Opponent Process Theory

Question 1

Affective or Hedonistic Processes

Answer 1

Acquired motives can be as powerful as innate ones

In every case of acquired motivation, affective or hedonic processes are involved

1. Affective or hedonic contrast
2. Affective or hedonic habituation (tolerance)
3. Affective or hedonic withdrawal (abstinence) syndromes

Question 2

Affective Contrast

Answer 2

Occurs when a positive reinforcer is presented and removed
e.g. first pleasure, and then pain when taken away

Presentation of the reinforcer engenders a pleasant or desirable hedonic state but that the termination of the reinforcer results in an aversive or unpleasant hedonic state that finally ceases after several minutes of stimulus absence

Affective contrast can occur whether or not the positive reinforcer or UCS is needed at the time

e.g. Introduce nipple with sweet nutrients to babies and then withdraw it for 5-10 sec leads to crying

e.g. Parachuting- first free fall pupils dilate, eyes bulge, heart rate increases, etc
After landing the person is stunned expression for a few min and then smiles, socially active, elated
[baseline → State A→ State B→ baseline]

Question 3

Affective habituation

Answer 3

Habituated subject not only fails to show a contrast effect but also shows an asymmetrical reverse

When a UCS of medium intensity is repeated many times within relatively short periods of time, the affective reaction to that UCS often diminishes

Question 4

Affective withdrawal syndromes

Answer 4

Emergence of a long-lasting, high-amplitude affective after-reaction is one characteristic consequence of a frequently repeated UCS

Three highly correlated effects of an often repeated UCS:

1. The affective reaction to the onset and maintenance of the UCS will gradually decline
2. The affective after-reaction will grow in intensity and duration
3. A distinctive affective quality of the after-reaction will often emerge, and it will appear to be hedonically opposite to that quality which was engendered by the onset and maintenance of the UCS during the first few presentations

Question 5

The opponent-process theory of acquired motivation:

Answer 5

The brains of all mammals are organized to oppose or suppress many types of emotional arousals or hedonic processes, whether they are pleasurable or aversive, whether they have been generated by positive or by negative reinforcers

All primary affective or hedonic processes elicited by UCSs, reinforcers, or innate releasers are postulated to correlate closely in magnitude with the stimulus intensity, quality, and duration of the reinforcer

Primary a-process arouses the b-process that opposes and suppresses the affective or hedonic states initially generated by the onset of a-process

b-process:
sluggish latency
slow to build its asymptote
slow to decay after the UCS was terminated and a process (UCR) stopped

If state A is positively reinforcing then state B will be negatively reinforcing, or vice versa

Question 6

3 Postulates of Opponent Process Theory

Answer 6

1) Reinforcing properties of a given b-process must be correlated w/the magnitude of an a-process b/c the state rule is /a-b/
2) Changes in the magnitude of state A must be correlated w/changes in magnitude of State B
3) Changes are nonassociative in nature, deriving only from repetition of the reinforcer