Respondent and Operant Conditioning Together

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Respondent and Operant Conditioning Together

• Chapter 15

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Review

• Respondent Conditioning
• If the stimulus is followed closely in time by an
  unconditioned stimulus (US), which elicits and
  unconditioned response (UR), then the previously
  neutral stimulus will also elicit UR in the
  future
• Operant Conditioning
• Behavior can be modified by its consequences

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Respondent and Operant Conditioning

• Experiences often include both respondent and
  operant conditioning occurring concurrently
• Complete behavioral explanations sometimes
  necessitate consideration of both

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Respondent and Operant Conditioning
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Respondent and Operant Conditioning
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Respondent and Operant Component of Emotions

• Four important areas
• Reaction one feels during the experience of
  emotion
• The way the emotion is outwardly expressed or
  disguised
• Becoming aware of emotions and describing
  emotions
• Causes of emotions

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The Respondent Component of Emotions

• Reflexive reaction of body
• Digestive system
• Circulatory system
• Respiratory system
• Controlled by Autonomic Nervous System
• Fight or flight
• Relaxation
• Nearly every organ or gland controlled by the
  autonomic nervous system is susceptible to
  respondent conditioning

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The Case of Little Albert - Watson

• Conditioned emotional responses
• Conducted experiment with 11-month-old infant,
  Albert
• Used respondent procedures to condition fear
  response
• Presented Albert with object (white rat, etc.)
• Albert plays with it, unafraid
• Demonstrated that striking steel box with hammer,
  produced fear response
• Struck steel box with hammer while Albert played
  with a rat
• Albert became conditioned to fear the rat
• Albert also showed generalization to other
  objects, not used in conditioning
• Watson did not extinguish the fear response in
  Albert (Albert left the hospital)
• Mary Carver Jones (1924) showed that fear
  responses can be eliminated through extinction

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Operant Components Actions, Descriptions, and
Awareness

• Displays of emotion depend on learning history
  operant conditioning at play
• Labeling of emotions may be inaccurate if we
  dont know
• Emotion causing events
• Inner feelings
• Relevant operant behaviors

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Some Causes of Emotions

• Happiness
• Presentation of reinforcers
• Anger
• Withholding of reinforcers
• Anxiety
• Presentation of aversive stimuli
• Relief
• Withdrawal of aversive stimuli

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Respondent and Operant Components of Thinking

• Imagery Respondent
• Thinking can produce brain reactions of
  sensations
• Body reactions
• Self-Talk Operant
• Much of thinking is verbal
• At 5-6 years, begin subvocal speech (talk
  silently to self)
• Learn what is appropriate to say and what isnt

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Private Thoughts and Feelings

• Principles and procedures of operant and
  respondent conditioning apply to private behavior