Essay On Fear Conditioning

1409 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What principles underpin classical and operant conditioning

Fear is a vital response for survival, in the face of threats and is also an important component of behavioural defence systems in mammals. Ivan Pavlov (1920’s) introduced the concept of classical conditioning. Classical conditioning can be used to learn various emotions including fear; this is known as a conditioned emotional response (Carlson, 2010, p.g 369). In this essay, Pavlovian (cued) fear conditioning and contextual fear conditioning will be discussed, and then the neural mechanisms underlying fear conditioning will be evaluated using various studies carried out on animals and humans.
In Pavlov’s fear conditioning, an emotionally neutral conditioned stimulus (CS) is presented in concurrence with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US). Following one or several pairings, the CS is able to elicit responses that would naturally occur when danger is sensed. The responses are innate and they automatically occur in the occurrence of appropriate stimuli. Some of the responses that usually occur are behavioural (freezing), autonomic (change in blood pressure or heart rate) and endocrine mechanisms (secretion of stress hormones) {Aggleton, 2000, p.g 292}.
One of the classic examples of fear conditioning is the experiment carried out on little Albert by Watson and Rayner (1920). Little Albert was an infant (11 months old), who was conditioned to fear white rats. Initially when he was exposed to the white rat, little Albert would approach it and play with it. After awhile, when little Albert tried to touch the rat, a loud noise (US) was created which would startle little Albert and cause him to cry (unconditioned response –UR). This pairing was repeated a few times. Later on, when the rat (CS) was again presented to little Alber...

... middle of paper ...

...er. Some of these responses include: freezing, change in blood pressure or heart rate or secretion of stress related hormones. Neural mechanisms underlying fear conditioning have been significantly analyzed in recent years. Two major components underlying fear conditioning are the amygdala and the hippocampus. The amygdala deals with the association formation, whereas the hippocampus deals with contextual fear conditioning. These findings are usually found from lesion, neuroimaging and behavioral studies. However, there are also other critical issues being researched on, such as: whether amygdala is the storage place for fear memory or what the accurate amygdala circuit that mediates fear conditioning is. Advancements in exploring underlying neural mechanisms can help to better learning and memory, and also help to understand the basis of fear and anxiety disorders.

Show More
Related

  • Watson and Rayner’s Classical Study with Llittle Albert

    1737 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the following essay I will be looking into the study conducted by Watson and Rayner (1920) on a small child known as ‘Little Albert’. The experiment was an adaptation of earlier studies on classical conditioning of stimulus response, one most common by Ivan Pavlov, depicting the conditioning of stimulus response in dogs. Watson and Rayner aimed to teach Albert to become fearful of a placid white rat, via the use of stimulus associations, testing Pavlov’s earlier theory of classical conditioning.

    Read More

  • Fear Conditioning: A Case Study Essay

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kurayama, Matsuzawa, Komiya, Nakazawa, Yoshida, Shimizu, (2012) confirmed that these neutral stimuluses deed indeed has an effect and played a role in fear conditioning in people. The case showed that Treena had indeed learned to be scared of the incident and it proceeded to become a cue for to get anxious and get panic attacks. It has been claimed that patients with panic disorder exhibited fear potentiated startle responses to safety cues and therefore reduced discrimination between safety and danger signals during acquisition, indicating that the safety signal was processed as the aversive event in contrast to the danger signal (Nees, Heinrich, Flor, 2015). It also showed that the her failing to answer the question had affected her in other classes when she would not participate in other classes hence, this showed that the neutral stimulus has developed and grew into a conditioned stimulus which evoked feelings of fear and anxiety in her, in other words it had become a cue for her to be scared and

    Read More

  • The Little Albert Experiment by John Watson and Rosalie Rayner

    1876 Words  | 4 Pages

    Watson, J. B. (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions. The American Psychologist, 55(3), 313-317. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/

    Read More

  • Fear and the Human Psyche

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    A simple definition of the human psyche is the embodiment of the human spirit. However, when one takes a more in-depth look, it becomes much more complex than the tidy little package that the definition would infer. The psyche has a direct link to thoughts, emotions, reactions and consequences. Of these components, emotions have the most significant impact on the human essence. The way in which humans view and react to the world around them is directly linked to the conscious and subconscious feelings associated with a particular activating event. The human psyche is driven by a wide variety of emotions ranging from love, hate, anger, happiness, fear, and courage to name but only a few. Of these, fear has the power to disrupt the body and spirit in profound ways as it encompasses all emotions. Therefore, it is the strongest emotion associated with the human condition.

    Read More

  • Synthesis Essay On Fear

    2084 Words  | 5 Pages

    One of the most controversial topics of the century hinges on one simple question: What makes the world go round? Most will jump to say money. Some will argue in favor of their religion. Others will point out scientific facts. The truth is, none are correct. One emotion, one aspect of life shines above the others, extending its light on merely half of our beloved globe, leaving the other semi-circle to deal with pitch black: fear. To understand its impact, society’s definition of fear must be perceived. Fear is officially defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something dangerous will harm him/her. However, with his classic novel, Alan Paton shows that it extends far beyond that. An old man by the name of Stephen Kumalo leaves the comfort of his tribe in Ndotsheni, and embarks on a

    Read More

  • Biological And Environmental Factors In Defining Fear: The Importance Of Fear

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    In observational learning, a child takes note of what his or her mother or father considers to be threatening. On the other hand, children can also be conditioned by their own life experiences through a process called operant conditioning (SOURCE). In some instances, children tend to generalize their fears, subsequently forming a phobia. For example, a young girl who became increasingly cautious of flying insects after an unpleasant encounter with a nest of agitated yellow jackets. After being assaulted by these creatures, she associated all flying bugs with the painful sting of a yellow jacket. Of course, children can also be classically conditioned to display a fearful response; that is, they learn to associate an unconditioned fear-relevant stimulus with a conditioned stimulus, provoking a conditioned, fearful response. One of the most well-known examples of this is an experiment involving a young boy, famously dubbed Little Albert. Little Albert learned to fear small furry animals in a laboratory setting when the presence of these creatures was paired with loud banging noises (SOURCE). From the aforementioned experiments and studies, it is undeniable that external circumstances and experiences assist in the configuration of fear in

    Read More

  • Examples Of Operant Conditioning

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    He discovered classical conditioning after seeing how the dogs were stimulated to respond to their food and anything related to food such as the noise of the door or person coming towards them (King, 2016). He eventually conditioned the dogs to respond to a bell as it did when it was exposed to the food (King, 2016). Pavlov accomplished this by introducing a neutral stimulus, the bell, which is a stimulus that doesn’t result in a response like conditioned or unconditioned stimuli (King, 2016). Initially, in this experiment salivation was an innate response to food, but after the introduction of the bell, it became a conditioned response because the dog learned that every time the bell rang, its food came along with it (King, 2016). Consequently, making the bell a conditioned stimulus which is a stimulus that resulted in a response after many times that the neutral stimulus was presented with the food (King,

    Read More

  • Perspectives on Fear

    3145 Words  | 7 Pages

    “At the University of California at Irvine, experiments in rats indicate that the brain’s hormonal reaction to fear can be inhibited, softening the formation of memories and the emotions they evoke” (Baard).

    Read More

  • Nature and Nurture

    585 Words  | 2 Pages

    Classical conditioning refers to a type of learning in which a previously neutral stimuli took on the ability to stimulate a conditioned response in an individual (Gormezano & Moore, 1966). To prove that environment was more impactful than genetics, Watson conducted an experiment on an infant, little Albert. Initially, Albert showed little fear towards rats. When Watson repeatedly exposed Albert to the rat accompanied by a loud noise, the latter began to develop fear towards not just the rat but also other furry animals. Watson successfully showed that the acquisition of a phobia can be explained by classical conditioning (Watson & Watson, 1921). Regardless of their genes, the associations of the right stimuli can result in the development of a new behaviour in any individual.

    Read More

  • Harmfulness Of Fear Essay

    1535 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the words of Bertrand Russell, “Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom” (Russell). Fear causes many problems in our lives. Fear influences many of a person’s actions and decisions. However, people usually regret the decisions or actions they made out of fear. Also, these actions and decisions can cause problems for those people in their future. Fear is a harmful emotion, for it clouds people’s judgement, disables them from taking action, and causes them to make decisions that they will regret later.

    Read More

  • Thesis Of The Concept Of Fears: The Conception Of Phobias

    793 Words  | 2 Pages

    ‘An adequate hypothesis of fear must utilize physiological concepts of cerebral action in addition to psychological terminology. The hypothesis proposes that "fear originates in the disruption of temporally and spatially organized cerebral activities; that fear are distinct from other emotions by the nature of the processes tending to restore equilibrium." The sources of fear involve conflict, sensory deficit, or constitutional change. ‘

    Read More

  • The Perception of Fear

    2308 Words  | 5 Pages

    Fear is created by your perspective of a situation, object or topic. You fear something based on the way you perceive it, evaluating whether it as a threat to you or not. Once a fear is born it continues to shape your perspective intensifying the fear and guaranteeing that it will remain. When these perspectives become distorted the fear that drives them has the potential to take control over a person’s life. As the fear grows clear observation is limited and obsessive behavior can occur. Once a person’s perspective is controlled by their fear their quality of life diminishes which contributes to pessimism and a lack of social connections. In the article Seeing by feeling: Virtues, Skills, and Moral Perceptions one of Aristotle’s famous quotes is used to associate perception with decision making. “When it comes to thinking about what to do, ultimately the decision rest with perception.” Fear is created by perspective.

    Read More

  • Pavlov's and Erikson's Theories

    1971 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ivan Pavlov developed a theory called classical conditioning which proposes that learning process occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus. Classical conditioning involves placing a neutral signal before a naturally occurring reflex like associating the food with the bell in Pavlov experiment. In classical conditioning, behavior is learnt by association where a stimulus that was originally neutral can become a trigger for substance use or cravings due to repeated associations between those stimuli and substance use (Pavlov, 1927).

    Read More

  • Theories and Principles for Planning and Enabling Learning

    2333 Words  | 5 Pages

    Pavlov’s theory is known has classical conditioning ‘He is remembered for the salivating dogs which illustrates very usefully the central behaviourist idea that behaviour can be predicted, measured and controlled, and that learning a matter of stimulus and response (Wallace 2007:97).’

    Read More

  • Classical Conditioning Theory

    1198 Words  | 3 Pages

    The strength of classical conditioning is that it can help to explain all aspects of human behavior. Any of behavior can broke down into stimulus-response association, so that according to the classical conditioning, conditioned stimulus will lead conditioned response to occur, then the scientist can observe and determine the behavior (McLeod, 2014). In the case of Pavlovian conditioning, he found that when the conditioned stimulus (bell) was paired with an unconditioned stimulus (food) was presented to the dog, it would start to salivate. After a number of repeated this procedures, Pavlov tried to ring his bell by its own...

    Read More

More about Essay On Fear Conditioning

Open Document