Phobias and Addictions Essays

Phobias and Addictions Essays Phobias and Addictions Essay Phobias and Addictions Essay Richard Johnston Types of Conditioning Phobia and Addictions Phobias and addictions can be very difficult on a mental standpoint. The definition of a phobia is an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation (Webster). There are many kinds of phobias such as, Xenophobia the fear of dogs could be a result of being bitten as a child or being cornered by a dog. Other fears could be Catastrophic the fear of lightening as a child oh were scared of storms so you developed a phobia on storms. Acrophobia is fear of heights and the fear of falling you are high up you might have an anxiety attack so you avoid high places. Transportation is the fear of injections (the fear of needles), which can cause one anxiety because the patient associates the pain with the needle. A reaction can be caused before the injection is given such as fainting or other anxiety symptoms. Phobias are can be developed through classical conditioning. Ivan Pavlov was famous for his theory of classical conditioning who studied digestive systems of dogs. In his studies and experiment he noticed, that dogs salivate when presented with food which was a common trait. Pavlov noticed if the bell or a tuning fork rang the dog would salivate when there was no food present. The dog associated the food with the bell this is what is known as classical conditioning. One more example of this is music the neutral stimulus is the music when paired the unconditioned stimulus automatically triggers tapping of the feet know as an unconditioned response. Fears and phobias progress in the same way as conditioning. Phobias can cause health problems from panic attacks or anxiety. Individuals with phobias avoid being in that situation and stay in their comfort zone. Human beings we behaviors that can easily become addicted to a drug or food or substance. In operant conditioning human beings get addicted to substances they see other people doing, such as food, sex, gambling, and drugs. Addiction is defined as compulsive physiological need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly: persistent compulsive use of a absence known by the user to be physically, psychologically, or socially harmful (Webster). Classical conditioning is learned behavior using a stimulus and operant conditioning is a method of learning that uses a reward to gain the desired response the craving for the drug the use of the drug is the reward. One example to is that classical conditioning involuntary behavior and Operant conditioning is focused on voluntary behaviors. Operant conditioning is defined as a conditioning in which the desired behavior or increasingly closer approximations to it are followed by a rewarding or reinforcing stimulus (Webster). Operant conditioning can be used for punishment when the desired response is not achieved. Addiction such as alcohol for example would be you had the long hard day and you a have a cold six pack over the legal limit. The beer was your reward for having a long hard day. The addiction of wanting more beer is and addiction to alcohol and the substance has a hold of you which is known as alcoholism. The punishment will be impulsive if you get caught being pulled over for driving under the influence by the police because you decided o get more beer and drive to the store that would not be a favorite for a drinker getting caught the rush is not to get caught. Extinction would be not to drink at all and have an ice tea and make the behavior decrees or disappear. Operant conditioning can be related to an extinction technique if to many beers are consumed and the individual decides to go get more beer in a driving a motor vehicle to get there the thrill would be not getting caught and the consequence would be getting arrested for driving under the influence. The extinction would be not to drink s many beers or not at all and try a different reward for a long hard day and never to drive under the influence of alcohol. In summary I have talked about classical conditioning and how it is automatic for dogs to salivate when there is food present and buy repeating the conditions with the bell ringing triggered the same response the dog eventually learned when the bell rings there is food and to salivate even without the food present. We learned the operant conditioning requires some type of reward being either positive or negative such as punishment. We learned about hobbies and what types of phobias are out there, phobias can cause health problems if not treated.