PHOBIAS AND ADDICTIONS
1
Phobias and addictions
"[Click here and type your name]"
"[Click here and type your institution's name]"
PHOBIAS AND ADDICTIONS
2
Phobias and addictions
A phobia can be defined as an intense fear of an object, a place or a particular situation
etc. These fears are powerful and many times debilitating yet they are unfounded and are not
based on fact or reality. The objects, places or situations which are most oftentimes associated
with phobias are not actually threatening or dangerous however individuals who possess these
irrational fears are terrified to come into contact with the sources of their phobias. An addiction
involves being physically or psychologically compelled to ingest particular substances or to
perform actions which produce the need to continue and increase these actions and behaviors.
After a period of time, individuals who continue to use addictive substances or perform addictive
actions such as gambling, build up a tolerance and need to increase usage of the drug or
substance in order to attain the sensations which initially caused them to begin their abusive
behaviors.
Classical conditioning, also known as “Pavlovian conditioning”, is a natural process
which involves several factors referred to as the unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response,
conditioned stimulus and conditioned response. The unconditioned stimulus or “US”, is an
occurrence which causes an innate, involuntary response or reaction. When someone smells a
favorite food cooking they most oftentimes begin to feel hungry; in this scenario the
unconditioned stimulus, is the aroma of the food. The feeling of hunger in relation to the aroma
of the food is referred to as the unconditioned response or “UR”; once again, the term
unconditioned means that this is a naturally occurring reaction which has not been learned by the
individual who experiences the feelings of hunger.
“Learning refers to any enduring change in the way an organism responds based on its
experience. Learning theories assume that experience shapes behavior that learning is adaptive
PHOBIAS AND ADDICTIONS
3
and that only systematic experimentation can uncover laws of learning. Principles of association
are fundamental to most accounts of learning” (Kowalski, & Westen, 2009). Basically; a
conditioned stimulus teaches an individual to respond in a way which they would not normally
respond when an otherwise neutral factor is introduced to a naturally occurring reaction or
behavior. The reaction which takes place after an individual is introduced to a neutral stimulus is
referred to as the conditioned response or “CR”. In regards to phobias, theories of classical
conditioning can be applied due to the fact that most irrational fears are learned by association
and with the introduction of a stimulus which would otherwise not cause a reaction i.e. a neutral
stimulus. For example; arachnophobia or the fear of spiders is not an innate or naturally
occurring fear in humans, many people do not like spiders but they are not terrified of them to
the point of panic. However; if an individual begins to associate spiders with the thought of
being bitten, becoming sick or even dying, the mere sight or thought of spiders will begin to
develop into a phobia which can eventually become debilitating.
Operant or instrumental conditioning is a system of teaching and learning which applies
particular forms of punishment and rewards to either decrease and eliminate, or increase actions
and behaviors. Through the application of the appropriate form of reinforcement, individuals
learn to make an association between their actions and the consequences which follow.
Behaviors are learned by performing everyday activities and by being rewarded for these
activities; individuals go to work every day because they know they will be rewarded with a
paycheck, children try to do well in school because they know they will be rewarded with praise
and good grades. Conversely, individuals who exhibit unacceptable behaviors and perform
objectionable actions are reprimanded according to the severity of their behaviors, i.e. if
someone commits murder they are sent to prison, if a college student cheats on an exam, they
PHOBIAS AND ADDICTIONS
4
may be suspended from classes. Promising rewards for appropriate behaviors has the propensity
to increase those behaviors whereas the threat of removing something the person enjoys has the
ability to decrease or eliminate behaviors which are objectionable; these actions are referred to as
positive and negative reinforcement.
Addictions are formed by operant conditioning due to the fact that performing a
particular behavior or ingesting a substance provides a person with some sort of reward or
feeling of pleasure. This feeling of pleasure then becomes associated with the use of a substance
which increases the actions or behaviors leading to psychological or physical addiction.
Laboratory animals will work to obtain the same substances that many humans
abuse (cocaine, opiates, and alcohol) because they find exposure to the substance
pleasurable, that is, reinforcing. Drug use can also be seen as behavior that is
reinforced by its consequences. Cocaine may be used because it changes the way
a person feels (e.g., powerful, energetic, euphoric, stimulated, less depressed),
thinks (I can do anything, I can only get through this if I am high), or behaves
(less inhibited, more confident) (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2010).
As the term implies, extinction refers to the disappearance or eradication of an action or
behavior. In classical conditioning, when the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus
are no longer paired for a particular period of time, a person will gradually stop exhibiting the
conditioned response. When people have particular phobias, many times these irrational fears
become generalized or directed towards objects or situations which are similar to their phobia yet
not the object or situation which initially caused their phobia. Behavior therapy is used to help
individuals realize that their phobias are irrational and techniques such as desensitization and
hypnosis are many times used to produce extinction of their fears.
PHOBIAS AND ADDICTIONS
5
Extinction in operant conditioning is achieved when both positive and negative
reinforcement are completely stopped. A response which once occurred slowly because of a
particular stimulus is gradually decreased and eventually becomes completely eliminated.
Extinction therapy countermeasures seek to reduce conditioned responses using a
set of techniques in which patients are repeatedly exposed to conditioned
appetitive or aversive stimuli using imaginal imagery, in vivo exposure, or written
scripts. Such interventions allow patients to rehearse more adaptive responses to
conditioned stimuli. The ultimate goal of these interventions, extinction of the
original conditioned response, is a new learning process that results in a decrease
in frequency or intensity of conditioned responses to drug or fear cues (Kaplan,
Heinrichs, & Carey, 2010).
In conclusion, phobias and addictions are both based on and can be explained by theories
of classical and operant conditioning. Individuals who suffer from addictions learn to associate
particular rewards and enjoyable sensations with their drug or activity of choice. Addictions can
be physical or psychologically-based, in either case; individuals who suffer from addictions build
up a tolerance which requires them to increase their use of drugs or to increase their addictive
behaviors. Those who suffer from debilitating, irrational fears or phobias, lean to associate an
object or situation which would otherwise be neutral, with the possibility of being harmed,
embarrassed or frightened. Ironically, even though phobias and addictions are caused by both
operant and classical conditioning, they can also be cured or caused to become extinct with the
use of behavioral therapies which utilize methods of operant and classical conditioning.
PHOBIAS AND ADDICTIONS
6
References
Kaplan, G., Heinrichs, S., & Carey, R. (2010, August 17). ScienceDirect - Pharmacology
Biochemistry and Behavior: Treatment of addiction and anxiety using extinction
approaches: Neural mechanisms and their treatment implications. ScienceDirect - Home.
Retrieved November 28, 2010, from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0N-50T41D41&_user=10&_coverDate=08%2F17%2F2010&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_or
igin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1558864750&_rerunOrigin
=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=4d66a79
1443f6ee23b64d677575acd29&searchtype=a
Kowalski, R., & Westen, D (2009). Psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2010). NIDA - Publications - A Cognitive-Behavioral
Approach: Treating Cocaine Addiction. ARCHIVES - National Institute on Drug Abuse The Science of Drug Abuse and Addiction. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from
http://archives.drugabuse.gov/txmanuals /cbt/cbt4.html