Critical Evaluation Task Classical Conditioning

Critical Evaluation Task 1

Jane Tasakoo

An example of classical conditioning (CC) that I have experienced is my association of the sterile smell of alcohol wipes with needles that triggers fear and causes me to faint. Growing up I had a slight aversion for needles however a traumatic hospital experience a few years ago developed into a heightened fear of needles. Consequently during medical check ups that involved needles I would immediately elicit a fear response and my senses would be acutely elevated, in particular smell. I began associating the sterile smell of alcohol wipes with fear through the repeated process of doctors disinfecting my skin with an alcohol wipe before injecting the needle. Despite a difference in context, the smell of alcohol wipes evokes a vivid sensory experience that prompts a fear response.

Fear is a behavior that can be learned through CC. The CC phenomenon occurs when a neutral stimulus, which does not elicit fear, is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS), which elicits automatic fear; resulting in a fear response towards the previously neutral stimulus. In this process the neutral response develops into the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the neutral response becomes the conditioned response (CR) (Mujumdar & Cain, 2016). In my example, needles are the UCS causing fear and fainting that is an unconditional response (UCR), an automatic response to non-neutral stimulus. The conditioned stimuli (CS), the sterile smell of alcohol wipes were initially neutral and did not cause fear. However through a principle of CC, acquisition; a learning phase whereby a conditioned response is established (Mujumdar & Cain, 2016), I began associating needles, the UCS and the sterile smell of alcohol wipes, the CS, with fear, the UCR, through the repeated process of doctors disinfecting my skin with an alcohol wipe before injecting the needle. As a result the CS; the smell of alcohol wipes is associated with the CR of fear.

Although both CC and OC are learning processes, in CC two stimuli are associated however in OC behavior and response are associated. My association of the smell of alcohol wipes with fear and fainting is a prime example of CC and not operant conditioning (OC), a learning process by which behavior is modified through reinforcement or punishment also known as habit (Staddon & Cerutti, 2003). In my example the two stimuli needles and the smell of alcohol wipes are paired which is a key characteristic of CC. Additionally, my fear response to the smell of alcohol wipes is an automatic and reflexive response not requiring training in contrast to OC where behaviors or actions are trained by reinforcement or punishment (Mujumdar & Cain, 2016). CC can be distinguished through an autonomic nervous system response whereas OC involves changes to voluntary motor behavior. My CR of fear and particularly fainting, caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure, demonstrates a vasovagal response to CC (McMurty, Noel, Taddio, Antony, Asmundson & Riddell, 2015). 

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