My first post here – This is actually a copy of part of a ‘Journal’ for my Abnormal Psych class this semester. As a result, it probably doesn’t read like a typical essay…please forgive the format and just comment on the content. I don’t expect anything profound to gathered from it, since I usually find out my ‘brilliant ideas’ were thought of at least a century before my time. Anyway, here it is:
2/2/07
I had a combination of different thoughts go through my head when I was thinking about Pavlov's work and how it applies every day of our lives. Ultimately I think his "classical conditioning" is a form of primitive learning -- a precursor to active thought patterns. By primitive I mean that it involves less logic and rational thought, and is based more on survival instincts. I don't have any personal experience with an extreme phobia, but I think there are a couple of fears that could be classified as a milder form. Because they tend to be formed in childhood, we don't have enough prior experience and knowledge to counter them, and once we forget the source we don't know exactly how to solve them.
One of my earliest experiences of the emergency room that I remember came at some point when I was under 10. I had a soccer game that day, and had a severe allergic reaction to what we assumed was a bee sting, but it was never confirmed. I don't have any memory of being stung by a bee, but I do remember hearing enough times about how it probably was a bee that for a long time I tried to avoid bees as much as I could. I didn't really get over it until I came to Texas State and there were bees all over the place so I didn't have much choice.
The main thing I took from this experience after learning more about it in class, is that the event that causes the phobia doesn’t have to actually take place. It is almost like Pavlov’s conditioning has been fast forwarded into one single experience, with such an intense impact that it doesn’t need to be repeated over and over. We see the same thing when someone touches a hot stove for the first time - when it is an action that negatively impacts a persons health, our brain tells us we can’t risk another experience with the stimulus because of its severe threat to our health. On the other hand, when it is something positive, our brain doesn’t feel a sense of urgency so it doesn’t have to jump to any conclusions regarding the experience. I don’t know of any experiments like this, and they would be unethical today, but I would be interested to see how two sets of similar dogs would respond to separate bell rings. One group would hear the bell and receive food, while the other group would hear the bell and receive a painful electrical shock. I think the second set that associated the bell with the electrical shock would be conditioned into fearing the bell long before the first set would associate the bell with getting fed. Some of them may even develop a “phobia” of the bell after the very first shock, which I think would parallel a persons development of “irrational” phobias pretty accurately.