Pavlovian Applications and Their Impact on Behavior

Pavlovian principles extend beyond theoretical studies, offering practical applications in various psychological phenomena.

John Watson was the first investigator to apply Classical Conditioning principles to the study of emotion.
Some emotional responses are innate and can be considered reflexive responses, making them amenable to conditioning.
Watson's work laid the foundation for Behaviorism in psychology.

In collaboration with his graduate student, Rosalie Rayner, at Johns Hopkins University, Watson deliberately "created" a phobia in a laboratory setting.
The results were published in the February 1920 issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology.
The experiment has been a subject of significant debate ever since, particularly concerning its ethical implications and the true identity of "Little Albert."

Mary Cover Jones, also a graduate student of Watson's, utilized the same classical conditioning principles to reverse fear responses.
She employed counterconditioning procedures to treat a child's fear of rabbits.
The technique involved introducing a new Conditioned Stimulus (CS) that elicits an incompatible Unconditioned Response (UR) concurrently with the original CS that elicited fear.

Phobias are exceptionally common forms of anxiety disorders.
Mary Cover Jones' pioneering approach has had a significant impact on modern phobia treatment.

This is a form of counterconditioning where a patient imagines progressively more troubling scenes while in a relaxed state.
The process involves three steps:
- Step 1: Train the patient in relaxation techniques.
- Step 2: Establish a fear hierarchy, ranking feared stimuli from least to most terrifying.
- Step 3: Implement exposure therapy, starting with the least fearful item on the hierarchy and gradually progressing to the most fearful.

In vivo (live) Exposure Therapy: This involves incremental, real-life exposures to the feared object or situation, similar to Mary Cover Jones' treatment for the child's fear of rabbits.
Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET): This technological approach utilizes simulated scenes associated with the fear, providing a controlled environment for exposure.
Comparative Effectiveness Data: A study comparing VRET, in vivo exposure therapy, and a no-treatment control group for individuals with a fear of flying showed that after treatment:
- Only 1 control subject flew.
- 8 subjects who received VRET flew.
- 10 subjects who received in vivo therapy flew.

Fear is an innate response.
Numerous studies demonstrate that Pavlovian procedures can cultivate biases (i.e., -isms) through associations.
Black Lives Matter Example: Associations with negative or positive images/words can influence perceptions.

Recent work by Yang et al. (2014) explored similar effects in video games.
The hypothesis was that playing a violent video game as a male avatar, compared to a female avatar, would prime more aggressive thoughts and inclinations in players, leading to more aggressive behavior afterward.
Findings indicated that both male and female participants who played a violent game as a male avatar exhibited more aggressive behavior afterward than those who played as a female avatar.

Implicit Evaluative Conditioning: This technique is akin to counterconditioning, aiming to condition an opposing response.
- Examples include "Hate Training" versus "Love Training."
Exposure therapy can also be effective in reducing prejudice, though not explicitly mentioned in the text (Olson & Fazio, 2006).

A Paraphilia is a diagnosable psychiatric disorder characterized by intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals.
Diagnosis is typically based on either the lack of partner consent (e.g., pedophilia, necrophilia) or significant distress associated with the sexual arousal.
Paraphilias are exceptionally difficult to treat.
Physical and chemical castration are common, but they raise significant ethical concerns and may prove ineffective.
Sexual arousal is considered an innate, reflexive response.
Early evidence suggests that paraphilias may be Conditioned Responses:
- Masochism: Pavlov observed that a painful electric shock paired with food presentation could elicit a Conditioned Response (CR) of salivation. Intriguingly, after conditioning, the shock was no longer perceived as aversive.
Theory of Conditioning: Paraphilias may be conditioned early in life during an experience that pairs the paraphilic stimulus with intense sexual arousal. Once established, masturbatory fantasies about the stimulus can reinforce and broaden the paraphilic arousal.

Aversion therapy is another form of counterconditioning.
In this approach, the object or situation that elicits sexual arousal is paired with a noxious or unpleasant Unconditioned Stimulus (US), such as an electric shock or a nausea-inducing agent.
However, aversion therapy alone has proven to be largely ineffective for long-term treatment outcomes.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which integrates aversion therapy with cognitive restructuring exercises, shows some effectiveness, particularly in cases involving criminal sexual behavior.
Hanson et al. (2002) Meta-Analysis:
- Conducted a meta-analysis of 43 studies (n = 9,454 participants) examining the effectiveness of CBT for sex offenders.
- Findings indicated:
  - The sexual offense recidivism rate was significantly lower for the treatment groups (9.9 ext{%}) compared to the comparison groups (17.4 ext{%}).
  - General recidivism (for any offense) was also lower for the treatment groups (32 ext{%}) than for the comparison groups (51 ext{%}).