Habituation of Emotional Responses: The Opponent Process Theory

Anecdote about President Calvin Coolidge and his wife visiting an experimental farm.
- Mrs. Coolidge notes a rooster mating frequently with hens.
- President Coolidge inquires if it's the "same hen every time?"
The anecdote illustrates:
- Habituation of sexual response with the same partner.
- Dishabituation with a new partner.
The Coolidge effect: habituation and dishabituation of sexual response.
- Documented in rats and hamsters.
Habituation and dishabituation occur in other complex emotional responses.
- Drug use
- Thrill seeking
- Anxiety responses

Example: Giving a speech in front of a large group.
- Anticipation: Anxiety.
- During speech: Fear subsides but remains.
- After speech: Relief.
- Later: Return to normal.
Features of a typical emotional reaction:
- Onset of stimulus: Sudden, intense emotional reaction.
- Gradual decline to a steady state.
- Offset of stimulus: Sudden switch to an opposite emotional after-reaction.
- Gradual return to neutral.
The theory proposes two independent, antagonistic processes:
- A process: Primary emotional response.
  - Fast-acting.
  - Remains active as long as the stimulus is present.
  - Decays quickly when the stimulus ends.
- B process: Opponent emotional response.
  - Activated in response to the A process.
  - Slower to emerge.
  - Slower to decay.
The manifest emotional response (what you feel) is an integration of the A and B processes.
- The drop from peak intensity to a steady state is due to the rise of the B process.
- When the stimulus ends, the A process decays, leaving the B process, which causes the emotional after-reaction.
The opponent process theory explains the typical pattern of responding to many different emotional experiences.

Public speaking--see above.
Thrill-seeking activities (e.g., parachuting):
- Initial terror transforms into relief and excitement after the jump.
Opiate drug use (e.g., heroin):
- Initial intense pleasure (rush) declines to a less intense state.
- Aversive after-reaction (nausea, insomnia, irritability) sets in as the drug is metabolized.
Falling in love:
- Strong positive feelings when seeing the loved one subsides with time spent together.
- Sadness and longing when apart.

With repeated emotional stimuli, the pattern of emotional responses changes.
- Experienced public speakers feel less anxious and more positive.
- Experienced parachutists replace initial terror with moderate anxiety and experience exhilaration and euphoria.
- Repeated drug use leads to:
  - Tolerance: Decreased drug effects.
  - Withdrawal: Negative after-reactions (insomnia, anxiety, irritability, nausea).
- Long-term relationships lead to:
  - Less intense pleasure when seeing the partner.
  - Greater loss/bereavement when parted.
After repeated experience:
- The initial response is lower.
- The steady state is less intense.
- The after-reaction is stronger and lasts longer.
Solomon and Corbett argue that:
- The B process (opponent emotional process) increases with repeated stimulation.
- The B process:
  - Rises more quickly.
  - Reaches a higher maximum.
  - Decays more slowly.
- The A process (initial emotional response) does not change.
Consequence: Weaker primary emotional response and stronger opponent process/after-effect.

The B process is the body's mechanism for avoiding prolonged intense emotional experience.
The B process returns the organism to a neutral emotional state and maintains emotional stability.
Prolonged intense emotions use many of the body's resources (energy-expensive).
The opponent emotion is initiated to counteract that energy-expensive response.