Applications of Classical and Operant Conditioning

Note to students: The best preparation for taking the reading quiz is to pay close attention to the key terms as you read. Each question in the question banks is directly linked to these key terms and phrases.

Why is it that so many people who at one time were physically dependent on a drug, such as heroin, and successfully completed a rehabilitation program, relapse after being drug free? It turns out that classical conditioning is a key factor in explaining this phenomenon; the knowledge of the role of classical conditioning in drug use has led to the discovery of effective treatments for drug abuse.

Recall that drugs are unconditioned stimuli (US), which automatically produce unconditioned responses (UR), such as decreased respiration rate in the case of heroin or an increase in heart rate in the case of cocaine. When the sights and sounds that are present when a person is taking the drug are paired with the drug’s effects, those sights and sounds become conditioned stimuli (CS) that predict the occurrence of the US. These are also called cues. Cues can be very powerful physiological and psychological triggers that compel a person to consume a drug. However, for CSs to have their effects they have to at least occasionally be paired with the drug. Recall that with Pavlov’s dogs and salivation, if the sound were repeatedly presented and not followed by food, the salivation response would extinguish. For some individuals who undergo treatment for drug abuse, the drug-related cues remain in their environment and result in drug craving and subsequent relapse.

Today, some drug treatment approaches include extinction as a process for desensitizing clients’ responses to their drug cues. For example, a person who is addicted to crack cocaine will be repeatedly exposed to cues or triggers associated with using the drug under carefully controlled therapeutic sessions. They may have to hold a crack pipe and go through the process of preparing the drug for smoking (with a nondrug look alike), but they never actually intake the drug. Thus, these former CSs lose their predictive ability; that is, they no longer signal that cocaine is about to be delivered. The CRs are gradually extinguished and do not appear in the presence of the CSs. However, relapse is always a possibility due to spontaneous recovery: Even after a response has been extinguished, CSs may result in CRs. Therefore, many drug treatment providers stress the importance of avoiding triggers when attempting abstinence.

External Triggers (CS)

Phobias are overwhelming and unreasonable fears of an object or situation that pose little real danger but provoke anxiety and avoidance. Because a person avoids the feared stimulus (e.g., a spider) the process of extinction cannot take place. Thus, the phobia can become worse, and severely and negatively impact the person’s life. An effective treatment based on the principles of classical conditioning is “systematic desensitization,” developed by world-renowned psychiatrist Joseph Wolpe (1915-97).

In this treatment approach, clients are gradually and systematically exposed to the phobic material, which is arranged in a hierarchy of distress, from least distressing to most distressing. For example, a person with a spider phobia may first be asked to imagine spiders, next she may have to look at pictures of spiders, finally, she would have to hold spiders. During these exposures, the clients are taught ways to relax and cope with the aversive stimulus (the spider). Learning how to relax in the presence of the phobic item or event is crucial for this treatment to be effective. It works because one cannot be both anxious and fearful at the same time as being relaxed. This is an example of “counterconditioning.” Clients’ fears are extinguished, or at least reduced, following this Pavlovian therapeutic treatment approach.

For some children with autism, starting grade school at the normative level of their peers can be accomplished if they receive evidence-based behavioral treatments founded on the principles of operant conditioning. Using Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), researchers and behavioral therapists have dramatically changed the lives of people with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Individuals with ASD may experience impairments in language, social deficits, and engage in repetitive behaviors, among other issues. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 1 in 68 children will be diagnosed with ASD, so the importance of effective treatments cannot be overstated.

Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas (1927-2010) spent his professional life dedicated to the treatment of autism. He was a pioneer who developed behavioral treatments using reinforcement and extinction procedures. Since his first papers appeared documenting the success ABA techniques to increase appropriate, adaptive behaviors, and decrease inappropriate, maladaptive behaviors, these therapies are recognized around the world for their effectiveness.

Four specific therapeutic approaches that show evidence for treatment of ASD are: (1) Discrete-Trial Training (DTT), which is a teaching technique that breaks down desired behaviors into specific steps and reinforces each correct step (incorrect responses are ignored; extinguished), leading to the final completion of the behavior; (2) Pivotal Response Training (PRT), which attempts to increase children’s motivation to learn, monitor their own behavior, and initiate interactions with others; (3) Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI), which uses behavioral techniques to change the behavior of young children, usually under age three; and (4) Verbal Behavior Intervention (VBI), which teaches verbal skills. The success of these ABA interventions is unparalleled in improving communication and other skills in individuals with ASD.

Susan Snycerski on Treating Autism Spectrum Disorders

ABA is also effective in treating a variety of maladaptive behaviors associated with other disorders such as depression, obsessive-compulsive-disorder (OCD), schizophrenia, attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder), and self-abusive behavior, to name a few. In addition, ABA has a long history of being used to increase desired behaviors and decrease undesired behaviors in nonclinical individuals, and even in entire organizations and communities.

Changing our own behavior can sometimes be very difficult; just think of the struggle to maintain New Year’s resolutions. Everyday behaviors such as diet, exercise, doing the dishes, flossing, or even walking the dog can at times seem daunting. As a rule, we tend to do the easiest behavioral option available and that might include making poor choices, simply out of ease. Behavior analysts have developed tools that make self-management and behavior change easier to accomplish. The first step is choosing a target behavior to either increase or decrease in frequency. Next, data collection begins wherein the frequency of the behavior is measured for a predetermined time in order to get a baseline of occurrence or a “snapshot” of how often the behavior occurs naturally. Collecting data and then graphing frequency of the occurrence of the behaviors aids in seeing any trends over time.

Once baseline data are collected, the intervention plan is designed. The intervention is a very detailed and specific plan that indicates when and how often the target behavior should occur. It also provides a schedule for delivering reinforcers and/or punishers based on the occurrence or nonoccurrence of the target behavior. For example, a student may wish to increase the amount of time he or she spends reading. For a baseline, the student would record, daily, the number of minutes he or she read. Some days the student may not read at all, while some days he or she might read for 30 minutes. The intervention plan would designate when and for how long the reading should occur. The intervention plan may be to read 45 minutes a day, five days a week. Reinforcers would be scheduled to be delivered after each time the student read for 45 minutes.

The key to a successful intervention is choosing effective reinforcers and scheduling their delivery properly. That is, the reinforcers need to be valued by the person, or they will not be effective in changing behavior. The timing of the delivery of the reinforcers is also important, with immediate delivery being the most effective. In addition to daily reinforcers, one could also provide a larger or different reinforcer if the behavior occurred for each of the five days as planned. An important factor is ensuring that the reinforcers are delivered promptly after the occurrence of the behavior. In our example, perhaps the student gets to watch a favorite television show or play a video game for 30 minutes after completing the reading.

Self-management projects should use positive reinforcement when possible, but punishers can also be added to the intervention in order to help with compliance. For example, if the student doesn’t read for 45 minutes on a day scheduled for reading, he may make himself do 25 sit-ups or pay a friend $1.00 for each day he does not read. People report that graphing their progress actually becomes reinforcing in itself and motivates them to continue. Self-management tools such as those presented here are flexible and can be adapted to meet changing circumstances. Individuals have been very successful in changing a variety of behaviors (such as increasing exercise, decreasing consuming junk food, quitting smoking, and increasing flossing) using these techniques.

Researchers have used the principles of operant conditioning with enormous success to change the behavior in organizations and communities. Incentive programs, modeled after positive reinforcement, have led to organization behavioral changes in improving workplace safety and increasing health-related behaviors, such as hand washing in hospitals, restaurants, and schools. Community interventions have had success in increasing seatbelt use in drivers, recycling, and energy and water conservation.

Susan Snycerski on Self-Management

Rules for administering reinforcers and/or punishers to change one’s own behavior, or another person’s behavior, provide us with the tools necessary to improve our lives. However, verbal behavior is not a requirement for operant conditioning to be effective in changing the behavior of nonverbal humans or other animals. In fact, the principles of operant conditioning are widely successful when implemented with our world’s captive animals, such as those in zoos, sanctuary facilities, or service animals. Operant conditioning techniques can be used to provide those animals with environmental enrichment and preventative and curative medical care.

Zoos and research facilities across the world employ behavioral technicians to train animals to engage in behaviors that allow us to monitor their physical and psychological health. For example, researchers at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories have trained their sea lions to engage in a variety of behaviors that allow staff to perform medical check-ups, such as fin inspection, stomach/intestinal observations via tube insertion, and tooth health. Zoos also employ behavioral specialists to train animals to perform a variety of behaviors, such as presenting themselves for medical care (e.g., a gorilla provides his arm for blood pressure testing). Using the ABC’s of operant conditioning, we can also improve the lives of these animals by arranging environments that are rewarding and enriching.

Perhaps one of the most famous examples of a nonhuman animal that actively engages and communicates with humans is Koko the gorilla. Koko has learned over 1,000 signs from American Sign Language (ASL), and she appears to understand over 2,000 spoken words. In addition to communicating about her environment, she can articulate her emotions, such as happy, sad, love, good, and sorry. When a truck killed her pet kitten that she loved, Koko signed that she was sad and that it was bad her kitten was gone. As we would, she expressed feelings of loss and sadness. Regarding the medical applications of Koko’s ability to sign, she was able to communicate to her health team that she wanted her tooth pulled when it became painful.

Koko can also sign about things she has seen on video or in books. Because Koko was spoken to while she was being taught ASL, she can also understand verbal exchanges and will often interject to make content-relevant signs when humans are talking in front of her. The Gorilla Foundation has spent over four decades dedicated to the preservation, protection, and wellbeing of gorillas and other great apes through interspecies communication education and research. Koko provides a very powerful example of the effectiveness of operant conditioning techniques to teach and change behavior.

US Navy National Marine Mammal Program Dolphin Training, Persian Gulf

As we have seen, understanding the processes involved in classical and operant conditioning can help explain why organisms behave the way they do. By studying classical conditioning, we are able to explain why particular reflexive responses occur in the presence of particular stimuli. This knowledge has aided in understanding drug relapse, developing effective therapies for phobias, and explaining how conditioned taste aversion occurs, among other phenomena. In understanding the processes involved in operant conditioning, we are better able to explain, predict, and influence behavior such that adaptive behaviors increase and maladaptive behaviors decrease. Understanding how reinforcement and punishment work provides us with the knowledge and tools to make meaningful changes to our own lives as well as to others’.