Classical Conditioning Therapies
After Watson conditioned Baby Albert to fear a rat, he planned to remove the fear but
Albert was taken away. Soon thereafter, Mary Cover Jones worked with a young child who
feared white rabbits, rats, and similar stimuli. Over several months, she gradually intro-
duced a rabbit closer and closer to the child while he ate and played. The boy’s fear was
gradually eliminated. Joseph Wolpe dubbed her “the mother of behavior therapy.”
Classical conditioning therapies involving reconditioning include the countercondi-
tioning techniques of systematic desensitization, flooding, and aversive conditioning.- Originally called reciprocal inhibition,systematic desensitizationis a behavior therapy
founded on the idea that an anxiety response is inhibited by an incompatible relaxation
response. Joseph Wolpe explained systematic desensitization as reconditioning so that
the crucial conditioned stimulus elicits the new conditioned response. The procedure has
three steps. First, the client is taught progressive relaxation. Next, the therapist and client
create an anxiety hierarchyof all associated fears from the least-feared to the most-feared
stimulus. For example, for school phobia, they may list the following situations: think-
ing about going to school, seeing a picture of the school, getting on the school bus, walk-
ing toward the school, opening the school door, and finally sitting in the classroom.
Third, the therapist has the student imagine each of the fearful associations beginning
with the least-feared stimulus, the mere thought of going to school, and pairs it with
relaxation. After the student can relax with this fear, the process is repeated, finally
ascending to the most fear-provoking stimulus of actually sitting in the classroom. When
the student can sit in the classroom and be completely relaxed, the relaxation response is
effective for inhibiting the fear response. Systematic desensitization is typically accom-
plished within 10 sessions. - Floodingis an exposure technique,another classical conditioning treatment for phobias
and other anxiety disorders, that extinguishes the conditioned response. As a result of the
client directly confronting the anxiety-provoking stimulus, extinction is achieved; the
feared stimulus (the conditioned stimulus) is repeatedly presented without the reason for
being afraid (the unconditioned stimulus). For example, if someone afraid of dogs is
repeatedly exposed to friendly dogs that do not bite, the fear associated with the dogs will
eventually be extinguished. - Yet another form of behavior therapy based on the principles of classical conditioning,
aversive conditioning, trains the client to associate physical or psychological discomfort
with behaviors, thoughts, or situations he or she wants to stop or avoid. One example of
aversive conditioning uses a drug called Antabuse (US) to discourage the use of alcohol.
By itself, the drug has no chemical effect, but when paired with alcohol (CS), the com-
bination causes extreme nausea (CR). Similar to taste aversions discussed in Chapter 10,
after very few pairings of Antabuse and alcohol, the client learns to avoid alcohol.
Without an occasional pairing of the Antabuse with the alcohol again, this new response
can easily be extinguished.
Operant Conditioning Therapies
Operant conditioning therapies include contingency managementtechniques of behavior
modification and token economies designed to change behavior by modifying its conse-
quences. In both, rewards are used to reinforce target behaviors.•In behavior modification, the client selects a goal and, with each step toward it, receives
a small reward until the intended goal is finally achieved. Weight Watchers and other
weight-reducing programs use this method to keep clients motivated.
•In token economies, positive behaviors are rewarded with secondary reinforcers
(tokens, points, etc.), which can eventually be exchanged for extrinsic rewards, such as232 STEP 4. Review the Knowledge You Need to Score High
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