In a message dated 11/15/2004 5:45:47 PM Eastern Standard Time, "Jean-Marc
Perreault" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>Hi Tipsters,
> � � � � � I need some clarification on the distinction between
>Classical and Operant conditioning (in light of what I am reading).
>
>I'm prepping a class with a text entitled, "Criminal Behavior: A
>Psychosocial Approach", by Curt and Anne Bartol. On pp. 107-108, they
>discuss Eysenck's theory of personality, and how it relates to criminal
>behavior. There is a section on p. 109 where they mention that Eysenck
>considered a certain type of learning as classical, but as far as I
>know, the examples given fall uner Operant learning.
>
>Here's what I'm talking about:
>
>"To explain why more people do not become criminal, Eysenck contends
>that classical conditioning has a stronger effect on most people than
>instrumental learning. That is, most people behave themselves because
>they have been classically conditioned during childhood about the rules
>of society. That guiding light, superego, conscience, or whatever it is
>that makes us feel uncomfortable before, during, and after a socially
>and morally disapproved act is, according to Eysenck, a conditioned
>reflex. He notes that in most families children are reprimanded or
>punished for behavior that is against the social mores. Immediately
>after engaging in a socially or morally frowned-on act, say, punching a
>friend, a child finds that punishment quickly follows".
>
>In the last paragraph, the authors go on, after describing Pavlov's
>experiment with dog: " Eysenck asserts that basically the same sequence
>occurs in childhood - inappropriate behavior followed by reprimand.
>[...] In essence, by punishing antisocial behavior numerous times,
>parents, teachers, and others concerned with the upbringing of the
>child, including his or her peers, perform the role of the Pavlovian
>experimenter".
>
>Now, I have to admit I am confused by what appears to me to be a mixing
>up of the two types of learning.
>
>Any comments on this one Dr. Black? Or Dr. McKelvie, whom if I remember
>well,knows much about Hans Eysenck?
>
>Any enlighting thoughts welcome...
>
>Cheers!
>
>
>
>
>---
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>
Hi Jean-Marc -
I am not a learning expert, nor one on Eysenck's work (Although I aspire to
such heights and look forward to other tipsters' responses to your question.)
=)
Your comments, however, made me think of Adrian Raine's research on the
interaction of altered autonomic reactivity (the foundation of classical
conditioning) and environmental factors (operant conditioning) in the
development of antisocial behavior. Thought I would pass this along in case you
are unaware of these data and they are not available in the textbook you are
using. I have pasted a few abstracts below.
In part, Raine speculates that moral development/the learning of right versus
wrong is dependent on the autonomic response we experience when we do wrong.
Without a healthy autonomic nervous system (autonomic reactivity) we are unable
to learn the emotional component/associate of 'bad/wrong' and are thus
predisposed to do 'bad/wrong'.
Best,
Sandra
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2000 Feb;57(2):119-27; discussion 128-9. Related
Articles, Links
Comment in:
* Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2001 Apr;58(4):402-3.
* Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2001 Dec;58(12):1187-8.
* Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2001 Jun;58(6):609-11.
* Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2001 Oct;58(10):973-4.
Reduced prefrontal gray matter volume and reduced autonomic activity in
antisocial personality disorder.
Raine A, Lencz T, Bihrle S, LaCasse L, Colletti P.
Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
90089-1061, USA. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
BACKGROUND: Major damage to gray and white matter in the prefrontal cortex
and autonomic deficits have been found to result in pseudopsychopathic
personality in patients with neurological disorders, but it is not known
whether people with antisocial personality disorder (APD) in the community who
do not have discernable brain trauma also have subtle prefrontal deficits.
METHODS: Prefrontal gray and white matter volumes were assessed using
structural magnetic resonance imaging in 21 community volunteers with APD (APD
group) and in 2 control groups, comprising 34 healthy subjects (control group),
26 subjects with substance dependence (substance-dependent group), and 21
psychiatric controls. Autonomic activity (skin conductance and heart rate) was
also assessed during a social stressor in which participants gave a videotaped
speech on their faults. RESULTS: The APD group showed an 11.0% reduction in
prefrontal gray matter volume in the absence of ostensible brain lesions and
reduced autonomic activity during the stressor. These deficits predicted group
membership independent of psychosocial risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: To our
knowledge, these findings provide the first evidence for a structural brain
deficit in APD. This prefrontal structural deficit may underlie the low
arousal, poor fear conditioning, lack of conscience, and decision-making
deficits that have been found to characterize antisocial, psychopathic behavior.
PMID: 10665614 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
********************************
J Abnorm Psychol. 2001 Aug;110(3):423-32. Related Articles, Links
Autonomic stress reactivity and executive functions in successful and
unsuccessful criminal psychopaths from the community.
Ishikawa SS, Raine A, Lencz T, Bihrle S, Lacasse L.
Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
90089-1061, USA. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
A significant gap in the psychopathy literature is the lack of studies
comparing "successful," nonconvicted psychopaths with "unsuccessful," convicted
psychopaths. This study tested the hypothesis that successful psychopaths show
increased autonomic stress reactivity and better neuropsychological function
compared with unsuccessful psychopaths. A total of 26 controls, 16 unsuccessful
psychopaths, and 13 successful psychopaths were assessed on psychophysiological
measures recorded during an emotional manipulation, the Wisconsin Card Sorting
Test (WCST), Wechsler Memory Scale--Revised subtests, and childhood stressors.
Compared with controls, unsuccessful psychopaths showed reduced cardiovascular
stress reactivity. In contrast, successful psychopaths showed heightened
reactivity, better WCST performance, and more parental absence than
unsuccessful psychopaths and controls. The implications of these findings and
the generalizability of existing psychopathy research are discussed.
PMID: 11502085 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
**************************************
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2004 Feb;43(2):154-62. Related Articles,
Links
Comment in:
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2004 Jul;43(7):789-90.
Heart rate level and antisocial behavior in children and adolescents: a
meta-analysis.
Ortiz J, Raine A.
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Southern
California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
OBJECTIVE: To assess whether antisocial children are characterized by low heart
rate. METHOD: A meta-analysis was conducted on 45 independent effect sizes of
the resting heart rate-antisocial behavior relationship obtained from 40
studies meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria. Studies were conducted
between 1971 to 2002 using a total of 5,868 children. A secondary meta-analysis
was also conducted on heart rate during a stressor. RESULTS: Significant
overall effect sizes were found for both resting heart rate (d = -0.44, p
<.0001) and heart during a stressor (d = -0.76, p <.0001). Gender, age, method
of recording, use of psychiatric control group, recruitment source, concurrent
versus prospective nature of testing, and source of behavioral rating all
failed to moderate this relationship. CONCLUSIONS: Low resting heart rate
appears to be the best-replicated biological correlate to date of antisocial
behavior in children and adolescents. Several theoretical interpretations of
this relationship are outlined that should be examined in future studies.
Publication Types:
Meta-Analysis
PMID: 14726721 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
*****************************
J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2002 Aug;30(4):311-26. Related Articles, Links
Biosocial studies of antisocial and violent behavior in children and adults: a
review.
Raine A.
Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
90089-1061, USA. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Despite increasing knowledge of social and biological risk factors for
antisocial and violent behavior, we know surprisingly little about how these
two sets of risk factors interact. This paper documents 39 empirical examples
of biosocial interaction effects for antisocial behavior from the areas of
genetics, psychophysiology, obstetrics, brain imaging, neuropsychology,
neurology, hormones, neurotransmitters, and environmental toxins. Two main
themes emerge. First, when biological and social factors are grouping variables
and when antisocial behavior is the outcome, then the presence of both risk
factors exponentially increases the rates of antisocial and violent behavior.
Second, when social and antisocial variables are grouping variables and
biological functioning is the outcome, then the social variable invariably
moderates the antisocial-biology relationship such that these relationships are
strongest in those from benign home backgrounds. It is argued that further
biosocial research is critical for establishing a new generation of more
successful intervention and prevention research.
Publication Types:
Review
Review Literature
PMID: 12108763 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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