By vicarious learning I assume you are referring to observation learning occurring by the observing another person, like Mom, becoming fearful of a bees, snakes, etc. Children use their parents as references and that's a powerful role--for better or worse. I recall my son coming in from a fall from his bike crying and bleeding a lot from his mouth. But I stayed as calm as possible and, amazingly, he stopped crying--until he looked into a mirror. There endeth my power as a 'calm role reference model.'
Joan [email protected] > The best answer is probably yes. > As usual, both operant and classical conditioning functions are involved. > > I'm not sure how a phobia differs from an avoidance response maintained by > a conditioned or unconditioned stimulus. > The main question would be the function of the mother's fear response to > the child. > Does a mother's fear stimulate fear in a child without any prior > conditioning history? > If so, than it is an unconditioned stimulus, and the child's fear is an > unconditioned response to it. > The phobic stimulus (talking about a shower or a snake, or a snake in the > shower for that matter) then becomes a conditioned stimulus, and avoiding > it a negatively reinforced operant response. > The details of the mother/child relationship are the prior conditioning > history that makes the mother's response an effective stimulus for the > child's behavior. > > > On Feb 8, 2014, at 12:34 PM, Jeffry Ricker, Ph.D. wrote: > >> Hi all, >> >> When I was a child, I remember my mother telling me about a friend of >> hers who developed a "shower phobia" after watching Hitchcock's Psycho. >> (By today's standards, the scene is quite tame, but it was terrifying to >> many people at the time the movie was released.) It seems obvious that >> the woman's shower phobia developed through vicarious conditioning. >> >> A "textbook example" of vicarious conditioning I have often seen is the >> development of an animal phobia (usually a snake or cockroach) in a >> child after seeing his/her mother express extreme fear upon coming into >> contact with that animal. I wonder, however, if classical conditioning >> is the better way of describing the situation. That is, the mother's >> expression of terror represents a UCS for the child because of the >> strong emotional bond between them. It is not simply the degree of >> "empathy" the child feels for another that leads to the conditioning of >> the fear response: the expression of fear in a parent might be seen as a >> more direct indication of danger because of the parent-child >> relationship. >> >> I hope I'm communicating this in a way that makes sense. If so, what are >> your thoughts on this: is it better conceptualized as vicarious or >> classical conditioning? >> >> Best, >> Jeff > > Paul Brandon > Emeritus Professor of Psychology > Minnesota State University, Mankato > [email protected] > > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=49240.d374d0c18780e492c3d2e63f91752d0d&n=T&l=tips&o=34046 > or send a blank email to > leave-34046-49240.d374d0c18780e492c3d2e63f91752...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=34050 or send a blank email to leave-34050-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
