ABSTRACT
Application of the scientific method to the study of predictive learning led to the understanding of many reliable phenomena described in the previous and current chapters. As sciences progress, they attempt to formulate theoretical models to integrate and explain phenomena in a meaningful and constructive way. For decades, learning theorists accepted the assumptions underlying Pavlov’s stimulus substitution model of the classical conditioning process. It was believed that temporal contiguity was necessary and sufficient for conditioning to occur and that the conditioned response necessarily resembled the unconditioned response. With the possible exception of acquired taste aversion, where an association may be formed between a consumed 75substance and illness with hours separating the events, temporal contiguity is necessary for conditioning to occur (i.e., the CS and US must occur within seconds of each other). Rescorla’s research investigating the role of CS/US correlation and Kamin’s blocking research indicate that although necessary, temporal contiguity is not sufficient. Learning only occurs when a stimulus provides new information about a subsequent event. If the stimulus is uninformative or redundant, learning does not occur. Siegal’s research, in which drugs served as the US, demonstrated that the CR does not necessarily resemble the UR. Often, when drugs are used, a compensatory response counteracting the US effect is acquired.
These findings are consistent with an understanding of classical conditioning as an adaptive process in which an individual acquires the ability to predict and prepare for the occurrence of an event. The Rescorla-Wagner model of classical conditioning assumes that learning only takes place when an individual is surprised. The model successfully accounts for acquisition, overshadowing, blocking, and US pre-exposure. The Rescorla-Wagner model has been modified and alternative models developed in the attempt to develop a comprehensive theory of classical conditioning (predictive learning).
Predictive learning principles have been applied to the acquisition of emotional reactions, word meaning, and attitudes. In vivo (i.e., overt experiential) and imaginal (i.e., covert experiential) desensitization procedures have proved extremely powerful in reducing fears and addressing anxiety disorders. Sensitization procedures have been used to make appetitive substances (e.g., alcohol) aversive by pairing them with noxious stimuli (e.g., drugs that make one feel sick to one’s stomach). Siegel’s compensatory response findings have been extended to the understanding of drug tolerance and apparent overdoses as experiential phenomena.
The phenomena of spontaneous recovery, disinhibition, and renewal indicate that the extinction procedure does not result in unlearning. Rather, an inhibitory response is acquired that counteracts the previously acquired behavior. This poses relapse challenges for the helping professions that will be addressed in chapters 12 through 14.
