PSY 2601 Study Guide - Final Guide: Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, Bestway
9 Jun 2018
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.The Management of Pain and Discomfort
Taylor:Chapter 10
Understanding Pain
●Pain is useful and adaptive, wouldn’t live long without it
●Internal and subjective experience- best way to know if someone's in pain is to ask them
●Pain can occur in the absence of tissue damage; headaches
○social pain- you can feel pain for social reasons, very real
○Brain responds the same way when you get a paper cut and when you experience
social pain
Individual Level Factors
●expectations
○If something is going to be painful or not
○If you think it is going to be more painful than those people report more pain
○Classical conditioning- two things in your environment occur together,
experienced it before, wasn’t nice to experience it (association)
●Operant conditioning- reward: likely to do again, punishment: less likely to feel, reward =
attention, getting out of responsibilities, getting something good and getting rid of
something bad
●Fear of pain -people who are scared of pain tend to experience it more
Cultural Level Factors
●Experience of pain- going to the dentist isn’t hurtful in other cultures unlike the US
●Expression of pain- dramatic displays of pain are necessary or any sign of pain isn’t
acceptable
●Ethnicity differences- African Americans and Latinos report more pain than white
Americans, may be because some people feel more in control, may have more self
efficacy, AA and latinos feel like their pain isn’t taken as legit
●Gender differences- women express and report more pain than men
○Little boys and girls report the same amount
○6 and 8 year old boys and girls is where we see differences
Gate Control Theory (Melzack and Wall, 1965)
●Interaction between large and small fibers in your spinal chord
●Large fibers: carry info about non harmful and non painful things
○More info- Don't feel pain
●Small fibers: carry info about harmful and painful things
○More info opens the gate and you feel pain
Document Summary
Pain is useful and adaptive, wouldn"t live long without it. Internal and subjective experience- best way to know if someone"s in pain is to ask them. Pain can occur in the absence of tissue damage; headaches. Social pain- you can feel pain for social reasons, very real. Brain responds the same way when you get a paper cut and when you experience social pain. If something is going to be painful or not. If you think it is going to be more painful than those people report more pain. Classical conditioning- two things in your environment occur together, experienced it before, wasn"t nice to experience it (association) Operant conditioning- reward: likely to do again, punishment: less likely to feel, reward = attention, getting out of responsibilities, getting something good and getting rid of something bad. Fear of pain -people who are scared of pain tend to experience it more.
