PSY 422 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Anxiety Disorder, False Alarm, Classical Conditioning
Document Summary
B. f. skinner"s definition: anything an organism does that someone can observe. Behaviorists focus on conditioning and learning because these processes help determine our behavior. Form of behavior = description of the behavior. Function of behavior = purpose of the behavior. True alarm = panic response in potentially life-threatening situation. False alarm = panic response in the absence of significant danger. Between 10-14% of the population have false alarms (one or more panic attacks without a clear trigger) Anxiety disorders may result through conditioning when a true / false alarm is paired with a stimulus. Repeated presentation of the anxiety-provoking stimulus may lead to anxiety response & related behaviors. Extinction = organism no longer responds fearfully to a conditioned stimulus. Habituation = organism no longer responds fearfully to an unconditioned stimulus. These qualities are generally adaptive, but they can be problematic for those with anxiety disorders. Context includes not only external circumstances, but also internal states.
