1. Learning & Maladaptive Behavior
Lecture 16

2. Maladaptive Behavior Detrimental to well-being/survival
How is it acquired?
Normal learning mechanisms
Operant (Instrumental) conditioning
overt behaviors
Pavlovian conditioning
CERs
physiological responses
covert behaviors ~

3. Maladaptive Learning: Pavlovian
Conditioned Emotional Responses
fear/anxiety
anticipatory pain
Phobias
Depression
Panic Disorder
With agoraphobia
Post-traumatic stress-disorder ~

4. Conditioned Emotional Responses
Acquired Motivation
Motivates maladaptive behaviors
covert behavior: Fear & Anxiety
Pavlovian
Self-medication
Addictive behaviors
Mood modification
Via behavior or substance use
acquisition by operant ~

5. Maladaptive Learning: Instrumental
Eating Disorders
Anorexia nervosa; Bulimia
Obesity
Substance abuse & addiction
Abusive relationships
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Learned Helplessness
Related to depression ~

6. Maladaptive Eating Behaviors
Higher incidence of
depression & anxiety
OCD & substance abuse
women: relationship problems
Maintained via reinforcement
self-medication
Obesity
positive & negative reinforcement
health problems ~
pg “From Behavior Theory to Behavior Therapy” Plaud & Eifert

7. Eating Disorders Anorexia nervosa little or no eating Bulimia
binge & purge
Motivation?
Negative body image  anxiety
lack of control
Control eating  RFT ~
pg “From Behavior Theory to Behavior Therapy” Plaud & Eifert

8. Substance Abuse & Addiction
Abused/Addictive drugs
Positive reinforcers
Negative reinforcers
Aversive aftereffects
Normal reinforcement mechanisms
Same as natural reinforcers
Strengthens drug-taking behavior
Addiction: compulsive use ~

9. Abusive Relationships
Why do women stay with men who physically abuse them?
Pain as punishment
Honeymoon phase as Pos RFT
Initially
later following abuse
History of punishing behavior
early weak  later severe
habituation ~

10. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Obsessions
Persistent, intrusive thoughts
Produce anxiety
Compulsions
Repetitive behaviors
Reduce anxiety
Acquired & maintained by…
Negative reinforcement ~

11. Learned Helplessness Animal model of depression
No contingency b/n behavior & aversive outcomes
Saversive : B  no effect
Global expectancy develops
ineffectiveness of behavior
Failure to respond even when it may be successful ~

12. Experimental procedure
Master rat
Yoked rat
Master
response can terminate shock
Yoked
shocked w/ master
no control over shock ~

13. Give all avoidance training
Transfer all to shuttlebox training
Standard escape / avoidance task
Will they learn to escape?
Master?
Yoked? ~

14. Master vs Yoked Difference in escape learning, but Both shocked
Same number
Same intensity
Same duration
How do they differ?
Control of shock ~

15. Conclusions Yoked rat develops expectation
no response will terminate shock
generalizes to other situations
Global expectancy of ineffectiveness ~
Uncontrollable
Aversive Events
Learned Helplessness

16. Stress-induced Analgesia
Decrease in pain sensitivity
Occurs in rats in uncontrollable circumstances
Use same rats from learned helplessness
Test for analgesia
Tail Flick Test ~

17. Results Master  no analgesia stress is controllable
Yoked rat  analgesic
stress is uncontrollable
Less sensitive to pain
May stay in contact with painful stimulus longer
Injury more likely ~

18. Kids & Math Problems Dweck & Rapucci (1973)
5th graders given series of math problems
Give easy problems
performance good
Give unsolvable problems
Give easy again
difficulty doing easy problems ~

19. Adjunctive Behavior Excessive behavior
Byproduct of intermittent RFT of another behavior
moderate FI schedules
Distractive behaviors: excessive…
TV viewing, talking, hobbies, etc
Deleterious behaviors
Aggression, substance abuse, OCD, eating, hyperactivity, etc. ~

20. Adjunctive Behavior: Polydypsia
Falk (1961)
Food-deprived rats
Bar press, FI1 min for food RFT
Water available, no deprivation
Response patterns
Expected FI pattern for bar press
Unexpected: excessive drinking ~

21. Adjunctive Behavior: Polydypsia
Drank up to ½ body wgt in 3 hours
Not being reinforced
Drinking immediately after RFT
Also for
Attack behavior, overeating
And in several species
 SR deprivation   adjunctive behavior
Can act as RFT for other behaviors
Premack Principle ~

22. Adjunctive Behavior: Conflict
Between
Obtaining valued RFT
And abandoning situation
e.g., work vs family; hi risk jobs
Rate of RFT important
Too rich or lean  No conflict
Rich: stay and respond
Lean: abandon
Moderate  adjunctive behavior
Conflict ~

23. Adjunctive Behavior: Conflict
Displacement Activity
Irrelevant behavior (e.g.,killing time)
when confronted by conflict
Or thwarted from attaining goal
How could it be adaptive?
 response variation
Remain in situation where valued RFT might occur ~

24. Case Study: B.S. 24-year-old male Moderate mental retardation & BD
Aggression: others, objects, self
Activity Schedule
toileting every hour (FI1 hr)
SIB after toilet
Change of schedule to VI1 hr
almost completely eliminated SIB ~