The behaviour exhibited by Dan can be explained or termed as Classical Conditioning. It is a type of associative learning whereby a person or an organism adjusts the response based on the noted temporal relations among stimuli or environmental stimuli manufactured and perceived inside the organism. It is also termed as the Pavlovian conditioning because Ivan Pavlov is credited with the discovery of classical conditioning ( Bąbel, 2019). Owing to the famous experiments of Classical conditioning by Pavlov, the best-known types of classical conditioning constitutes of the pairing of neutral stimuli, the conditioned stimulus (CS), with other biologically potent stimuli, the unconditioned stimuli (US) that are known to elicit unconditioned responses (UR). After continuous pairings of both the US and the CS, a person or organism portrays a conditioned response (CR) when confronted with the CS ( Bąbel, 2019).
More important, because the CR is not always a biologically hardwired response, it is usually less permanent than the UR and usually goes to extinction. Extinction refers to the slow but gradual decline of behaviours when the conditioned stimuli are frequently repeated in the absence of Unconditioned Stimuli (US) ( Bąbel, 2019). This aspect or phenomenon of extinction was also critically explored by Pavlov by documenting that his dogs slowly but gradually ceased from salivating when the metronome sound was played and was no longer exhibited during feeding. Therefore, conditioned responses such as Dan's one can be psychologically explained and rendered extinct with the right therapeutic approaches.
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There are several ways through which classical conditioning works. These phases might explain how Dan acquired his conditioned response ( Bąbel, 2019). In the first phase, some naturally occurring stimuli are needed to elicit some response automatically. For instance, salivation at the aroma of a meal is a perfect epitome of a naturally occurring catalyst. During the before conditioning phase, the unconditioned stimulus (US) elicits an unconditioned response (UCR). For instance, the presentation of a meal (the unconditioned Stimuli) automatically and naturally triggers a salivating response (UCR) an unconditioned response. That can also be applied to Dan. Early in his life, Dan might have been in a Stampede or accident with a sibling or relative for the first time. The stampede/accident, which served as the Unconditioned Stimuli (UCS), inflicted pain on relatives. Therefore, his brain, for the first time, paired the UCS with a UCR, an unconditioned response, and this made him withdraw from the accident or find safety despite the injury. It also made him want to help the sibling and safeguard her from the danger, but the fear or trauma that comes with such experiences did not allow it. That was before conditioning. At this point, there was also a neural stimulus that created no impacts yet. It was not until when such a neutral stimulus is paired with the Unconditioned Stimuli that evoke responses.
Conditioning is the 2 nd step of classical conditioning. In the 2 nd step of classical conditioning processes, the initially neutral stimuli are repetitively paired with the unconditioned stimuli ( De Houwer, 2020). Because of such pairing, a link between the initially neutral stimuli and the Unconditioned Stimuli (UCS) is created. At this juncture, the previously neutral stimuli become acknowledged as the conditioned stimuli (CS). The person or subject (DAN) has been naturally conditioned to always respond to such a stimulus. Remember, these conditioned stimuli (CS) are formerly neutral stimuli that trigger a conditioned response (CR) after having paired with UCS ( De Houwer, 2020).
In the previous example of meal and salivation, suppose that a person heard a toot's sound after smelling meal. Even if the shriek is entirely separate from the meal's aroma, if such a sound were paired many instances with the aroma (UCS), the shriek's sound would, in the end, activate the conditioned responses (CR). In such cases, the signal is termed as the conditioned stimulus ( De Houwer, 2020). This case directly applies to Dan. The sounds in the environment, in the past, when the first incidence of fear took place, became the conditioned stimulus. For instance, before the accident, Dan might have heard screeching sounds of car tires or the environmental chatter from people around, which became his conditioned stimulus. Moreover, there might have been people who labelled Dan irresponsible for the accident or blamed him for not having safeguarded the sibling during the initially mentioned danger. The fear of failing to save the sibling might have coupled with the sounds to become the conditioned stimuli.
After conditioning is the third phase of classical conditioning after the association has been created among the Conditioned Stimuli (CS) and the Unconditioned Stimuli (UCS), availing the conditioned stimuli alone is enough to evoke a conditioned response even in the absence of the unconditioned stimuli ( De Houwer, 2020). That is referred to as the conditioned response. It is the cultured or acquired response created between the CS and the UCS. The entire process of associating an Unconditioned Stimulus with a conditioned stimulus to generate a conditioned response is termed as acquisition. This third stage can also be applied to Dan's case. Initially, signs of danger such as stamped air cannons going off and the loud music played by the band became Dan's unconditioned stimuli (UCS). These became paired with his anxiety and fear as indicated by him freaking out, sweating, and his heart pounding fast (CS) and therefore evoked a conditioned response (CR) in which he threw his girlfriend on the ground and covered her.
Many scholars such as Michael and Wenzel (2017) argue that 20 th Century behaviourists accepted that the CR is a programmed reaction best perceived in a boost reaction (S-R) system. In its outrageous, this view has been perceived to engender the possibility that after procurement, a life form is natural and to some degree unintelligently reacting to a CS since it was matched with the US. Many years of exploration have not just transformed traditional moulding into maybe the most examined type of cooperative adapting yet additionally plainly showed that old-style moulding speaks to a profoundly versatile and setting subordinate learning measure that considers past encounters. For instance, albeit traditional moulding can result from S-R learning, there is tremendous proof that regular improvement upgrade (S-S) learning happens. S-R learning alludes to the condition wherein an affiliation is framed straightforwardly between the CS and the creature's response to the US, that is, the UR ( Zhang et al., 2020) . This way, after rehashed pairings of the beforehand impartial boost and the UR, the CR turns out to be practically indistinguishable from the UR, yet frequently marginally more vulnerable (Michael & Wenzel, 2017). S-S learning implies that affiliation is framed between the CS and the US; that is, the CS turns out to be straightforwardly connected with the US. In this way, the CR may look like the UR.
However, it may be unexpectedly identified with the US, contingent upon what kind of conduct best suits the climate wherein the life form is faced with the CS ( Zhang et al., 2020) . For instance, when a creature distinguishes a CS that signals peril, three different results are conceivable. At the point when the CS flags transiently far off risk, the organism probably will not show an obvious CR yet may proceed with its present exercises; in other words, it stays in its pre-experience mode. On the off chance that the CS signals approaching threat, the creature will frequently show species-explicit guard reactions in the past dodged experiences with the risk, e.g., freezing and idleness ( Zhang et al., 2020) . When the CS signals impending danger, the creature will probably show a wholly fledged safeguard reaction, e.g., flight or battle; that is a lot of like the UR when the organism is straightforwardly gone up against with a US (e.g., hunter). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Abnormal and Clinical Psychology learning setting in people has added to the information on dread related problems just as other clinical issues, for example, drug resistance. Improvements that are matched with deviations from homeostasis inspire rival like moulded responses (Michael & Wenzel, 2017).
When a medication is taken over and over close by similar ecological prompts, these signs fill in as a CS that contradicts the medication's impact. Accordingly, the portion must be expanded to arrive at a similar effect, or overdosing can happen when the medication is taken in an alternate setting.
References
Bąbel, P. (2019). Classical conditioning as a distinct mechanism of placebo effects. Frontiers in Psychiatry , 10 , 449.
De Houwer, J. (2020). Revisiting classical conditioning as a model for anxiety disorders: A conceptual analysis and brief review. Behaviour Research and Therapy , 127 , 103558.
Michael, T & Wenzel A. (2017). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Abnormal and Clinical Psychology: Classical Conditioning. Newcastle: Sage Publishers .
Zhang, H., Zeng, H., Priimagi, A., & Ikkala, O. (2020). Pavlovian Materials—Functional Biomimetics Inspired by Classical Conditioning. Advanced Materials , 1906619.
