Classical Conditioning - Essay Example

? ical Conditioning ical conditioning is evidently a very fundamental type of learning. It involves associating an environmental (external) stimulus to an innately occurring reflex. By conditioning the innate reflexes, learning can be achieved. This paper attempts to provide an association between classical conditioning and drug tolerance. It has been concluded that conditional learning is linked with the drug tolerance and it explains the reason behind the increased cases of overdose after abstinence period or when it is administered in an unfamiliar environment. Key words: Classical conditioning, Behaviourism, drug tolerance, drug overdose Classical Conditioning Classical conditioning is a kind of learning that had a main impact on behaviourism philosophy in psychology. It was discovered by the renowned physiologist from Russia, Ivan Pavlov. It is a learning process that happens through linkages between an environmental (external) stimulus and a normally happening stimulus (Hock, 2005). Besides the most essential component of the classical conditioning is the presence of a neutral stimulus in front of an innately happening reflex. Pavlov employed dogs to explain his model of conditioning. He used a neutral stimulus i.e. the sound of the bell tone and innately happening reflex i.e., the salivation in reply to food. Since he involved an external stimulus i.e. the food, only the sound of the bell tone was able to generate a conditioned response of salivation amongst dogs. The main principles of classical conditioning include the conditioned stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned signal and the conditioned response (Gross, 2008). The unconditioned stimulus can be considered as the stimulus that naturally, unconditionally and in a reflex way activates a response. In the experiment conducted by Pavlov, the unconditioned stimulus is provided by the dog food, since it immediately triggers the salivation process, a natural outcome. The unconditioned response can be considered as a reaction that is innately processed and therefore happens naturally in the presence of an unconditional signal. In the experiment conducted by Pavlov, the salivation was an unconditioned reaction to food. The conditioned stimulus, on the other hand, is something that was independent of the unconditional reflex but as it has been associated with a natural unconditioned signal, it acquires the ability to generate the unconditioned response. In Pavlov’s experiment the sound of the bell tone was an unconditioned stimulus but due to repeated association with the food, it was alone conditioned to generate salivation amongst dogs. The conditioned response fundamentally refers to the acquired reaction to a previously neutral signal. As observed in the experiment of Pavlov, the dogs started salivation on hearing the sound of the bell tone because the salivation procedure was conditionally linked to the sound of the bell tone. One sort of unconscious learning that comes along because of classical conditioning is the tolerance exhibited against drugs. Although at times it is suggested that a number of drug addicts die due to drug overdose, it has been experimentally proven that the death in such cases is not caused by the drug overdose but due to the disappearance of the drug tolerance that was acquired in connection with a conditioned signal (Toates, 2007). First we look at the way drug induced its mechanism in human body. Drug-taking conduct like utilization of a needle or opening wine bottle serves as a stimulus that is conditionally associated with the drug intake response (Eysenck and Keane, 2010). Consequently the drug taking act activates a preventive response such as the discharge of drug antagonists that assist in eradicating the drug. Drug tolerance, hence can be defined as the declined sensitivity of an individual’s body towards a drug as a consequence of recurred vulnerability to the drug. In order to induce drug tolerance it is prerequisite that the drug is administered in larger quantities so that tolerance is implicated (Eysenck, 2009; Davey, 2008). The capability of experienced imbibers to hold their liquor or in other words, consume large quantities of alcohol without producing intoxication is a common signal that there body has developed adaptive mechanism against alcohol (Banyard & Grayson, 2008). The increased tolerance acquired against alcohol in such individuals can be regarded as an outcome of the classical conditioning as their body has developed stronger anti-drug mechanism that neutralizes the toxic impact of alcohol. The major work on exploring the relationship between drug tolerance and classical conditioning can be attributed to Siegel and his fellows. The studies of Shepard Siegel and his fellows constitute the most remarkable collection of manifest proposing that unconditioned responses and the conditioned responses are different (Martin, Carlson and Buskist, 2013). In numerous of their works, Siegel and his fellows employed morphine as an unconditioned stimulant (Siegel, 1977). Analgesia, or declined sensitiveness to pain, is a common unconditioned reaction to morphine. It was reported by Siegel sounds or lights can be associated with the unconditioned reflex of morphine. When such a conditioned stimuli are connected with the unconditioned reflex of morphine, hyperalgesia or an enhanced sensitiveness to pain is the outcome. This was concluded from an experiment conducted on rats injected with morphine. Moreover, it was also determined by Siegel that the unconditional reaction to administration of insulin is the declined sugar level concentration in the blood, however if this unconditional reflex is associated with a conditional stimulus results in hyperglycemia. It was also shown by other researches that the unconditional reaction of alcohol is usually hypothermia while when paired with a conditional stimulus, hyperthermia is the conditioned reaction for alcohol (Crowell, Hinson, & Siegel, 1981). These researched not only propose that a conditioned reaction can be antagonist of the usual unconditioned reaction but also that to some extent conditioning leads to the development of drug tolerance (Siegel, 2001). The drug tolerance originates when, upon perennial utilization of a drug, the drug seems to lose its effectiveness and therefore a higher dosage is required to acquire the same pharmacological impact. Tolerance can therefore be referred as a representative of the conditioning of a reaction that is antagonist to the natural unconditioned drug impacts. Therefore, the environmental prompts present when the drug is being administered, counteract the action of the drug and consequence in a lower pharmacological response to the drug. There have been two significant contributions that provide evidence that conditional learning plays a part in drug tolerance. It was found that after a naturally unconditioned reflex has been conditioned, the conditioned stimulus (i.e., environment), in the absence of unconditioned stimulus like drug results in the defunctness of the opponent conditioned response and this defunctness of reaction to a conditioned stimulus may then trigger a much higher reaction to the unconditioned stimulus ( drug) itself (Siegel, 1977). Moreover it was reported that an enhanced reaction to the drug can also be stimulated by changing the context of the stimulus in which the administration of drug is conducted. The new environment does not evoke a conditioned response against the unconditioned effect of a drug, thus, the absence of this antagonistic conditioned response may lead to stronger unconditioned responses to a drug. The contextual changes are also been reported as a cause of declined drug tolerance to caffeine (Sokolowska, Siegel & Kim, 2003) and alcohol (Larson & Siegel, 1998). Therefore a declined tolerance may in turn induce an elevated drug reaction. And a reduced tolerance can lead to a heightened drug response. The drug overdose therefore has been found to be associated to a changed environmental condition that might have been serving as a conditioned stimulus (Hinson et al., 1982; Siegel, 1984). Since such a condition may result in the extinction of a preventive antagonist conditioned response and this in turn causes a heightened drug effect (Siegel & Ramos, 2002). Classical conditioning is evidently a very fundamental type of learning. Conditional learning is linked with the drug tolerance and it explains the reason behind the increased cases of overdose after abstinence period or when it is administered in an unfamiliar environment. There is significant evidence that cues paired with drug become linked with drug impacts. A drug overdose in many cases associated as a cause of death may not have resulted due to increased dosage but due to a changed environment. This role of environment can be very crucial in providing treatments to patients suffering from drug tolerance. In such cases the changing their environment may limit the development of drug tolerance. References Banyard, P., & Grayson, A. (2008). Introducing Psychological Research. London. 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