Treatment through behavior modification
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Jackie has been afraid of dogs since she was a toddler. When she was three years old, she was playing in her front yard when a neighbor's dog came up to her and bit her hand. The bite required a trip to the pediatrician and several stitches. Twenty years later, she can remember every detail of the event. Now when she sees dogs or one comes near her, her heart pounds and she feels sick to her stomach. Normally, she could simply avoid dogs, but she is getting married to a dog breeder in six months. Jackie is coming to you for help with her fear of dogs.
1. Discuss one behavioral theory that could explain why Jackie has remained fearful of dogs.
2. What kind of behavioral modification program can be designed for Jackie so that she does not experience fear when seeing dogs?
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Solution Summary
This solution is designed to provide definitions of operant and classical conditioning. These two modalities are used to help develop a treatment plan to rid a patient of a specific phobia. The treatment plan includes the use of systematic desensitization, progressive muscle relaxation and biofeedback. This posting includes 499 words of text
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There is a two-part answer to question 1.
There are two behavioral theories to explain why Jackie remains fearful of dogs. They are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning was formulated by a Russian physiologist named Ivan Pavlov who was studying animal digestion. He became confused when the dogs started salivating before the food was brought in. That is to say that the dog was responding to certain stimuli without even smelling the food. Pavlov noticed a correlation when his lab technicians entered and the dogs began salivating. The dogs associated the lab technicians with feeding time. Classical conditioning can be defined as learning based upon associations between stimuli. White coat lab technician means ...
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