Previous chapter: 6. Deconditioning and Vipassana Meditation
6.1 Conditioning and deconditioning
In psychology, "conditioning" means learning stimulus-reaction patterns: the body reacts in a certain way to a certain stimulus. Two types of conditioning are distinguished:
The classic form of learning via conditioning was described by I. Pavlov. He observed that after a learning phase, during which a bell rang simultaneously with feeding, test dogs already salivated when the bell rang alone, although they could not (yet) see the food. His interpretation of this observation was that frequent simultaneous presentation of the bell sound (neutral stimulus) and the food (unconditional stimulus, which activates a reflex reaction) created a connection between the two stimuli. This converted the previously neutral stimulus into a conditional stimulus, which alone can already cause the same reaction (salivation) as the unconditional stimulus (food) to which it was originally connected. In this way, a conditioned reaction to the bell sound was generated from the unconditioned, involuntary reaction (salivation) to the food.
The learning of more complex types of reaction than that described above is also called conditioning ("operand conditioning"). If the conditioning mechanism is to take effect at all, emotional tensions (desires or aversions) and instinctive unconditional reflexes must be present, which can be activated and resolved in conditioning. So-called amplifiers ( positive reinforcement or punishment) during conditioning ensure that certain reactions and types of behaviour are favoured or discouraged. Which type of amplifier is suitable depends on the person whose behaviour mode is to be reinforced (e.g. fear of pain; promise of happiness).
Brain processes during conditioning
Neuroendocrinology describes the biochemical processes which occur during conditioning: the satisfaction of an emotional tension leads via a temporary release of hormones to changes in nerve cells: If an axon A has repeatedly or constantly fired to cell B, changes occur in both cells (axon A can grow, cell B can develop more dendrites and synapses, or a chemical modification can occur to both). The capacity of cell A to excite cell B increases. Thus, if an axon has already fired once to a cell, it will be able to stimulate this cell still better in future - the reflex is fixed. If not only A but also C fires simultaneously to B, the combination could even mean that an action potential is reached.
When described at the "feelings" level, the release of hormones corresponds to a pleasant and thus "addictive" experience. The changes to the nerve cells correspond to an (unconscious) memory and reinforce the conditioned behaviour by repeated induction of emotions. A new reflex, an unconscious manner of reaction and emotion, is formed, which is not subject to control by the free will of the conditioned person.
Now two effects can arise due to continuing experience with repeated identical stimuli, which weaken or reinforce the conditioned reactions: "habituation" (reduction in the reaction to a repeated stimulus which is not accompanied by changes in other stimuli) or "sensitisation" (after a strong stimulus, an organism reacts more strongly to a subsequent weaker stimulus, i.e. becomes "oversensitive").
Investigations on the neurones of sea snails (aplysia) have revealed that habituation means the reduced release of transmitter substances by the presynaptic cell. By contrast, sensitisation is accompanied by an increased release: the strong stimulus causes serotonin to be released into the synaptic gap, extending the duration of action potentials and transmitter release. A nerve cell is effectively prevented from ceasing to fire.
The objects of the conditioning process - the emotional tensions (desires or aversions) themselves - are not absolute constants either, but can in turn be conditioned by learning processes and be heightened or bluntened. For example, even instinctive expressions of need such as hunger and thirst can be subject to major changes and modifications by unconscious processes. These processes can also be described with the concepts of sensitisation and habituation.
Examples:
A few examples may serve to illustrate the theoretical explanations above:
Sensitisation of aversion:
- initial stimulus (I see a wasp and hear its buzzing)
- arouses aversion (I do not particularly like this wasp; I have heard that wasps can sting)
- realisation (the wasp stings, it is quite painful)
- hormone release (stress hormones such as adrenaline are released, I become anxious, my blood pressure rises, I drive the wasp away in a panic and flee)
- end of hormone release (the wasp has flown away, the pain dies down)
- I have been conditioned (here concerning aversion: I must watch out in future, wasps are extremely unpleasant and dangerous insects)
- conditional stimulus (I hear a wasp buzzing)
- conditioned reaction (I become anxious, my blood pressure rises, even without the wasp stinging me).
Sensitisation of desire:
- initial stimulus (e.g. television advertisement for ABC vanilla ice cream)
- arouses desire (oh, vanilla ice cream would be nice! It not only tastes good; if I have one, I will also be a happy person and have fun - just as in the advertisement)
- realisation (I buy myself some vanilla ice cream and eat it)
- hormone release (endorphin is released: ah, that was delicious, I feel great)
- end of hormone release (oh, that's the end of the ice cream; what a pity, now the fun is over)
- I have been conditioned (here concerning desire: I must remember this, at the next opportunity I will buy more ice cream)
- weaker conditional stimulus (I see the ice cream container in the supermarket without an advertisement)
- equally strong conditioned reaction due to sensitisation (oh yes, some ABC vanilla ice cream, that would be just right now, I enjoyed it so much last time).
Our lives consist of reflex-type conditioned actions to a much greater extent than we normally realise. Compared to considered and conscious actions, reflexes have the great advantage that they reduce the load on our brain and occur very quickly with little delay (rapidly running away from the wasp, time-saving selection in the supermarket). However, they have the disadvantage that they hardly offer any leeway for adaptation to the prevailing situation. This is particularly problematic when reflexes also determine our emotional life. In contrast to actions which ensure bodily survival, there is namely no rational reason why our emotional lives should also be hedged in by unconscious reflexes and conditioned pressures.
Deconditioning:
The paragraphs above indicate that conditioning processes can be modified. If they are reversed, this is called deconditioning (extinction): learned behaviour (psychological or physiological reaction patterns) can be unlearned, if the conditional stimulus is repeatedly presented without the initial unconditional stimulus.
Taking the dog as an example, this would mean that the bell would ring many times without food being offered simultaneously. After several repetitions, the dog no longer salivates. A conditioned aversion can equally well be eliminated if the conditional stimulus repeatedly does not cause an unpleasant experience.
In general terms, the conditioning cycle can be terminated if the brief feelings of happiness or aversion and the associated hormone release which reinforce the reflex can be avoided.
In medicament-based therapy of psychological problems, this avoidance is achieved temporarily by employing psychopharmaceuticals such as sedatives like diazepam (Valium). However, the pharmaceutical effect weakens with time, so that gradually higher doses are needed for the same result. Thus, the pharmacological approach is promising only as a short-term solution for acute crises. It could well be that some conditioning is initially eliminated or weakened for the patient. However, he is at greater risk once the effect of the drug has subsided, because the same stimuli cause more hormones to be released than before the pharmaceutical treatment, so that conditioning can occur again at a faster rate.
The behavioural therapy mentioned in Section 4 has developed a more effective method of deconditioning. A special form of behaviour therapy, confrontation therapy, employs the phenomenon of habituation discussed above. The method is based on the patient remaining unaffected and relaxed while the conditional stimulus is presented (e.g. the buzzing of a wasp is heard in a relaxed context until it no longer causes anxiety reactions). Equanimity and relaxation are associated with a naturally reduced release of hormones and achieve a similar effect to the sedative drugs mentioned above, only without their harmful side effects. This method is applied particularly to cases of conditioned aversion or anxiety which require therapy. It results e.g. in a therapeutic success rate of 80 % among patients with a strong fear of dentists (dental phobia). Nevertheless, it can also be successful in counteracting strong desires and wishes.
In this context, methods such as autogenic training and certain visualisation techniques should also be mentioned, which connect emotional and physical relaxation with mental content.
These techniques concentrate on the treatment of one or a few major problems but do not fundamentally intend to eliminate the patient's tendency to create and reinforce disharmony between himself and his surroundings via conditioned reactions.
Next chapter: 6.2 Vipassana Meditation