Fobieën, conditonering en UCS-inflatie

Summary

Phobias, conditioning, and UCS intlation

According to the classical conditioning theory, people develop a phobia of spiders, for example, because they have experienced an aversive conditioning event (UCS) in the context of spiders. Advocates of the classical conditioning theory have failed to define this learning processin a non-equivocal way. At times they have portrayed classical conditioning as a cognitive type of learnmg. Yet, at other times they have underlined the unconscious nature of classical conditioning. Although retrospective studies suggest that phobic patients often recall conditioning events, non-phobic control subjects also report such conditioning events. Davey's. UCS-reevaluation theory appears to circumvent the problem of cognitive vs non-cognitive learning. Moreover, it allows that both phobic and non-phobic persons have conditioning experiences. Thus far, the empirical basis of UCS-reevaluation is meagre.