Pavlovian principles and behaviour therapy

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the fluctuating fortunes of Pavlovian conditioning as a model for analysis and treatment in clinical settings. It provides a brief historical survey of clinical applications of Pavlovian conditioning. The chapter shows that the treatment of fear and anxiety, and evaluates the clinical success of these applications. It analyses the practices of behaviour therapy to theories of Pavlovian conditioning. The theories of Pavlovian conditioning adopted by most behaviour therapists were breathtakingly simple and straight-forward. The main threat to Pavlovian conditioning has come from its powerful neighbour – operant conditioning. The kernel of K. Smith's argument was that autonomic responses, apparently produced by Pavlovian conditioning, were in fact innate accompaniments of voluntary responses, engendered by operant contingencies. N. E. Miller's experiments demonstrated changes in autonomic responding, such as heart rate, as a result of operant contingencies when subjects were paralised with curare.

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