Ring My Bell

This chapter considers the psychological mechanism known as evaluative conditioning. Evaluative conditioning is defined as a process whereby an emotion is evoked by a piece of music just because this stimulus has been paired, repeatedly, with other positive or negative stimuli, which are not necessarily logically connected to the music in any way. It is a special form of classic conditioning that involves the pairing of an initially neutral conditioned stimulus (CS) with an affectively valenced, unconditioned stimulus (US). After the pairing, the CS acquires the ability to arouse the same affective state as the US in the perceiver. The remainder of the chapter discusses the characteristics of evaluative conditioning, the emotions that conditioning might arouse, and the role of conditioning in everyday life.

CHANCHING THE EXTERNALIZING AND INTERNALIZING SPECTRUM OF PERSONALITY WITH SELF-REGULATION THERAPY

This article presents an integrator model of changes in the externalizing and internalizing factors of personality grouped in the General Factor of Personality (GFP), based on the Unique Trait Personality Theory (UTPT) [1]. This theory proposes that a continuum exists between personality and psychopathology, as well as the existence of a GFP that occupies the apex of the hierarchy of personality, and extends from an impulsiveness-and-aggressiveness pole (externalizing spectrum) to an anxiety-and-introversion pole (internalizing spectrum). With an experimental intra-group design, 30 regular users of stimulant drugs (cocaine and amphetamine) used the Self-Regulation Therapy (SRT). The SRT is a psychological procedure based on classic conditioning and suggestion used to experience a relaxation effect after the first session, and a stimulation effect during the second session. This stimulation is achieved by reproducing, by the SRT, the sensations produced by stimulant drugs. Effects were recorded on format-state scales of personality adjectives and activation, which represented both externalizing and internalizing factors. The results showed that both relaxation and stimulation, by imitating the effects of drugs, brought about short-term changes in both the GFP, and the externalizing and internalizing factors, and also in the predicted direction, i.e., changes in global personality.

LEARNING TO BE A PSYCHOSTIMULANTS ADDICT WITH SELF-REGULATION THERAPY

This article presents the results of a single-case experiment of alternative treatments in which a participant applied the Self-Regulation Therapy (SRT) to reproduce the effects of a stimulant drug, methylphenidate, and a sedative, alcohol. The SRT is a learning procedure based on classic conditioning and suggestion that reproduces the effect of drugs by remembering the effects they have. The participant reproduced the effects of both drugs during ten sessions held on 5 consecutive days. To record effects, adjective scales were used that measured Drug effect, High, Rush, Energy, Tension and the General Factor of Personality (GFP). The results indicated that the participant was capable of independently reproducing the effects of both the above-cited drugs, and that most of these effects were graphically represented as an inverted U-shape. This inverted U can be interpreted as a process in which effects of drugs become progressively more marked (sensitization) to become progressively less marked (tolerance). In this way, the inverted U represents the equivalent to a complete process of becoming addicted to a drug. The participant “learnt to be an addict” without using drugs. The theoretical implications and therapeutic potential of this procedure are discussed.

Insomnia: psychological and neurobiological aspects and non-pharmacological treatments

Insomnia involves difficulty in falling asleep, maintaining sleep or having refreshing sleep. This review gathers the existing informations seeking to explain insomnia, including those that focus on psychological aspects and those considered neurobiological. Insomnia has been defined in psychological (cognitive components, such as worries and rumination, and behavioral aspects, such as classic conditioning) and physiological terms (increased metabolic rate, with increased muscle tone, heart rate and temperature). From the neurobiological point of view, there are two perspectives: one which proposes that insomnia occurs in association with a failure to inhibit wakefulness and another that considers hyperarousal as having an important role in the physiology of sleep. The non-pharmacological interventions developed to face different aspects of insomnia are presented.

Mecanismos neuronales del aprendizaje en los peces teleósteos

The paper is a review of the literature specialized in identifying brain areas and neurochemical functions that underlie different learning phenomena in teleost fish. The neuroethological approach, a description of the fish brain anatomy, ontogeny and phylogeny, the evolutionary discussion of the relationships between fish and mammals, and the cumulative evidence that suggests homologies in neurobehavioral functions between fish and mammals are introduced. Two predominant approaches for studying the neurobiology of learning in fish were identified, namely brain lesions and chemical stimulation. Regarding the effect of specific brain lesions,telencephalic ablationsonly affectedhabituationlearning (sensitization and classic conditioning were not impaired). Conversely, cerebellum lesions caused impairments in classical conditioning of eye-retraction and spatial learning (similar effects in mammals suggest that the functions of the cerebellum may have evolved early in vertebrate history). Regarding emotional learning, it is argued that research on avoidance and escape learning has been narrowly oriented and that new possibilities may derive from Hineline’s (1977) parametric analysis. Medium Pallium (MP) areas were identified as critical for emotional learning in fish. Furthermore, neurobehavioral functions of MP seem to be similar to the functions of the amygdala in mammals. Concerning neurochemical processes, antagonists of the NMDA receptors affected in a dose-dependent manner the acquisition of avoidance and fear conditioning. Alternatively, Nitric Oxide (NO) and cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate (cGMP) seem to be involved in the consolidation processof emotional learning

Neuronal mechanisms of learning in teleost fish

The paper is a review of the literature specialized in identifying brain areas and neurochemical functions that underlie different learning phenomena in teleost fish. The neuroethological approach, a description of the fish brain anatomy, ontogeny and phylogeny, the evolutionary discussion of the relationships between fish and mammals, and the cumulative evidence that suggests homologies in neurobehavioral functions between fish and mammals are introduced. Two predominant approaches for studying the neurobiology of learning in fish were identified, namely brain lesions and chemical stimulation. Regarding the effect of specific brain lesions,telencephalic ablationsonly affectedhabituationlearning (sensitization and classic conditioning were not impaired). Conversely, cerebellum lesions caused impairments in classical conditioning of eye-retraction and spatial learning (similar effects in mammals suggest that the functions of the cerebellum may have evolved early in vertebrate history). Regarding emotional learning, it is argued that research on avoidance and escape learning has been narrowly oriented and that new possibilities may derive from Hineline’s (1977) parametric analysis. Medium Pallium (MP) areas were identified as critical for emotional learning in fish. Furthermore, neurobehavioral functions of MP seem to be similar to the functions of the amygdala in mammals. Concerning neurochemical processes, antagonists of the NMDA receptors affected in a dose-dependent manner the acquisition of avoidance and fear conditioning. Alternatively, Nitric Oxide (NO) and cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate (cGMP) seem to be involved in the consolidation processof emotional learning.

Reviving the old sermon of medicine with the placebo effect

OBJECTIVE: The message of the importance of a caring doctor-patient relationship is now like an old sermon which does not impact anyone's mind or action. Observing the healing practice of the old time physicians, who valued their attitudes and relationship with their patients more than the actual interventions, this paper reviews the literature on their main therapeutic device - the placebo effect - as a novel way of delivering this old sermon of medicine to contemporary doctors. DISCUSSION: There are countless historical and contemporary examples of the impressive placebo effect and although contested by some, it seems real and significant. The classic conditioning theory and the expectation theory explain reasonably well the mechanisms of the placebo effect, especially in conjunction with each other. The underlying biochemical pathway, according to the limited current knowledge, involves endorphins for pain and dopamine for Parkinson's disease. Finally, human factors such as the doctor's positive attitudes and a good doctor-patient relationship seem to be more essential than the placebo itself in eliciting the placebo effect. CONCLUSIONS: Given the body of evidence supporting the existence of significant placebo effect and the importance of the doctor-patient relationship in determining it, the human factors of the medical treatment should be emphasised in order to maximise the placebo effect and consequently the overall therapeutic effect of the healing acts.