Keyes 1 Chris Keyes Craig Walters Psychology 101 11 October 2013 Fearless Many people suffer from irrational

fears of objects i!eas or organisms ranging from heights to spi!ers" #hese are calle! phobias" People are not born $ith these fears so yes they can be %unlearne!"& ' particular fear that affects many people is glossophobia the fear of spea(ing in public" 's a psychologist ) ha*e a particular patient that has this fear" #hey ha*e come to me as(ing for help $ith their situation" #his person $ho $e $ill refer to as Patient ' claims that they e+perience an increase! heart rate ner*ousness an+iety nausea an! start to s$eat $hen they tal( to a group of se*en or more people" Patient ' $oul! li(e to be able to easily gi*e speeches to his class" ) belie*e after ) am !one $ith my treatment Patient ' $ill be able to freely tal( to a room of 2, people an! $ith further practice e*en more" #he first option that ) coul! use to help Patient ' $oul! be classical con!itioning a type of beha*ioral learning" -efore any treatment is applie! it is best to !efine the stimuli an! responses" #he uncon!itione! stimulus is people laughing at Patient ' $hile he tal(s. ho$e*er the uncon!itione! response is an increase! heart rate s$eaty palms or an+iety" On the other han! the con!itione! stimulus is Patient ' tal(ing in front of a group of people $hile the con!itione! response is the ner*ousness or an+iety Patient ' e+periences in response to tal(ing in front of a group" /aughing at Patient ' is the uncon!itione! stimulus because it elicits a response that !i! not re0uire any learning 1in this case the increase! heart rate2" #al(ing is ob*iously a neutral stimulus so in this particular case $hen it is learne! by Patient ' to associate tal(ing in front of a group of people laughing at him the con!itione! response (ic(s in"

Keyes 2 #his is ho$ Patient '3s glossophobia most li(ely arose" 4o$ e*erytime he spea(s in front of a group of people he has this response because his brain learne! to associate spea(ing $ith being laughe! at or ri!icule!" #o change this un!esire! beha*ior ) $oul! recommen! treatment to Patient '" #his treatment $oul! consist of gra!ual e+posure to his fear" First ) $oul! gi*e him a speech to recite to himself in the mirror" 'fter a fe$ times of !oing that Patient ' $oul! recite the speech in his hea! imagining a couple people in the room not laughing at him !uring his speech" 4e+t Patient ' $oul! say his speech to a couple of his family members then a couple of frien!s at school" 5epeating these steps multiple times before mo*ing on to the ne+t $oul! prepare Patient ' for the big one a speech in front of his class" #his is also (no$n as systematic !esensiti6ation therapy" #he i!ea behin! this type of therapy is to slo$ly e+pose the patient to the fear to lessen the effect of the fear" 'nother $ay to !eal $ith my patient3s problem $oul! be through operant con!itioning another type of beha*ioral learning" #he $ay the problem $as !e*elope! !escribing it through operant con!itioning is slightly !ifferent" 7lossophobia coul! ha*e arose from my patient from being punishe! or re$ar!s being ta(en a$ay from him" 'n e+ample of this $oul! be Patient ' is gi*ing a speech to his class" 'fter his speech people laugh at him an! say mean comments" #his $oul! be an e+ample of positi*e punishment because people are a!!ing ba! or negati*e objects to the situation" 'n e+ample of negati*e punishment $oul! be if Patient ' sees all of his other classmates gi*e speeches an! all of the classmates applau! at the en!" When Patient ' gi*es his speech nobo!y claps at all as he $al(s to his seat" 's this $as going on he $oul! percei*e people not clapping as his fault" 8e might thin( he !i! something $rong or $as not goo! enough" #his is negati*e punishment because it is remo*ing the goo! in the situation 1clapping2" -oth of these $oul! be possibilities of the emergence of Patient '3s fear of spea(ing in public" ' $ay that he coul! o*ercome this problem $oul! be through positi*e an! negati*e reinforcement"

Keyes 3 )f $hen Patient ' ga*e his speech people clappe! an! applau!e! this $oul! be a pleasant e*ent that the patient $oul! li(ely $ant to repeat 1positi*e reinforcement2" 9imilarly negati*e reinforcement has its benefits" 4egati*e reinforcement $or(s by remo*ing the a*ersi*e stimuli" )n this situation the a*ersi*e stimuli $oul! be the stu!ents laughing at Patient ' after his speech" -y !efinition the a*ersi*e stimulus %typically in*ol*es physical or psychological !iscomfort that an organism see(s to escape or a*oi! 18oc(enbury2" )f the stu!ents $ere tol! by the teacher before class that they nee! to be respectful listeners before class they $oul! not laugh after Patient '3s speech" #hrough the !ecrease in punishments an! increase in both positi*e an! negati*e reinforcements Patient ' $ill be able to o*ercome his fear of spea(ing in public" #here is one final $ay that this problem coul! ha*e been starte! an! no$ fi+e!: through social an! cogniti*e learning theories a type of cogniti*e learning" ' possible $ay in $hich Patient '3s glossophobia coul! of began is through learne! helplessness" )f Patient ' $ent up to the front of the class to gi*e speeches $ee(ly an! the (i!s laughe! Patient ' $oul! thin( that there is nothing he coul! !o" 4o matter $hat he !i! to his speeches they coul! ne*er get better an! people $oul! al$ays laugh" #his is a perfect e+ample of learne! helplessness because it sho$s that Patient ' $oul! ha*e no hope for gi*ing speeches lea!ing to his fear of tal(ing in front of groups of people" 'nother $ay this problem coul! ha*e arose $as through latent learning" For e+ample let3s say Patient '3s mother tol! him a story about ho$ she $as se*erely bullie! in school because she stuttere! !uring speeches an! people $oul! laugh at her for it" 9ince latent learning is li(e learning something then tuc(ing it a$ay for a$hile Patient ' $oul! remember this" When it $as his time to gi*e a speech in class he might stutter on acci!ent or say something $rong because he is thin(ing about the story his mother tol! him" )n !oing so this $oul! ma(e Patient ' afrai! to tal( in front of groups of people" #o fi+ this problem *icarious reinforcement coul! be applie!" )f Patient ' $as to $atch *i!eos of Fran(lin ;elano 5oose*elt

Keyes < gi*e some famous speeches he coul! see some of the reactions of the cro$! as they roar in appro*al" )n seeing the positi*e reactions Patient ' $oul! be able to see that there is no nee! to fear public spea(ing" #hough there are many !ifferent $ays that Patient '3s glossophobia coul! ha*e emerge! since it is a learne! beha*ior it can be treate! an! remo*e!" Whether it is classical operant or social an! cogniti*e learning they all can be han!le!" #here are slightly !ifferent $ays to ta(e care of all of them but they all $or( effecti*ely" For this particular problem systematic !esensiti6ation therapy $oul! be the $ay that ) $oul! chose for my patient" 'fter chipping a$ay at his problem it can finally be cure!"

Keyes , Wor( Cite! 8oc(enbury = 8oc(enbury 1201<2" ;isco*ering Psychology >th e!ition" 4e$ ?or( 4e$ ?or(: Worth Publishers"