Unconditioned Stimulus Quotes

At a cellular level of the human mind, Islamophobia is not really a matter of social stigma, rather it is a natural biological fear response of the general human mind, conditioned through countless pairings between terrorist attacks (unconditioned stimulus) and their apparent association with Islam (conditioned stimulus). Hence, Islamophobia cannot be eradicated completely, unless that pairing is severed and thereafter the conditioned stimulus of Islam is paired with something optimistic such as the heartwarming works of the 13th century Persian Muslim poet Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi.

Joseph LeDoux at New York University has shown how the BLA learns fear.fn14,20 Expose a rat to an innate trigger of fear—a shock. When this “unconditioned stimulus” occurs, the central amygdala activates, stress hormones are secreted, the sympathetic nervous system mobilizes, and, as a clear end point, the rat freezes in place—“What was that? What do I do?” Now do some conditioning. Before each shock, expose the rat to a stimulus that normally does not evoke fear, such as a tone. And with repeated coupling of the tone (the conditioned stimulus) with the shock (the unconditioned one), fear conditioning occurs—the sound of the tone alone elicits freezing, stress hormone release, and so on.fn15

The inhibition of behavior provoked by cat odor is remarkably powerful and long-lasting. As summarized in Figure 1.1, following a single exposure to cat odor, animals continued to exhibit inhibition of play for up to five successive days. Our interpretation of this effect is that some unconditioned attribute of cat smell can innately arouse a fear system in the rat brain, and this emotional state becomes rapidly associated with the contextual cues of the chamber. On subsequent occasions, one does not need the unconditioned fear stimulus—the feline smell—to evoke anxiety. The contextual cues of the chamber suffice. This, in essence, is classical or Pavlovian conditioning. The flow of associations is outlined more formally in Figure 1.2, and as we will see, classical conditioning is still one of the most powerful and effective ways to study emotional learning in the laboratory.

Amygdala and Prefrontal Circuits Underlying the Conditioning and Extinction of Defense Responses. Threat conditioning involves convergence of the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (US) in the lateral amygdala (LA). LA sends connections to the intercalated cells (ITC), lateral part of the central nucleus (CeAL), and threat neurons in the basal amygdala (BA). BA threat neurons connect with ITC and the medial part of the central nucleus (CeAm). Within CeAl different cells receive inputs from LA and ITC, but the two cell populations are interconnected. The prelimbic region of the prefrontal cortex (PFCPL) connects and regulates threat neurons in BA. Outputs of CeAl connect to CeAM, which connects with response control areas. Similar circuits are involved in extinction except that the PFCIL connects with extinction rather than threat neurons in BA. Extinction neurons in BA then regulate CeAM. BASED ON LEE ET AL (2013).

Figure 11.4: Recovery of Extinguished Threats. a. Through extinction, the ability of learned threats to control defense responses is weakened. Successful extinction results in low levels of defensive responses like freezing. However, the original threat memory can be revived, suggesting that extinction is a form of inhibitory learning that suppresses the original threat memory. Recovery can occur due to the mere passage of time (spontaneous recovery), exposure to the context in which the original memory was formed (renewal), or by exposure to the unconditioned stimulus (reinstatement). b. Spontaneous Recovery occurs when there is a long delay between conditioning and extinction; it is less likely to occur with a short delay. c. Renewal occurs in the training context but not in novel context. d. Reinstatement involves the delivery of the unconditioned stimulus (US) after extinction. If the subsequent test occurs in the same context, then freezing is reinstated. FROM QUIRK AND MUELLER (2008), ADAPTED WITH PERMISSION FROM MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS LTD.: NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY (VOL. 33, PP. 56–72, © 2008, AND MYERS AND DAVIS (2007), ADAPTED WITH PERMISSION FROM MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS LTD.: MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY (VOL. 12, PP. 120–50)), © 2007.

Training Effect Our perception of the threat has a direct and dramatic effect of the rate and severity that Body Alarm Reaction will occur. By continual exposure to certain aspects of an attack, or visual perception of an attacker, we can reduce the speed and degree that we fall into automatic body response. By doing realistic self-defense drills we can condition ourselves to the threat of a “haymaker” punch. The more we practice against a specific threat our brain and body becomes well conditioned to that particular stimulus. The more realistic the practice, by increasing speed and intensity, the greater the conditioning level to a realistic attack. This is referred to as Training Effect. An individual that has never practiced any self-defense technique against a “haymaker” punch will ascend into a higher state of Body Alarm Reaction than someone that practices against them. Likewise, someone that trains against full speed, high intensity “haymaker” punches will be in a less state than someone that trains at half-speed. Training Effect can give any martial artist a false sense of security. By developing a high level of skill in the execution of a particular technique, one can be lulled into the falsehood of believing that they have moved beyond the “hold” of Body Alarm Reaction. What they do not realize is that by introducing an Unconditioned Element into the situation that they will automatically slip into Body Alarm Reaction to some degree. The addition of an unconditioned element can occur at any time during a self-defense encounter. Let us assume that someone is attacking with a “haymaker” punch. You have spent many hours perfecting a technique to defend against such an attack and are confident on your ability to execute it properly. You have incorporated the knowledge of what occurs during Body Alarm Reaction into the technique. You have practiced this technique at full speed and from every conceivable angle. It works and you know that it works. You feel confident about the technique and have successfully conditioned yourself to this type of attack — you think. Now as this actual attack is taking place, all that is required to send you into full-blown Body Alarm Reaction is the introduction of an unconditioned element. It can be a slip on wet pavement during the initial execution. It can be an overly large and aggressive attacker. Someone that is much larger, and more frightening, than the training partners that you have worked with in honing this technique. It can be the addition of another potential attacker that is the friend, or colleague, of the one that you are facing. It can be any number of events or circumstances that will cause you to start slipping into Body Alarm Reaction. It is necessary to understand that any one of us can become a victim of this automatic response, even if we have been incorporating the knowledge into our training methods. We are also prone to fall into Body Alarm Reaction due to our perception of visual threats. Our visual recognition of a potential threat has a direct bearing on the initial onset of Body Alarm Reaction.

In Pavlov’s experiment, the food is called the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) because it naturally and automatically triggers salivation, an unconditioned response (UCR).