Special Establishing Operations

1. Special Establishing Operations Ch 10

2. AGGRESSION • Pain-established aggression • Extinction-established aggression

3. Pain-established aggression in humans • Hit thumb with hammer • Throw hammer against wall • Cursing

4. Pain-established aggression in other animals • Azrin, Hutchinson, & Hake (1966) • 2 rats in a chamber – mild aversive shock • Animals rear and begin to attack each other • When shock stopped, they stop fighting

5. Extinction-established aggression in humans?

6. Extinction-established aggression in pigeons • 2 Pigeons, 1 free to peck key (A), the other restrained (B) • Pigeon A pecks key –> each peck is followed by grain –> ignores pigeon B • Then grain stops coming • What does pigeon A do with respect to pigeon B???????

7. Aversive Conditions as Establishing Operations Before: No aggression reinforcers Behavior: Aggression After: Aggression reinforcers ESTABLISHING OPERATION Aversive Condition: Pain or extinction

8. Aggression Reinforcers? • The results of the aggression itself serve as reinforcers • Feel of throwing the hammer • Sound of it’s hitting the wall • Feel and sound of shouting • Pressure on teeth and claws (rat) • Pressure on beak and wings (pigeon)

9. General Case Aversive-Condition-Established Reinforcement Contingency Behavior: Aggressive Behavior Before: No agg reinforcers After: Agg reinforcers ESTABLISHING OPERATION Aversive Condition: Pain or extinction

10. Human Being Pain-Established Reinforcement Contingency After: ????? Before: Sid has no aggression reinforcers Behavior: Sid throws hammer, curses ESTABLISHING OPERATION Aversive Condition: Sid’s thumb really hurts

11. Rat Pain-Established Reinforcement Contingency Before: Rat has no pressure on teeth, claws Behavior: Rat bites & scratches After: Rat has pressure on teeth & claws ESTABLISHING OPERATION ??????

12. Human Being Extinction-Established Reinforcement Contingency Behavior: Sid throws temper tantrum After: Sid has aggression reinforcers Before: ???? ESTABLISHING OPERATION Aversive Condition: Extinction of computer behavior

13. Pigeon Extinction-Established Reinforcement Contingency Before: Pigeon has no pressure on its beak & wings Behavior: Pigeon attacks another pigeon After: ?????? ESTABLISHING OPERATION ???????

14. Pigeon Extinction-Established Reinforcement Contingency Before: Pigeon has no victim to aggress against Behavior: Pigeon pecks victim access key After: Pigeon has victim to aggress againts ESTABLISHING OPERATION Aversive condition: Pigeon’s food key pecks are extinguished

15. Aggression reinforcer • Stimuli resulting from acts of aggression

16. Aggression principle • Aversive stimuli and extinction are establishing operations for aggression reinforcers

17. Why don’t we aggress all the time?

18. Is there evidence of a mental health benefit to letting off steam? • Page 170 • Poetic metaphor for making aggression reinforcers more effective • Problem: People act as if this metaphor is real • No evidence that aggression has a mental health benefit for the aggressor • Aggression is usually harmful and dysfunctional

19. Passive Aggression? • Aversive stimulation establishes aggression as a reinforcer almost too sweet to resist, especially when you can make the aggression so subtle the victim barely detects that it’s happening.

20. Passive aggression, cont • The victim can’t put a label on it, can’t point an accusing finger. And better yet, even the perpetrator of the aggression can’t self-criticize because the aggression is too subtle even for him or her to detect.

21. In other words, • Often we’re not only unaware of why we aggress, but we’re even unaware that we are aggressing.

22. Passive aggression Behavior: Dawn asks Sid an embarrassing question After: Dawn has vagg reinforcer Before: Dawn has no vagg reinforcer ESTABLISHING OPERATION Aversive Condition: Dawn receives an aversively sweaty kiss

23. Passive aggression Behavior: Sid describes his great run After: Sid has vagg reinforcer Before: Sid has no vagg reinforcer ESTABLISHING OPERATION Aversive Condition: Sid receives aversive question

24. Drug Addiction • What maintains drug abuse, the presentation of a reinforcer or the reduction of an aversive condition? • Addictive reinforcers are unlearned reinforcers prior to addiction • Is suffering necessary? No • A monkey will press a lever that produces a shot of morphine. PERIOD.

25. Addictive Reinforcer • A reinforcer for which repeated exposure is an establishing operation – repeated exposure increases value • Dangerous drugs: heroin, morphine, cocaine, speed, barbiturates, alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, caffeine, rock & roll

26. Escape from pain Behavior: P. pushes button After: P. has less pain Before: Patient has pain Before: No injection Behavior: P. pushes button After: P. has morphine injection ESTABLISHING OPERATION Aversive Condition: Patient suffers pain

27. Escape from poverty Before: Person suffers from poverty Behavior: P. Shoots up After: P. Suffers less from poverty Before: P. Has no heroin Behavior: P. Shoots up After: P. Has heroin ESTABLISHING OPERATION Aversive Condition: Person suffers from poverty Life is psychologically unbearable, taking heroin reduces aversiveness.

28. Escape from withdrawal Behavior: P. requests morphine After: P. has less intense withdrawal Before: Patient has withdrawal Before: No injection Behavior: P. pushes button After: P. has morphine injection ESTABLISHING OPERATION Aversive Condition: Patient suffers withdrawal

29. Escape from pain Behavior: P. pushes button Before: Patient has no morphine injection After: P. has a morphine injections ESTABLISHING OPERATION Aversive Condition: Patient suffers from withdrawal

30. Pure Pleasure of Drugs Behavior: Monkey presses lever After: Monkey has morphine injection Before: Monkey has no injection ESTABLISHING OPERATION Aversive Condition: Monkey has not had morphine

31. Addictive Reinforcer • A reinforcer for which repeated exposure is an establishing operation – repeated exposure increases value • Dangerous drugs: heroin, morphine, cocaine, speed, barbiturates, alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, caffeine, rock & roll