PSYCHOANALYTIC LEARNING THEORY:  DOLLARD & MILLER

Overview: 

An attempt to translate Freud’s psychoanalytic theory into learning theory concepts.

Four Fundamental Concepts about Learning: “In order to learn, one must want something, notice something, do something, and get something.”

Drive: Want Something; motivates learning

Cue: Notice Something; provides discriminative stimuli

Response: Do Something; what is actually learned

            Response hierarchy

Reward: Get Something; what strengthens the response because of drive reducing effect   
      Gradient of Reward--The more closely the response is followed by reward, the more it is strengthened.

            Language can influence this by making a response "close" by talking about it.

The Four Critical Training Periods of Childhood

Feeding

Cleanliness Training

Early Sex Training

Anger-Anxiety Conflicts

Conflict

Gradient of Approach and Gradient of Avoidance

            Four Basic Assumptions

                  1-Tendency to approach a goal is stronger the nearer one is to it (gradient of approach).

                  2-Tendency to avoid a feared stimulus is stronger the nearer one is to it. (gradient of avoidance).

                  3-Gradient of avoidance is steeper than the gradient of approach.

                  4-An increase in drive raises the height of the entire gradient.

                  Note: “nearer” can refer to actual distance or in time.

Four Types of Conflict

      approach-avoidance (to same goal)

      avoidance-avoidance (between two goals)

      approach-approach (between two goals)

      double approach-avoidance (both positives and negatives for two goals)

            Question:  How might a tranquilizing drug affect an approach-avoidance conflict?

Frustration and Aggression

Frustration: interference with goal attainment.

The Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis: 

      Originally: frustration always causes aggression and aggression is always a consequence of frustration.

Modified: frustration can lead to aggression (but is aggression is only one of a number of possible responses to frustration) and aggression can be caused by things other than frustration.

      Hostile aggression vs. instrumental aggression.

Can frustration caused aggression sometimes result in displacement? Research evidence indicates yes.

Can aggression be reduced by catharsis (e.g., competitive games)? Research evidence indicates no.

Aggressive Cues: situational factors can increase or decrease the likelihood of aggressive behavior (e.g., the “weapons effect”).

The role of emotion (e.g., anger and other negative emotions)

      Frustration à Anger à Aggression      (anger & other emotions mediate the aggressive response)

Individual Differences in Aggressive Responses: Why are some people more likely than others to get angry and behave aggressively?

Research evidence for: problems with early attachment (ego development problem); physical abuse as a child (learning aggression from a parent); inflated but vulnerable self esteem which is challenged (especially if threat involves a male’s masculinity).

      Biological predispositions to aggression have also been linked to prenatal exposure to alcohol.

Language

Provides discriminative cues for learning, facilitates generalization, facilitates development of problem solving skill (reasoning and planning).

Pre-language learning is unlabeled and likely to be unconscious.

Neurosis

            "stupidity-misery syndrome"

Psychotherapy

The problems that cause people to seek therapy are learned: therefore, therapy involves learning more adaptive behaviors and unlearning maladaptive behaviors. For example: teach behavioral coping skills, appropriate discrimination of cues, relaxation techniques (drive reduction), use of language as mediator of learning.

Suppression (willfully putting certain images and thoughts out of consciousness).

Don’t think about a white bear…

Many people use suppression as a way to cope with stress, but is it effective and without consequences?

People can learn to suppress unwanted thoughts: however, these thoughts often "rebound" later, occurring with increased frequency.

Research indicates that the use of suppression appears to be correlated with obsessional thinking, depression, anxiety, and even adverse health effects.

Research study: subjects watched a film of an arm amputation (or other emotional films) and were instructed to suppress their disgust (or amusement or sadness)—subjects regardless of the emotion suppressed showed increased sympathetic nervous system activity.

      Similar suppression in real life can increase risk of hypertension, compromised immune system.

Suppression of unemotional thoughts appears to be less harmful than the suppression of emotions.

Maybe thoughts/feelings that “simply won’t go away” need to be paid attention to!

Psychoanalytic Learning Theory Reconsidered

Recent developments in the understanding of biology/personality relationship actually make D & M’s theory (emphasizing drives and conflicts) more relevant as an integration of psychodynamic theory and learning theory.