Peer-Reviewed Research
For this assignment, the focus will be on modifying behavior that leads to Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) using positive and negative reinforcements. GAD seriously affects the mental well-being of an individual and it is highly prevalent. I choose GAD because I have been diagnosed with it several times and I keep exhibiting its symptoms now and then. GAD negatively impacts one’s performance and it is resistant to medication. The authors note GAD has unique learning tendencies that could be beneficial in maintaining it. The authors argue that GAD maintenance may be a result of inadequate lessons on probabilistic outcomes learned over time in response to reinforcement. The authors also offer reasons to support their argument that people with GAD may have had inadequate lessons in probabilistic outcomes (LaFreniere & Newman, 2018).
In particular, they argue the primary symptom of GAD, which is an uncontrolled worry, is characterized by predictions of the high likelihood of a negative future outcome. They maintain that accurate probabilistic learning would eliminate the worry.
While quoting the contract avoidance model, the authors allege that people with GAD use it to avoid unwanted shifts in negative emotions. While testing this model in a study, the results showed that people with GAD used it as a coping mechanism for emotions both inside and outside the lab(LaFreniere & Newman, 2018). The authors maintain that if GAD is a coping mechanism, eliminating it by using reinforcements would, in effect, be a disposal of a favorite coping mechanism. This leads them to argue that people with GAD may not learn from experiences that refute their projected negative outcomes.
In addition, the authors maintain that people with GAD may have a bias toward negative information, leading to its processing at the expense of relieving outcomes. People with GAD are also inclined to recall personally relevant information that is negative rather than positive information. The negative information is also more accessible as a reference point for projecting the future than positive information, leading to a distortion in the projection that reinforces the worries associated with GAD.
Expectancy bias shows an overprediction of fear with regard to people with GAD that leads to an exaggeration of fearful feelings. People with GAD experience problems with accurate projections of future outcomes. Due to their excessive worry, people with GAD are more inclined to overestimate the incidence of negative outcomes occurrence (LaFreniere & Newman, 2018). However, these projections of future events are almost always highly inaccurate.
The authors argue that besides problems with probabilistic learning, people with GAD also have curious tendencies when it comes to reinforcement learning. Consequently, this class of people is more likely to learn from negative reinforcement compared to positive reinforcement. The contract model maintains that people with GAD do not allow themselves to feel good for a long time because it increases the chances of painful, hurtful events or emotions in the future. Thus, the default position for people with GAD is worry despite the unreasonableness of some of the events occurring.
Thus, GAD is highly sensitive to relieving outcomes as they offers some kind of negative reinforcement. In effect, the primary symptom of GAD is maintained by negative reinforcement such that: people with the disorder worry constantly about a negative event occurring despite its improbability and constant worry leads to distress. If the imagined outcomes fail to materialize, they provide a negative reinforcement that a person with the disorder utilizes as a coping mechanism. Thus, according to the authors, the management of GAD can be done by using positive and negative reinforcements to modify behavior.
Unfortunately, GAD is resistant to medication, meaning that although some of the symptoms can be managed with medication, the condition will recur once in a while. However, with behavioral modification, someone with GAD can be taught how to cope with the disorder so it does not impede their daily activities. The authors maintain that a patient with GAD can lead a normal life if their coping behavior is modified using positive and negative reinforcement. Their assertions are supported by previous research and the results of their own research.
Positive and Negative Reinforcement
Positive and negative reinforcements are types of operant conditioning that are used to modify behavior. In operant conditioning, positive means that one is adding something, while negative means removing something. Reinforcements mean increasing behavior to elicit a behavioral response. Reinforcements are the easiest way to teach new behavior, with positive reinforcement being the addition of a positive stimulus to increase behavior (Miltenberger, 2022).
In negative reinforcement, behavior is modified by removing an undesired stimulant. Negative reinforcement works by reinforcing a certain behavior by removing an undesired stimulus. This type of reinforcement strengthens the preceding behavior. Generally, a behavior is said to be negatively reinforcing if they allows an individual to escape the negative stimuli. Positive and negative reinforcements increase the chances that a particular behavior will reoccur in the future.
GAD is a major health issue for me and millions of other people diagnosed annually throughout the globe. However, the treatment options that exist currently have a very low effectiveness rate, meaning that the rate of recovery is not high. Part of the problem is that researchers do not fully understand the body processes that lead one to experience constant worry all the time. However, behavioral specialists have over the years proposed various ways that an individual can be enticed to change behavior that reinforces their disorder. One of the ways proposed for the management of GAD is reinforcement (Pike & Robinson, 2022).
Ironically, GAD persists because of the reinforcement effect of the non-occurrence of a projected negative outcome. Thus, GAD is perceived as a coping mechanism that allows one to avoid negative emotions. Hence, as a coping mechanism, a patient can be taught another way to cope that is not harmful to their mental health. This learning can be achieved by both positive and negative reinforcement according to symptoms presented in individual cases.
For an individual who worries too much, the prospect of learning another behavior to help cope with their worry may present another reason for an increase in doomsday scenario imaginations. This escalation happens because learning the new behavior involves discarding something that helped cope when uncertainties reigned. As noted in section one, behavioral modification to deal with general anxiety disorder means that one is forced to face one’s worst fears. Accordingly, it may prove difficult to reinforce another positive coping mechanism for a person suffering from GAD because they must be able and willing to learn new behaviors on how to react when they are not sure about something. Reinforcement and punishment are two of the easiest ways to teach new behavior to subjects. In this case, reinforcement is preferred because it is more subtle in its approach to behavior modification. Further, once a behavior is reinforced, it is learned forever, which is beneficial for anyone with GAD.
To manage GAD, a behavioral therapist needs to reinforce another coping behavior in the patient. These can take the form of worry exposure, relaxation, and other positive behaviors to replace the constant worry that characterizes this disorder. I worry too much now and often but it has not reached clinical-level worry where I am unable to go about my daily activities. Consequently, behavior modification would be appropriate for managing fears. Specifically, positive and negative reinforcements could help reinforce a positive coping mechanism that eliminates the doomsday worries that people with GAD have.
Positive and negative reinforcements are types of operant conditioning that modify the behavior of an individual. Positive reinforcement modifies behavior by adding a stimulus, while negative reinforcement modifies behavior by removing an undesired stimulus. For an individual like me who worries too much to the point of being considered as suffering from a general anxiety disorder, positive and negative reinforcements can help modify this behavior.
GAD is generally characterized by an unnecessary and unreasonable fear that something will go wrong, irrespective of the chances of something going wrong. Psychiatrists see this worry as a way to cope and avoid negative emotions. However, this coping mechanism is harmful to one’s health and a new coping mechanism is required to manage GAD. Consequently, reinforcement is the most appropriate method to teach new coping behavior because it is one of the few behavioral modification techniques available. Thus, the choice of positive and negative reinforcement as a way to manage general anxiety disorder is appropriate and has the potential for positive results.
References
LaFreniere, L. S., & Newman, M. G. (2018). Probabilistic learning by positive and negative reinforcement in generalized anxiety disorder. Clinical Psychological Science, 7(3), 502–515. Web.
Miltenberger, R. (2022). Behavior modification: Principles and procedures (6th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Pike, A. C., & Robinson, O. J. (2022). Reinforcement learning in patients with mood and anxiety disorders vs control individuals. JAMA Psychiatry, 79(4), 313. Web.