Erased memory is a critical concept in a wide variety of Hollywood movies and even television shows. One can look back several decades and notice that this is a concept that rings true throughout cinematic history.
Regardless of the period, many appreciate this sense of erased memory, and it makes sense why this is a recurring theme.
It seems that people may like the idea of the erasure of memory. But researchers note that memory elimination is not very easy. Memory formation takes place and solidifies, then becomes difficult to replace or remove.
Psychologists refer to this situation of erasure as extinction. They see it as such because it means to slowly decrease the specific responses then eliminate it over time. This elimination leads to behavior extinction. One can notice that this is a critical concept in the subject of extinction psychology.
But what is extinction psychology? It is a topic that is about classical psychology theories. It is also relates to operant conditioning and is about mental distress or mental strength.
Here’s a few factors surrounding this specific subject.
Extinction Propellants and Talkspace
Individuals must first seek to do away with a specific behavior. Then they must realize that there are two concepts to figure out. The first concept is that of memory storage; then, there is memory expression.
The first aspect is genuine knowledge, and then the other is the knowledge that the individual may express to others. Extinction psychology ties operant conditioning and classical theory.
What is classical conditioning?
You may have heard about this in your psychology class or may have enve read it in a book. For instance, psychology books talk about the Pavlovian theory where dogs understand start to connect the noise of a bell with sustenance.
When the canines hear the ding, ding, ding of the bell, they start to drool a little bit as they expect to see food soon. The key point here is to tie in food with the drooling. It is not about conditioned stimulus and involuntary reactions but also voluntary behavior and stimulation.
For example, if you have a negative encounter with a dog at one point in your life, you may have an involuntary reaction every time you run across a similar dog. Your body may respond by expressing anxiety, stress, and even push a bit of adrenaline.
But what about operant conditioning?
This is a theory that is in association with the legendary B.F Skinner. Skinner is one respected psychologist that would conduct his experiments that would bring him credibility and fame.
One experiment would include a small animal in a box with a stick on one side of the box so that the mouse could conduct action and obtain a treat. When the tiny animal saw that pressing the bar would end with a treat, it would continue to come back and press it, over and over again.
It saw that pressing the bar would create positive results. This is all about behaviors tied to specific responses.
Yes, these details can become quite complex over time and that is why new applications seek to bring about novel ways to distill information and help support mental health.