Reciprocal inhibition
The concept of reciprocal inhibition was introduced in 1906 by the neurophysiologist Charles Scott Sherrington . It originally referred to the inhibition of a spinal reflex by another reflex (in the millisecond range). Joseph Wolpe applied the term to complex and persistent behavior in 1954.
In animal studies with cats, Wolpe observed that a conditioned fear response was inhibited by food intake. He fed the cats closer and closer to the place where a fear reaction had previously been conditioned by electric shocks. In an article entitled "Reciprocal Inhibition as the Main Basis of Psychotherapeutic Effects", he then formulated the following principle in 1954: "If it is possible to cause a reaction incompatible with fear to occur in the presence of a fear-inducing stimulus, so that it becomes a complete or If the fear response is partially suppressed, the connection between the stimulus and the fear response is weakened. "
According to Wolpe, the following behaviors are incompatible with a fear reaction in humans: sexual reactions , self-assertive behavior and relaxation . He believed that the relaxation process of progressive muscle relaxation had neurophysiological effects similar to eating.
On the basis of his theories, he developed the behavioral method of systematic desensitization .
criticism
Subsequent investigations questioned reciprocal inhibition as the sole active principle of systematic desensitization. Among other things, it has been shown that anxiety can be reduced without prior relaxation.
literature
- Steffen Fliegel et al .: Standard behavior therapy methods . Weinheim: Beltz, 4th edition 1998, p. 153, ISBN 3-621-27208-9 .
- Jürgen Margraf: Textbook of behavior therapy. Volume 2 . Berlin: Springer, 2nd edition 2000, chap. 1 and 26. ISBN 3-540-66439-4 .