Opponent-Process Theory

The Opponent-Process Theory of Motivation

(Solomon and Corbit, 1974)

The concepts of habituation and sensitization have been extended to emotions and motivated behavior.

Common characteristics of emotional reactions

1. Emotional reactions are biphasic; a primary reaction is followed by an opposite after-reaction

2. The primary reaction becomes weaker with repeated stimulations

3. The after-reaction is strengthened

The Opponent-Process Theory is a homeostatic theory

The theory assumes that neurophysiological mechanisms involved in emotional behavior serve to maintain emotional stability.

Richard Solomon’s OPPONENT PROCESS THEORY

      New stimulus events, esp. those arousing strong emotions, disrupt a person’s equilibrium.

      This disruption triggers an opposite (opponent) response (process) that eventually restores equilibrium.

      If the event occurs repeatedly, the opponent process becomes stronger and eventually suppresses the initial reaction to the stimulus, creating habituation.

      e.g., development of drug tolerance and addiction

      e.g., engagement in high risk/arousal activities such as skydiving

      e.g., accidental drug overdoses

      NOTE:  Opponent process explanations based on habituation and sensitization cannot explain many of the behaviors  and mental processes that are the focus of psychology.

      Learned associations between certain environmental stimuli and certain opponent responses affect our thoughts and behaviors as well. 

      CLASSICAL CONDITIONING is one type of associative learning that builds associations between various stimuli as well as between stimuli and responses

Richard Solomon developed a motivational theory based on opponent processes. Basically he states that every process that has an affective balance, (i.e. is pleasant or unpleasant), is followed by a secondary, "opponent process". This opponent process sets in after the primary process is quieted. With repeated exposure, the primary process becomes weaker while the opponent process is strengthened.

The most important contribution is Solomon's findings on work motivation and addictive behavior, though it does not fit the "economist's standard model", and how there are growing suspicions that addiction is a much broader phenomenon than first believed. According to opponent-process theory, drug addiction is the result of an emotional pairing of pleasure and the emotional symptoms associated with withdrawal. At the beginning of drug or any substance use, there are high levels of pleasure and low levels of withdrawal. Over time, however, as the levels of pleasure from using the drug decrease, the levels of withdrawal symptoms increase, thus providing motivation to keep using the drug despite a lack of pleasure from it.

Opponent-Process Theory:

Opponent-process theory is a psychological and neurological model that accounts for a wide range of behaviors, including color vision. This model was first proposed in 1878 by Ewald Hering, a German physiologist, and later expanded by Richard Solomon, a 20th-century psychologist.

The opponent-process theory was first developed by Ewald Hering. He noted that there are color combinations that we never see, such as reddish-green or yellowish-blue. Opponent-process theory suggests that color perception is controlled by the activity of three opponent systems. In the theory, he postulated about three independent receptor types which all have opposing pairs: white and black, blue and yellow, and red and green.

These three pairs produce combinations of colors for us through the opponent process. Furthermore, according to this theory, for each of these three pairs, three types of chemicals in the retina occur, in which two types of chemical reactions exist. These reactions would yield one member of the pair in their building up phase, or anabolic process, whereas they would yield the other member while in a destructive phase, or a catabolic process.

The colors in each pair oppose each other. Red-green receptors cannot send messages about both colors at the same time. This theory also explains negative afterimages; once a stimulus of a certain color is presented, the opponent color is perceived after the stimulus is removed because the anabolic and catabolic processes are reversed. For example, red creates a positive (or excitatory) response while green creates a negative (or inhibitory) response. These responses are controlled by opponent neurons, which are neurons that have an excitatory response to some wavelengths and an inhibitory response to wavelengths in the opponent part of the spectrum.

According to this theory, color blindness is due to the lack of a particular chemical in the eye. The positive after-image occurs after we stare at a brightly illuminated image on a regularly lighted surface and the image varies with increases and decreases in the light intensity of the background.