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.
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.
The main evidence for this theory derived from recordings of retinal and thalamic (LGN) cells, which were excited by one color and suppressed by another.
[2] The theory also proposes that this process automatically causes a B-process, which is subjectively and physiologically opposite in direction to the A-process.
In a physiological sense, the a-process is where the pupils dilate, the heart rate increases, and the adrenaline rushes.
[4] B-process, the other part of opponent-process theory, occurs after the initial shock, or emotion and is evoked after a short delay.
The experiment continued, and after many stimuli, the dogs went from unhappy to joyful and happy after the shocks stopped altogether.
[9] In the opponent-process model, this is the result of a shift over time from fear to pleasure in the fear-pleasure emotion pair.
The drug-opposite effect holds hedonic properties that are negative, which would be the decrease in positive feelings gained by the inhalation of nicotine.
This also explains withdrawal syndrome, which occurs by the negative, drug-opposite effects remaining after the initial, pleasurable process dies out.
This model proposes that habituation is a neurological holographic wavelet interference of opponent processes that explains learning, vision, hearing, taste, balance, smell, motivation, and emotions.
Beyond addictive behavior, opponent-process theory can in principle explain why processes (i.e. situations or subjective states) that are aversive and unpleasant can still be rewarding.
For instance, after being exposed to a stressful situation (cold pressor test), human participants showed greater physiological signs of well-being than those in the control condition.
[11] Self-report measures and subjective ratings show that relief from physical pain can induce pleasant feelings,[12] and a reduction of negative affect.
