Response Expectancy as a Determinant of Experience and Behavior

" Response expectancies, defined as expectancies of the occurrence of nonvolitional responses, have generally been ignored in theories of learning. Research on placebos, hypnosis, and fear reduction indicates that response expectancies generate corresponding subjective experiences. In many cases, the genuineness of these self-reported effects has been substantiated by corresponding changes in behavior and physiological function. The means by which response expectancies affect experience, physiology, and behavior are hypothesized to vary as a function of response mode. The generation of changes in subjective experience by corresponding response expectancies is hypothesized to be a basic psychological mechanism. Physiological effects are accounted for by the mindbody identity assumption that is common to all nondualist philosophies of psychology. The effects of response expectancies on volitional behavior are due to the reinforcing properties of many nonvolitional responses. Classical conditioning appears to be one method by which response expectancies are acquired, but response expectancy effects that are inconsistent with a conditioning hypothesis are also documented. Expectancy is a central construct in a number of influential theories of learning (Bolles, 1972; Rotter, 1954; Tolman, 1932). BoUes (1972) classified expectancy constructs into two types. R S expectancies are beliefs about the relation between behavior and environmental consequences. S S expectancies are beliefs that certain stimulus events or cues predict the occurrence of other stimulus events. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to a type of expectancy that has demonstrable effects on experience, behavior, and physiological function but that has not been considered in previous learning theories. Response expectancies are expectancies of the occurrence of nonvolitional responses, either as a function of behavior (R-R expectancies) or as a function of specific stimuli (S-R expectancies). In Rotter's (1954) social learning theory, the occurrence of a response is hypothesized to be a function of the expectancy that the behavior will be reinforced and of the value of the expected reinforcement. However, Rotter's theory is limited to the prediction of voluntary behavior. The response expectancy hypothesis described in this article extends social learning theory in two ways. It defines a construct that predicts the occurrence of nonvolitional responses, and it considers the effect of nonvolitional response expectancies on voluntary behavior. Nonvolitional responses are responses that are experienced as occurring automatically, that is, without volitional effort (cf. Beck, 1976). They include emotional reactions (e.g., fear, sadness, elation), sexual arousal, conversion symptoms, pain, and so forth. Because nonvolitional responses have positive and negative reinforcement value, expectancies of their occurrence affect the probability that a person will engage in particular voluntary behaviors. For example, agoraphobics avoid a wide variety of situations because of their expectancy that entering those situations will result in the occurrence of panic attacks (Goldstein & Chambless, 1978). In addition, a considerable body of data indicates that nonvolitional responses are elicited and/or enhanced by the expectancy of their occurrence. These data are drawn from three areas of investigation: placebo effects, fear reduction, and hypnosis.