Behavioural Approach to EXPLAINING phobias Flashcards
What is the TWO ✌🏼 -PROCESS MODEL
- Behavioural 💪🏼 approach emphasises the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour; the approach focuses on behaviour - what we can see 👀 and what its geared towards explaining the avoidance, endurance and panic aspects of phobias.
- Mowrer 1️⃣9️⃣6️⃣0️⃣ proposed the TWO ✌🏼 -PROCESS MODEL based on behavioural 💪🏼approach to phobias. - it states that phobias are acquired (learned in first place) by CLASSICAL CONDITIONING and then maintained because of OPERANT CONDITIONING.
First stage - Acquisition by Classical Conditioning (CC)
CC involves learning to associate something of which we initially have no fear of (neutral stimulus) with something that already triggers a fear response (unconditioned stimulus). E.g. the traumatic experience of being bitten by a dog 🐕(NS) could create phobia of dogs.
Before Conditioning Being bitten (UCS) = Fear (UCR)
During Conditioning
Dog (NS) + Being bitten (UCS) = Fear (UCR)
After Conditioning
Dog (CS) = Fear (CR)
What research 🔬 was carried out by Watson & Rayner 1️⃣9️⃣2️⃣0️⃣ in terms of the first stage - acquisition by classical conditioning ?
Watson & Rayner 1️⃣9️⃣2️⃣0️⃣ created a phobia in a 9️⃣ month old baby 🍼 called ‘Little Albert 👶🏼’.
Albert showed no unusual anxiety at the start of the study - when shown a white rat 🐁, he tried playing with it.
However, Watson & Rayner then set out to give Albert 👶🏼 a phobia - whenever the rat 🐁 was presented they made a loud 📢, frightening noise by banging an iron bar 🔧 close to his ear 👂🏼 .
Eventually Albert 👶🏼 became frightened 😱when he saw the rat 🐁 without the noise 🔇.
The rat 🐁 then became a conditioned stimulus (CS) that produced a conditioned response (CR) of fear😱.
This conditioning then became generalised to similar objects, e.g. they tested Albert by showing him other furry objects i.e. non-white rabbit 🚫🐇 , fur coat 🐆👘, Watson wearing Santa Claus 🎅🏻 beard made out of cotton ☁️ balls.
In the end, Albert 👶🏼 displayed distress 😠 at the sight of all the furry objects.
Second stage - Maintenance by Operant Conditioning (OC)
Whilst CC explains acquisition of CR (fear/😱 phobia), Operant Conditioning maintains the phobia through negative ➖ reinforcement.
Responses acquired by CC tend to decline over time, however, phobias are often long lasting, Mowrer explained this as result of OC.
- Operant Conditioning takes place when our behaviour is reinforced (rewarded)🍭 or punished 🤛🏼.
Reinforement tends to increase the frequency of behaviour - true for both positive ➕ and negative ➖ reinforcement.
In the case of negative ➖ reinforcement, the individual will avoid a situation that is unpleasant e.g. avoiding to visit the dentist 👩🏻⚕️ if they have a fear 😱 of them.
Such behaviour (avoiding going to the dentist 👩🏻⚕️) will result in a desirable consequence, meaning that the behaviour will be repeated ✖️2️⃣.
Therefore the individual will avoid their phobic object or situation (source of their fear).
What are the evaluation points of the TWO ✌🏼- PROCESS MODEL
1) Research support for the two-process model ✅
2) Good explanatory power and implications for therapy. ✅
3) Incomplete explanation of phobias ⛔️
4) Cognitive factors might also be relevant in the development of phobias. ⛔️
Outline the evaluation point
1) Research support for the two-process model ✅
Point:
Strength ✅ of the two✌🏼-process model - research support for the ideas.
Explain:
Bagby reported the case of a women 👩🏼 who had a phobia 😣 of running 🏃🏼 water 💦 that she acquired from her feet 👟 getting stuck in some rocks 🏔 near a waterfall 🏝. although she was eventually de-conditioned, the NS of the sound 🔊of the running 🏃🏼 water 💦 became associated with the fear 😱 she had felt and thus her phobia of running 🏃🏼 water 💦 was acquired.
Example:
Mowrer 1️⃣9️⃣6️⃣0️⃣, himself provided support for how phobias can be maintained through OPERANT CONDITIONING. He conditioned rats 🐀 to fear a buzzer 🚨 through the use of electric shocks ⚡️ & then through OC he trained the rates to escape the electric shocks 🌙 by making the avoidance response of jumping over a barrier 🏇🏻 when the buzzer 🚨sounded 🔊.
Elaborate:
Mowrer negatively ➖ reinforced the rats 🐀 , meaning that their behaviour was repeated ✖️2️⃣ every time the buzzer🚨 sounded🔊 - they maintained their fear😱 of the sound 🔊of the buzzer🚨.
Re-cap:
These pieces of research provide strong 💪🏼 support for the idea that phobias 😱 can be acquired through CC and maintained through OC.
Outline the evaluation point
2) Good explanatory power and implications for therapy. ✅
Point:
Strength of 2 ✌🏼process model is that it went beyond the original idea of just CC to explain phobias.
Explain:
It explained how phobias could also be MAINTAINED overtime which had important implications for therapies because it explained why patients need to be exposed to the feared stimulus.
Example:
Once a patient is prevented from practising their avoidance behaviour the behaviour ceases to be reinforced & so it declines.
Elaborate:
This can be seen in the success of systematic desensitisation, which pairs the feared stimulus with relaxation - which are 2 incompatible emotions, as treatment for phobias.
Re-cap:
The effectiveness of systematic desensitisation in addressing phobic symptoms lends support to the behaviourist explanation of phobias.
Outline the evaluation point
3) Incomplete explanation of phobias ⛔️
Limitation ⛔️ of behavioural 💪🏼explanation is that, in theory, a phobia 😣 to potentially any harmful object 🕷/ situation😳 could develop, however this does not happen.
As cars 🚗 pose a realistic threat to life, phobias 😣of 🚗 is virtually non-existent 🚫. This is despite almost every adult either having experienced, witnessed 👀or heard 👂🏼about a car accident in which someone has been injured🤕.
Selingman 1️⃣9️⃣7️⃣0️⃣ suggested preparedness theory to explain why some phobias are more readily acquired than others.
This theory proposes that humans have been prepared by evolution to be fearful of things in our distant past were a danger to survival.
Our ancestors 👵🏼 who quickly learned how to avoid things e.g. snakes 🐍 , heights 🏗, spiders 🕷 etc, improved their chance of survival.
We have not had enough time to evolve a tendency to fear 🚗 and guns 🔫 even though they are far more dangerous to our modern day society than spiders 🕷 and snakes 🐍 .
The theory of preparedness suggests that there is more to acquiring phobias than simple conditioning.
Outline the evaluation point
4) Cognitive factors might also be relevant in the development of phobias. ⛔️
A limitation ⛔️ of the behavioural 💪🏼 approach to explaining phobias 😣 is that it ignores the role of cognitive factors.
It should be possible to trace a phobia back to its original learning experience but its often not possible.
Ost & Hugdahl 1️⃣9️⃣8️⃣1️⃣ claim that nearly 1/2 of all people with phobias have either never had an anxious experience with the object of their fear or no experience whatsoever.
If its the same learning principles that underpin all phobias then it is not clear why only some people develop phobia of following a similar trauma.
DiNardo et al 1️⃣9️⃣8️⃣8️⃣ found that 50% of people with a fear of dogs 🐕 have had some kind of negative 👎🏼 experience with a 🐕 in their childhood 👦🏻.
However, 50% of p’s who had no 🚫 phobias at all reported that they had experienced a traumatic event involving a dog 🐕 .
DiNardio et al. noted that those who had developed a phobia tended to have focused more on likelihood of that kind of event to repeat itself, suggesting a role for cognition in the development of phobias.
This suggests that cognitive factors may play a role in the development of phobias.
