Behavioural approach to explaining phobias Flashcards
(17 cards)
What is a behavioural characteristic
How we behave, act or respond.
What is an emotional characteristic
How we feel, what we experience
What is a cognitive characteristic
How we process information. Effect upon language, thoughts, memory,
perception etc.
What is a phobia?
A disorder characterised by high levels of anxiety in response to a particular stimulus or a group of stimuli.
The anxiety interferes with normal living
What are behavioural characteristics of phobias
Panic - crying, screaming, running away or freezing
Avoidance - Person tends to go thru a lot of effort to avoid coming into contact with the phobic stimulus to the point that it would interfere significantly with the person’s normal routine
Endurance - When they remain in the presence of the stimulus and continue to experience high levels of anxiety.
What are emotional characteristics of phobias
Anxiety - High arousal which prevents the
sufferer relaxing and makes it very difficult to experience any positive emotion.
Being unreasonable - Person often suffers from a strong emotional response which is disproportionate to the danger posed.
What are cognitive characteristics of phobias
Selective attention - If they can see the stimulus it is hard to look away from it and stop thinking about it.
Irrational beliefs - The individual often resists rational arguments,
Cognitive distortions - The persons perception of the stimulus may be distorted
How are phobias acquired?
Through two process model – operant and classical conditioning.
- Initiation
- Maintainance
How are phobias initiated?
Classical conditioning
- originally initiated when the individual received a punishment from the stimulis
Individual associates a once neutral stimulus (dogs) with an unconditioned stimulus (being bitten) which produces a conditioned response of fear.
How are phobias maintained
Operant conditioning
- maintained because the avoidance of the phobic stimulus reduces fear and thus negatively reinforces the phobic behaviour
Outline little Albert as evidence for classical conditioning initiating phobias
Watson and Rayner (1920) created a phobia in 9 month-old ‘Little Albert’. He showed no unusual anxiety when shown a white rat he tried to play with it.
Then whenever the rat was presented they made a loud, frightening noise by banging an iron bar close to Albert’s ear. This noise is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) which creates an unconditioned response (UCR) of fear.
When the rat (neutral stimulus) and the UCS (bang) are encountered close together in time the NS becomes associated with the UCS and both now produce the fear response
Albert became frightened when he saw a rat.
Rat is now a learned/conditioned stimulus (CS) that produces a conditioned response (CR).
This conditioning is then generalised to similar objects. They showed him other furry objects such as a white rabbit, a fur coat, a Santa beard and Albert displayed distress at the sight of these.
What are the strengths of the behavioural approach explaining phobias
- Supported by evidence
- Practical application
What are the limitations of the behavioural approach explaining phobias
- Supports nurture
- Oversimplistic
Evaluate practical applications as a strength of the behavioural approach to explaining phobias
P: Successful practical applications.
E: Behavioural treatments for phobias such as systematic desensitisation can be very effective.
Gilroy et al (2003) followed up 42 patients who had been treated for spider phobia in three 45 minute sessions of systematic desensitisation. Spider phobia was assessed on several measures including the Spider Questionnaire and by assessing response to a spider. A control group was treated by relaxation without exposure. At both 3 months and 33 months after the treatment the SD group were less fearful than the relaxation group.
E: This is a strength because, as the treatment is based on the assumptions of the approach, and the treatment is effective, the approach must be at least partially valid. Therefore, the approach must be at least partially valid if the principles of it work in therapy
Evaluate supported by evidence as a strength of the behavioural approach to explaining phobias
P: Supported by evidence.
E: Watson and Rayner (1920) created a phobia in ‘Little Albert’. They presented Albert with a rat whilst banging an iron bar with a hammer and this created the unconditioned response of fear. After this process had been repeated many times, the rat became a conditioned stimulus that produces a conditioned response in Albert (fear) and caused him to have a phobia.
E: This is a strength of the behavioural explanation of phobias because it demonstrates phobias can be learnt via the process of classical conditioning and therefore increases the validity of the behavioural explanation.
L: Therefore, this increases the validity of the behavioural explanation due to the
supporting evidence.
Evaluate oversimplicity as a limitation of the behavioural approach to explaining phobias
P: Over-simplistic.
E: The cognitive approach proposes that phobias may develop as the consequence of irrational thinking.
For example, a person in a lift may think ‘I could become trapped in here and suffocate’.
Such thoughts create anxiety and may trigger a phobia. Cognitive therapies such as CBT are also used to treat phobias, in some situations it can be more successful than the behaviourist treatment.
The Diathesis-Stress model suggests that phobias are not caused by any one factor but instead suggests that the individual has a genetic pre-disposition to phobias which is
triggered by environmental stimuli
E: This is a limitation as psychologists who agree with the diathesis-stress model would suggest that the behavioural explanation of phobias does not provide a holistic explanation.
L: Therefore, the two-process model cannot be a full explanation of how phobias are
initiated and maintained.
Evaluate supporting the nurture side as a limitation of the behavioural approach to explaining phobias
P: Favours the nurture side of the nature vs nurture debate.
E: The behavioural approach suggests that phobias are caused by experience and therefore clearly suggests that nurture alone is causing the disorder.
E: This is a limitation because it ignores any evidence to suggest that phobias are caused
by nature e.g. evolutionary explanations of phobias. We easily acquire phobias of things
that have been a source of danger in our evolutionary past, such as fear of snakes or
spiders. On the other hand people with phobias often recall a specific incident when their phobia appeared, for example, being bitten by a dog or experiencing a panic
attack in a social situation.
L: Therefore, this makes it difficult to determine whether nature or nurture are more influential in causing phobias and it is likely to be a combination of both.
