Behavioural Approach To Explaining Phobias Flashcards
What are the behavioural ways of explaining phobias?
The two process model:
- Classical conditioning
- Opening conditioning
Who proposed the two process model to explain phobias?
Mower - 1947
What does classical conditioning do?
Explains how a phobia is acquired
How does classical conditioning work?
An initially neutral stimuli (NS) is paired with an unconditioned stimuli (UCS), which produces the unconditioned response (UCR) of fear.
The neutral stimuli them becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) and produces fear as a conditioned response (CR) whenever the CS is presented.
Who did the little Albert experiment?
Watson and Rayner (1920)
What did Watson and Rayner do?
Paired an initially neutral stimulus (a white rat) with an unconditioned stimulus (a loud noise).
This produced the unconditioned response of fear in a baby known as little Albert.
After making this pairing four times, Little Albert produced a conditioned fear response when they presented him with the rat in the absence of the UCS.
This demonstrated that a fear response to an initially neutral stimulus could be classically conditioned.
What does operant conditioning do?
Explains how phobias are maintained.
If fear is lowered by avoiding the phobic stimulus, then avoidance behaviour becomes a negative reinforcer.
What’s an example of operant conditioning?
If someone was afraid of spiders because they had been previously frightened by one, the reduction in fear they experienced by avoiding spiders would lead them to continue avoiding them.
What are the evaluative points?
Importance of classical conditioning
Biological preparedness
Ignores cognitive factors
What is meant by importance of classical conditioning?
Two-process model is supported by research asking people about their phobias.
Sue (1994) found that some people can recall a specific event that led to their phobia developing.
This shows that classical conditioning can be involved in developing phobias.
What is meant by biological preparedness?
A limitation of the two-process model is that a phobia doesn’t always develop after a traumatic event.
Di Nardo found that not everyone who is bitten by a dog develops a phobia of dogs.
The diathesis-stress model proposes that we inherit a genetic vulnerability for developing mental disorders, but a disorder is then triggered by a life event.
In addition, fear is easier to condition to some things (spiders) than others (toasters).
Seligman argues we are genetically prepared to learn associations between fear and stimuli (such as snakes) that were life-threatening in our evolutionary past.
What is meant by the two-process model ignored cognitive factors?
A limitation of it is that there are cognitive aspects of phobias that cannot be explained in a traditionally behaviourist framework.
For example, a person who thinks they might die if trapped in a lift might become extremely anxious and this may trigger a phobia about lifts. This shows that irrational thinking is also involved in the development of phobias.
This would explain why cognitive therapies can be more successful in treating phobias than behavioural treatments.
