Behavioural Explanation - Phobia

Question 1

Two-Process Model

Answer 1

Classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

1) Mower (1960) argued that phobias are learned by classical conditioning and then maintained by operant conditioning, i.e. two processes are involved.

Question 2

Classical Conditioning

Answer 2

Classical conditioning involves association.

1. UCS triggers a fear response (fear is a UCR), e.g. being bitten creates anxiety.
2. NS is associated with the UCS, e.g. being bitten by a dog (the dog previously did not create anxiety).
3. NS becomes a CS producing fear (which is now the
   CR). The dog becomes a CS causing a CR of anxiety/ fear following the bite.

Question 3

Little Albert - Conditioned Fear

Answer 3

Watson and Rayner (1920) showed how a fear of rats could be conditioned in ‘Little Albert’.

1. Whenever Albert played with a white rat, a loud noise was made close to his ear. The noise (UCS) caused a fear response (UCR).
2. Rat (NS) did not create fear until the bang and the rat had been paired together several times.
3. Albert showed a fear response (CR) every time he came into contact with the rat (now a CS).

—> Generalisation of Fear - Little Albert also showed a fear in response to other white furry objects including a fur coat and a Santa Claus beard.

Question 4

Operant Conditioning

Answer 4

1) Operant conditioning takes place when our behaviour is reinforced or punished.

2) Negative reinforcement - an individual produces behaviour that avoids something unpleasant.

3) When a person with a phobia avoids a phobic stimulus they escape the anxiety that would have been experienced.

4) This reduction in fear negatively reinforces the avoidance behaviour and the phobia is maintained.

Question 5

Negative Reinforcement Example

Answer 5

1) If someone has a morbid fear of clowns (coulrophobia) they will avoid circuses and other situations where they may encounter clowns.

2) The relief felt from avoiding clowns negatively reinforces the phobia and ensures it is maintained rather than confronted.

Question 6

STRENGTH of Two-Process Model

Answer 6

REAL-WORLD APPLICATION

1) The idea that phobias
are maintained by
avoidance is important
in explaining why
people with phobias
benefit from exposure
therapies (e.g. SD on
next spread).

2) Once avoidance
behaviour is prevented
it ceases to be
reinforced by the
reduction of anxiety.
Avoidance behaviour
therefore declines.
—> This shows the value of the two-process approach because it identifies a means of treating phobias.

Question 7

LIMITATION of Approach

Answer 7

INABILITY TO EXPLAIN COGNITIVE ASPECTS OF PHOBIAS

1) Behavioural explanations like the two-process model are geared towards explaining behaviour - in this case avoidance of the phobic stimulus.

2) However, we know
that phobias also have
a significant cognitive
component, e.g. people hold irrational beliefs about the phobic stimulus.
—> So two-process model doesn’t fully explain the symptoms of phobias.

Question 8

STRENGTH of Approach

Answer 8

EVIDENCE LINKING PHOBIAS TO BAD EXPERIENCES

1) De Jongh et al. (2006)
found that 73% of dental
phobics had experienced
a trauma (mostly involving dentistry), evidence of link between bad experiences and
phobias.

2) Further support came
from the control
group of people with
low dental anxiety,
where only 21%
had experienced a
traumatic event.
—> This confirms that the association between stimulus (dentistry) and an unconditioned response (pain) does lead to the phobia.

COUNTERPOINT

1) Not all phobias appear following a bad experience. E.g. Snake phobias still occur in populations where very few people have any experience of snakes.
2) Also, not all frightening experiences lead to phobias.
This means that behavioural theories probably do not provide an explanation for all cases of phobia.