Lesson 6 The behavioural approach to explaining phobias Flashcards
The two process model
The phobia is learnt via classical conditioning or social learning
The phobia is maintained by operant conditioning
Classical conditioning
This method of learning involves building an association between two different stimuli so that learning takes place. An example could be:
- White rat (neutral stimulus with no initial reaction) is presented to a person (on its own)
- Loud banging noises (unconditioned stimuli) is presented which makes the person cry or have an emotional response (on its own)
- We then repeatedly pair the two stimuli together many times and present both stimuli together until classical conditioning and learning take place. The person will have an emotional response when they hear the loud noise and see the rat
- We can then present the white rat alone (conditioned stimulus) and the person will have an emotional response (conditioned response). Learning has taken place via classical conditioning and an association has been established.
How old was little Albert?
How did Watson and Rayner induce a fear response in, Little Albert?
How often did Watson and Rayner pair the two stimuli together?
11 month old baby
Watson and Rayner induce a fear response by striking a steel bar with a hammer, whilst giving him a white rat
6 times
Advantages of classical conditioning
King (1998) supports the ideas proposed by classical conditioning. From reviewing case studies he has found that children acquire phobias by encountering traumatic experiences with the phobic object e.g. children who have got bitten by a dog, might develop a phobia of dogs.
Disadvantages of classical conditioning
- The study on Little Albert can be criticised because it was only conducted once and the findings have not been repeated (not very reliable). Therefore it could be questioned whether the same results would be gained if this study was to be repeated when investigating whether phobias can be learnt via classical conditioning. The study could not be repeated nowadays due to ethical concerns
- A disadvantage of classical conditioning is that some people do have a traumatic experience such as a car accident. However, many people do not then go on to develop a phobia (e.g. of cars/driving), so classical conditioning does not explain how all phobias develop. The opposite is true for some phobias, some people are scared or an object, but they have not had a negative experience or even encountered the object before e.g. snakes.
- The psychologist Menzies criticises the behavioural model, especially the idea of classical conditioning. He studied people that had a phobia of water (hydrophobia), and he found that only 2% of his sample had encountered a negative experience with water (due to classical conditioning). Therefore, 98% of his sample had a phobia of water but had never had a negative experience involving water, which means that they had not learnt to become frightened of water via classical conditioning. Therefore; how did these people get their phobia of water if they had not learnt it? Other findings include 50% of people who have a dog phobia have never had a bad experience involving a dog, so therefore learning cannot be a factor in causing the development of the phobia
What is social learning theory
This is based on observational learning whereby young children might observe a reaction that their parents or family have to a particular situation, and the child will copy this behaviour. For instance if we watch someone have a traumatic experience for instance they get bitten by a dog and start screaming, then we might imitate this behaviour and also become scared of dogs, which means we develop a phobia by observational learning.
The psychologist Minneka found that when one monkey in a cage showed a fear response to snakes, the other monkeys in the cage copied this response and also showed a fear response to snakes too. This example can be applied to humans.
What is operant conditioning
This method involves learning a new response (phobia) that can result in reinforcement. Operant conditioning helps to explain how phobias can be maintained.
Negative reinforcement: For instance if someone is scared of snakes, they will try to avoid snakes in order to reduce the risk that they will feel fear.
Positive reinforcement: By avoiding snakes and not feeling fear, this is rewarding. Therefore the avoidance of snakes continues.
Advantages of the two process model
- Bandura supports the idea of Social learning theory. A piece of research was conducted whereby a person acted as if they were in pain when a buzzer sounded, and participants had to watch this reaction. Later on the participants were given the chance to hear the sound of the buzzer and they showed the same response (acted as if they were in pain). Therefore, social learning theory does seem to be an effective method when learning to become fearful of an object
- The two step process has received praise because it involves two clear steps that highlight how phobias are learned and how they are maintained. They are learnt by powerful classical conditioning or social learning theory, and then are maintained by operant conditioning (either positive or negative reinforcement). The process seems an accurate way in explaining how phobias can be learnt overall
Disadvantages of the two process model
- The behavioural model/two process model is limited as it ignores other factors that could cause phobias. The Behavioural model focuses on learning and the environment, but would not take into account biological or evolutionary factors that could cause phobias. Some people might have more of a genetic vulnerability to develop phobias than others and the behavioural model would ignore this
- Social learning theory can be successful in explaining how learning a phobia can occur in animals and young children. However, social learning theory is not very strong in explaining how adults can learn to have phobias. Therefore the behavioural model is limited to only explaining learning in young children and animals only
