PATH 02 - Phobias explanations 2 Flashcards
(19 cards)
1
Q
What is the two process model?
A
- An explanation for the onset and persistence of disorders that create anxiety such as phobias
- The two processes are classical conditioning for onset (initiation) and operant conditioning for persistence (maintenance)
2
Q
What is the behavioural (behaviourist) approach?
A
A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning
3
Q
What is classical conditioning?
A
- Learning by association
- Occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together
- An unconditioned (unlearned) stimulus (UCS) and a new ‘neutral’ stimulus (NS)
- The neutral stimulus eventually produces the same response that was first produced by the unconditioned (unlearned) stimulus alone
4
Q
What is operant conditioning?
A
- A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences
- Possible consequences of behaviour include reinforcement (positive or negative) and punishment
5
Q
What is reinforcement?
A
- A consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated
- Can be positive or negative
6
Q
What is positive reinforcement?
A
A stimulus that increases the probability that a behaviour will be repeated because it is pleasurable e.g. receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed
7
Q
What is negative reinforcement?
A
- A stimulus that increases the probability that a behaviour will be repeated because it leads to escape from an unpleasant situation and is experienced as rewarding e.g. when an animal (or human) avoids something unpleasant
- The outcome is a positive experience
8
Q
What is punishment?
A
- Any procedure that decreases the likelihood that a behaviour will be repeated because the overall experience is unpleasant
- It is an unpleasant consequence of behaviour
9
Q
What is negative reinforcement in terms of phobias?
A
- Fear and anxiety in presence of phobic stimulus is unpleasant
- Avoiding it reduces fear and anxiety
- It takes aware the unpleasant outcome
- Avoidence behaviour is negatively reinforced and therefore more likely to be repeated, so you keep avoiding the stimulus
10
Q
What is the evolutionary theory’s explanation for phobias?
A
- Despite behavioural models of phobias, such as the two-process model, there are other more general aspects to phobias that may be better explained by evolutionary theory
- For example, we tend to acquire phobias of things that have presented a danger in our evolutionary past (such as snakes and the dark)
- This is called preparedness (Seligman 1971)
11
Q
Who conducted the study on classical conditioning?
A
John Watson and Rosalie Rayner
12
Q
What is the procedure for the study on classical conditioning?
A
- John Watson and Rosalie Rayner (1920) created a phobia in a 9-month-old baby called ‘Little Albert’
- Albert showed no unusual anxiety at the start of the study
- When shown a white rat he tried to play with it
- However, the experimenters then set out to give Albert a phobia
- Whenever the rat was presented to Albert the researchers 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 (a neutral stimulus, NS) and the UCS are encountered close together in time the NS becomes associated with the UCS and both now produce the fear response - Albert displayed fear when he saw a rat (the NS)
- The rat is now a learned or conditioned stimulus (CS) that produces a conditioned response (CR)
- This conditioning then generalised to similar objects
- They tested Albert by showing him other furry objects such as a non-white rabbit, a fur coat and Watson wearing a Santa Claus beard made out of cotton balls
- Little Albert displayed distress at the sight of all of these.
13
Q
How does operant conditioing maintain a phobia?
A
- Responses acquired by classical conditioning usually tend to decline over time
- However, phobias are often long-lasting
- Mowrer has explained this as the result of operant conditioning
- Operant conditioning takes place when our behaviour is reinforced (rewarded) or punished
- Reinforcement tends to increase the frequency of a behaviour
- This is true of both negative reinforcement and positive reinforcement
- In the case of negative reinforcement an individual avoids a situation that is unpleasant
- Such a behaviour results in a desirable consequence, which means the behaviour will be repeated Mowrer suggested that whenever we avoid a phobic stimulus we successfully escape the fear and anxiety that we would have experienced if we had remained there
- This reduction in fear reinforces the avoidance behaviour and so the phobia is maintained
14
Q
What are the strengths of the two-process model?
A
- Has real world applications
- It is evidence for a link between traumatic experiences and phobias
15
Q
What real world applications does the two-process model have?
A
- One strength of the two-process model is its real-world application in exposure therapies (such as systematic desensitisation)
- The distinctive element of the two-process model is the idea that phobias are maintained by avoidance of the phobic stimulus
- This is important in explaining why people with phobias benefit from being exposed to the phobic stimulus
- Once the avoidance behaviour is prevented it ceases to be reinforced by the experience of anxiety reduction and avoidance therefore declines
- In behavioural terms the phobia is the avoidance behaviour so when this avoidance is prevented the phobia is cured
- This shows the value of the two-process approach because it identifies a means of treating phobias
16
Q
How is the two-proces model evidence for a link between traumatic experiences and phobias?
A
- A further strength of the two-process model is evidence for a link between bad experiences and phobias
- The Little Albert study illustrates how a frightening experience involving a stimulus can lead to a phobia of that stimulus
- More systematic evidence comes from a study by Ad De Jongh et al. (2006) who found that 73% of people with a fear of dental treatment had experienced a traumatic experience, mostly involving dentistry (others had experienced being the victim of violent crime)
- This can be compared to a 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 development of the phobia
17
Q
What are the limitations of the two-process model?
A
- Does not account for the cognitive aspects of phobias
- Not all phobias appear following a traumatic experience
18
Q
How does the two-process model not account for the cognitive aspects of phobias?
A
- One limitation of the two-process model is that it does not account for the cognitive aspects of phobias
- Behavioural explanations, including the two-process model, are geared towards explaining behaviour
- In the case of phobias, the key behaviour is avoidance of the phobic stimulus
- However, we know that phobias are not simply avoidance responses - they also have a significant cognitive component
- For example, people hold irrational beliefs about the phobic stimulus (such as thinking that a spider is dangerous)
- The two-process model explains avoidance behaviour but does not offer an adequate explanation for phobic cognitions
- This means that the two-process model does not completely explain the symptoms of phobias
19
Q
How does the two-process model fail to explain that not all phobias appear following a traumatic experience?
A
- Not all phobias appear following a bad experience
- In fact, some common phobias such as snake phobias occur in populations where very few people have any experience of snakes let alone traumatic experiences
- Also, considering the other direction, not all frightening experiences lead to phobias
- This means that the association between phobias and frightening experiences is not as strong as we would expect if behavioural theories provided a complete explanation
