Phobias: Learning theory explanations

Question 1

What are learning theories?

Answer 1

A collective term for explanations based on conditioning (classical and operant). This also includes social learning theory

Question 2

What is acquisition?

Answer 2

The process of acquiring (getting or developing) something, in thise case a phobia. We tend to use the term “acquisition” in psychology because it is theoretically neutral. This is prefereable to saying ‘learning’ because learning is actually an explanation for acquisition, not a synonym.

Question 3

What is maintenance?

Answer 3

The processing of maintaining something (keeping it going). If a phobia is acquired by classical conditioning we would expect it to decline over time unless some other process maintains it