BA To Explaining Phobias Flashcards
What is the behaviour approach?
A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning
What did Watson and Rayner research?
They researched acquisition by classical conditioning through creating a phobia in a 9 month old baby called “Little Albert” when showed rat he tried to play with it however whenever it was presented to Albert they played a loud frightening noise this was an UCS which created UCR when the rat (NS) become associated with UCS they produce fear response crating a conditioned stimulus and a response. They tested him against similar objects like a fur coat and he had the same response
What are the two parts of explaining phobias?
- Acquisition by classical conditioning
- Maintenance by operant conditioning
What is operant conditioning and what did Mowrer suggest about it?
- OC takes place when our behaviour is reinforced by reward or punishment
- Mowrer suggested when we avoid phobic stimulus’s we successfully escape the fear and anxiety that we would’ve experienced if we had remained there, reinforcing avoidance behaviour and maintaining the fear
What are the evaluation of the two process model (brief)
-RWA in exposure therapies
- Evidence for a link between bad experience and phobias BUT Not all phobia appear following a bad experience
- It does not account for cognitive aspects of phobias
What are the strengths of the two process model
Real world application in exposure therapies such as systematic desensitisation, phobias are said to be maintained by avoidance so this helps in explaining why exposure therapies help those with phobias by exposing them to the phobic stimulus, once avoidance is prevented it won’t be reinforcing so the phobia will be cured, the value of the model just shown as it helps identify treatment
Provides a link between bad experience and phobias with the little Albert study, further support from De Jongh et al who found 73% of people with fear of dental treatment had a traumatic dentistry experience compared to control group with 21% experiencing traumatic event. Confirms link between stimulus which is this case is dentistry an an unconditioned response of pain leads to the development of phobias. HOWEVER, not all phobias appear following bad experiences snake phobias occur where many people haven’t seen a snake this means the association between phobias and frightening experiences is not as strong if behavioural theories provided the complete explanation
What is a limitation of the two process model?
It doesn’t account for the cognitive aspects of phobias, behavioural explanations including the two process model only explain behaviour such as avoidance however we know phobias isn’t simply avoidance, they hold cognitive explanations as well like irrational beliefs like a spider is dangerous. The model explain avoidance behaviour but does not offer an adequate explanation for phobic cognitions not fully explaining the symptoms of phobias
