Behavioural Approach to Explaining Phobias

Question 1

Outline how the behavioural approach explains phobias

Answer 1

Explains phobias as a response to a person’s environment through the two-process model with external and internal behaviours acquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning

Question 2

What is unconditioned stimulus(UCS)

Answer 2

Stimulus that elicits a response without conditioning eg loud bang or food

Question 3

What is unconditioned response(UCR)

Answer 3

Automatic response elicited by unconditioned stimulus eg salivating or fear

Question 4

What is a conditioned stimulus(CS)

Answer 4

Neutral stimulus that when paired with an unconditioned stimulus elicits a similar response eg the white rat after conditioning

Question 5

What is a conditioned response(CR)

Answer 5

Response learned by pairing the originally neutral conditioned stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus

Question 6

Explain study of little Albert by Watson and Raynor

Answer 6

He was a nine month old baby presented with a white rat(NS) at the same time as a loud bang(UCS) repeatedly until eventually he began to fear the white rat without the loud bang meaning it had become a conditioned stimulus eliciting the conditioned response of fear. He then generalised this fear to all white furry things eg rabbits

Question 7

Describe how fear of being bitten by a dog would develop

Answer 7

Being bitten(UCS) creates fear(UCR). Dog(NS) associated with being bitten(UCS). Dog (CS) then produces fear response(CR) even when not biting

Question 8

What is generalisation

Answer 8

Applying your fear to all items that share similar characteristics to the item you have a phobia of

Question 9

What is classical conditioning

Answer 9

Learning by association

Question 10

What does classical conditioning suggest about acquisition of phobias

Answer 10

Acquired through association of a feared stimulus with a neutral stimulus, abnormalities such as phobias are a learnt response

Question 11

What is operant conditioning

Answer 11

Learning through reinforcement

Question 12

Outline how reinforcement was used in Skinner Boxes

Answer 12

-when rat pressed leaver got food=positive reinforcement
-rat given electric shock but when presses leaver the shock stops=negative reinforcement
-rat presses leaver and gets shock= punishment

Question 13

How are phobias maintained through operant conditioning

Answer 13

-maintained through negative reinforcement eg by avoiding a feared stimulus an individual is rewarded as anxiety goes away. This negative reinforcement increased likelihood of avoidance of situations which could contain phobic situation so maintains phobia

Question 14

Expand on strength that explanation has research support

Answer 14

-eg Watson and Raynor in Little Albert study-provides support for the theory that phobias are learned by association through classical conditioning and that fears are generalised to similar objects
-suggests explanation is credible as there is empirical evidence which supports its claims

Question 15

Expand on strength that explanation has real world application

Answer 15

-treatments-understanding how and why humans develop phobias helped create treatment methods eg systematic desensitisation and flooding
-economy-treatments help people overcome their fears so they are able to continue to work eg someone with a fear of flying would not be able to go on business trips however treatment could help with this
-suggests approach is useful as has helped in the reduction of phobias within society

Question 16

Expand on limitation that not all phobias are learnt

Answer 16

-individual differences: not all individuals who experience a traumatic event acquire a phobia and some who have a phobia have never been through a traumatic event, suggests other factors are at play
-suggests other explanations may be more appropriate applied to phobias

Question 17

Expand on limitation that the explanation does not consider biological factors

Answer 17

-biological preparedness(humans genetically programmed to quickly learn association between life-threatening stimuli and fear)
-ancient fears(dangerous to humans in evolutionary past)-explains why most phobias are of things that could potentially do harm to us
-suggests explanation alone cannot be used to explain phobia development as overlooks biological influences
H: biological cannot explain fears of harmless situations