behavioural approach to explaining phobias Flashcards
what does it emphasise
role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour
who proposed the two-process model
mowrer (1960)
what does the two-process model state
phobias acquired by classical conditioning & continue due to operant conditioning
describe classical conditioning in reference to phobias
involves learning to associate something which we have initially no fear of (NS) with something that already triggers fear response (UCS)
who conducted the ‘little albert’ study
watson and rayner (1920)
procedure of watson & rayner (1920)
= created phobia in 9-month old baby
- little albert showed no unusual anxiety at start
- when shown white rat, he tried to play with it
- whenever rat presented to albert, researchers made loud & frightening noise by banging iron bar close to his ear
- noise = unconditioned stimulus creating unconditioned response = fear
- when the rat (NS) & UCS (noise) are encountered close together, the NS & UCS become associated with one another
- rat is now conditioned stimulus which produces conditioned response of fear
generalisation - little albert’s study
conditioning generalised to other similar objects
—> albert shown furry objects (eg. non-white rabbit, fur coat & watson wearing santa claus beard made from cotton balls) & displayed distress at the site of these
describe how operant conditioning relates to phobias
- behaviour is reinforced or punished
- reinforcement increases frequency of behaviour
- negative reinforcement = avoids unpleasant situation
- when we avoid phobic stimulus, we escape fear & anxiety we would’ve experienced = reinforces behaviour & phobia is maintained
AO3 (+) real-world application in exposure therapies (eg. systemic desensitisation)
E:
- the idea that a phobia is maintained by avoidance is important as it can explain why people with phobias benefit from being exposed to phobic stimulus
- once this avoidance behaviour is prevented, it isn’t reinforced by the anxiety reduction/avoidance, and so declines
T: shows value of two process model approach as identifies methods of treating phobias
AO3 (-) two-process model doesn’t account for cognitive aspects of phobias
E:
- it is understood that phobias aren’t simply avoidance responses & have significant cognitive component
- eg. people hold irrational beliefs about phobic stimulus
- the two-process model explains avoidance behaviour but doesn’t provide an adequate explanation for phobic cognitions
T: two-process model doesn’t fully explain symptoms of phobias
AO3 (+) evidence for link between traumatic experiences & phobias
E:
- eg. the little albert study (watson & rayner 1920) shows how a frightening experience involving a stimulus can lead to a phobia
- more systematic evidence is provided by Jongh et al. (2006) who found 73% of people with a fear of dental treatment had experienced a traumatic experience, mostly involving dentistry (others experienced being victim of violent crime)
- compared to control group of people with low dental anxiety where 21% had experience traumatic event
T: confirms association between stimulus (dentistry) & an unconditioned response (pain) which can lead to development of phobia
HOWEVER: not all phobias appear following bad experience
- some common phobias (eg. snake phobias) occur in populations where very few people have any experience of snakes
- also, not all frightening experiences lead to phobias
T: means association between phobias & frightening experiences isn’t as strong as expected if behavioural theories provided full explanation
