behavioural approach to explaining/ treating phobias

Question 1

what is the behavioural approach?

Answer 1

a way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of leaning

Question 2

what is classical conditioning?

Answer 2

learning by association. it occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together- an unconditioned (unlearned) stimulus (UCS) and a new ‘neutral’ stimulus (NS). The neural stimulus eventually produces the same response that was first produced by the unlearned stimulus alone

Question 3

what is operant conditioning?

Answer 3

a form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences. possible consequences of behaviour include positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement or punishment

Question 4

who proposed the concept of classical conditioning?

Answer 4

Pavlov

Question 5

who proposed the two process model?

Answer 5

Mowrer

Question 6

what is the two-process model?

Answer 6

Mowrer proposed the two-process model based on the behavioural approach to phobias. this states that phobias are acquired (learned in the first place) by classical conditioning and then continue because of the operant conditioning

Question 7

what are the two sections of the two-process model?

Answer 7

•acquisition by classical conditioning
•maintenance by operant conditioning

Question 8

Acquisition by classical conditioning?

Answer 8

classical conditioning involves learning to associate something of which we initially have no fear (a neutral stimulus) with something that already triggers a fear response (unconditioned stimulus)

Question 9

who conducted the Little Albert experiment?

Answer 9

Watson and Rayner

Question 10

what was the ‘Little Albert’ experiment?

Answer 10

•they created a phobia in a 9 month old baby called ‘Little Albert’
•Albert showed no unusual anxiety at the start of the study, and when shown a white rat he tried to play with it
•the experimenters then tried to create a phobia, and when the rat was presented they then made a loud, frightening noise by banging an iron bar close to Albert’s ear
•the noise is an unconditioned stimulus which creates an unconditioned response of fear
•when the rat (a neutral stimulus) and the unconditioned stimulus are encounter close together, in time the NS becomes associated with the UCS and produce a fear response
•this led to Albert becoming frightened when he saw the rat.
•the rat is now a learned or conditioned stimulus (CS) that produces a conditioned response (CR)
•this conditioning is then generalised to similar objects (like other white furry things) and Albert displayed distress at the sight of all these

Question 11

what is maintenance by operant conditioning?

Answer 11

•responses acquired by classical conditioning usually tend to decline over time. however, phobias are often long lasting
•Mowrer has explained this as a 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 positive and negative reinforcement
•in the case of negative reinforcement, an individual avoids a situation that is unpleasant. such a behaviour results in a desired 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 suffering if we had remained there
•this reduction in fear reinforces the avoidance behaviour and so the phobia is maintained

Question 12

what are the two sections of operant conditioning?

Answer 12

positive reinforcement
negative reinforcement

Question 13

what does positive reinforcement involve?

Answer 13

reward, repeat, reinforce
the person is rewarded for a behaviour so they repeat and and eventually it is reinforced

Question 14

what does negative reinforcement involve?

Answer 14

an individual avoids a situation that is unpleasant, this behaviour results in desirable consequences (avoiding fear and anxiety) so the behaviour will be repeated

Question 15

in having a phobia of dogs, what is the dog by itself originally called?

Answer 15

a neutral stimulus

Question 16

in having a phobia of dogs, what is the dogs bite by itself originally called?

Answer 16

an unconditioned stimulus

Question 17

in having a phobia of dogs , what is the fear from the dogs original bite called?

Answer 17

an unconditioned response

Question 18

in having a phobia of dogs, what is the dog called after having experienced it’s bite?

Answer 18

a conditioned stimulus

Question 19

what is the common example of a conditioned response?

Answer 19

fear

Question 20

when was the Little Albert study conducted?

Answer 20

1920s

Question 21

what are the evaluation points for the behavioural approach to explaining phobias?

Answer 21

strength: good explanatory power
limitation: alternative explanation for avoidance behaviour
limitation: an incomplete explanation of phobias
limitation: phobias that don’t follow a trauma

Question 22

behavioural explanation-
strength: good explanatory power

Answer 22

•it was proposed in 1960 and went beyond Watson Rayner’s concept of classical conditioning
•it explained how phobias could be maintained over time and this had important implications for therapies because it explains why patients need to be exposed to the feared stimulus, once a patient is prevented from practicing their avoidance behaviour the behaviour ceases to be reinforced and so it declines.
•the application to therapy is a strength of the two-process model

Question 23

behavioural explanation
limitation: alternative explanation for avoidance behaviour

Answer 23

•not all avoidance behaviour associated with phobias seem to the result of anxiety reduction, at least in ones like agoraphobia
•this suggests that some avoidance behaviour appears to be motivated by positive feelings of safety (eg an agoraphobic person may not leave the house to stick with the safety factor)
•this explains why some patients with agoraphobia are able to leave their house with a trusted person with relatively little anxiety but not alone (Buck, 2010)
•this is a problem for the two-process model, which suggests that avoidance is motivated by anxiety reduction

Question 24

what did Buck 2010 find?

Answer 24

he explains why some patients with agoraphobia are able to leave their house with a trusted person with relatively little anxiety but not alone (Buck, 2010)

Question 25

behavioural explanation
limitation: an incomplete explanation of phobias

Answer 25

•Bounton (2007) points out, for example, that evolutionary factors probably have an important role in phobias but the two-factor theory does not mention this
•for example, we easily acquire phobias of things that have been sources of dangers in our evolutionary past, such as fears of snakes or the dark. it is adaptive to acquire such fears
•Seligman (1971) called this biological preparedness- the innate predisposition to acquire certain fears
•this phenomenon of preparedness is a serious problem of the two-factor theory because it shows there is more to acquiring phobias to simple conditioning

Question 26

what does Seligman (1971) introduce?

Answer 26

Seligman (1971) proposed biological preparedness- the innate predisposition to acquire certain fears

Question 27

what does Bounton (2007) point out?

Answer 27

Bounton (2007) points out, for example, that evolutionary factors probably have an important role in phobias but the two-factor theory does not mention this

Question 28

behavioural explanation strength
two-process model limitation
phobias that don’t follow a trauma

Answer 28

•some people may fear snakes or sharks even if they have never encountered one
•however, the behavioural explanation CAN explain this, as suggested through vicarious reinforcement (Albert Bandura) which proposed the idea of learning through observation
•while the two process model may have limitations, the behaviourist theory can explain phobias that don’t follow traumas

Question 29

who proposed Vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 29

Albert Bandura

Question 30

what is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 30

the idea of learning through observation

Question 31

what are the two behavioural approaches to treating phobias?

Answer 31

Systematic desensitisation
Flooding

Question 32

what is systematic desensitisation?

Answer 32

SD is a behavioural therapy designed to reduce an unwanted response-such as anxiety- to a stimulus, through the principle of classical conditioning.
This involves drawing up a hierarchy of anxiety- provoking situations related to the phobic stimulus and exposing them to phobic situations.
This learning of a different response is called counterconditioning.
In addition, it is impossible to be afraid and relaxed at the same time, so one emotion prevents the other. This is called reciprocal inhibition

Question 33

what are the three processes involved in SD?

Answer 33

•the anxiety hierarchy
•relaxation
•exposure

Question 34

what is the anxiety hierarchy?

Answer 34

this is a list of situations related to the phobic stimulus that provoke anxiety arranged in order from least to most frightening

Question 35

what is relaxation in SD?

Answer 35

the therapist teaches the patient to relax as deeply as possible. this could be done through breathing exercises, mental imagery techniques, meditation or using drugs such as valium

Question 36

what is exposure in SD?

Answer 36

The patient is exposed to the phobic stimulus while in a relaxed state. when a patient can stay relaxed in the presence of the lower levels of the phobic stimulus then they move up the hierarchy. treatment is successful when the patient can stay related in situations high on the anxiety hierarchy

Question 37

evaluation points of systematic desensitisation

Answer 37

strength: it is effective
strength: it is suitable for a diverse range of patients
strength: it is acceptable to patients

Question 38

SD strength: it it effective

Answer 38

•it is effective in the treatment of specific phobias. for example, Gilroy (2003) followed up 42 patients who had been treated for spider phobias in three 42-minute sessions of SD
•their responses to spiders were assessed using a questionnaire. a control group was treated with relaxation without the exposure. At both 3 months and 33 months after treatment the SD group were less fearful than the relaxation group
•this is a strength because it throws that systematic desensitisation is helpful in reducing the anxiety in spider phobias and that the effects are long lasting.

Question 39

SD strength: it is suitable for a diverse range of patients

Answer 39

•the alternatives to SD- flooding and cognitive therapies- are not well suited to some patients.
•For example, some sufferers of anxiety disorders like phobias also have learning difficulties, which can make it very hard for some patients to understand what is happening during flooding or engage in cognitive therapies that require you to reflect on complex through processes.
•for these patients systematic desensitisation is probably the most appropriate treatment

Question 40

SD strength: it is accessible to patients

Answer 40

•patients prefer it and often choose it over flooding. this is largely because it does not cause the same degree of trauma and the learning of the relaxing procedures can actually be pleasant
•this is reflected in the low refusal (to start treatment) rates and the low attrition rates (the number of patients that drop out)

Question 41

what is conterconditioning?

Answer 41

the learning of a different response to the phobic stimulus

Question 42

what is reciprocal inhibition?

Answer 42

one emotion preventing another, for example it is impossible to be anxious and relaxed at the same time

Question 43

what is flooding?

Answer 43

•this is a behavioural therapy in which a phobic patient is exposed to an extreme form of a phobia stimulus in order to reduce the anxiety triggered by that stimulus. this takes place in a small number of long therapy sessions.

Question 44

how does flooding work?

Answer 44

•without the option of avoidance behaviour the patient quickly learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless
•in classical conditioning terms this is called extinction
•a learned response is extinguished when the conditioned stimulus (eg a dog) is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus (eg being bitten)
the result is that the conditioned stimulus no longer produces the conditioned response (fear)
•flooding is an unpleasant experience so it is important that the patients give fully informed consent

Question 45

what is extinction?

Answer 45

when a patients learns that their phobic stimulus is actually harmless

Question 46

evaluation points for flooding

Answer 46

strength: it is cost effective
limitation: it is less effective for some types of phobias
limitation: the treatment is traumatic for patients

Question 47

flooding strength: it is cost effective

Answer 47

•studies comparing flooding to cognitive therapies have found that flooding is highly effective and quicker than alternatives
•this means that patients are free of their symptoms as soon as possible and that makes treatment cheaper

Question 48

flooding limitation: it is less effective for some types of phobias

Answer 48

•it appears to be less effective for more complex phobias like social phobias, possibly because they contain cognitive aspects as patients think unpleasant thoughts as well as experiencing an anxiety response
•this type of phobia may benefit from a more cognitive approach with therapies to tackle irrational thinking

Question 49

flooding limitation: the treatment is traumatic for patients

Answer 49

•it is highly traumatic and many patients are often unwilling to see it through to the end
•this is a limitation of flooding because time and money are sometimes wasted preparing patients only to have them refuse to start or complete treatment