Behaviourist approach: explaining phobias Flashcards
What are the 2 processes of conditioning?
- Classical conditioning- learning through association (acquisition of phobias)
- Operant conditioning- learning through consequences (maintenance of phobias)
What is classical conditioning?
- NS- neutral stimulus
- UCS- unconditioned stimulus
- UCR- unconditioned response
- CS- conditioned stimulus
- CR- conditioned response
NS becomes associated with UCS and gives a fear response (UCR). But, the NS can be paired with a CS to give a CR.
What is operant conditioning?
- Used when avoiding/ escaping phobias
- This is an example of negative reinforcement- stopping an unpleasant experience (e.g. avoiding it).
If the point is:
A strength of the behavioural explanation of phobias is that it has experimental support for explaining phobias.
What is the evidence, explanation and link?
Evidence- Watson and Raynor conducted research on Little Albert in which they established that when repeatedly pairing a loud noise with a rat it caused fear.
Explanation- They showed little Albert a white rat which he was unafraid of (NS). They repeatedly (8 times) paired the rat (NS) with a loud noise (UCS) which caused fear (UCR). Eventually, Albert began to show fear (CR) to the white rat (CS) alone.
Link- This supporting research gives an element of validity to the theory of the environmental causes of phobic reactions.
If the point is:
A weakness of the behavioural explanation is that it’s significantly weakened by the fact that not all incidences of trauma result in subsequent phobias.
What is the evidence, explanation and link?
Explanation- This suggests there are elements of cognition that mediate the onset of phobia development, as some people experience traumatic events and don’t have phobias.
Evidence- For instance, many people may have a traumatic incident with a wasp, but don’t develop a phobia.
Link- This implies that the learning account of phobias is incomplete and has problems applying to real life.
If the point is:
A strength of the behavioural explanation is that it has good practical application for treating phobias.
What is the evidence, explanation and link?
Evidence- The explanation has helped devise useful treatments to unlearn phobias based on the two process model. Systematic desensitisation involves using classical conditioning to create new positive associations between a previously feared conditioned stimulus.
Explanation- This helps to show relaxation and calmness with the previously feared item.
Link- This illustrates that the explanation has helped society and the 20% of the population that suffer phobias.
If the point is:
A weakness of the behavioural explanation is that it could be argued to be environmentally reductionist.
What is the evidence, explanation and link?
Explanation- The concept that complex and debilitating behaviour like phobias can be reduced down to simple stimulus. Likewise, response reactions could be breaking the behaviour down too much, resulting in other relevant and applicable explanations.
Evidence- For example, Seligman’s evolutionary explanation of preparedness suggests we are biologically pre programmed to develop phobias of some stimuli compared to others.
Link- Hence, the two process model of phobias may provide an incomplete explanation of phobias.
What are the evaluation points for the behaviourist approach to explaining phobias?
+ Has experimental support for explaining phobias
— Significantly weakened by the fact that not all incidences of trauma result in subsequent phobias
+ Has good practical application for treating phobias
— Could be argued to be environmentally reductionist
