L6 - behavioural approach to explaining phobias

Question 1

what is the two process model

Answer 1

phobia is learnt by classical conditioning/social learning
phobia is maintained by operant conditioning

Question 2

how was little albert classically conditioned

Answer 2

white rat (NS) presented to individual
loud banging noise (UCS) presented which causes emotional response
repeatedly pair NS and UCS
now when little albert saw a white rat (CS) he had an emotional response (CR)
association is established

Question 3

how old was Little Albert

Answer 3

11 months

Question 4

how often did Watson and Rayner pair stimuli together

Answer 4

3 times and then again 1 week later

Question 5

strength of classical conditioning

Answer 5

King - reviewed case studies, found children acquire phobias by encountering traumatic experiences
e.g., children who were bitten by a dog had a phobia of dogs

Question 6

2 weaknesses of classical conditioning

Answer 6

• little albert study only conducted once, not reliable, questioned whether same results gained if repeated, cannot be repeated due to ethical concerns
• some people have traumatic experiences without phobia e.g. car crash. same is true for opposite - have phobia without having negative experience e.g. snakes

Question 7

what is social learning theory

Answer 7

young children observe a reaction from parents to particular situation and copy the behaviour
e.g. if we see someone get bitten by a dog and start screaming, behaviour may be imitated and we develop a phobia

Question 8

what is operant conditioning

Answer 8

how phobias are maintained
negative reinforcement: avoiding phobic object to reduce risk of feeling fear
positive reinforcement: by avoidance and not feeling fear , this is rewarding so avoidance continues

Question 9

strength of two process model

Answer 9

research support for social learning theory by minneka
when one monkey in a cage showed a fear response to snakes, other monkeys copied and showed a fear response to snakes, can be applied to humans

Question 10

2 weaknesses of two process model

Answer 10

• ignores other factors, focuses on environment, does not take into account biological or evolutionary factors, some may have a genetic vulnerability to develop phobias
• successful in explaining development of phobias in children but not in how adults learn to have phobias, limited to only explaining learning in young children and animals