leson 6: the behavioural approach to explaining phobias: classical and operant conditioning and the 2 process model

Question 1

what does the behavioural model suggest?

Answer 1

It suggests that all behaviours can be learnt and people who have an abnormality can learn negative behaviours

Question 2

what does the 2 process model consist of?

Answer 2

1) the phobia is learnt via classical conditioning or social learning( associating a previous neutral stimulus with fear)
2) the phobia is maintained by operant conditioning (for example avoiding the feared stimulus makes you feel calmer)

Question 3

what does the method of classical conditioning involves

Answer 3

• involves building up an association between 2 different stimuli so that learning takes place

Question 4

who carried out the ‘little albert’ experiment (1920)

Answer 4

Watson and Rayner

Question 5

what is negative reinforcement?

Answer 5

• when the absence of unpleasant things strengthens a behaviour

Question 6

a disadvantage of classical conditioning ( does not explain how all phobias develop)

Answer 6

• after having a traumatic experience such as a car accident so people do not then develop a phobia (of cars or driving)
• classical conditioning does not explain how all phobias develop
• however, some people are scared of an object, but they have not had a negative experience with the object

Question 7

a disadvantage of classical conditioning (unreliable findings)

Answer 7

• experiment only conducted once, so findings have nit been repeated
• could be questioned whether same results would be gained when investigating if phobias can be learnt via CC
• can not be repeated nowadays due to ethical concerns

Question 8

an advantage of classical conditioning

Answer 8

• king(1998) supports the ideas proposed by classical conditioning.
• from reviewing case studies he found that children acquire phobias by encountering traumatic experiences with the phobic object.

Question 9

a disadvantage of classical conditioning (menzies)

Answer 9

• only 2% of those that had a phobia of water had a encountered a negative experience with it( due to CC)
• 50% who had a phobia of dogs never had an negative experience with it.
• therefore learning cannot be a factor in causing the development of phobias

Question 10

what is social learning theory?

Answer 10

based on observational learning whereby young children might observe a reaction that their parents or family have to a particular situation, and the child will then copy this behaviour

Question 11

what did psychologist Minneka find about the social learning theory?

Answer 11

-when one monkey in a cage showed a fear response to snakes, the other monkeys in the cage copied this response and also showed a fear response to snakes too.

Question 12

what does operant conditioning involve?(AO1)

Answer 12

• involves learning new response (phobia) that can result in reinforcement
• explains how phobias can be maintained

Question 13

what is negative reinforcement (in terms of snakes)? AO1

Answer 13

if someone is scared of snakes, they will try to avoid snakes in order to reduce the risk that they will feel fear

Question 14

what is positive reinforcement (in terms of snakes)?AO1

Answer 14

by avoiding snakes and not feeling fear, this is rewarding. therefore the avoidance of the snake continues

Question 15

DISADVANTAGE TO THE 2 PROCESS MODEL (ignores other factors)

Answer 15

• it ignores other factors that could cause the phobias
• the model focuses on learning and the environment but not take into account biological and evolutionary factors
• some people might have a more genetic vulnerability to develop phobias than others and the model would ignore this

Question 16

DISADVANTAGE TO THE 2 PROCESS MODEL (correct for animals and children)

Answer 16

• SLT is not very strong in explaining how adults can learn to have phobias.
• only limited to explaining learning in young children and animals

Question 17

advantage: has good explanatory power

Answer 17

explains the mechanism behind the mental thought process (acquisition) and maintenance of phobias, which classical and operant conditioning alone cannot do