Phobias And The Behavourist Approach To Explaining Phobias - evaluation

Question 1

What is a strength of the behavioral approach?

Answer 1

Real-world application in exposure therapies as it explains why people benefit from exposure, the prevention of avoidance stops reinforcement and declines.

Providing a way to treat phobias

Question 2

What’s another strength of behavioural approach relating to studies?

Answer 2

Evidence for a link between bad experiences and phobias as De Jongh et al found 73% of people who are scared of dentists had a previous traumatic experience

Question 3

What is a limitation of the behavioral approach to phobias?

Answer 3

Doesn’t account for cognitive aspects as it only explains behaviour. Phobias also have a cognitive component thus it cannot completely explain symptoms of phobias

Some phobias better explained by evolutionary theory like fear of the dark