phobias - learning theory explanations

Question 1

what is the two-process model and who proposed it ?

Answer 1

• Hobart Mowrer (1960) proposed the two-process model
• based on learning theory - it explains the acquisition and maintenance of phobias
• states that phobias can be acquired by classical conditioning and are maintained through operant conditioning

Question 2

how can phobias be acquired through classical conditioning ?

Answer 2

• initially one stimulus creates no fear (NS) and another already triggers a fear response (UCS)
• through association, NS becomes conditioned to be a CS - producing a conditioned response (CR) of fear
• this process shown by Watson and Rayner (1920)

Question 3

how can a phobia be maintained through operant conditioning ?

Answer 3

• negative reinforcement takes place when a behaviour is rewarded by the removal of something unpleasant like anxiety
• by avoiding one’s fear, they are being rewarded with the absence of anxiety and so their phobia is reinforced

Question 4

how has social learning theory been linked to the acquisition of phobias ?

Answer 4

• Cook and Mineka (1989) suggested observational learning, as an explanation
• demonstrated that infant rhesus monkeys who watched adult monkeys displaying fear of fear-relevant stimuli such as toy snakes acquired fear for those toys
• Kay and Morrison (2004) - men (fathers) traditionally display less visible fear than women (mothers), and so sons are less likely to acquire phobias than daughters

Question 5

what is the supporting evidence for learning theories?

Answer 5

• Watson and Rayner (1920)

- Cook and Mineka (1989)

Question 6

what is a weakness of the learning theory explanation ?

Answer 6

• some phenomena associated with acquisition of phobias cannot be explained by learning alone
• we can acquire fears that have been the source of danger in our evolutionary past (e.g. snakes or dark) - but not modern things like cars or guns
• some people people acquire phobias without conditioning experiences or modelling
• therefore learning is not a complete explanation for the acquisition of phobias

Question 7

what is the application of the learning theory explanations?

Answer 7

• have applications to therapies for phobias
• systematic desensitisation and flooding are based on classical conditioning as a way to treat phobias
• systematic desensitisation helps clients to learn new responses to the phobic stimulus
• flooding works by extinction of learned fear responses

Question 8

what did cook and mineka (1989) do and find ?

Answer 8

they demonstrated that infant rhesus monkeys who watched adult monkeys displaying fear of fear-relevant stimulus such as toy snakes acquired a fear response for those toys - supporting the observational learning explanation

Question 9

what did kay and Morrison (2004) find ?

Answer 9

they found that men (fathers) traditionally display less visible feat than women (Mothers) - and so sons are less likely to acquire phobias than daughters