Psychopathology - 03 The Behavioural Approach To Explaining and Treating Phobias Flashcards
Who created the 2 process model?
Mowrer (1960)
What are the 2 parts of the 2 process model?
1-phobias start through classical conditioning (association)
2-phobias are maintained through operant conditioning (negative reinforcement - removal of something unpleasant)
Explain classical conditioning in terms of phobias
-humans naturally fear pain and so fear response to pain is unconditioned
-when this unconditioned response is associated with a neutral stimulus through experience, then a person can become conditioned to associate the response (fear with the stimulus.
-this is based on the work of Ivan Pavlov
Behaviourist approach (phobias) key study: little Albert
-Watson & Rayner (1920)
-baby given a white rat to play with
-did not have fear response towards rat initially but researchers made loud noise which frightened him
-repeated several times, after Albert demonstrated fear when presented with rat even without loud noise
-created conditioned response to previously neutral object
Explain operant conditioning in terms of phobias
-the avoidance of the phobia object reduces fear and is therefore reinforcing
-this is an example of negative reinforcement as the individual avoids the anxiety created by avoiding them completely
evaluation - behavioural explanation of phobias (phobias that do not follow trauma)
-not all phobias are the result of a bad experience and negative associations
-so classical conditioning cannot be the only explanation for how we develop phobias
-other explanations need to be investigated
evaluation - behavioural explanation of phobias (alternative explanation - biological preparedness)
-not always develop after traumatic incident
-Seligman (1970), we genetically programmed to rapidly learn association between life-threatening stimuli and fear
-ancient fears, dangerous in evolutionary past
adapted to avoid dangerous stimuli
-explains why people are less likely to fear modern objects
-so behavioural explanations alone cannot be used to explain the development of phobias
weakness of behavioural explanations of phobias (ignores cognitive factors)
-two process model cannot be the only explanation
-cognitive approach says phobias develop due to irrational thinking which cause anxiety and trigger a phobia
-focusing on the role of conditioning only is too simplistic
evaluation - behavioural explanations of phobias (needs a multi-factorial model)
-diathesis stress model
-develop phobia from stressful environment trigger but only if we have the genetic risk for developing a phobia
-this suggests we need to look at biological factors in addition to learning from our environment
What are the two treatments used for treating phobias?
-Systematic desensitisation
-Flooding
What is systematic desensitisation?
-based on the idea that you cannot be anxious and relaxed at the same time
-form of counter-conditioning, where a person is trained to substitute the fear response with relation in the presence of the phobic stimulus
What are the 3 stages of systematic desensitisation?
-hierarchy of fear
-relaxation methods
-graduated exposure
What happens in the first stage of systematic desensitisation?
-therapist sits down with client and they make a hierarchy of fearful situations and arranging them in order from least to most fearful
What happens in the second stage of systematic desensitisation?
-the client is then trained in methods of relaxation like releasing muscular tension, controlled breathing and visualisation techniques
What happens in the third stage of systematic desensitisation?
-graduated exposure
-client brought gradually into contact with phobic stimulus , following hierarchy established
-at each stage they use techniques they have learned to produce a state of relaxation
-only when full relaxation has been achieved does the treatment move onto the next stage pf the hierarchy
