Psychopathology - Behaviourak Explanation Of Phobias

Question 1

Who designed the two process model?

Answer 1

Mowrer

Question 2

The two process model

Answer 2

• phobia is initiated through classical conditioning or social learning
• phobia is maintained through operant conditioning

Question 3

Classical conditioning

Answer 3

• learning through association
• stimulus produces same response as another because both have been constantly presented at the same time
• could be how phobias develop

Question 4

How can phobias develop due to classical conditioning?

Answer 4

Stimulus the person is afraid of has previously been associated with another stimulus

Question 5

Who conducted the little Albert experiment?

Answer 5

Watson and Raynor (1920)

Question 6

What was the little Albert experiment?

Answer 6

• giving an infant a phobia of white rats through classical conditioning
• first Albert was fine with the rat
• whenever Albert would reach for the rat, Watson and Raynor would strike a metal bar behind his head
• the loud noise startled him and made him cry
• eventually he cried every time he saw the rat and became afraid of other white fluffy objects

Question 7

Loud noise and it’s reflex are…

Answer 7

Stimulus of a loud noise = unconditioned stimulus
Produces reflex of fear = unconditioned response

Aka didn’t need to be learnt to have this effect

Question 8

What stimulus was the white rat initially?

Answer 8

Neutral stimulus = produces no reflexes

Question 9

After associating the white rat with the unconditioned stimulus, what stimulus did the white rat become?

Answer 9

• white rat = conditioned stimulus
• fear response = conditioned response

Question 10

Fear response of white rat relation to other things

Answer 10

Can be generalised to other objects or situations e,g, anything white or fluffy

Question 11

Classical conditioning negative - no repeats

Answer 11

• study was only conducted once and findings have not been repeated = not very reliable
• would the same results be gained if the study was repeated?
• study can’t be repeated due to ethical concerns

Question 12

Classical conditioning negative - other study

Answer 12

• Menzies (psychologist) did a study of people with hydrophobia.
• only 2% had a previous negative experience with water (classical conditioning)
• 98% had not learnt to be frightened of water via classical conditioning
• same study for dogs but 50% people

Question 13

Classical conditioning negative - trauma

Answer 13

• some people have traumatic experiences but don’t go on to develop a phobia e.g. car accidents

Question 14

Social learning

Answer 14

• young children observe a reaction from their parents or family in a particular situation and copy this behaviour

Question 15

observational learning

Answer 15

if you see someone else have a traumatic experience, you might imitate and also develop phobia

Question 16

Psychologist study for social learning

Answer 16

• Minneka found when one monkey in a cage showed a fear response to snakes, the other monkeys in the cage copied the response and also showed fear response

Question 17

Operant conditioning

Answer 17

• Learning through the consequences of someone’s behaviour
• negative and positive reinforcement + punishment

Question 18

Positive reinforcement

Answer 18

Behaviour leads to a reward

Question 19

Negative reinforcement

Answer 19

Behaviour stops something unpleasant

Question 20

Punishment

Answer 20

Behaviour leads to something unpleasant

Question 21

Negative reinforcement related to phobia

Answer 21

• avoiding phobic object reduces fear + is reinforcing

Question 22

2 process model negative - factors

Answer 22

• ignores other factors which could cause phobias
• focuses on learning and the environment
• doesn’t take biological and evolutionary factors into account

Question 23

2 process model negative - adult phobias

Answer 23

• social learning theory = successful explaining phobia for young children + animals
• not strong for how adults learn phobias
• limited idea

Question 24

2 process model positive - buzzer thing

Answer 24

• Bandura supports
• research conducted = person acted as if they were in pain when a buzzer sounded + participants watched this reaction
• participants then heard the sound of the buzzer and showed the same response (as if in pain)

Question 25

2 process model positive - clear

Answer 25

• 2 clear steps about how phobias are learned + maintained
• accurate

Question 26

Classical conditioning positive - king

Answer 26

• King (1998)
• reviewing case studies = found children acquire phobias by encountering traumatic experiences with the phobic object
• e.g. child who has been bitten by a dog, might develop a phobia of dogs