Psychopathology - Behavioural approach to explaining and treating phobias Flashcards
Behavioural approach to explaining phobias
- Behaviourists believe that behaviours are learnt and people learn to be phobic rather than be born phobic
- It tries to explain behaviours of phobias such as panic, avoidance and endurance
- Explains emergence of phobias through processes of classical and operant conditioning
Explain Mowrer’s Two Process Theory
1947 - 2 process theory
Stage 1: Phobias are aquired by classical conditioning
Stage 2: Phobias are maintained by operant conditioning which occurs when an individual avoids phobic stimulus which reduces fear and anxiety, therefore reinforing the phobic behaviour
Stage 1: Classical conditioning
- Classical conditioning explains how behaviour is learned through stimulus response assocications: an event in the environment results in a physiological reaction
- Event and reaction then forged into an association which fits with the idea that when someone has a phobia they have had a bad experience in their past. For example: being badly hurt when given an injection as a child
Example of classical conditioning applied to aquiring a phobia
Watson and Rayner - Little Albert
Unconditioned stimulus: Bang of metal
Unconditioned response: Fear
UCS (bang) paired with neutral stimulus (rat) resulted in UCR: fear
Conditioned stimulus became: Rat
Conditioned response became: Fear
Stage 2: Operant conditioning
In terms of phobias, the avoidance of phobic stimuli and maintenance of phobias can be explained through O.C.
1. Maladaptive behaviour (phobia) is reinforced because when stimulus or event is avoided (negative reinforcement), it reduces fear which feels like a reward which leads to avoidance being repeated and phobia maintained
2. If person with phobia has a severe fear response and gets attention for it, this is also rewarding (positive reinforcement) which will lead to maintaining of phobia
3. Facing the stimulus or event is a punishment as the person experiences a fear response so facing it in the future is not repeated
Behavioural approach to treating phobias
- Behaviour therapy developed during 1950s and 1960s
- Ideas that most forms of mental illness occur through maladaptive learning and that the best treatment consists of appropriate new learning has therefore meant that behaviour therapy is based on the assumption of classical and operant conditioning CAN change unwanted/abnormal behaviour into more normal behaviour
- The behaviourist approach argues that if we can learn a behaviour from our environment, we can also unlearn it
Treatment one: Systematic Desensitisation
Wolpe 1958
* Based on counter conditioning where the fear response to the phobic stimulus is replaced by a new response which is incompatible with fear
* Clients are given special training in deep relaxation until they can achieve muscle relaxation when instructed
* Concept is that fear and relaxation are incompatible together (known as reciprocal inhibition) and the fear is extinguished
What 3 processes is systematic desensitisation based on?
1. Anxiety hierarchy: Therapist works with client to compile a hierachical list of feared situations, starting with those that have the least anxiety and then progressing to those that are most frightening
2. Relaxation: Client reaches deep stage of relaxation through breathing exercises, mental imagery and meditation
3. Exposure: Client asked to imagine (invitro) or is confronted by (invivo) the least threatening situation in the anxiety hierarchy. This repeatedly happens until the situation fails to provoke any anxiety at all. Process repeated while working through all situation in anxiety hierarchy, the client can only move on the next stage of the hierarchy if they have managed to stay calm at the previous stage
Treatment two: Flooding technique
Flooding is based on classical conditioning and is often regarded as quicker and more effective than systematic disensitisation.
Explain the 5 steps of the flooding technique
- Client immediately exposed to fear provoking situation repeatedly, either invivo or invitro.
- Client overwhelmed (flooded) with fear and anxiety and stimulus satiation is used which is presenting the phobic stimulus in extreme way to lesson the abnormal response to it.
- Client is prevented from avoiding the fear
- Clients reaction is so severe that the response is exhausted and the fear starts to diminish as it’s impossible to maintain a state of anxiety for a long period of time
- Patient learns that phobic stimulus is harmless and the fear is extinguished, a new, calming association has been made between phobic stimulus and the fear
