The behavioural approach to explaining and treating phobias Flashcards
How do behaviourist approaches see phobias?
As being learned through experience via the process of association
What is the two-process model?
Phobias are acquired through classical conditioning and social learning, and then maintained through operant conditioning
Explain the first step of the two-process model in more detail
Phobias are directly created by classical conditioning, such as being bitten by a dog, or indirectly through social learning, such as observing someone else being bitten by a dog. This leads to association being made between a natural response of fear being associated with a neutral stimulus, which will then cause a fear response
Give an example of the first step of the two-process model
The neutral stimulus of night-time being paired with a frightening experience like being mugged produces a natural fear response which creates a phobia of the dark
Explain the second step of the two-process model in more detail
This is the maintenance of phobias through operant conditioning, where avoiding or escaping from a feared object/stimuli acts as a negative reinforcer, with the reward being the reduction of anxiety, which reinforces the avoidance response and makes it more likely to occur again
Give an example of the second step in the two-process model
If a person has a phobia of the dark, they might sleep with the lights on, which is negatively reinforcing, as it reduces the fear response associated with being in the dark. This increases the chances of that person sleeping with the lights on again because it prevents anxiety
How does operant conditioning make phobias resistant to extinction?
The sufferer constantly reinforces avoidance behaviours
What was the aim of the “Little Albert” case study?
To provide empirical evidence that emotional responses could be learned through classical conditioning
How old was Little Albert?
11 months
What type of experiment was the “Little Albert” case study?
A laboratory experiment
How did Watson make the association between the white rat and fear?
By making loud, startling noises with a metal pipe when Little Albert showed interest in the rat
What did Little Albert do when presented with the white rat after conditioning?
Cry, roll over and crawl away
What happened to Little Albert’s phobia of the white rat?
It generalised to other white stimuli, such as white beards and fur coats
What does Bounton argue?
That the two-process model ignores evolution history, whereby avoidance responses are learned more rapidly if the required response resembles an animal’s natural defensive barrier
How can phobias be explained with evolution?
Phobias have an adaptive value and so they become commonplace in society due to natural selection
How does the cognitive approach explain phobias?
Phobics have an attentional bias, and therefore focus more upon anxiety-generating stimuli such as the teeth of a dog rather than its other features
What are the two behaviourist methods of treating phobias?
Systematic desensitisation and flooding
Explain the process of systematic desensitisation
Patients learn in stages to replace fear responses with feelings of calm. This is because the two opposing emotions of anxiety and relaxation are believed to be incapable of co-existing (reciprocal inhibition). Systematic desensitisation teaches sufferers relaxation techniques and then helps them progress through a hierarchy of fear which is established beforehand
What is reciprocal inhibition?
The belief that anxiety and relaxation cannot co-exist because they are emotional opposites
What is covert desensitisation?
Contact is achieved by imagining the scenarios in the hierarchy of fear
What is in vivo desensitisation?
Actual contact between the sufferer and the phobic stimuli in the hierarchy of fear
Explain the process of flooding
Instead of a step-by-step approach patients go straight to the top of their hierarchy and directly confront a feared object or situation. The idea is that patients cannot make their usual avoidance responses and anxiety peaks at such high levels it cannot be maintained and eventually subsides
Who used systematic desensitisation to treat a fear of computers (technophobia) and what did they conclude?
Brosnan and Thorpe: There was three times more anxiety reduction than a control group
What type of phobias are treated successfully by behaviourist treatments and which are not?
Simple phobias are treated successfully, but agoraphobia and social phobias are not
What risk does flooding carry?
Those who are not physically fit are at risk of heart attacks and other physical stressors
Who removed a girl’s fear of cars using flooding?
Wolpe
What is the most common treatment used for phobias?
CBT
What did Wolpe’s study of SD show?
Found SD was successful 91% of the time (out of 38 patients), and those who did not benefit were not able to do in vitro techniques (imagine themselves in the hierarchy of fear)
