The behavioural approach to: explaining phobias Flashcards
The behavioural approach to explaining phobias emphasises the role of…
learning in the acquisition of behaviour
The behavioural approach to explaining phobias is geared towards explaining the key ___________ aspects of phobias rather than the _________ and _________ aspects of phobias
behavioural, cognitive, eotional
The behavioural approach to explaining phobias is geared towards explaining the key behavioural aspects of phobias such as… (name 2)
Any 2 from panic, avoidance and endurance
Who proposed the two-process model for the behavioural approach to explaining phobias?
Mowrer (1960)
What is the two-process model based on?
The behavioural approach to phobias
How does the two-process model state that phobias are acquired?
By classical conditioning
What does classical conditioning involve?
Learning to associate something of which we initially have no fear with something that already triggers a fear response (neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus)
Classical conditioning involves learning to associate something of which we initially have no fear _______ stimulus) with something that already triggers are fear response (_____________ stimulus)
neutral, unconditioned
What did Watson and Rayner (1920) do?
Created a phobia in a 9-month-old baby called ‘Little Albert’
True/False: Little Albert showed an unusual level of anxiety at the start of the study
False, he showed no unusual anxiety at the start of the study
What did Little Albert do when first shown a white rat?
He tried to play with it
What did experimenters set out to give Albert in the aim of the study?
A phobia
What did researchers do whenever the rat was presented to Albert?
Made a loud, frightening noise by banging an iron bar close to his ear
What was the unconditioned stimulus in the case of little Albert?
The noise
What was the unconditioned response in the case of Little Albert?
Fear
What happened in the case of Little Albert when the rat and unconditioned stimulus were encountered close together in time?
The rat (neutral stimulus) becomes associated with the unconditioned stimulus and both bow produce the new fear response
Why did Albert display fear when he saw the rat?
It was now a learned or conditioned stimulus producing a conditioned response
How was Little Albert’s conditioning generalised to similar objects
Albert was testing by showing him other furry objects such as a non-white rabbit, fur coat and Watson wearing a Santa Claus beard made out of cotton balls - Little Albert displayed distress at the sight of all of these
Give an example of one of the similar objects that Albert displayed distress at the sight of after conditioning
Any form fur coat, a non-white rabbit and Watson wearing a Santa Claus beard made out of cotton balls
How does the two-process model state that phobias continue?
Operant conditioning
True/False: Responses acquired by classical conditioning usually maintain in strength over time
False, they usually tend to decline over time
Phobias are often long-lasting. What has Mowrer explained this is a result of?
Operant conditioning
Operant conditioning takes place when…
our behaviour is reinforced or punished
What does reinforcement tend to increase?
The frequency of a behaviour
What does an individual do in the case of negative reinforcement?
Avoid a situation that is unpleasant
In negative reinforcement, what does avoiding a situation that is unpleasant result in?
A desirable consequence
Why are people likely to repeat behaviour as a result of negative reinforcement
Avoiding a situation that is unpleasant results in a desirable consequence
How does Mowrer suggest that operant conditioning applies to the maintenance of phobias?
Whenever we avoid a phobic stimulus we successfully escape the fear of anxiety we would’ve otherwise experienced if we had remained there - this reduction in fear reinforces the avoidance behaviour and so the phobia is maintained
Mowrer suggests that whenever we avoid a phobic stimulus we successfully escape what?
Fear and anxiety
Mowrer suggests that phobias are continued because of operant conditioning, particularly positive/negative reinforcement
Negative
Mowrer suggests that whenever we avoid a phobic stimulus we successfully escape the fear of anxiety we would’ve otherwise experienced if we had remained there. What does this reduction in fear do?
Reinforces the avoidance behaviour and so the phobia is maintained
True/False: There is real-world application in exposure therapies
True
True/False: Systematic desensitisation is an example of real-world application of the two-process model
True
A distinctive element of the two-process model is the idea that phobias are maintained by…
avoidance of the phobic stimulus
Why is the idea that phobias are maintained by avoidance of the phobic stimulus important in explaining why people with phobias benefit from being exposed to the phobic stimulus?
Once the avoidance behaviour is prevented it ceases to be reinforced by the experience of anxiety reduction
What is the benefit of preventing avoidance behaviour when treating phobias?
It ceases to be reinforced by the experience of anxiety reduction - reducing avoidance
The application of the two-process theory in exposure therapies such as systematic desensitisation shows the value of the two-process approach because…
it identifies a means of treating phobias
True/False: The two-process model accounts for the cognitive aspects of phobias
False, it doesn’t
What are behavioural explanations geared towards explaining?
Behaviour
In the case of phobias what is the key behaviour?
Avoidance of the phobic stimulus
How do we know that phobias are not simply avoidance responses?
They also have a significant cognitive component
Thinking that a spider is dangerous is an example of…
an irrational belief about a phobic stimulus
The two-process model explains avoidance behaviour but…
does not offer an adequate explanation of phobic cognitions
The two-process model explains avoidance behaviour but doesn’t offer an adequate explanation of phobic cognitions. What does this mean?
The two-process model does not completely explain the symptoms of phobias
True/False: There is evidence for a link between bad experiences and phobias
True
Give an example of a case study that shows a link between bad experiences and phobias
Little Albert Study
The Little Albert Study illustrates how a frightening experience involving a ________ can lead to…
stimulus, a phobia of that stimulus
What did Ad De Jongh et al. (2006) find?
73% of people with a fear of dental treatment had experienced a traumatic experience, mostly involving dentistry
Ad De Jongh et al. (2006) found that __% of people with a fear of dental treatment had experienced a traumatic experience
73
Ad De Jongh et al. (2006) found that 73% of people with a fear of dental treatment had experienced a traumatic experience. What did these traumatic experiences involve?
Mostly involving dentistry - others had experienced being the victim of a violent crime
What was Ad De Jongh et al. (2006)’s control group?
A group of people with low dental anxiety
In Ad De Jongh et al. (2006)’s control group, what percentage had experienced a traumatic event?
21%
Ad De Jongh et al. (2006)’s findings confirm the association between…
stimulus and unconditioned response does lead to the development of phobia
In Ad De Jongh et al. (2006)’s study what was the stimulus?
Dentistry
In Ad De Jongh et al. (2006)’s study what was the UCR?
Pain
True/False: Not all phobias appear following a bad experience
True
True/False: Some common phobias such as snake phobias occur in populations where very few people have any experiences of snakes let alone traumatic experiences
True
The association between phobias and frightening experiences would mean that common phobias such as snake phobias are a result of…
traumatic experiences with snakes (not the case)
The association between phobias and frightening experiences would suggest that frightening experiences lead to…
phobias
Evidence weakening the association between phobias and frightening experiences suggests…
this association is not as as strong as we would expect if behavioural theories provided are a complete explanation
Give an example of how behavioural models of phobias provide credible individual explanations?
They can explain how a particular person develops and maintains a particular phobia
We tend to acquire phobias of things that have presented a danger in our evolutionary past, such as snakes and the dark. What does this suggest about the behavioural models of phobias?
There are more general aspects to phobias that may be better explained by evolutionary theory
