The Two-Process Model

Question 1

What approach does the Two-Process Model link to?

Answer 1

The behaviourist approach

Question 2

What is the Two-Process Model?

Answer 2

The idea that phobias are acquired through classical conditioning, and maintained through operant conditioning

Question 3

Who proposed the Two-Process Model?

Answer 3

Mowrer

Question 4

How can classical conditioning be linked to phobias?

Answer 4

• Phobias are acquired through classical conditioning, which refers to learning via association
• The natural response of fear is associated with the previously neutral phobic stimulus, which then becomes the conditioned stimulus

Question 5

How can operant conditioning be linked to phobias?

Answer 5

• Phobias are maintained through operant conditioning
• Negative Reinforcement is most prominent due to the unpleasant situation that is escaped when the phobic stimulus is avoided

Question 7

Describe Watson & Rayner’s ‘Little Albert Study

Answer 7

• They elicited a phobia in 9-month-old ‘Little Albert’ by banging on an iron bar to create a loud, frightening bar when a white rat was in Little Albert’s presence
• This led to him pairing the previously neutral stimulus of the white rat with the conditioned response of fear due to him associating it with the fear he felt when the researchers made a loud noise, making the white rat the conditioned stimulus

Question 8

Describe the findings of Watson & Rayners ‘Little Albert’ Study

Answer 8

• He started to display signs of distress when presented with a white rat
• This then generalised to similar objects, such as a white rabbit, a fur coat, and even someone wearing a Santa Clause beard

Question 9

What is the process of generalisation in relation to phobias?

Answer 9

When a specific phobia extends to other similar objects and situations

Question 10

What were the findings of Jongh’s Dentist Study?

Answer 10

73% of people with a phobia of the dentist had a traumatic experience related to it, compared to 21% of the control group without a phobia

Question 11

In Jongh’s Dentist Study, what percentage of people with a phobia had a traumatic experience relating to it?

Answer 11

73%

Question 12

What is a practical application of the Two-Process Model?

Answer 12

The development of treatments, such as systematic desensitisation

Question 13

Why does the Two-Process Model aid psychology’s strive to be considered a science?

Answer 13

Due to its reliance on the behaviourist approach which focuses on observable behaviour, it can be objectively measured (e.g. The ‘Little Albert’ Study) and therefore is considered scientific

Question 14

Who doesn’t the Two-Process Model explain phobias in?

Answer 14

Those who don’t have a traumatic experience relating to the phobic stimulus

Question 15

What did DiNardo find in his study of people with a phobia of dogs?

Answer 15

Only around 50% of people with a phobia of a dog had a traumatic experience with one

Question 16

What doesn’t the Two-Process Model take into account? (2 Points)

Answer 16

• The cognitive characteristics of a phobia, such as irrational beliefs and cognitive distortions, meaning it doesn’t explain all the symptoms of phobias
• Evolutionary fears, such as the dark

Question 17

What did Cook & Mineka find monkeys were pre-prepared to be frightened of?

Answer 17

Other animals that may harm them, such as crocodiles

Question 18

Why has the Two-Process Model been criticised for being reductionistic in a sense?

Answer 18

It reduces a complex mental disorder like a phobia to observable behaviour