what is a phobia
an irrational fear which is life limiting
situations or objects
how can classical conditioning explain a phobia
reflex response to an unconditioned stimulus would somehow become associated with a neutral stimulus present at the same time as the UCS so will become scared
e.g. little albert was conditioned to be scared of rats by hearing a loud bang at the same time as being presented with a rat
how can operant conditioning explain phobias
patterns of rewards and punishments. phobia link to the fear of being punished that led to the phobia developing negative reinforcement. to remove the possibility of getting bitten the person removes dogs
eg. skinner made rats learn through placing them in a cage teaching them to press a lever by not stopping an electric current running through the floor until they did
how can social learning theory explain phobias
learned to imitate the behaviour that they have seen without any consequence for the model. if a role model is scared of something then someone watching that response will become scared to
eg Mineka made Rhesus monkeys become scared of snakes by getting them to observe wild monkeys being scared of them
who developed systematic desensitisation
Wolpe (1958)
what is systematic desensitisation
aim = this therapy aims to extinguish an undesirable behaviour fear by replacing it with a more desirable one - relaxation
works through reciprocal inhibition
what is reciprocal inhibtion
we cannot feel fear and relaxation at the same time
give an example of a hierarchy of fear
e.g. fear of spiders
1- think about spider
2- see picture of spider
3- be in same room as spider in a glass tank
4- sit next to glass tank with the lid closed
5- sit next to a glass tank with the lid open
6- put hand in tank
7- hold spider in hands
what are the three main categories of phobias
- specific phobias = animals, events, bodily, situation (13% experience this)
- social phobias = social situations, speaking most common is going to the toilet. onset 15years effects about 40% of which 70% are female
- agoraphobia = public crowded places of leaving safety of home. 60% of phobic patients have this
what is the difference between social and agoraphobias
social phobias are fearful of people whereas agoraphobia is fearful of themselves
how many people will become phobic at some point
10-20%
what did Mowrer find
a two process theory of phobia, the acquisition-maintenance model in which phobias are acquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning
what are the two steps of Mowrer
1- acquisition of a phobias
2- maintenance of a phobias
what is the acquisition of a phobia
through classical conditioning - trauma can be experienced directly
though social learning (vicarious) observing a fear in another indirectly
what is the maintenance of a phobia
through operant conditioning
approaching phobic object elicits conditioned anxiety response
retreat from phobic object reduces anxiety
this acts as a negative reinforcer so the person avoids the phobia object
others may unwittingly reinforce avoidance
= reduction of anxiety reinforces the avoidance behaviour which increases the likelihood of doing it again and the cycle continues
strengths of Mowrer
developed through observing others
reliability = researched and supported on studies for both humans and animals
behaviourism works well for phobias but less well for disorders such as depression and schizophrenia
certain objects or situations are more likely to induce phobic reactions that others. good at explaining specific phobias but not agoraphobia and social phobias
weaknesses of Mowrer
doesn’t account for individual differences, not everyone develops phobias in the same situations so can’t explain why some situations are more likely to form phobic responses
classical conditioning suggests there has to be a direct experience for a phobia to occur. the fact that they can be produced in a lab does not prove that this would happen in normal situations
Davy only found that 7% of spiders phobics recall having a traumatic experience with a spider which suggests there could be other explanations
evaluation of acquiring phobias
+ classical conditioning has been developed using scientific methods which has research to back it up
+ supports CC and Dollinger et al found that child survivors of lightening strikes showed intense fear of thunder and lightning
+ supports SLT and Mineka described the case of a boy developing a fear of vomiting due to seeing his grandad vomit whilst dying
- against CC - Hekmat investigated a group of students with animal phobias, only 23% had reported direct conditioning experiences therefore suggesting a different method for developing a phobia
- research is difficult to generalise an animal fear and anxiety reactions differ greatly
- artificial environment which is not representative of real life as it doesnt take into account the surroundings and situations a person is in
strengths of systematic desensitisation
- wolpe claims that 80-90% of patientts are either cured and much improved after an average of 25-30 sessions, however systematic desensitisation is not effect with disorders such as depression
- McGrath et al found that 75% of individuals with phobias respond to the therapy
- compared to other therapies it is considered ethical as it involves gradual exposure as the individuals own pace
- so has clear theoretical roots which can be explained to people and give them confidence in the therapy working
- Capons found that fear of flying was reduced by a programme of SD
- can achieve results in a relatively short period of time because it targets the specific symptoms
- validity and reliability by using a mixture of methods both the in-depth personalised therapy and the psychometric tests and the fear thermometer (reliable) McGrath gets both qualitative and quantitative data
- Ost et al found that anxiety was reduced in 90% of patents with specific phobias after just one session
- Brosnan and Thorpe used a 10 week programme of 16 technophobe, anxiety levels were significantly reduced
weakness of systematic desensitisation
- can only treat certain anxiety disorders. situations or objects have to be clearly identifiable for the therapy to work. so it would be inappropriate for someone with general anxiety disorders
- according to psychodynamic approach the treatment is very superficial and does not get down to the root of the problem
- not reductionist behaviour. McGrath’s research has a cognitive element. there is also biological influence in the form of the deep breathing which reduces the body’s stress response
- generalisability = case studies always have a problem with small unrepresentative samples which make it difficult to generalise to other age groups, genders and levels of significance
- ethical issues as it causes some anxiety. if the patient drops out before the fear has been extinguished anxiety levels will be worse only treats the symptoms not the cause
what does in vivo mean
real object
what does in vitro mean
imagination
what is flooding
placed in situation with feared object
someone can only experience alarm for so long and then it subsides
rapid exposure to the feared object which causes extinction
individual has their senses flooded with thoughts, images and actual experience of the object of their phobia
what is continual exposure
eventually see it as less fear producing it is about replacing fear with a calmer response
