1
Phobias
Specification
The behavioural, emotional and cognitive characteristics of phobias
The behavioural approach to explaining and treating phobias: the two-process
model, including classical and operant conditioning; systematic desensitisation,
including relaxation and use of hierarchy; flooding.
Characteristics of phobias
Behavioural
-Avoidance
When a person with a phobia is faced with the object or situation that creates fear,
the immediate response is to try to avoid it. For example, a person with a phobia of
spiders avoids being near them and a person with a phobia about social situations
avoids being in groups of people.
-Freeze or faint
However, there is also the opposite behavioural response, which is freeze or even
faint. Freezing is an adaptive response because a predator may think the prey is
dead.
-Disruption in functioning
Avoidance in the feared situation interferes significantly with the person’s normal
routine, occupation, social activities or relationships, and there is marked distress
about having the phobia. This distinguishes phobias from more everyday fears that
do not interfere with normal day-to-day living.
Emotional
-Fear
The primary emotional characteristic is fear that is marked and persistent, and is
likely to be excessive and unreasonable.
-Anxiety and panic
Coupled with fear are feelings of anxiety and panic.
-Excessive emotional response
These emotions are cued by the presence or anticipation of a specific object or
situation (e.g. spiders, flying, heights, seeing blood) and are out of proportion to
the actual danger posed.
Cognitive
, 2
-The irrational nature of the person’s thinking/resistance to rational
arguments.
For example, a person with a fear of flying is not helped by arguments that flying is
actually the safest form of transport.
-Self-realisation
A further defining characteristic is that the person recognises that their fear is
excessive or unreasonable, although this feature may be absent in children.
-Selective attention to the phobic stimulus.
If a sufferer can see the phobic stimulus, it is hard to look away from it. Keeping
our attention on something really dangerous is a good thing as it gives us the best
chance of reacting quickly to a threat, but this is not so useful when the fear is
irrational.
Behavioural explanation of phobias: the two-process model,
including classical and operant conditioning
The basic idea
Mowrer proposed the two-process model based on the behavioural approach to
phobias.
This states that phobias are acquired (learned in the first place) by classical
conditioning and then are maintained because of operant conditioning.
Process 1-Acquisition by classical conditioning
Classical conditioning involves learning to associate something of which we initially
have no fear (called a neutral stimulus) with something that already triggers a fear
response (known as an unconditioned stimulus). An individual would then have a
phobia of this neutral stimulus (it would become a conditioned stimulus).
For example, Watson and Rayner (1920) created a phobia in a 9-month old baby
called ‘Little Albert’. Whenever a rat was presented, they made a loud, frightening
noise by banging an iron bar close to Albert’s ear. This noise is an unconditioned
stimulus (UCS) which produces an unconditioned response (UCR) of fear.
When the rat (a neutral stimulus, NS i.e. one that Albert showed no response to)
and unconditioned stimulus are encountered close together in time, the NS
becomes associated with the UCS and both now produce a fear response-Albert
became frightened when he saw a rat.
The rat is now a learned or conditioned stimulus (CS) that produces a conditioned
response (CR).
This conditioning then generalised to similar objects. They tested Albert by
Phobias
Specification
The behavioural, emotional and cognitive characteristics of phobias
The behavioural approach to explaining and treating phobias: the two-process
model, including classical and operant conditioning; systematic desensitisation,
including relaxation and use of hierarchy; flooding.
Characteristics of phobias
Behavioural
-Avoidance
When a person with a phobia is faced with the object or situation that creates fear,
the immediate response is to try to avoid it. For example, a person with a phobia of
spiders avoids being near them and a person with a phobia about social situations
avoids being in groups of people.
-Freeze or faint
However, there is also the opposite behavioural response, which is freeze or even
faint. Freezing is an adaptive response because a predator may think the prey is
dead.
-Disruption in functioning
Avoidance in the feared situation interferes significantly with the person’s normal
routine, occupation, social activities or relationships, and there is marked distress
about having the phobia. This distinguishes phobias from more everyday fears that
do not interfere with normal day-to-day living.
Emotional
-Fear
The primary emotional characteristic is fear that is marked and persistent, and is
likely to be excessive and unreasonable.
-Anxiety and panic
Coupled with fear are feelings of anxiety and panic.
-Excessive emotional response
These emotions are cued by the presence or anticipation of a specific object or
situation (e.g. spiders, flying, heights, seeing blood) and are out of proportion to
the actual danger posed.
Cognitive
, 2
-The irrational nature of the person’s thinking/resistance to rational
arguments.
For example, a person with a fear of flying is not helped by arguments that flying is
actually the safest form of transport.
-Self-realisation
A further defining characteristic is that the person recognises that their fear is
excessive or unreasonable, although this feature may be absent in children.
-Selective attention to the phobic stimulus.
If a sufferer can see the phobic stimulus, it is hard to look away from it. Keeping
our attention on something really dangerous is a good thing as it gives us the best
chance of reacting quickly to a threat, but this is not so useful when the fear is
irrational.
Behavioural explanation of phobias: the two-process model,
including classical and operant conditioning
The basic idea
Mowrer proposed the two-process model based on the behavioural approach to
phobias.
This states that phobias are acquired (learned in the first place) by classical
conditioning and then are maintained because of operant conditioning.
Process 1-Acquisition by classical conditioning
Classical conditioning involves learning to associate something of which we initially
have no fear (called a neutral stimulus) with something that already triggers a fear
response (known as an unconditioned stimulus). An individual would then have a
phobia of this neutral stimulus (it would become a conditioned stimulus).
For example, Watson and Rayner (1920) created a phobia in a 9-month old baby
called ‘Little Albert’. Whenever a rat was presented, they made a loud, frightening
noise by banging an iron bar close to Albert’s ear. This noise is an unconditioned
stimulus (UCS) which produces an unconditioned response (UCR) of fear.
When the rat (a neutral stimulus, NS i.e. one that Albert showed no response to)
and unconditioned stimulus are encountered close together in time, the NS
becomes associated with the UCS and both now produce a fear response-Albert
became frightened when he saw a rat.
The rat is now a learned or conditioned stimulus (CS) that produces a conditioned
response (CR).
This conditioning then generalised to similar objects. They tested Albert by
