Behavioural explaining of phobias

• The behavioural approach emphasises the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour. It focuses on behaviour we can see, so it is geared towards explaining the behavioural characteristics of phobias, rather than the emotional and cognitive characteristics. Mower proposed the two process model to explain phobias.
• This argues that phobias are acquired by association of two stimuli via classical conditioning, as illustrated by Watson and Rayner. Their study involved a baby called 'Little Albert'. Before conditioning, the neutral stimulus which initially elicits no response of fear (white rat) and the unconditioned stimulus that (loud bang) elicits an innate reflex or response which is fear (unconditioned response). During conditioning the neutral and unconditioned stimulus are repeatedly paired together until an association is formed between the two stimuli.
• Continuing method: After conditioning, when the white rat (now the conditioned stimulus) is presented to Albert he will be fearful (conditioned response) as he has been conditioned to associate the white rat with the loud bang. Now Little Albert has developed a phobia of white rats. This was generalised to similar white objects/ animals.
• However classical conditioning cannot explain why individuals continue to be tearful, nor does it explain why one avoids the phobic stimulus but operant conditioning can, according to him. Mower suggested that whenever we avoid a phobic stimulus we successfully escape the fear and anxiety that we would experience if we had remained there, this reduction in fear reinforces the avoidance behaviour (negative reinforcement) and so the phobia is maintained as the individual is likely to continue to avoid the phobic stimulus to avoid an unpleasant situation thus decreasing their anxiety.
• e.g. in this study Avoid white rats that then takes away the anxiety/fear and so is negatively reinforcing the avoidance and fear of the white rat. Therefore you maintain the phobia.
• A strength of the two process model to explain phobias is that it has good explanatory power. For example it explained how phobias could be maintained over many years and this has important implications for therapies because it explains why patients need to be exposed to the phobic stimulus. Once a patient is prevented from practising their avoidance behaviour, the behaviour ceases to be reinforced and so it declines.
• Continuing strength; Gilroy et al, followed up 42 patients who had been treated for arachnophobia in three 45 minute sessions of SD, found that the SD group were less fearful than the control group (treated by relaxation without exposure) at both 3 and 33 months after treatment. These findings suggest that the explanation is useful for creating effective therapies that improve people's lives. Therefore this is a strong support for the two process model as it shows it is externally valid.
• Another limitation of using the behavioural approach to explain phobias is that it suggests that all phobias appear to be the result of anxiety reduction (hence negative reinforcement), which has been proven by evidence not to be true.For example, in more complex phobias such as agoraphobia, there is evidence to suggest that at least some avoidance behaviour appears to be motivated by positive feelings of safety (and in fact positive reinforcement).
• Continuing limitation: Thus in choosing not to leave the house, it is less about avoiding the phobic stimulus to reduce anxiety and more about sticking to where it's safe. This explains why some agoraphobics are able to leave the house with a trusted person with relatively little anxiety but not alone. This clearly is a weakness for using this approach and the two process model to explain all phobias, as findings based upon other phobias are inconsistent as they oppose the idea that avoidance is motivated from anxiety reduction.
• Continuing limitation; So it may not be a completely reliable and valid explanation of phobias.
• The behavioural approach to psychopathology is scientific and its key principals can be measured in an objective way. For example, the phobia developed by Little Albert was clear for all to see and measure, variables could be manipulated and controlled to ensure that Little Albert's phobia development was as a result of a neutral stimulus being associated with an unconditioned response. This is a strength because it allows concepts such as classical conditioning to be demonstrated scientifically and has resulted in a large amount of empirical support for behavioural therapies
• the behavioural approach/two-process model of phobias can be criticised for being deterministic. For example, the two-process model suggests that when an individual experiences a traumatic event, and uses this event to draw an association between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned response, they will go on and develop a phobia. This is a limitation because this theory of phobias suggests that we are programmed by our environmental experiences and ignores individual free will.
• Continuing limitation;(e.g. someone could demonstrate free will by choosing to engage with the stimulus again - similar to falling off of a bike and getting on again, therefore not letting the fear set in.