AO3

• a strength is real-world application because it is used in exposure therapies. This is because a phobia becomes extinct after it is unlearnt. Once the avoidence behaviour is prevented it is ceased to be rienforced. this shows the value of the two-process model because it identifies means of treating phobias
• a weakness is that it is not a hollistic approach as it does not look at the cogntive aspects of phobias, despite it playing a large role for example irrational thoughts. It explains the avoidence but not the cognitive element. This means that the two-process model cannot be used as a full explaination to phobias as it doesn't fully explain the symptoms
• a strength is that there is evidence for the link between bad experiences and phobias - little albert
• however, not all phobias occur after a bad experience. For example, people in the UK have snake phobias even though they are not common. This means that the association between phobias and bad experiences are more limited than we would expect if the behavioural theories provided a complete explaination
• a alternative explaination would be prepardness, this is because we have evolved to be afraid as fight or flight responses aid our survival. This is only relevant to things present in our evolutionary past eg. snakes, spiders. This is supported by a study by Ohman. He found that fewer shocks given to participants had to be given to fear relevent stimuli