Behavioural approach to explaining phobias - 2 process model

• Two-process model of phobias:

  • according to the behavioural approach all behaviour is learnt
  • Mower put forward a two-process model, to explain how phobias are learned through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning
• Phobias are learnt through classical conditioning:

  • According to classical conditioning we learn by forming associations between something in the environment and a physical reaction
  • Classical conditioning can be used to explain abnormal behaviour. For example, a phobia can develop because we learn an association between a physical/emotional state and some object.
  • This was demonstrated in the case of little Albert
• Classical conditioning - Little Albert

  • 11 month child introduced to a tame white rat (NS)and showed no fear
  • During experiment, each time Albert reached out to touch the rat the experimenters made a louse noise(UCS) by striking two metal bars together resulting in Albert becoming scared (UCR)
  • Noise startled Albert and he soon became afraid to touch the rat (CR)
  • Experimenters had shown that an association formed between touching the rat and the fear of the noise
• phobias are learnt through operant conditioning:

  • through classical conditioning a phobia is learnt. However, this does not explain why individuals continue to feel fearful, nor does it explain why individuals avoid the feared subject
  • According to operant conditioning, phobias can be negatively reinforced
  • Negative reinforcement is when an unpleasant feeling/situation is removed, making it more likely that the behaviour that led to the unpleasant feeling being removed continues
  • For example, if a person with a phobia purposely avoids something eg a dog
  • Avoidance helps to reduce anxiety
• Operant conditioning:


  • therefore, the behaviour has been negatively reinforced as it had reduced the negative feeling
  • As a result a person will continue to avoid feared thing and maintain their phobia
• AO3:

  • strength of behaviourist approach to explaining phobias is that it has been used to develop effective treatments, including SD and flooding
  • Eg flooding prevents people from avoiding their phobia and stops the negative reinforcement from taking place
  • Consequently, these therapies have been successfully used to treat people with phobias
  • This provides further support for behaviourist explanation in helping those with phobias
• AO3:

  • One limitation of the behaviourist explanation of phobias is that it’s reductionist and overly simplistic.
  • There are cognitive aspects to phobias that cannot be explained in a traditionally behaviourist framework. (e.g. irrational thinking such as being trapped in a lift and thinking ‘I will die’)
  • Therefore, for any explanation of phobias to be valid, it must also consider cognitive influences on phobias.
  • This is especially important as cognitive therapies (CBT) are often more successful in treating phobias than behavioural treatments
• AO3:

  • Another limitation of the two-process model is that a phobia does not always develop after a traumatic incident
  • For example, DiNardo et al. found that not everyone who is bitten by a dog develops a phobia of dogs
  • The diathesis-stress model states we inherit a genetic vulnerability for developing mental disorders, but a disorder will only manifest itself if triggered by a lift event
  • This suggests a dog bite will only lead to a phobia in people with such a vulnerability
• AO3:

  • limitation of the two-process model is that it ignores the role of evolutionary factors in phobias
  • E.g. we easily acquire phobias of things that have been a source of danger in our evolutionary past, e.g. snakes or dark (this is called biological preparedness)
  • We have adapted to fear such things as fearing/avoiding them would have ensured survival for our distant ancestors
• AO3 continued :

  • It is rare to develop fear of cars, perhaps because they have existed recently so we are not biologically prepared to learn fear responses towards them.
  • This means that behavioural explanations alone cannot explain the development of phobias