2-process model

• ao1


  This approach suggests that all phobias are learnt from the environment. CC (clasical conditioning) explains the acquisition of a phobia and operant conditioning - phobias are negatively reinforced where a behaviour is strengthened because an unpleasent consequence is removed for example if a person with a phobia of spiders sees one in their bathroom they might avoid it by using a different one. This reduces a persons anxiety and so negatively reinforces their behaviour making the person more likely to continue avoiding spiders, thus maintaining their phobia.
• strength- suported by the little albert case

  Watson and raynor demonstrated the process of classical conditioning in the formation of a phobia little albert who was conditioned to fear white rats. This shows that classical conditioning is involved in aquiring phobias and generalisation can occur to other phobic stimuli

  A-however since this was a case study it's difficult to generalise the other findings to other children or even adults

  k- This shows the aquirement of a phobia.
• strength : aplication to therapy

  These ideas have been used todevelop treatments like flooding/systematic desentisation helps people unlearn their fears. While flooding prevents people from avoiding their phobias and stops the negative reinforcement from taking place

  k-These treatments have been succesfully used to treat people which shows that it has real life aplication
• weakness: not a complete explanation of phobias

  bouton says that evolutionary factors play a role in phobias, especially the avoidance of a stimulus eg) snakes could've caused pain or death to are ancestors

  k-This shows that are different explanations and that the two process model may not be completely true
• another weakness is that there are cognitive factors that explain why we develop phobias

  Di-Nardo found that 1/2 the people who had a traumatic experience with a dog developed that phobia. If the 2 process model was true than we should see phobias in all these people because of the conditioning

  k-therefore, This faulty thinking links to a cognitive explanation of phobias may be due to catastrophising so we should consider other approaches