Evaluation

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Created by
Emily Carroll

Cards (2)

  • STRENGTH of behavioural explanation of phobias: SUPPORTING STUDIES
    • There is evidence for a link between bad experiences and phobias
    • Example: Ad de Jongh et al (2006) found that 73% of people with fear of dental treatment experienced a traumatic experience, mostly involving dentistry. Compared to control group of people with low dental anxiety where only 21% experienced a traumatic event
    • Link: Confirms that the association between stimulus (dentistry) and an unconditioned response (pain) does lead to the development of the phobia
  • WEAKNESS of behavioural explanation of phobias: CANNOT explain all the characteristics of phobias
    • Example: Emotional characteristics such as feelings of anxiety and panic, and cognitive characteristics such as when a person recognises their fear is excessive and unreasonable cannot be observed - therefore not explained by the two process model (geared towards explaining behaviour)
    • Link: Only useful in explaining avoidance behaviour, but doesn't offer adequate explanation of emotional and cognitive symptoms, so does not completely explain symptoms of phobias