Behaviourist Explanation

• Mowrer put forward the two-process model: phobias are learned through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning.
• According to Mowrer for a phobia you first go through the initiation phase (phobia caused through classical conditioning) and then the maintenance phase (phobia maintained through operant conditioning, the physical response reinforces the association).
• According to operant conditioning phobias can be negatively reinforced. This is where the behaviour is strengthened because an unpleasant consequence is removed.
• “Little Albert” was an experiment from 1920 by John. B Watson and Rosalie Rayner. About 9 months old they exposed him to stimuli, mainly animals, and he didn’t show fear. Then they hit a metal pipe whilst exposed to a white rat and he cried. After repeating he began to cry after just seeing the rat.
• There are 2 behaviourist therapies: systematic desensitisation, and flooding. Both therapies use classical conditioning to replace the phobia with a new response (relaxation).
• Exposure to phobic stimuli can take one of two forms: in vivo (actual exposure) or in vitro (imaginary exposure).
• Systematic desensitisation uses counter-conditioning to unlearn the maladaptive response to a situation or object by eliciting another response (relaxation). First an anxiety hierarchy is created, then relaxation training is learnt, and then the exposure.
• Flooding exposes the person to the most frightening situation of their phobia immediately instead of gradually. They are still taught relaxation techniques, but without being able to avoid (negatively reinforce) the phobia, they learn it is harmless and extinction occurs.