exposing and treating vid

• The behaviorist approach to explaining and treating phobias involves classical and operant conditioning
• Two process model:

  • Phobias are initially acquired through classical conditioning
  • Phobias are maintained through operant conditioning
• Acquisition of phobias through classical conditioning:

  • Phobic object starts as a neutral stimulus
  • Unconditioned stimulus (e.g. pain of being stung) produces unconditioned fear response
  • Neutral stimulus paired with unconditioned stimulus forms association
  • Neutral stimulus becomes conditioned stimulus, producing fear response on its own
  • Phobias can be generalized to similar stimuli
• Maintenance of phobias through operant conditioning:

  • Person with phobia may try to avoid phobic object and situations
  • Avoidance leads to reduction in anxiety, acting as reinforcement
  • Reinforcement strengthens phobia, making avoidance more likely in the future
• Behaviorist research:

  • Watson's research on Little Albert demonstrated phobias can be acquired through association
  • DiNardo's research showed conditioning events were common in participants with dog phobias, but also in participants with no dog phobia
  • Mendes and Clark found children with a phobia of water had no negative experiences with water, suggesting not all phobias are explained by behaviorism
• Behaviorist approach to treating phobias:

  • Counter conditioning therapies like flooding and systematic desensitization are based on behaviorist principles
  • Both therapies aim to replace fear association with relaxation or calmness
  • Reciprocal inhibition: fear and relaxation are opposite emotions, can't feel both at the same time
• Systematic desensitization:

  • Client taught relaxation techniques
  • Client creates anxiety hierarchy
  • Exposed to feared situations starting from least to most feared
  • Helped to relax at each stage until fear is extinct
• Flooding:

  • Immediate and full exposure to maximum level of phobic stimulus
  • Expected to cause extreme panic response
  • Client not allowed to escape until fear response is exhausted
  • Counter-conditioned when fear response is no longer present
• Evaluation of behaviorist approach to treating phobias:

  • Systematic desensitization preferred by clients as they control progress
  • Flooding may not be suitable for certain individuals
  • Both therapies may not generalize to real-world experiences outside of therapy sessions
  • Drugs are an alternative treatment for phobias, but often not preferred due to temporary nature and side effects
  • Virtual reality exposure therapy has shown significant improvement in treating phobias