phobias

• cognitive characteristics

  • irrational thinking
  • resistance to logic
  • cognitive distortion
  • negative perceptions.
• emotional characteristics

  • fear
  • anxiety
  • panic (attacks) caused by exposure to certain situation
• behavioural characteristics

  • avoidance
  • freezing on the spot
  • fainting
  • fight or flight response.
• phobias learned through CC and maintained through OC
• CC - making an association between an unconditioned stimulus and a neutral stimulus over time
• CC - acquisition of phobia:

  UCS -> UCR

  NS + over time = CS -> CR
• CC - the neutral stimulus is paired with the unconditioned stimulus creating a conditioned response
• CC - UCS is paired with the NS over time creating a conditioned response.
• OC - reinforcement is used to strengthen a behaviour making it more likely to occur again
• OC - maintenance of phobia

  negative reinforcement = - anxiety

  positive reinforcement = + relief
• ✔️ led to development of successful therapies - flooding, systematic desensitisation
• ✔️ little albert - scared of all furry things after the rat
• X environmental reductionism
• X seligman suggest evolutionary factors can create a preparedness to potential danger, causing fears
• X not all phobias are created from negative experiences