Phobia explanaition

• The Behavioural Approach to Phobias

  According to the behavioural approach, people develop phobias due to a combination of classical and operant conditioning. This is known as the two-process model.
• Mowrer - Two-process model


  • Classical conditioning = initial learning, associating a previously neutral stimulus with fear.
  • Operant conditioning = reinforces the fear because every time someone avoids the feared stimulus, they feel calmer.
• Watson + Rayner - Little Albert


  • An experiment on an 11-month old
  • Albert saw an animal and simultaneously heard a loud scary noise; through classical conditioning he learned to fear the animal that he had previously liked.
• Good explanatory power


  • can explain the acquisition and maintenance of phobias
  • practical benefits of systematic desensitization and flooding.
  • exposing the patient to the phobic stimulus because this prevents the negative reinforcement of avoidance behaviour = stops irrational response
• Buck - Alt explanation for avoidance behaviour

  safety is a greater motivator for avoidance behaviour, rather than simply avoiding the anxiety associated with the phobic stimulus.
• Seligman - Evolutionary explanaition


  • stimuli that would have posed a threat to our evolutionary ancestors (e.g. fire or deep water)
  • fear increases the likelihood of survival and reproduction = selective evolutionary advantage.
  • Explains phobias that have no traumatic cause
• Ost et al (1991) - retrospective study (blood and needle phobias)


  asked phobics to complete a questionnaire on their memories of the possible origins of their phobias.

  • 52% of the patients attributed the onset of their phobias to conditioning experiences
  • 24% recalled vicarious experiences,
• DiNardo (1988) - dog bite

  • not everyone who is bitten by a dog develops a fear of dogs
  • Some phobias can be explained by evolution. It makes sense to be afraid of heights, fire, spiders etc. as they are dangerous and avoiding them helps us survive.
• Barlow & Durand (1995) - driving phobia

  50% of people with a phobia for driving could remember a specific incident (car accident) that had triggered their fear, again supporting the theory that phobias are learned.

  • However, about 50% of people with phobias cannot recall a specific event that triggered the fear.