behavioural approach to explaining phobias

• two-process model


  • Behaviourists see all behaviour (including phobias) as learnt via experience. In the two-process model Mower (1960) suggests that phobias are first acquired (learned) via association (classical conditioning), and then maintained via reinforcement (operant conditioning).
• acquisition of a phobia : classical conditioning

  • phobic objects are at first neutral stimulus, causing neutral response/ no response
  • unconditioned stimulus produces and unconditioned fear response. (automatic)
  • association is formed when neutral stimulus is paired with unconditioned stimulus. object becomes conditioned stimulus, producing conditioned response (fear)
  • This fear will then be passed onto other stimuli similar to the conditioned stimuli via generalisation (i.e: fear of spiders generalised to all insects).
• maintenance of a phobia: operant conditioning

  • person with phobia is aware of phobia and will try to avoid phobic object and any situations that put them in contact with it
  • avoidance behaviour links to a reduction in anxiety, which is a pleasant sensation which acts as a negative reinforcement
  • this reinforcement strengthens the phobia, making the person more likely to avoid the phobic object in the future
• (strength) research support

  Watson and Rayner:

  •  used a child called little Albert to demonstrate how phobias could be induced in a child. They did this by making a loud noise (by hitting a metal bar behind the child’s head) when presenting a white rat to the child, and were able to generalise this fear to other white fluffy objects such as a rabbit.
  • This study acts as evidence for the Two-process model via proving how acquisition and generalisation of phobias work, however it was a highly unethical study as it caused its participant (little Albert) emotional harm.
• (weakness) alternative explanation

  • Phobias of snakes, birds, and dogs had an evolutionary origin as our very early ancestors could have been hunted/attacked by these creatures. This could explain why these are common phobias, when phobias to objects that are more dangerous in the modern day (i.e: knives, cars) are rare. This is the evolutionary biological theory, however this nature explanation goes against the nurture explanation of the behavioural approach.
• (strength) practical application

  • Behaviourist theories of phobia formation and maintenance have lead to effective counter-conditioning treatments such as flooding and systematic desensitisation (see below), suggests the behaviourist principles thet
• (strength) practical application

  • Behaviourist theories of phobia formation and maintenance have lead to effective counter-conditioning treatments such as flooding and systematic desensitisation (see below), since these are effective it suggests the behaviourist principles they are based on are valid