phobias

• phobias

  an anxiety disorder involving persistent fear of an object, place or situation which is disproportional to the threat of danger posed by the object of fear
• Classical conditioning

  Develops phobia
• Operant conditioning

  Maintains phobia
• Operant conditioning process model


  1. Phobias are learnt/increased through classical conditioning

  2. We learn to fear certain things

  3. Avoidance behaviours serve to reinforce our phobia
• Behavioural approach


  • All of our behaviour, including phobias, is learned
  • Behaviour is a result of our environment and then our experiences within it
• Phobia example


  • Fear of dogs
  • Caused by negative experience with dogs
• Phobia development

  • Neutral stimulus becomes associated with fear (classical conditioning)
  • Neutral stimulus then becomes a conditioned stimulus leading to a conditioned response (fear)
• Classical conditioning process

  1. Neutral stimulus (NS)

  2. Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

  3. Unconditioned response (UCR)

  4. Conditioned stimulus (CS)

  5. Conditioned response (CR)
• Phobias are maintained once they have been learned via classical conditioning
• Systematic desensitisation


  Treatment of phobias based on the idea that phobias are learned via classical conditioning, therefore they can be 'unlearned'
• Systematic desensitisation process


  1. Anxiety hierarchy created

  2. Relaxation techniques used

  3. Exposure to phobic stimulus while relaxed
• Before systematic desensitisation

  Phobic stimulus leads to fear
• During systematic desensitisation


  Phobic stimulus leads to relaxation, replacing fear
• After systematic desensitisation


  Phobic stimulus leads to relaxation
• Flooding


  Treatment of phobias based on similar principles as systematic desensitisation, viewing phobias as learned and therefore able to be 'unlearned'
• Flooding process

  1. Individual is exposed to feared stimulus in one long session

  2. Continues until patient is fully relaxed
• Before flooding

  Phobic stimulus leads to fear
• During flooding

  Phobic stimulus leads to relaxation, replacing fear
• After flooding

  Phobic stimulus leads to relaxation
• strengths of behavioural approach to explaining phobias

  • supportive research (Watson and Rayner, DiNardo et al, munjack)
  • Practical applications (systematic desensitisation)
• Watson and Rayner

  little Albert experiment - he learnt to associate a white rat (and then all fluffy things ) with a loud cleaning noise that he feared, showing that phobias can be learnt through association

  however this experiment lacks ecological validity and we only experience two stimuli together once rather than a number of times
• DiNardo et al

  found that over 60% of people with a fear of dogs could relate their fear to a particular frightening experience
• munjack

  found that half of people with a driving phobia could relate their phobia to a frightening or traumatic experience in a car, such as an accident
• limitations of behavioural approach to explaining phobias

  • ignores the role that evolution plays in phobias (bouton, seligman)
  • simplistic explanation
• bouton


  Evolutionary factors probably have an important role in phobias. we easily acquire phobias that have been a danger to us in the past e.g. snakes or the dark
• seligman


  called this biological pre preparedness an innate predispositionto acquire certain factors. rare to fear guns that are more likely to harm us but because they are recent we are not biologically prepared to learn fear responses to them
• Systematic desensitisation


  A treatment of phobias that includes relaxation and use of hierarchy
• Systematic desensitisation


  1. Anxiety hierarchy created by patient and therapist

  2. Relaxation techniques learned by patient (e.g. breathing, meditation, imagery)

  3. Exposure to phobic stimulus while in a relaxed state
• Reciprocal inhibition


  It is impossible to feel both fear and relaxation at the same time (as they are opposing feelings), so the aim is that relaxation prevents the fear
• Counter conditioning


  The conditioned fear response to the conditioned stimulus changes to a learned response of relaxation
• Systematic desensitisation


  • Based on the idea that phobias are lowered via classical conditioning, therefore as they are learnt they can also be 'unlearnt'
  • Aims to replace feelings of fear with feelings of relaxation
• Flooding


  A treatment of phobias that simultaneously confronts the fear
• Flooding


  • Views phobias as being learnt through association and can therefore also be unlearnt
  • Aims to replace feelings of fear with feelings of relaxation
  • Rather than gradually exposing the individual, the individual is exposed to the feared stimuli in one long session
• During flooding


  The phobic stimuli is experienced without the UCS and so the patient stops feeling the CR (the fear) and it is replaced with a new CR (relaxation)
• It is not possible to experience opposite responses (fear and relaxation) at the same time
• Through therapy, relaxation becomes the dominant response
• strengths of systematic desensitisation

  • shown to be effective (Gilroy et al 2003)
  • more ethical than flooding
• limitations of systematic desensitisation

  • does not consider symptom substitution
  • not suitable for all phobias
• Gilroy et al


  42 patients with a spider phobia at 3 and 33 months with relaxation ad exposure were less fearful than those who just had relaxation
• strengths of flooding

  • treat a wide range of phobias (rothbaum et al 2000)
  • cost effective as is quicker