The behavioural approach to explaining phobias

• Two-process model


  Proposed by Orval Hobart Mower (1960) to explain how phobias are acquired and maintained
• Behavioural approach


  • Emphasises the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour
  • Focuses on behaviour - what we can see
  • Explains the panic, avoidance and endurance aspects of phobias rather than the cognitive and emotional aspects
• Classical conditioning


  Learning to associate something of which we initially have no fear (called a neutral stimulus) with something that already triggers a fear response (known as an unconditioned stimulus)
• John Watson and Rosalie Rayner (1920) created a phobia in a 9-month-old baby called Little Albert
• Giving Albert a phobia


  1. Presenting the rat (neutral stimulus, NS)

  2. Making a loud, frightening noise (unconditioned stimulus, )

  3. UCS creates an unconditioned response (UCR) of fear

  4. NS becomes associated with UCS

  5. NS (now conditioned stimulus, CS) produces a conditioned response (CR) of fear
• Generalization of conditioning


  1. Researchers showed Albert other furry objects

  2. Albert displayed distress at the sight of all of these
• Maintenance by operant conditioning

  1. Responses acquired by classical conditioning usually tend to decline over time

  2. Phobias are often long-lasting

  3. Operant conditioning takes place when our behaviour is reinforced (rewarded) or punished

  4. Reinforcement tends to increase the frequency of a behaviour

  5. Negative reinforcement - individual avoids a situation that is unpleasant

  6. Positive reinforcement - desirable consequence, behaviour will be repeated

  7. Avoiding a phobic stimulus successfully escapes the fear and anxiety

  8. Reduction in fear reinforces the avoidance behaviour, so the phobia is maintained
• Operant conditioning


  Our behaviour is reinforced (rewarded) or punished
• strength of the two process model

  • Evidence for a link between bad experiences and phobia.

  • Jonah did a study and found that 72% of people with a fear of dental treatment has experienced a traumatic experience.

  • This can be compared to a control group of people with low dental anxiety where only 21% had experienced, a traumatic event.

  • confirms association between stimulus and an unconditioned response lead to the development of a phobia.
• limitation of the two process model


  • Not all phobias follow a bad experience

  • Common phobias, such as snake, phobias occur in populations, were very few people have any experience of snakes, let alone traumatic experiences.

  • Means that association between phobias and frightening experiences, is not as strong as we expect.