Behavioural approach to explain and treat phobias

• What are the key assumptions of the behavioural approach to explaining phobias?

  -All phobias are learnt as opposed to being biological

  -Phobias are learned through the processes of conditioning

  -Classical conditioning suggests phobias are learned through association of two stimuli being paired together

  -Operant conditioning suggests phobias are learned through reinforcement of behaviour including positive and negative reinforcement
• Explain the two-process model?

  Mowrer (1947)

  • Stage 1 = initiation (why phobias begin in the first place)
  • Stage 2 = maintenance (why phobias continue)
  • Initiation uses classical conditioning
  • Maintenance uses operant conditioning
• Use classical conditioning to explain Little Albert

  Before:

  • Striking a bar (UCS) -> Fear (UCR)
  • White rat (NS) -> No response

  During:

  • Striking a bar (UCS) + White rat (NS) -> Fear (UCR)

  After:

  • White rat (CS) -> Fear (CR)
• Explain operant conditioning continuing phobias

  Behaviour towards the phobic stimulus includes avoidance. Avoiding the phobic stimulus becomes a behaviour which is repeated as it is rewarding because it reduces anxiety and fear. Therefore, avoidance acts as negative reinforcement because it removes the unpleasant situation.
• Explain a strength of the two-process model

  Supporting evidence for phobias being learnt through classical conditioning. For example, Watson and Rayner's experiment on Little Albert using classical conditioning to create a phobia of white rats which was then generalised to similar objects.
• What are the weaknesses of the two-process model?

  Contradictory evidence that phobias are learnt

  Alternative explanations of biological preparedness can explain the initiation of phobias

  The explanation is accused of being reductionist
• What are the key assumptions of the behavioural approach to treating phobias?

  -Phobias can be treated using the principles of classical conditioning

  -Counter conditioning replaces the learnt feared response with a relaxation response

  -The process of counter conditioning can occur through a:

  • Slow process of gradual exposure - Systematic desensitisation
  • Intense exposure - Flooding
• What is meant by reciprocal inhibition?

  It is not possible to be relaxed and afraid at the same time
• Explain systematic desensitisation

  Wolpe (1958)

  • Learn that their phobic stimulus poses no threat by gradually being exposed to it
  • A form of counter-conditioning
  • Patients are taught to associate the phobic stimulus with the new response of relaxation instead of fear
  • Their anxiety and fear are reduced and they are "desensitised"
  • Usually requires 4-12 sessions depending on the severit
• Describe the process of systematic desensitisation

  -The patients are taught relaxation techniques

  -The patient and therapist construct a fear hierarchy together

  • At the bottom is what the patient would feel most comfortable with regarding the phobic situation
  • This builds up gradually to what creates the most fear and anxiety

  -The patient is gradually exposed to each scenario in the hierarchy either through:

  • Imagining the situation (In Vitro)
  • Actual physical exposure (In Vivo)
• What are the strengths of systematic desensitisation?

  Could be considered the most effective treatment of phobias

  Relatively fast and easy to administer

  More ethical and preferable to flooding
• What is a weakness of systematic desensitisation?

  Only appropriate for phobias developed through personal experience and not for those that have an evolutionary basis
• Describe the process of flooding

  Instead of gradual exposure to a phobic stimulus, flooding involves forced and prolonged exposure to the actual fear stimulus in one session

  • Fear response will activate the Sympathetic branch of the Autonomic nervous system to release adrenaline
  • This causes an increase in heart rate and breathing
  • Once bodily arousal has been reached, the Parasympathetic branch will reverse these effects and adrenaline levels will decrease
• What is a strength of flooding?

  More effective and quicker than systematic desensitisation, the treatment only takes one session so is more cost effective
• What is a weakness of flooding?

  It can be a highly traumatic procedure and many do not complete it, meaning the phobia can be made worse which has ethical implications
• What is a weakness of both systematic desensitisation and flooding?

  Likely to produce symptom substitution, they only work by removing the symptoms and don't address the actual cause of the disorder. This means that it does not cure the underlying cause