Behavioural approach to explaining phobias

Phobias What phobias do you have? Do you know of any others? Mind map

Can you guess what any of these rare phobias are: Ablutophobia Bibliophobia Consecotaleophobia Genuphobia Hylophobia Kathisophobia Linonophobia Omphalophobia

Ablutophobia Fear of bathing, washing, or cleaning

Bibliophobia Fear of books

Consecotaleophobia Fear of chopsticks

Genuphobia fear of knees

fear of wood, forest or trees Hylophobia fear of wood, forest or trees

Kathisophobia a fear of sitting down

Linonophobia a fear of string

Omphalophobia fear of bellybuttons

http://phobialist.com

Behaviourist explanation of phobias What may have caused phobias? Behaviourist approach assumes all behaviour is learnt The same basic laws of learning apply to humans and animals So mental illnesses, including phobias are also learnt We learn to fear a certain object or situation

Mowrer (1960) Two-Process Model Proposed that phobias are learned through Classical Conditioning and maintained through Operant Conditioning

Mowrer (1960) Two-Process Model 1. Classical Conditioning Learning to associate an event or situation with fear Little Albert from part 2 from 2mins in How did he react to the rat to begin with? What was he afraid of? How did he become afraid of the rat? Clickview – secret history of brain 2/3 chapter 2, 2 mins

Unconditioned Response Unconditioned Stimulus Neutral Stimulus No response CLANG! Unconditioned Response Unconditioned Stimulus

CLANG!

Conditioned Stimulus Conditioned Response

Neutral Stimulus is any object that does not cause fear Unconditioned Stimulus is any object that causes fear Unconditioned Response is our natural reaction to an unconditioned stimulus (e.g. fear) Conditioned Stimulus is the object we have learned to fear through association Conditioned Response is the reaction (e.g. fear) we have learned to the conditioned stimulus

2. Operant Conditioning Learning through reinforcement If a behaviour is reinforced, it becomes more frequent. Rewarded with a positive consequence (positive reinforcement) Avoidance of an unpleasant consequence (negative reinforcement) If it is punished, it is less likely to be repeated https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-RS80DVvrg

How can operant conditioning explain phobias? If an abnormal behaviour results in a positive consequence then it will be more likely to continue How is the behaviour of “avoidance” rewarded? Anxiety reduces Mowrer argued that whenever we avoid a phobic stimulus we escape the fear & anxiety we would have felt had we stayed. This (negatively) reinforces the avoidance behaviour. Phobia is maintained

Mowrer’s Two Factor theory of phobias (1960) Phobias are acquired through classical conditioning i.e. they are associated with fear through a negative experience e.g. being locked in a cupboard (claustrophobia) and maintained through operant conditioning i.e. avoidance reduces the anxiety

Rat Phobia (Little Albert) Lightening Phobia Acrophobia (heights) Stages Rat =no fear Loud banging = fear Rat + loud banging paired Fear of rat is learned Lightening = no fear Loud Thunder = fear Lightening + thunder paired Fear of lightening is learned Neutral Stimulus Rat Unconditioned Stimulus Loud noise Unconditioned Response Fear Conditioned Stimulus Conditioned Response

Practice Example Jackie’s fear of heights had begun when she  was ten years old. Her parents took her to Paris and as a birthday treat .On her actual birthday her parents had planned a surprise visit to the Eiffel tower  Jackie started to feel unwell before they got there and by the time they came out of the lift and looked at the view she felt sick and dizzy . She felt disorientated and couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel . Her father made matters worse as he was not very sympathetic and blamed her for spoiling everyone’s day. 

Before conditioning….no fear of lightening

Before conditioning….normal fear of thunder

During conditioning…association of lightening with thunder

After conditioning…fear of lightening is learned

Evaluation of the behavioural approach  Supportive evidence There is evidence to support the view that phobias are learnt E.g. little Albert learnt to associate rat with fear Also phobics are likely to report having traumatic experiences with phobic object, situation  Explanatory power Explains how phobias are maintained, not just formed Why is this useful for treatments? – if face fear can remove fear  Practical Applications – read p 146. What treatments are available? How do they apply learning theory? E.g. flooding/systematic desensitisation teaches people to learn to associate object with relaxation Mineka’s monkeys

Weaknesses  Phobias don’t always follow trauma E.g. being in a car crash does not inevitably lead to phobia This theory would predict that such incidents should lead to phobia Similarly, people develop spider phobias without having a bad experience with one This theory would predict that phobias such as this should not develop

 An incomplete explanation of phobias Focuses too much on environmental determinants of behaviour and ignores role of biology/evolution The fact that there are ‘common’ phobias implies there is some role played by evolution. These all relate to threats that have existed for humans for millions of years E.g. many people have traumatic experiences with cars, electricity etc but few people develop phobias of them Appear biologically prepared to develop fears of objects that have had survival value e.g. snakes, heights, creepy crawlies etc Preparedness (Seligman, 1971)

Alternative explanation for avoidance behaviour Agoraphobics are motivated to stay at home in order to maintain the feelings of safety. They don’t avoid leaving the house if accompanied by a trusted friend. Why is this a problem for the “maintenance by operant conditioning theory”? Avoidance not motivated by avoiding anxiety but seeking safety…agoraphobic should not leave house under any circumstance but they can with trusted person

Past paper questions

Q1 a) Use 2 or three key terms Likely content: the idea that phobias are learnt through classical conditioning; fear is acquired when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a frightening event; description of the two-process theory; Phobias maintained through operant conditioning Maximum 1 mark if outline does not refer to fear / phobias.

b) Discuss one limitation with behavioural explanation What’s the limitation? Why is it a limitation? What evidence is there that it is a limitation? explanation cannot account for all phobias; Do not always develop a phobia when we experience a traumatic event fails to account for evidence that phobias may have a biological basis; Up to 2 marks for discussion of the limitation which might include analysis / expansion; counter-argument; use of evidence; reference to alternative explanations. Possible answer: Not all phobias are triggered by a traumatic experience (1), where the initial association (between the phobic object / situation and fear) is formed (1), which suggests that alternative explanations are needed (1).

2 Two colours 1- highlight key terms colour 2 – highlight links to kirsty Credit features of classical and / or operant conditioning (the ‘two process model’) applied to Kirsty’s phobia of balloons. Possible content: •        Kirsty’s phobia has developed through classical conditioning – she has formed an association between the neutral stimulus (balloon) and the response of fear •        the conditioned response is triggered every time she sees a balloon (or hears similar noises) •        her phobia has generalised to situations where balloons might be present, such as parties and weddings, and to similar noises, ‘banging’ and ‘popping’ •        her phobia is maintained through operant conditioning – the relief she feels when avoiding balloons becomes reinforcing.

Activity: How did Mary acquire her phobias? Mary, a married mother of three, was 47 at the time of her first seeing treatment for both claustrophobia and acrophobia. She reported having been intensely afraid of enclosed spaces and of heights since her teens. She remembered having been locked in closets by her older siblings when she was a child; the siblings also confined her under blankets to scare her, and added to her fright by showing her pictures of spiders after releasing her from the blankets. She traced the onset of her claustrophobia to those traumatic incidents, but she had no idea why she was also afraid of heights.

Apply it Read about Zelda p.144 Read about Amina p.144 Use the 2 process model to explain their phobias Extension: http://anxietynetwork.com/content/social-anxiety-case-study

Behavioural/Learning treatments for phobias Based on classical conditioning = assumption is phobias can be unlearned by changing the association from negative fear to positive emotions

Examples Person How does it work How do they make it ethical? Jackie Fear of feathers Treatment: systematic desensitisation Trevor Fear of heights Treatment: flooding Primal Fears (in GCSE folder) part 1 from 2 mins, part 3, 4 & 5 from 2 mins

Flooding What does it involve? How does it work? How do they make it ethical?

Flooding Immediate exposure to very frightening situation Longer sessions (up to 3 hours) Often only 1 needed

How / why does it work?

Evaluating Flooding  COST EFFECTIVE Why is this cheaper than systematic desensitisation?  ETHICALLY PROBLEMATIC How could you argue this?  LESS EFFECTIVE FOR CERTAIN PHOBIAS Can you think of any phobias where this would be difficult or impossible to use?

Systematic desensitisation 1) Anxiety hierarchy What do you think this means? How is it devised? 2) Relaxation What sort of techniques could you use? Why would you do this? 3) Exposure How is the patient exposed in this treatment? When do they move to the next level?

Another example Baked beans phobia! 9 mins 40 in

hierarchy to treat dog phobia

Re-cap What are the three stages of systematic desensitisation? How is it different to flooding?

Evaluating Systematic Desensitisation  EFFECTIVENESS Research: Gilroy et al (2003) (p.147) What two treatments were compared? What was the effect after 3 months and 33 months? What does it show about the treatments? APPROPRIATENESS How could you argue that this is more suitable than flooding for people with anxiety or learning difficulties?  COSTLY Why is this more expensive than flooding?  TIME CONSUMING Why is this more time consuming than flooding?

Gilroy et al (2003) (p.147) What two treatments were compared? Systematic desensitisation & relaxation (control group) – 42 patients What was the effect after 3 months and 33 months? SD group were less fearful What does it show about the treatments? SD more effective than relaxation & long lasting effects

Alternative Learning Explanation: Social Learning Theory May explain phobias in terms of observation of phobia in a role model. Then imitation of the phobia. E.g. My sister was scared of spiders. I observed her fear of spiders (screaming, pointing) and my Mum comforting her. Then imitated it (also screamed pointed when I saw spiders) and my Mum comforted me.

Mediational Processes of Learning Attention Retention Motor Reproduction Motivation Learning Performance

Key Concepts Vicarious reinforcement: reinforcement via witnessing someone else being reinforced. Affects the likelihood of imitation via consideration of consequences for ourselves. Identification: occurs when a person changes features of themselves to be more like someone else (role models) Modelling: The actual reproduction of a role model’s behaviour