1. Behaviourism and the Learning Theories
PHOBIAS

2. Spec check!
How learning theories explain the acquisition and maintenance of phobias.
Treatments for phobias based on theories of learning, including …
systematic desensitisation
and one other; flooding (to include implosion therapy)

3. Anxiety disorders and fear
Fear is a fundamentally adaptive reaction to stressors or threats in the environment but…
When fear is disproportionate/mismatched to objective circumstances, it can be classified as ABNORMAL
Fear acts as a warning, but people with anxiety disorders are subject to constant false alarms

4. Phobias
An extreme irrational fear of some specific object or situation
Typically the person will recognise that their reaction is excessive (hence irrational)
Attempts to avoid the feared object/situation at all cost interferes with the persons everyday life/normal functioning and this is what distinguishes a phobia from a fear
People who hide their phobias from others often experience further anxiety, guilt, and shame

5. Different types of Phobia
Agoraphobia
Social phobias
Specific phobias

6. Specific Phobias Can develop at any age
Some phobias more common in children, e.g. dogs, the dark
Others come later in life, e.g. illness and injury, death

7. The DSM criteria
marked and persistent fear of a specific object or situation that is excessive or unreasonable cued by the presence or anticipation of a specific object/situation
exposure to the phobic stimulus almost invariably provokes an immediate anxiety response, e.g. Panic Attack
In children, anxiety may be expressed by crying, tantrums, freezing, or clinging.

8. the person recognizes that the fear is excessive or unreasonable, although this feature may be absent in children
the phobic situation(s) is avoided or else is endured with intense anxiety or distress.
The avoidance, anxious anticipation, or distress in the feared situation(s) interferes significantly with the person's normal routine, occupational (or academic) functioning, or social activities or relationships, or there is marked distress about having the phobia
In individuals under age 18 years, the duration is at least 6 months.

9. Differential Diagnosis
The anxiety, Panic Attacks, or phobic avoidance associated with the specific object or situation are not better accounted for by another mental disorder
such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (e.g., fear of dirt in someone with an obsession about contamination)
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (e.g., avoidance of stimuli associated with a severe stressor)
Separation Anxiety Disorder (e.g., avoidance of school)
Social Phobia (e.g., avoidance of social situations because of fear of embarrassment)
Panic Disorder With Agoraphobia, or Agoraphobia Without History of Panic Disorder.

10. Prevalence & Prognosis
As many as 11% of the population at some time in their lives may have a phobia
In most cases the sufferer recognizes that their feelings and behaviour are irrational and seek assistance in overcoming the problem
Phobias are quite amenable to treatment, and in 90% of cases significant improvement is reported.

11. Little Albert
Remember Little Albert? Explain how he acquired his fear of white rats using the terminology of classical conditioning
Explain the following phobias using the stages of classical conditioning…
Courtney is 35, she has a phobia of the dentist
Sandra is 24; she is phobic of water
Maurice is 17; he is phobic of blood

12. Classical conditioning and phobias
Some problems of this explanation…
Some phobias are much easier to induce in the lab than others
Certain phobias are far more common than others, e.g. spiders
These findings are consistent with the Seligman’s preparedness explanation of phobias
Classical conditioning cannot explain why fears persist even when the CS is no longer ever accompanied by the UCS; why does extinction not occur?

13. Phobias and operant conditioning
Antecedents: Feared object
Behaviour: running away
Consequences? Positive/negative reinforcement
Escape learning/avoidance

14. Learning explanation of phobias
Acquired via Classical conditioning
Maintained via operant conditioning
Mowrer’s two-process theory of phobias (1960)

15. Social Learning Theory
Explain how Courtney, Sandra and Maurice may have acquired their phobias through the processes of social learning theory
e.g. vicarious reinforcement