Behaviourism and the Learning Theories PHOBIAS Spec check

Behaviourism and the Learning Theories PHOBIAS

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)

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

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

Agoraphobia • Most common phobias and accounts for 60% of all cases • More common in women than men (other phobias are fairly equally divided) • Primary fear: Leaving the safety and security of home/companions • Secondary fear: Fear of public places (this is usually the part the person with agoraphobia is most aware of)

A) Anxiety about being in places or situations from which escape might be difficult (or embarrassing) or in which help may not be available in the event of having an unexpected or situationally predisposed Panic Attack or panic-like symptoms Agoraphobic fears typically involve characteristic clusters of situations that include being outside the home alone; being in a crowd, or standing in a line; being on a bridge; and traveling in a bus, train, or automobile B) The situations are avoided (e. g. , travel is restricted) or else are endured with marked distress or with anxiety about having a Panic Attack or panic-like symptoms, or require the presence of a companion

Social Phobias

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

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. • 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.

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.

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.

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 6, she has a phobia of needles/injections – Sandra is 24; she is phobic of water – Maurice is 17; he is phobic of blood

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 dies extinction not occur?

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

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

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

Evaluating the Learning Explanations of Phobias