Critically evaluate associative learning accounts of the acquisition of phobias

Résumé du document

Critical evaluation of the cognitive approach to the acquisition of phobias, including an extensive list of references.

Extraits

[...] Considering this, it may be argued that the most important factor to study when studying an individual's phobia is to pin point the exact moment a fear arose, in order to study any potential effects of latent inhibition, as well as minding for issues that occur when studying using retrospect. References American Psychiatric Association (2013), Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders Ed.). Washington, DC. Askew, C. & Field, A.P. (2007) Vicarious learning and the development of fears in childhood. Behaviour Research and Therapy 2616-2627 Bandura, Ross, D. [...]

[...] The final pathway of Rachman's fear acquisition model is learning through instruction. In these cases, showing some similarity to vicarious learning, an individual does not acquire fear through direct experience, but rather through information provided by another. These fears are more likely to be long lasting and chronic when the fearful information is provided by an `influential source of information', such as a child's parent (Merckelbach and Muris, 1997). It has also commonly been found that children who have claimed to have always been afraid of a stimulus, for example in the study by Merckelbach, Muris and Schouten (1996), who found that nearly half of the children interviewed about their phobic origins using the Phobic Origins Questionnaire (Ost and Hugdahl, 1981) claimed that these fears had always been present, leading the researchers to conclude that information relating to these phobias was most likely passed down to the children through an influential information pathway, such as their mothers. [...]

[...] Medical Science Research - 961 Davey, G.C.L (1989) Dental phobias and anxieties: Evidence for conditioning processes in the acquisition and modulation of a learned fear. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 51-58 Dymond, S. & Dunsmoor, J.E. (2015) Fear Generalization in Humans: Systematic Review and Implications for Anxiety Disorder Research. Behavior Therapy, 561-582 Graham, J. & Gaffan, E.A. (1997) Fear of water in children and adults: Etiology and familial effects. Behaviour Research and Therapy pp. 91-108 Hygge, S. & Ohman, A. [...]

[...] From this hypothesis, one may criticise that stating that only one form of associative learning is an adequate explanation for the acquisition of phobias is deterministic, and does not give a complete account of how these phobias develop. Viewing at this pathway from an alternative perspective, Graham and Gaffan (1997) note that the model can also be used as an explanation for fear acquisition by noting that non-fearful behaviour can also arise. In their study, they found that first born children were much more likely to have a fear of water than younger children, as the younger children have had the opportunity to observe the older children in non-traumatic situations involving water, and therefore see that there is nothing to fear, and do not make a negative association between water and trauma. [...]

[...] In the case of Little Albert, this was done repeatedly with a white rat, causing Albert to eventually fear the rat, as he associated it with the loud, unpleasant noise. Albert then went on to fear various other non-fearful stimulus that were similar in appearance to the white rat, such as clouds or white beards, showing that classical conditioning can not only be held accountable for the attainment of phobias, but also as a source for fear generalisation. This is the phenomena in which stimuli with similar cues to the original aversive stimulus cause a fear response in the individual (Dymond and Dunsmoor, 2015). [...]