The behaviourist explanation of mental illness

Classical conditioning explanation of phobias

• Watson and Raynor outlined the case of Little Albert who was made phobic of rats, despite previously having no fear of them.

• This was done by repeated pairings of a loud noise with a white rat.

• This was generalised to other white things like rabbits or father christmas’ beard.

• A phobia could be explained by repeatedly associating a stimulus with an unpleasant response e.g. developing a fear of flying after several turbulent flights, extending to fear of e.g. trains

Operant conditioning explanation of phobias

Positive reinforcement

• Show some signs of anxiety when seeing a large dog, and the comfort/attention from parent is then taken as a reward of this behaviour.

• Next time you see a large dog, you show the feelings of anxiety to gain the reward of comfort again.

Negative reinforcement

• Someone with a lift phobia towards lift doors and experiences anxiety. If they walk away, this removes the feelings of anxiety and so encourages them to take the stairs (not lift) again next time, and the anxiety of lifts builds.

• Or you avoid flying due to anxiety, it becomes harder to fly as you dont want to bring the anxiety back to spoil your holiday.

Punishment (negative/positive)

• As a child, you might be unsure about peas. If your parent said you couldn’t have pudding if you didnt eat them, could you learn to fear those peas as association with punishment (negative).

• Or punished by being given more peas (positive).

Social learning theory explanation of phobias

If a child sees a significant adult with a phobia of a particular animal, they might imitate this behaviour (and reinforce anxiety).

.

.