Can classical and operant conditioning account for the introduction of phobias? Classical conditioning involves pairing an unconditioned stimulation with a trained stimulus. The conditioned stimulus then produces a conditioned response. Operant fitness then refers to associations between response as well as the outcome.
The following essay will examine data supporting traditional and operant conditioning as being a cause of phobias.
Other ideas, such as natural and evolutionary, will also be taken into consideration, as conditioning theory can be criticised for a number of reasons. Psychologists have recommended phobias develop as a consequence of health and fitness, and many phobics can remember a unique episode which in turn caused the onset of all their phobia (Freud, 1909, Ost and Hugdahl, 1981). Nevertheless , research suggests it is not necessary for a specific event to occur to modify behaviour. Kirsch et ‘s (2004) analyzed rats within a maze.
These people were left to learn before food was introduced, at which point errors in the rats’ route through the maze were reduced drastically. This suggests the rodents learned to navigate if they were not sturdy for learning, and they produced cognitive maps without reinforcement. This evidence of latent learning suggests learning can occur with no classical health. Davey (1992) also found many phobics do not remember a specific aversive conditioning episode, professing they have experienced their phobia since they could remember.
This kind of suggests their very own phobia may have developed devoid of conditioning. Instead there may be, for instance , a neurological aspect of producing phobias. Particular number of phobias, including for snakes and spiders, which are more prevalent than others. Mineka and Ohman (2002) suggested primates and human beings can quickly connect these things with distressing events since they have evolved to do so, these kinds of objects asked a menace to their forefathers.
To support this kind of evoluntionary theory, Cook and Mineka (1989) exposed monkeys to various objects, and found that they easily acquired new fears of toy dogs and crocodile species, but did not develop anticipation of flowers. They will suggested this is due to they had simply no prior experience of flowers within a frightening show. While this kind of research may well still advise conditioning theory is a element in the development of phobic disorders, as the primates even now learnt to show concern the object, evolution may also be a factor of anxiety development.
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