9990 · 1.4.2
Explanations of fear-related disorders flashcards
Revision flashcards for Cambridge 9990 Explanations of fear-related disorders (syllabus 1.4.2). Flip, recall, then mark a real past-paper question.
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Mowrer's two-process model?
Stage 1: Phobia acquired by **classical conditioning** (CS–UCS pairing). Stage 2: Maintained by **operant avoidance** — negative reinforcement reduces anxiety.
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Watson & Rayner (1920)?
Little Albert conditioned to fear white rat through pairing with loud noise — supports classical conditioning account of phobias.
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Seligman's preparedness?
Evolutionarily **pre-wired** to fear stimuli that threatened survival (snakes, heights) — explains rapid acquisition and resistance to extinction.
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Öhman (1970s) evidence?
Phobic stimuli (snakes/spiders) elicit faster autonomic responses than neutral stimuli — supports biological preparedness.
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Beck's cognitive account?
**Catastrophising** and threat appraisal bias — anxious individuals overestimate danger and underestimate coping ability.
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Biological factors?
Low GABA reduces inhibition of fear circuits; genetic vulnerability — benzodiazepines enhance GABA, reducing anxiety.
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Two-Process Model
Mowrer's (1960) theory that phobias are acquired by classical conditioning and then maintained by operant conditioning (negative reinforcement through avoidance).
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Biological Preparedness
Seligman's (1971) concept that we are evolutionarily predisposed to rapidly learn fear associations for stimuli that were threatening to our ancestors, like snakes or heights.
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Catastrophising
A cognitive bias where an individual exaggerates a potential threat, irrationally predicting the most severe and negative possible outcome. A key feature in the cognitive explanation of phobias.
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Negative Reinforcement (in phobias)
The process that maintains a phobia. By avoiding the phobic stimulus, the individual removes the unpleasant feeling of anxiety. This rewarding outcome makes the avoidance behaviour more likely to be repeated.
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Stimulus Generalisation (in phobias)
The process where a conditioned fear response to a specific stimulus (e.g., a specific dog) spreads to other, similar stimuli (e.g., all dogs, or even all furry animals).
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What is attentional bias in the context of phobias?
A cognitive bias where an individual selectively pays more attention to threatening stimuli (e.g., a snake) than to neutral stimuli. It is often measured using tasks like the dot-probe test and is a key part of the cognitive explanation of phobias.
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How does the dot-probe task measure attentional bias?
It presents two stimuli (one threatening, one neutral) on a screen, which are then replaced by a 'dot'. Faster reaction times to the dot when it replaces the threatening stimulus indicate that attention was already directed to that location, revealing an attentional bias.
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What is a key limitation of the behavioural explanation of phobias?
It struggles to explain why many people have traumatic experiences (e.g., car accidents, dog bites) but do not develop a phobia. This suggests other factors, like cognitive interpretations or biological preparedness, must be involved.