A phobia is an irrational fear to something. Phobias are a common thing however they can be quite unusual such as trypophobia (the fear of holes). They can be acquired in many ways one of the most famous explanations being that of classical conditioning.
Classical conditioning is a form of learning in which a new involuntary response is learned as a result of two stimuli being presented at the same time. The theory was created by Ivan Pavlov in 1902 where he applied it to animals.
It involves a neutral stimulus being paired with an unconditioned stimulus that will cause a reaction, this triggers an involuntary bodily response which Is known as an unconditioned response. This needs to be repeated a few times in order for the previously neutral stimulus to become the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned response to become the conditioned response for it. Therefore, the once neutral stimulus becomes associated with the new conditioned response.
Watson and Rayner (1920) were one of the first behaviourist psychologists to use classical conditioning as a means to explain phobias in humans. Their aim was to see if there was any possibility of inducing fear of a previously-neutral stimulus through the use of classical conditioning.
Their case …show more content…
The reason this is an issue is because it means that we cannot be certain that conditioning solely caused the fear, there could have been other reasons such as it could be the repeated exposure to a strange object (the rat) that caused the fear. This leads to the case study lacking internal validity. A control group would strengthen the entire case study. The study also lacks external validity as it was all based in a laboratory setting rather than in a real life setting which creates the question as to whether or not Albert would have reacted the same way in environments he is used to such as the hospital where he spent most of his
Classical conditioning is a form of learning in which a new involuntary response is learned as a result of two stimuli being presented at the same time. The theory was created by Ivan Pavlov in 1902 where he applied it to animals.
It involves a neutral stimulus being paired with an unconditioned stimulus that will cause a reaction, this triggers an involuntary bodily response which Is known as an unconditioned response. This needs to be repeated a few times in order for the previously neutral stimulus to become the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned response to become the conditioned response for it. Therefore, the once neutral stimulus becomes associated with the new conditioned response.
Watson and Rayner (1920) were one of the first behaviourist psychologists to use classical conditioning as a means to explain phobias in humans. Their aim was to see if there was any possibility of inducing fear of a previously-neutral stimulus through the use of classical conditioning.
Their case …show more content…
The reason this is an issue is because it means that we cannot be certain that conditioning solely caused the fear, there could have been other reasons such as it could be the repeated exposure to a strange object (the rat) that caused the fear. This leads to the case study lacking internal validity. A control group would strengthen the entire case study. The study also lacks external validity as it was all based in a laboratory setting rather than in a real life setting which creates the question as to whether or not Albert would have reacted the same way in environments he is used to such as the hospital where he spent most of his