Sports Psychology Psych Final Project

PSYCHOLOGY FINAL PROJECT 7

Psychology Final Project: The Treatment of Phobias Using Classical Conditioning

The Treatment of Phobias Using Classical Conditioning

Introduction

There are a wide range of ideas and concepts in psychology that have been widely explored in the past. Most of these have practical implications and application in real-life settings. As a matter of fact, thanks to psychology, we now have better understanding of not only ourselves but also of other people, i.e. with regard to what informs certain behaviors and decisions, etc. In this text, I concern myself with phobias. This is a topic that I would like to learn more about owing to the fact that phobias happen to be one of the most misunderstood and least explored anxiety disorders. In addition to defining phobias and their presenting features, this text will look into how classical conditioning could be used in the treatment of the said anxiety disorder.

Discussion

What are phobias?

From the onset, it would be prudent to note that as the American Psychological Association – APA (2022) points out, phobia happens to be one type of anxiety disorder. Some of the other anxiety disorders that have been identified by the author in this case are inclusive of, but they are not limited to; separation anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), etc. As an anxiety disorder, phobia does not have an assigned definition. What this means is that various definitions have been floated in the past in an attempt to describe the same. According to Brazier (2020), a phobia could be conceptualized as “a type of anxiety disorder that causes an individual to experience extreme, irrational fear about a situation, living creature, place, or object.” This is the definition of phobia that will be embraced in this text. It therefore follows that phobia could assume a wide variety of forms. Some of the more common types of phobias that persons experience could be inclusive of extreme fear of certain animals such as spiders, extreme fear of certain situations such as an enclosed space, extreme fear of certain items such as sharp objects, extreme fear of heights or water, etc.

For a person to be said to be suffering from a phobia, they ought to exhibit a number of symptoms. Wodele (2019) points out that a panic attack happens to be the most disabling as well as common symptom of a phobia. As the author further points out, a panic attack has certain features which could include; profuse sweating, shaking and trembling, elevated blood pressure, stomach upset, dry mouth, shortness of breath, racing heart, etc. These symptoms could be experienced by a person following contact with the object (or experience of the situation) that they possess an irrational fear of. The fear exhibited in this case is deemed irrational owing to the fact that while a normal individual may fear an animal that is likely to harm them (such as a snake or spider), an individual suffering from this particular social anxiety is likely to exhibit intense fear of mere pictures of the said animals. Further, as the American Psychological Association (2022) points out, persons with certain phobias could also exhibit an extreme fear of items, situations or animals that are essentially harmless. A good example of this is when a person demonstrates excessive fear of common household items such as a broom, lamp shade, or even flower vase. According to Brazier (2020), phobias could be learned or acquired. More specifically, in the words of the author, phobias “can be caused by a stressful experience, a frightening event, or a parent or household member with a phobia that a child can learn” (Brazier, 2020).

The relevance of treating a phobia cannot be overstated. This is more so the case given that they could have an adverse effect on an individual’s quality of life. More specifically, in the words of Wodele (2019), “people with phobias often realize their fear is irrational, but they’re unable to do anything about it... such fears can interfere with work, school, and personal relationships.” There are a number of approaches that are used in the treatment of phobias. According to Brazier (2020), some of the treatment options that have proven effective in the past include the utilization of certain medications (such as antidepressants and beta blockers) and deployment of behavioral therapy (i.e. cognitive behavioral therapy – CBT and exposure therapy) – or a combination of both medications and behavioral therapy.

What is Classical Conditioning?

Classical conditioning has in the past been deployed in various practical settings including, but not limited to, pet training, advertising, and resolution of mental health issues. In basic terms, classical conditioning could be described as a theory that seeks to advance the observation to the effect that learning does also occur by association (Beard, 2021). Beard (2021) indicates that this particular phenomenon was first suggested by Ivan Pavlov – a psychologist from Russia. Classical conditioning, in more specific terms, “refers to learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus (e.g. a tone) becomes associated with a stimulus (e.g. food) that naturally produces a behavior... after the association is learned, the previously neutral stimulus is sufficient to produce the behavior” (e-text – Introduction to Psychology, p. 275). What this means is that the learning of a new behavior could take place when a neutral stimulus is in some way connected with a positive stimulus. In the Pavlov experiment, the positive stimulus was food whereas the neutral stimulus was the sound of a bell. In this case, the sound of the bell resulted in the expectation of food. The conditioned response on this front happens to be the learned behavior. The unconditioned response could, in this case, be processes deemed normal such as the tendency to salivate when the aroma of food hits the nostrils. It should be noted that there is indeed an evolutionary benefit to conditioning (e-text – Introduction to Psychology). This, according to the authors, is more so the case given that organisms are in this case equipped to prepare for various events – good or bad.

Treatment of Phobias Using Classical Conditioning

Various authors have in the past indicated that classical conditioning does play a role in the development of phobia. For instance, classical conditioning has been used by clinical psychologists to help describe how phobia develops (e-text – Introduction to Psychology). According to the authors, if an individual experiences a certain strong emotion that they identify as negative while driving a vehicle, they may end up associating the driving of a vehicle with the said strong emotion (e-text – Introduction to Psychology). In this case, the act of driving a car is the neutral event that ends up turning into a conditioned stimulus that elicits the strong negative emotion.

It is important to note that as Elmer (2020) indicates, “just as classical conditioning may have played a part in ‘learning’ that phobia, it can also help treat it by counterconditioning.” According to the author, when an individual is exposed to the scenario or item that triggers the strong irrational fear several times without the outcome considered negative, they could end up unlearning the fear (Elmer, 2020). For instance, if the sight or use of an elevator induces a panic attack in person A, then the fear of elevators could be unlearned over time if the said person uses the elevator multiple times without experiencing panic. This happens because person A no longer links (or associates) an elevator with panic. This could be achieved via the utilization of the counterconditioning approach.