Classical Conditioning Analysis

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In general, the fear of something or a phobia refers to “extreme, irrational fears” (Powell, Honey, & Symbaluk, 2013, p. 190). Phobias are developed through a process called classical conditioning. Classical conditioning involves “a process in which one stimulus that does not elicit a certain response…associated with a second stimulus [and then results] the first stimulus also comes to elicit a response” (Powell et al., 2013, pp. 109-110). The process of classical conditioning is as follows using Pavlov’s salivation experiment using a dog (Powell et al., 2013, p. 112). Before conditioning, when a bowl of dogfood is presented the dog would “automatically” salivate at the mouth “in response to food” (Powell et al., 2013, p. 112). This response …show more content…

Because of observational learning “[fear is] acquired by observing fearful responses displayed by others” (Mineka, 1987; Powell et al., 2013, p. 196). For example, if I witness my mother being fearful towards lizards, then I’ll develop a phobia for lizards also. This process occurs because the displayed fear of lizards from my mother (UCS) generates phobias within myself (UCR) (Powell et al., 2013, p. 196). Lizard (NS): Display of fear by mother (UCS) → Fear (UCR) Lizard (CS) → Fear (CR) When exposed to a lizard for certain period, possessing a phobia only to one lizard is detrimental. Stimulus discrimination is “the tendency for [responses] to be elicited by one stimulus [over] another” (Powell et al., 2013, p. 141). For example, with my herpetophobia I only have a fear towards lizards and not snakes. This is because I’ve “formed…discrimination, between the two” reptile species (Powell et al., 2013, p. 141). Temperament is also a potential cause of how I developed my fear for lizards. Temperament is one’s “base level of emotionality and reactivity to stimulation [and] to a [significant] extent genetically determined (Powell et al., 2013, p. 196). I found that because I am introverted, I am more susceptible to developing a phobia, than my extravert

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