Page "Phobia" Paragraph 32

Much of the progress in understanding the acquisition of fear responses in phobias can be attributed to the Pavlovian Model which is synonymous with Classical Conditioning.

Myers and Davis ( 2007 ) describe the acquisition of fear as when a conditioned stimulus ( e. g., a distinctive place ) is paired with an aversive unconditioned stimulus ( e. g. a electric shock ) to an end result in which the subject exhibits a conditioned feared response to the distinctive place ( CS + UCS = CR ).

For how this model works in the context of phobias, one simply has to look at the fear of heights, or acrophobia.

In this phobia, the CS is heights such as the top floors of a high rise building or a roller coaster.

The UCS can be said to originate from an aversive or traumatizing event in the person's life such as being trapped on a roller coaster as a child or in an elevator at the top floor of a building.

The result of combining these two stimuli leads to a new association called the CR ( fear of heights ) which is simply the CS ( heights ) transformed by the aversive UCS ( being trapped on a roller coaster or elevator ) leading to the feared conditioned response.

This model does not suggest that once you have a conditioned feared response to an object or situation you have a phobia.

As listed above, to meet the criteria for being diagnosed with a phobia one also has to show symptoms of impairment and avoidance.

In the example above, for the CR to be classified as a phobia it would have to exhibit signs of impairment due to avoidance.

Impairment, which can be considered along the same lines as a disability from a clinician's standpoint, is defined as being unable to complete tasks in one's daily life whether it be occupational, academical, or social.

In the recent example, an impairment of occupation could result from not taking on a job solely because its location happens to be at the top floor of a building, or socially not participating in a social event at a theme park.

The avoidance aspect is defined as behavior that results in the omission of an aversive event that would otherwise occur with the goal of the preventing anxiety.

The above direct conditioning model, though very influential in the theory of fear acquisition, should not suggest the only way to acquire a phobia.

Rachman proposed three main pathways to acquire fear conditioning involving direct conditioning, vicarious acquisition and informational / instructional acquisition.