...It is said that over 30 percent of people experience symptoms of anxiety disorders, women suffer from this disorder more than men. Phobic disorder is a very common mental disorder of our time. How we develop them is based on the individual itself, from a traumatic event during a person’s childhood, to the perception of something that was brought to their attention. Depending on the person that is suffering from a phobia will determine the level of help, if needed, to overcome a phobia. Phobias are the extreme fear of a specific object, situation, or activity. Having a phobia can determine whether a person is able to live a normal life. Some phobias are extreme and some are very mild. Most extreme phobias alter a person’s life dramatically for example the fear of the color red. If someone were to think of how many red things we encounter on a daily basis, being afraid of that color would confine you to your home, and also harm you. On the other hand, common phobias like the fear of heights wouldn’t do so much damaged to your life because that is a more understanding phobia. Most people that suffer from phobias also have another psychological issue going on. Phobias can be developed by many different stimuli in a person’s life but the cause of a phobia is unknown. Phobias develop in a person when something has happen to that person or a situation that a person has experienced like getting...
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...Phobias and Addictions Paper Psy/300 4/26/14 Phobias and Addictions Paper Introduction Several individuals develop phobias or addictions in their lifetime. Phobias are an illogical fear that is of no danger to anyone else. Phobias are developed through classical conditioning. According to Barlett (2013) “addiction is defined as the need for and use of a habit forming substance despite knowledge that the substance is harmful” (p. 349). Additions can be developed through operant conditioning. Phobias and addictions are different forms of behaviors just as classical and operant conditioning are responses learn responses. Extinction is also a form of classical conditioning. Both classical and operant conditioning differ in how an individual responds. Phobias and Addictions Phobias are human developed fears. They are fears seem irrational or harmless to other individuals. Phobias can be developed through classical conditioning according to Kowaski and Westen (2011) “In classical conditioning, an environmental stimulus leads to a learned response, through pairing of an unconditioned stimulus with a previously neutral conditioned stimulus” (p. 169). An environmental stimulus anything in an individual’s surroundings that may affect them. A neutral conditioned stimulus is when a response does not happen automatically. This means that an environment that may not affect others has the potential to leave a person frightened based on a negative experience. For example, if a woman...
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...Addiction and Phobias Nina Hernandez PSY/300 February 19, 2014 Kirsten Fowler Phobias and Addictions People are diagnosed with phobias and addictions that keep them in a personal prison everyday. Many cases are studied and researched to find how and why individuals have phobias and addictions. The key points to these studies are to find if it is possible to cure individuals with phobias and assist those with addictions to quit or be cured. This paper will give definitions of phobias and addictions, types of phobias and addictions, and how they were developed. It will also discuss classical and operant conditioning and what extinction means and how it is achieved using both conditioning’s. Phobias Definition Before speaking of phobias one should understand the definition of the word phobia the definition from the text book Psychology (6th ed.) it states “an irrational fear of a specific object or situation” Kowalski, R. & Westen, D. (2014). Another definition from the Encyclopaedia Britannica Online also states that it is classified as an anxiety disorder (2014). Many phobias are believed to be learned emotional reactions that can occur when a fear is exhibited via a tragic situation or an alarming event. This in turn can be conveyed to similar events and can resurface as if they are feeling it for the first time. There are many phobias that exist; some examples are claustrophobia, arachnophobia, and acrophobia. Types ...
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...Phobias and Addictions Camille Sere' PSY/300 October 2, 2012 Shari Tumlin Phobias and Addictions In this paper I will be discussing phobias and addictions in relation to classical and operant conditioning. I will research and explore how phobias can be developed through classical conditioning, and how addictions can be developed through operant conditioning. I will also explain what extinction means in psychology and how it is achieved in both classical and operant conditioning. The first thing you need to know is what exactly a phobia is. A phobia is an uncontrollable fear of an object or situation that is unreasonable and can develop in many ways; one of these ways is through conditioning. People have fears all the time, but a phobia affects a person’s daily life. Phobias for some people make it to where they become reclusive, or they cannot leave the comfort of their own homes, or their safe place. There are two main types or categories of phobias; they are specific phobias and social phobias. A specific phobia is an uncontrollable fear of a specific thing or a specific stimulus. There are animal phobias where a person is afraid of a certain animal or insect, for example the fear of spiders is called arachnophobia. There are environmental phobias like a fear of storms or heights. There are phobias of medical procedures as well as situational phobias like small spaces or flying. A social phobia is an uncontrollable fear of a particular situation such as giving...
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...Phobias and Addictions Paper Week Two Assignment Giselle Bayard PSY/300 – General Psychology October 20, 2012 This is an essay concerning phobias and addictions. Four selected topics in four specific sections are what this paper is comprised of. These topic are: 1. How phobias can be developed through classical conditioning. 2. How addictions can be developed through operant conditioning. 3. Distinguish between classical and operant conditioning. 4. The meaning of "extinction" and how it is achieved in both classical and operant conditioning. How phobias can be developed through classical conditioning "A phobia is a group of symptoms brought on by an object or situation that causes a person to feel irrational fear" (Porterfield, 2005). A few types of phobias are prevalent in society. A simple phobia, the fear of an object like a dog or a cat or a telephone or the fear of heights or traveling in a train or a car impact millions of lives. Social phobia, caused by fear of humiliation causes millions more otherwise normal people to live lives of loneliness and desperation. "Behaviorists believe that these intense fears (phobias)begin when people are classically conditioned by a negative stimulus paired with the object or situation. In other words, phobias are learned. Sometimes parents may pass irrational fears on to their children in this way" (Porterfield, 2005). This is a powerful form of behavior modification. It deals with spontaneous...
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...Phobias, Addictions and Extinction Tricia Stevens PSY/300 January 21, 2013 Dan Erickson Phobias, Addictions and Extinction At some point throughout life, all human beings experience phobias and/or addiction. Both can be deeply rooted in a persons mind and are derived through one of two styles of learning; classical or operant conditioning. The development of a phobia through classical conditioning, although not likely logical, can significantly impact every day life, in some cases disabling a person from doing common day-to-day things. Similarly, addictions developed through operant conditioning can be detrimental to a person’s health and well-being. Although both phobias and addictions can be difficult to expel, through extinction, a process of removing the reinforcer, it can be completed (Cherry, n.d.). This essay will explore classical conditioning phobias and operant conditioning addictions and the remedy through extinction for both. Phobias Through Classical Conditioning According to Merriam-Webster Online (n.d.) phobias are: : an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object. This makes perfect sense considering how a phobia is developed. Classical conditioning is a learning style that associates something (sound, smell, etc.) that historically would have not been corresponded with it. A phobia is likely to be developed through an association...
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...Phobias and Addictions Justin Flores PSY/300 Dianne Smith Phobias and addictions have been very common in many human beings. Phobia is a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it (Dictionary, 2014). When thinking of the word phobia, a person might think of their own fears that make a person scared or distraught. Take for example, someone who had a bad experience with almost drowning in water as a child may develop a phobia of water in their later years as an adult. Or maybe a person has seen a bad horror movie with clowns that make the person hate them later in life. Another interesting occurrence in humans is addictions. Addiction the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma (Dictionary, 2014). When presenting the word addiction, a person might think of something that a person needs and stresses about. For example, a person who smokes may be addicted to cigarettes. Both phobia and addiction are very common in humans. This paper will discuss how phobias can be developed through classical conditioning, how addictions can be developed through operant conditioning, the difference between classical and operate conditioning, and finally what extinction means and how it is achieved in both classical and operant conditioning. First, we will discuss how...
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...Explaining Phobia Student’s Name PSYCH/504 Date Teacher’s name Explaining Phobia Phobias are very common. The Association of Psychiatry defines phobia as an excessive and persistent fear of a specific thing (American Psychiatric Association, 2012). Sally, who has a dog phobia since she was in second grade because of a negative experience has anxiety when she meets someone and is asked to go to a new place where she does not know if there is a dog present or not. To explain Sally’s phobia and how it was developed theories are used on how or why she developed the fear of dogs. Phobias can be explained by classical conditions, operant conditioning, and observational learning. Overcoming phobias can be done with extinction and cognitive theory. Phobias Are Created Sally seems to have had a negative experience with dogs at a young age. She could have had an operant conditioning. Operant conditioning could have occurred if there was a negative reinforcer for a behavior she did. Maybe her parents punished her with a negative punishment that included dogs. If Sally is scared of dogs it could be a classical conditioning. Her parents or someone she was close to may have told her that dogs are mean and that she needed to be afraid of dogs. She could have created this phobia from others telling her that she needed to stay away from dogs because they could bite her. Another method that Sally could have created the phobia was from observing others...
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...Phobias and Addictions Paper Viktorija Canevik-Alex PSY/300 Jacqueline Hall July 20, 2013 University of Phoenix Phobias and Addiction Paper In this paper I will discuss how phobias and addiction are connected to the classical and operant conditioning. I will explain how phobias and addiction are evolve through classical and operant conditioning, what is the difference between classical and operant conditioning, what is extinction and how extinction is accomplish in the classical and operant conditioning. Phobia occur when people are scared or fear without stopping of something genuine and hard to control and usually occur in young age but also it can occur in older age. Phobia is something very common and it influence peoples life every day, but important thing about phobias is that it can be treated. Here are some examples of phobias, like fear from: kissing, drugs, cold, taking medicine, mother-in-law, children, and others. Addiction can occur when people have hard time to control or stop use, do or take something. People can be addictive to many things, not only to alcohol and drugs, people also can be addictive...
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...etiologies of Phobias. “I just feel really closed in, I feel like my heart is going to start beating really fast…I won’t be able to get enough air, I won’t be able to breathe, and I’ll pass out.” A Phobia is “a persistent fear of circumscribed stimulus (object or situation)” and the common examples include fear of animals, heights and enclosed places. (DSM-III R: 243). Phobias in general are classified as ‘Anxiety disorders’ in DSM –IV and are considered the most common type of all anxiety disorders. Everyone has aversions to certain objects or situations, which result in making us feel unusually uncomfortable, anxious in some cases, or just fearful- when encountered with them. But when this aversion becomes...
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...Running head: PHOBIAS AND ADDICTIONS Phobias and Addictions PSY/300 Abstract This essay examines phobias and addictions, how phobias can be developed through operant conditioning and how addictions can be developed through operant conditioning. This essay also examines the distinctions between classical and operant condition and examines “extinction” as it relates to psychological theory and how extinction is achieved in classical and operant conditioning. Phobias and Addictions Numerous psychologists believe that behaviors are learned through conditioning. These conditionings are known as operant, which is based on individual’s response to outside stimuli, and classical conditioning, which is based on the theory that people’s reactions to situations are learned behaviors. Phobias and Addictions can develop when an individual’s ability to function within societal normality’s or adapt to societal complexities are diminished. Addiction is a condition in which the body must have a drug to avoid physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms. Phobias and classical conditioning Phobias are persistent and irrational fears of specific objects, activities, or situations that are excessive and unreasonable, given the reality of the threat. Even though phobias are based on irrational fears, they often cause serious problems in a person’s life. Phobias can result in a person being unable to perform their job, participate in any...
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...Phobias, Addiction, Conditioning Amy A. Schroeder University of Phoenix General Psychology 300 Belky Schwartz March 16, 2014 Phobias, Addiction, Conditioning Phobias, addictions born that way or are we taught these characteristics through different forms of conditions that occur throughout our lives, in this paper I will be exploring these ideas. Distinguish between classical and operant condition, explain what extinction means and how it is achieved it is achieved in both classical and operant conditioning, explore how phobias can be developed through classical conditioning, and how addiction can be developed through operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is probably most recognized in the field of behaviorism, and the work of Ivan Pavlov, Pavlov's dog. Classical conditioning was discovered completely on accident, just as many of the world's great scientific endeavors. Pavlov noticed that when he came into a room that his dogs were in they would begin to salivate, even if he were not feeding them. This leads him to explore what was happening on a deeper level, and ultimately leads to a great scientific discovery. Classical conditioning occurs when there is an association between environmental and naturally occurring stimulus, eventually, after conditioning only one stimulus will need to occur for the desired result. In Pavlov's study, the food was the unconditioned stimulus, and the salvation was the unconditioned response. Using a bell as a neutral stimulus...
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...Phobias and Addictions Phobias and Addictions As classical and operant conditioning may be of normal use in day-to-day life it can also assist with phobias and addictions. Phobias pertain to fear or feeling of nervousness, anxiety, racing heart or a general feeling of uneasiness. Phobias may develop with certain stimuli, by an event inadvertly to a loved one, friend or one self. For example: when I was young my brother would tell me that monsters would come after me at night in the dark; I developed a phobia. Still today, there would be extreme fear if there is a shortage in the electricity at night. Addictions was described as psychological and physical dependency on someone or something. Some psychological dependencies may be prescription drugs described as controlled substances. Both classical and operant conditioning has roles in the development of phobias and addictions (Kowalski & Westen, 2009). Phobias and Addictions in Classical Conditioning A stimulus may cause fear or a reflex of avoidance. In Pavlov’s observational theory he studied a dogs reaction to a bell when it was time eat. The dog would salivate when presented with the food. However, over time the food was no longer presented, only the bell was ranged, and the dog would salivate at the sound of the bell. This result would be of classical conditioned behavior (Kowalski & Westen, 2009). With developed phobias a person may become nervous or nauseated. My daughter even at age 10 today, still...
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...The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders has classified a phobia as having fear that is too large in comparison to the danger it poses by the feared object or situation ( Menzies, Harris, & Jones, 1998). Fear is a common emotion to have, but it is when the fear is irrational that it poses a problem. For Jackson, this irrational fear has become an awareness of danger. Jackson is convinced that heights, germs, and spiders are potential dangers to keep awareness on. Jackson is a ten-year-old male that is having difficulty living his life due to his phobias. Jackson has mysophibia (fear of germs), acrophobia (fear of heights), and arachnophobia (fear of spiders). Jackson’s parents are not sure how he developed his fears, but they know that his fears have been going on for the past couple of years. Jackson’s fears are gradually getting worse and...
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...Phobias & Addictions Psy/300 05/21/2014 Phobias & Addictions According to the Merriam – Webster Dictionary a “phobia” is an irrational persistent fear or dread of something. Phobias are disorders humans possess that are triggered by subconscious fears they may have about something directly or indirectly related to their particular phobia. Phobias are more operant conditions rather than classical conditions; meaning they are more dictated because of environment or other factors surrounding oneself than occurring without any sort of studied behavior. Phobias and addictions are two emotional difficulties which learning theorists can account for. Addiction is both a physiological and psychological disorder where individuals become dependent upon one thing or another. Phobias can be developed through classical as well as operant conditioning. There are distinct factors that play a role in distinguishing between classical and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning plays an important role in the development of certain phobias. This type of conditioning means that certain sounds or circumstances can trigger or elicit certain emotion and/or make a person react in a particular fashion over a period of time and thru trial and error. A phobia can be triggered or made prevalent in the conscious mind because of an idiosyncrasy assisted by one of the five senses. Many circumstances can factor in to addiction. Addiction can be dangerous as well as beneficial in certain...
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