Comparing Bandura's Theory Of Anxiety And Classical Conditioning

A phobia is an intense, unreasonable fear of situations, objects, activities, etc. The fear and distress is so intense that the person will do whatever they can to avoid coming into contact with the object of their fear, and often spend time thinking about whether they're likely to encounter it in a given situation. “A phobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by an intense and irrational fear that is out of proportion to the danger elicited by the object or situation. In comparison, fear is a realistic response to a threatening situation” (631). Phobias are fears that haunt people and can cause much harm if the intensity of the fear is high. Phobias can develop through many different ways. One of those ways is through classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is a type of learning that was accidently discovered by Ivan Pavlov. “Classical conditioning is a kind of learning in which a neutral stimulus acquires the ability to produce a response that was originally produced by a different stimulus” (196). This type of learning is
achieved by the law of association. This law states that if two events happen at the same time, then a mental association will be formed in the brain. Later in time if one event reoccurs, then the animal will expect the second event to follow. The brain makes connections and thus allows this type of learning to take place. The law of association is what leads to a phobia. For this learning type, a neutral stimulus, an unconditioned stimulus, and an unconditioned response are the necessary components. These components will lead to the proper conditioned stimulus which represents the proper completion of classical conditioning. This process can help good behaviors to be learned, but it also can be how phobias develop. Classical allow people to make connections. For example if a parent yells a child’s full name, this typically has a negative side effect. The child would connect their full name being yelled as a negative consequence occurring. This is how phobias are developed. The brain does not interpret events as single occurrences. It wants to group things together. The brain takes a neutral stimulus that may be something such as a cologne or perfume. It recognizes the stimulus as something that has no harm initially. It does not cause fear or anxiety. The next step, the unconditioned stimulus, is where the phobia creation would occur. If a smell is around when a second, unfavorable event occurs, such as being raped by a man wearing a specific cologne, the connection would be made. This leads to the unconditioned response which could be fear, anger, anxiety, etc. This is not the only wat that a phobia can be learned. A phobia can also be learned through social/observational learning.
The idea that humans mimic others actions and learn from observation is a key part of Albert Bandura’s theory. “Social cognitive theory emphasized the importance of observation, limitation, and self-reward in the development and learning of social skills, personal interactions, and many other behaviors” (225). It can take place at any point in life, it tends to be the most common during childhood as children learn from the authority figures and peers in their lives. There are a number of factors that increase the likelihood that a behavior will be influenced. We are more likely to imitate people we perceive as warm and nurturing. people who receive rewards for their behavior, when you have been rewarded for imitating the behavior in the past, when we are unaware what to do in certain situations, people who hold high authority powers, and people that we
admire.