Explaining Phobia Paper
In this assignment, you will apply the principles of operational, classical, and observational learning. Behaviors are learned, and the following options are examples of three ways a person learns a behavior.
Select and complete one of the following assignments:
Option 1: Dog Phobia Paper
Sally is a 23-year-old woman who has a severe phobia of dogs. She has had this phobia since she had a negative experience with dogs when she was in the second grade. She now goes out of her way to avoid dogs and places that dogs may be. This causes her to experience anxiety when she meets someone new and is invited to an unfamiliar area.
Write a 1,500- to 1,750-word paper that uses behavioral and cognitive theory to analyze dog phobia.
Analyze the three potential ways Sally could have developed this phobia: operational (stimulus-response consequence), classical (CS-UCS-UCR-CR), and observational.
Discuss how extinction and cognitive learning could help Sally recover from her phobia.
Address the following in your paper:
Describe Sally's phobia using inference and research of the development of simple phobias, such as dog phobias.
Describe, in detail, how the phobia could be explained by the following (make sure to use various parts of each concept in your explanations):
- Classical conditioning
- Operant conditioning
- Observational learning
Discuss how the process of extinction could be used to help Sally overcome her phobia.
Discuss how the tenets of cognitive theory could be applied to help Sally overcome her phobia.
Cite at least three references in your paper to support your assessment: the text, a peer-reviewed journal article and one other source.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
Option 2: Public Speaking Phobia Paper
Bill is a 28-year-old man who recalls that he disliked giving speeches in high school and avoided speech class in college until his senior year. Everything was fine with his job until his latest promotion, because his new position requires public speaking on a weekly basis. He has tried to find a way to keep his job and avoid giving speeches, but he has not found a solution.
Write a 1,500- to 1,750-word paper that uses behavioral and cognitive theory to analyze public speaking phobia.
Analyze the three potential ways Bill could have developed this phobia: operational (stimulus-response consequence), classical (CS-UCS-UCR-CR), and observational.
Discuss how extinction and cognitive learning could help Bill recover from his phobia.
Include the following in your paper:
Describe Bill's phobia using inference and research of the development of simple phobias, such as public speaking phobias.
Describe, in detail, how the phobia could be explained by the following (make sure to use various parts of each concept in your explanations):
- Classical conditioning
- Operant conditioning
- Observational learning
Discuss how the process of extinction could be used to help Bill overcome his phobia.
Discuss how the tenets of cognitive theory could be applied to help Bill overcome his phobia.
Cite at least three references in your paper to support your assessment: the text, a peer-reviewed journal article and one other source.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
Option 3: Little Hans Case Study
In this option, you will review Freud's case study of Little Hans, the young boy who developed a fear of horses. Read the original case study of Little Hans*: http://www.mhweb.org/freud/hans1.pdf
Prepare a 1,500- to 1,750-word paper in which you use psychoanalytic theory to analyze Little Hans.
Include the following in your paper:
Complete an analysis of the phobia of Little Hans from a psychoanalytic perspective.
Discuss how psychoanalytic theory conceptualized the phobia of Little Hans.
Discuss why this was such a remarkable strategy for the period.
Describe, in detail and using various parts of each concept, how the phobia of Little Hans could be explained by the following:
- Classical conditioning (behavioral perspective)
- Observational learning (social learning perspective)
Cite at least three psychoanalytic references in your paper to support your assessment: the text, a peer-reviewed journal article and one other source.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
Freud, S. (1955). Notes upon a case of obsessional neurosis. In The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume X (1909): Two Case Histories ('Little Hans' and the 'Rat Man') (pp. 151-318).