Two Key Studies of a Biological Explanation of Phobias (DP IB Psychology)
Revision Note
Written by: Claire Neeson
Reviewed by: Lucy Vinson
Key study one: Ohman et al. (1975)
Aim:
To investigate Biological Preparedness linked to snake phobia (ophidiophobia)
To investigate whether snake phobia be more easily conditioned than phobia for stimuli which pose no immediate threat e.g. houses, faces
Participants:
64 participants (38 female; 26 male, aged 20-30 years) from the University of Uppsala in Sweden
All of the participants were Psychology students who comprised a self-selecting sample
The participants were paid to take part in the experiment
Procedure:
Each participant was wired up to a machine that measured skin conductance
The participants were given a trial electric shock to determine the level which they found uncomfortable but not painful
Participants were told that they would be viewing a series of images and that after some of the images they would receive a shock
There were three conditions of the independent variable:
Half of the participants received shocks after viewing images of snakes
A quarter of the participants received shocks after viewing images of houses
A quarter of the participants received shocks after viewing images of faces
Each image was shown for 8 seconds
Results:
Participants in the ‘snakes’ condition responded with 0.062 skin conductance but only 0.048 when they viewed the houses or the faces (after which they were not given a shock)
Participants in the ‘snakes’ condition sweated more than participants in the other two conditions which is evidence of an increased physiological response (e.g. fear)
Participants in the ‘houses’ and ‘faces’ conditions showed a lower skin conductance rate of 0.037
Conclusion:
Viewing images of snakes in the presence of an electric shock may increase the fear response to snakes in general
The results support Biological Preparedness as an explanation for phobias i.e. that humans may have evolved a mechanism to avoid dangerous stimuli such as snakes
Participants should have shown similar levels of fear to all the stimuli as they were all paired with the shocks: the fact that, over time, the 'snakes’ condition still showed higher fear than the others suggests there is an underlying biological/evolutionary cause
Evaluation of Ohman et al. (1975)
Strengths
This was a well-designed lab experiment using distinct, operationalised variables within a standardised procedure which means that it is replicable and can thus be checked for reliability
The use of the biological measure of skin conductance is almost impossible to fake which reduces the possibility of demand characteristics influencing the findings
Weaknesses
There are some issues with the ethical validity of this study: showing fear-inducing images and issuing electric shocks to participants brings with it real concerns for the participants’ psychological and physical wellbeing
The researchers inferred that the higher skin conductance in the ‘snakes’ condition was due to viewing the snakes in the presence of a shock but the results could be due to other factors e.g. nervousness, anxiety about the procedure, rather than a fear of snakes
Examiner Tip
Remember to always question the results of any piece of research and the conclusions drawn by the researcher(s): it is your job to use critical thinking to challenge these claims rather than simply accepting them as 100% valid: as the IB Learner Profile states, you are Inquirers and Thinkers.
Can measuring skin conductance provide evidence for Biological Preparedness?
Key study two: Ahs et al. (2018)
Aim: To investigate Biological Preparedness as a valid explanation of phobias.
Procedure:
The researchers conducted a review of existing literature (published, peer reviewed research) which had investigated fear-conditioning experiments
A total of 23 studies were used in the review which included 32 experiments, giving a combined total sample size of 1887 participants
The studies in the review had been published between 1975 and 2018
Each study in the review had used procedures which aimed to decondition fear of spiders (arachnophobia) and fear of snakes which involved showing participants a series of images designed to lead to extinction of the conditioned phobia
If the participants showed resistance to deconditioning of their snake/spider phobia then this would act as evidence that such phobias are innate and are a result of Biological Preparedness
Results:
22 of the 32 studies in the review reported that participants with snake/spider phobia had been successfully deconditioned i.e. their phobia had disappeared
Only 10 of the 31 studies reported an increased resistance to snake/spider phobia extinction
Conclusion:
Biological Preparedness may not be a 100% valid theory to explain phobias
Biological Preparedness cannot successfully explain the origin of specific phobias
Evaluation of Ahs et al. (2018)
Strengths
A review of the literature on a specific topic allows researchers to access a high number of studies incorporating much data and a large total sample size which increases the reliability of the findings
The researchers who conducted this study are unlikely to have succumbed to researcher bias in their analysis of the studies reviewed as they used other people’s work over which they had no influence
Weaknesses
The researchers had no way of knowing how the original studies in the review had been conducted which could be an issue in terms of consistency and reliability
The researchers may have succumbed to selection bias in choosing research for the review which would decrease the validity of their conclusions
Worked Example
The question is, ‘Discuss a biological explanation of phobias’ [22]
This question is asking you to offer a considered and balanced review of a biological explanation of phobias that includes a range of arguments, factors or hypotheses. Alternative explanations may be used as part of the evaluation. Here is a paragraph of critical thinking for guidance:
An evolutionary psychologist would explain fear of snakes, heights, fire as evidence of Biological Preparedness i.e. that such phobias give people an evolutionary advantage as they alert them to possible dangers in their environment. This explanation does make sense to some extent: snakes, heights and fire are all potentially lethal to human beings and avoidance of them would provide the phobic person with fewer opportunities in which to come to harm. There are, however, people who have phobias for non-threatening, even mundane stimuli such as buttons, clouds, mayonnaise: how can these phobias be explained using evolutionary psychology? Biological Preparedness cannot really provide a satisfying or convincing argument to explain phobias for relatively harmless stimuli. Unusual phobias can probably be best explained using the Behaviourist explanation which assumes that phobias are learnt rather than innate i.e. the product of environmental conditioning rather than biology.
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