John B. Watson reported that he conditioned a child to fear white rats, a possible model of phobia development. Ignoring for now his questionable ethics, describe why this model is not a convincing explanation for phobias. What objects are the usual targets of phobias?
What will be an ideal response?
Many people develop phobias of an object with which they have had no harmful experiences, and many people who did have a painful experience fail to develop a phobia. People generally develop phobias of objects that have been dangerous throughout human experience (such as snakes or heights), objects that are hard to predict or control, and objects with which they have had few safe experiences.
You might also like to view...
According to the anatomist Bischoff, women were considered intellectually inferior solely because:
a. Of their uterus b. They typically have smaller brains than men c. Of the effects of feminine hormones on the brain d. Men dominated every developed society
Barbiturate drugs are used to
a. calm patients and to induce sleep. b. counteract alcohol intoxication. c. encourage weight loss. d. improve the attention span of children with attention-deficit disorder.