The Little Albert experiment was an unethical study that mid-20th century psychologists interpret as evidence of classical conditioning in humans. The study is also claimed to be an example of stimulus generalization although reading the research report demonstrates that fear did not generalize by color or tactile qualities. It was carried out by John B. Watson and his graduate student, Rosalie Rayner , at Johns Hopkins University . The results were first published in the February 1920 issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology .
92-486: After observing children in the field, Watson hypothesized that the fearful response of children to loud noises is an innate unconditioned response. He wanted to test the notion that by following the principles of the procedure now known as "classical conditioning", he could use this unconditioned response to condition a child to fear a distinctive stimulus that normally would not be feared by a child (in this case, furry objects). However, he admitted in his research article that
184-455: A conditioned response (CR) (fear for the room) (CS+UCS=CR). For example, in case of the fear of heights ( acrophobia ), the CS is heights. Such as a balcony on the top floors of a high rise building. The UCS can originate from an aversive or traumatizing event in the person's life, such as almost falling from a great height. The original fear of nearly falling is associated with being high, leading to
276-403: A battery of baseline emotional tests: the infant was exposed, briefly and for the first time, to a white rat, a rabbit, a dog, a monkey, masks (with and without hair), cotton, wool, burning newspapers, and other stimuli . Albert showed no fear of any of these items during the baseline tests. For the experiment proper, by which point Albert was 11 months old, he was put on a mattress on a table in
368-540: A combination of environmental and genetic factors. The degree to whether environment or genetic influences have a more significant role varies by condition, with social anxiety disorder and agoraphobia having around a 50% heritability rate. Rachman proposed three pathways for the development of phobias: direct or classical conditioning (exposure to phobic stimulus), vicarious acquisition (seeing others experience phobic stimulus), and informational/instructional acquisition (learning about phobic stimulus from others). Much of
460-643: A common form of anxiety disorder , and distributions are heterogeneous by age and gender. An American study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found that between 8.7 percent and 18.1 percent of Americans have phobias, making it the most common mental illness among women in all age groups and the second most common illness among men older than 25. Between 4 percent and 10 percent of all children experience specific phobias during their lives, and social phobias occur in one percent to three percent of children. A Swedish study found that females have
552-459: A correlation between increased insular activation and anxiety. In the frontal lobes, other cortices involved with phobia and fear are the anterior cingulate cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex . In the processing of emotional stimuli, studies on phobic reactions to facial expressions have indicated that these areas are involved in the processing and responding to negative stimuli. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex has been said to influence
644-405: A day of Merritte, and his mother had also worked at the hospital where the experiment was conducted. In addition, his body weight and developmental condition closely matched the experiment's documentation of the subject baby's condition. Moreover, according to Watson and Rayner (1920), Little Albert was 12 months and 21 days the last day of the experiment when "he was taken from the hospital" (p. 12),
736-490: A fear of heights. In other words, the CS (heights) associated with the aversive UCS (almost falling) leads to the CR (fear) . It is possible, however, to extinguish the CR, and reversing the effects of the CS and UCS. Repeatedly presenting the CS alone, without the UCS, can exinguish the CR. Though historically influential in the theory of fear acquisition, this direct conditioning model
828-617: A higher number of cases per year than males (26.5 percent for females and 12.4 percent for males). Among adults, 21.2 percent of women and 10.9 percent of men have a single specific phobia, while multiple phobias occur in 5.4 percent of females and 1.5 percent of males. Women are nearly four times as likely as men to have a fear of animals (12.1 percent in women and 3.3 percent in men) — a higher dimorphic than with all specific or generalized phobias or social phobias. Social phobias are more common in girls than boys, while situational phobia occurs in 17.4 percent of women and 8.5 percent of men. In
920-442: A more chronic course. Specific phobias in older adults has been linked with a decrease in quality of life. Those with specific phobias are at an increased risk of suicide. Greater impairment is found in those that have multiple phobias. Response to treatment is relatively high but many do not seek treatment due to lack of access, ability to avoid phobia, or unwilling to face feared object for repeated CBT sessions. Many of those with
1012-429: A negative experience with the object or situation in early childhood to early adulthood. Social phobia is when a person fears a situation due to worries about others judging them. Agoraphobia is a fear of a situation due to perceived difficulty or inability to escape. It is recommended that specific phobias be treated with exposure therapy , in which the person is introduced to the situation or object in question until
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#17328551348861104-512: A phobia often have more than one phobia. There are also a number of psychological and physiological disorders that tend to occur or coexist at higher rates among this population. As with all anxiety disorders the most common psychiatric condition to occur with a phobia is major depressive disorder. Additionally bipolar disorder, substance dependence disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post traumatic stress disorder have also been found to occur in those with phobias at higher rates. Phobias are
1196-442: A phobic event, these symptoms are decreased, making the event less frightening. Beta-blockers are not effective for generalized social anxiety disorder. Hypnotherapy is another effective therapy that uses hypnosis to help manage anxiety and stress. This therapy can help people gain control over their phobias. Hypnotherapy can be used alone and in conjunction with systematic desensitization to treat phobias. Through hypnotherapy,
1288-509: A rat phobia or even that animals consistently evoked his fear (or anxiety) during Watson and Rayner's experiment. It may be useful for modern learning theorists to see how the Albert study prompted subsequent research ... but it seems time, finally, to place the Watson and Rayner data in the category of "interesting but uninterpretable" results. It is difficult to be certain exactly what happened during
1380-404: A role in the storage of threatening stimuli to memory. The basolateral nuclei (or basolateral amygdala ) and the hippocampus interact with the amygdala in-memory storage. This connection suggests why memories are often remembered more vividly if they have emotional significance. In addition to memory, the amygdala also triggers the secretion of hormones that affect fear and aggression . When
1472-474: A series of weekend lectures describing the Little Albert study. One of these lectures was attended by Mary Cover Jones , which sparked her interest in pursuing graduate work in psychology. Jones conducted an experiment to figure out how to eliminate fear responses in children and studied a boy named Peter, who was two years old. Peter shared similar fears of white rabbits and furry objects as Little Albert. Jones
1564-471: A significant population shift from rural to urban. According to the Census Bureau, "Beginning in 1910, the minimum population threshold to be categorized as an urban place was set at 2,500. "Urban" was defined as including all territory, persons, and housing units within an incorporated area that met the population threshold. The 1920 census marked the first time in which over 50 percent of the U.S. population
1656-410: A specific trauma, such as a fear of dogs following a dog bite. Systematic desensitization is a process in which people seeking help slowly become accustomed to their phobia, and ultimately overcome it. Traditional systematic desensitization involves a person being exposed to the object they are afraid of over time so that the fear and discomfort do not become overwhelming. This controlled exposure to
1748-406: A temporal lobectomy, or removal of the temporal lobes, results in changes involving fear and aggression. Specifically, the removal of these lobes results in decreased fear, confirming its role in fear recognition and response. Damage to both side (Bilateral damage) of the medial temporal lobes is known as Urbach–Wiethe disease. It presents with similar symptoms of decreased fear and aggression but with
1840-582: A treatment approach that included cognitive techniques and exposure therapy. He recommended that individuals gradually expose themselves to feared stimuli and train themselves to tolerate the experience until they reach habituation, an approach that mirrors modern therapeutic techniques for treating phobias. This is an exceptional accomplishment considering that the physical symptoms of phobias were mistakenly grouped under physical rubrics in Western medical textbooks and were not believed to be associated with phobias until
1932-524: A treatment option. For social anxiety, the SSRIs sertraline, paroxetine, fluvoxamine, and the SNRI venlafaxine have FDA approval. Similar medications may be offered for agoraphobia. Sedatives such as benzodiazepines (clonazepam, alprazolam) are another therapeutic option, which can help people relax by reducing the amount of anxiety they feel. Benzodiazepines may be useful in the acute treatment of severe symptoms, but
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#17328551348862024-463: Is a response in preparation of a future threat. Fear and anxiety often can overlap but this distinction can help identify subtle differences between disorders, as well as differentiate between a response that would be expected given a person's developmental stage and culture. The International Classification of Diseases (11th version: ICD-11 ) is a globally used diagnostic tool for epidemiology , health management and clinical purposes maintained by
2116-679: Is also regulated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the Public Health Service Act . In addition, training of researchers in the use of human participants has been required by the National Institutes of Health since 2000. A detailed review of the original study and its subsequent interpretations by Jared Harris (1979) stated: Critical reading of Watson and Rayner's (1920) report reveals little evidence either that Albert developed
2208-541: Is defined as behaviour that results in the omission of an aversive event that would otherwise occur, intending to prevent anxiety. With the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, much research has been completed looking at specific genes that may cause or contribute to medical conditions. Candidate genes were the focus of most of these studies until the past decade, when the cost and ability to perform genome-wide analyses became more available. The GLRB gene
2300-555: Is irrational but cannot override their panic response. These individuals often report dizziness, loss of bladder or bowel control, tachypnea , feelings of pain, and shortness of breath. Phobias may develop for a variety of reasons. Childhood experiences, past traumatic experiences, brain chemistry, genetics, or learned behavior, can all be reasons why phobias develop. There are even phobias that may run in families and be passed down from one generation to another. There are multiple theories about how phobias develop and likely occur due to
2392-433: Is linked to social phobia and other anxiety disorders. The amygdala's ability to respond to fearful stimuli occurs through fear conditioning . Like classical conditioning , the amygdala learns to associate a conditioned stimulus with a negative or avoidant stimulus, creating a conditioned fear response often seen in phobic individuals. The amygdala is responsible for recognizing certain stimuli or cues as dangerous and plays
2484-422: Is not always a phobia. There must also be symptoms of impairment and avoidance. Impairment is defined as an inability to complete routine tasks, whether occupational, academic, or social. For example, an occupational impairment can result from acrophobia, from not taking a job solely because of its location on the top floor of a building, or socially not participating in an event at a theme park. The avoidance aspect
2576-424: Is not the only proposed way to acquire a phobia. This theory in fact has limitations as not everyone that has experienced a traumatic event develops a phobia and vice versa. Vicarious fear acquisition is learning to fear something, not by a subject's own experience of fear, but by watching others, oftentimes a parent ( observational learning ). For instance, when a child sees a parent reacting fearfully to an animal,
2668-432: Is one that is not regularly encountered such as flying a short course may be provided. Beta blockers (propranolol) are another therapeutic option, particularly for those with the performance only subtype of social anxiety disorder. They may stop the stimulating effects of adrenaline, such as sweating, increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, tremors, and the feeling of a pounding heart. By taking beta-blockers before
2760-473: Is there to help manage stressful situations and respond better. This therapy requires the person to be honest with themselves and confront their feelings and phobias. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be beneficial by allowing the person to challenge dysfunctional thoughts or beliefs by being mindful of their feelings to recognize that their fear is irrational. CBT may occur in a group setting. Gradual desensitization treatment and CBT are often successful, provided
2852-594: The American Psychological Association 's ethic code, and legislation has been passed to prevent such potentially harmful experiments. In the early 1970s, following widely publicized cases of research abuse, the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research (NCPHS) was created to study issues surrounding the protection of humans in research. In 1979,
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2944-522: The Census Bureau during one month from January 5, 1920, determined the resident population of the United States to be 106,021,537, an increase of 15.0 percent over the 92,228,496 persons enumerated during the 1910 census . The 1920 Census was determined for 1 January 1920. The actual date of the enumeration appears on the heading of each page of the census schedule, but all responses were to reflect
3036-488: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition ( DSM-5 ), such phobias are considered subtypes of anxiety disorder. The categories are: Phobias vary in severity among individuals. Some individuals can avoid the subject and experience relatively mild anxiety over that fear. Others experience full-fledged panic attacks with all the associated impairing symptoms. Most individuals understand that their fear
3128-506: The World Health Organization (WHO) . The ICD classifies phobic disorders under the category of mental, behavioural or neurodevelopmental disorders. The ICD-10 differentiates between Phobic anxiety disorders, such as Agoraphobia, and Other anxiety disorders, such as Generalized anxiety disorder. The ICD-11 merges both groups together as Anxiety or fear-related disorders. Most phobias are classified into 3 categories. According to
3220-436: The cingulated gyrus , hippocampus , corpus callosum , and other nearby cortices. This system has been found to play a role in emotion processing, and the insula, in particular, may contribute to maintaining autonomic functions . Studies by Critchley et al. indicate the insula as being involved in the experience of emotion by detecting and interpreting threatening stimuli. Similar studies monitoring insula activity have shown
3312-562: The 1910 census remained in effect until 1933. In 1929, Congress passed the Reapportionment Act of 1929 which provided for a permanent method of reapportionment and fixed the number of representatives at 435. This was the first census in which the United States recorded a population of more than 100 million. It was also the first census in which a state— New York —recorded a population of more than ten million. This census also marked
3404-482: The 19th century. The Western understanding of phobias as a physical condition was influenced by a combination of medical dogma and a limited understanding of psychology and mental health. This view persisted from antiquity through the Renaissance and into the 19th century, until more nuanced psychological frameworks were developed. 1920 United States Census The 1920 United States census , conducted by
3496-423: The 2 year remission rates for anxiety disorders found that those with multiple anxieties were less likely to experience remission. The majority of those that develop a specific phobia first experience symptoms in childhood. Often individuals will experience symptoms periodically with periods of remission before complete remission occurs. However, specific phobias that continue into adulthood are likely to experience
3588-463: The 9th century, Islamic polymath Abu Zayd al-Balkhi (850-934) was likely the first to identify phobias accurately. In his treatise Sustenance of the Body and Soul , Al Balkhi described phobia as a psychological disorder that may manifest with physical symptoms such as paleness of the skin and trembling of the hands. Remarkably, Al-Balkhi not only recognised phobias as psychological in nature but also proposed
3680-596: The Commission issued a report entitled Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research (commonly called the Belmont Report ), which provided the ethical framework on which current federal regulations for the protection of human participants in research are based. Under the NCPHS standards set in the late 1970s, an experiment such as Watson's would not have been allowed. Research with participants
3772-404: The Little Albert experiment since concrete evidence and scientific records are lacking. Though a film was shot during the experiment, textbooks interpret the movie differently. Various sources give contradicting accounts of events that took place, and they raise questions about exactly what stimuli were used, which stimuli the baby came to fear, and what happened to the child after the experiment. It
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3864-414: The United States and 0.5–2.5% of people in the rest of the world. Agoraphobia affects about 1.7% of people. Women are affected by phobias about twice as often as men. The typical onset of a phobia is around 10–17, and rates are lower with increasing age. Those with phobias are more likely to attempt suicide . Fear is an emotional response to a current perceived danger. This differs from anxiety which
3956-468: The activities become more difficult. Progressive muscle relaxation helps people relax before and during exposure to the feared stimulus. Virtual reality therapy is another technique that helps phobic people confront a feared object. It uses virtual reality to generate scenes that may not have been possible or ethical in the physical world. It is equally as effective as traditional exposure therapy and offers additional advantages. These include controlling
4048-409: The addition of the inability to recognize emotional expressions, especially angry or fearful faces. The amygdala's role in learned fear includes interactions with other brain regions in the neural circuit of fear. While damage in the amygdala can inhibit its ability to recognize fearful stimuli, other areas such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the basolateral nuclei of the amygdala can affect
4140-406: The ages of 7 and 9 reflective of normal development. Additionally, specific phobias are most prevalent in children between the ages 10 and 13. Situational phobias are typically found in older children and adults. There are various methods used to treat phobias. These methods include systematic desensitization , progressive relaxation, virtual reality , modeling, medication, and hypnotherapy. Over
4232-614: The amygdala activates this circuit, while the hippocampus is responsible for suppressing it. Glucocorticoid receptors in the hippocampus monitor the amount of cortisol in the system and through negative feedback can tell the hypothalamus to stop releasing CRH. Studies on mice engineered to have high concentrations of CRH showed higher levels of anxiety, while those engineered to have no or low amounts of CRH receptors were less anxious. In people with phobias, therefore, high amounts of cortisol may be present, or there may be low levels of glucocorticoid receptors or even serotonin (5-HT). For
4324-451: The amygdala by monitoring its reaction to emotional stimuli or even fearful memories. Most specifically, the medial prefrontal cortex is active during the extinction of fear and is responsible for long-term extinction. Stimulation of this area decreases conditioned fear responses, so its role may be in inhibiting the amygdala and its reaction to fearful stimuli. The hippocampus is a horseshoe-shaped structure that plays an essential part in
4416-417: The amygdala) has been shown to slow down the speed of extinguishing a learned fear response and how effective the extinction is. This suggests there is a pathway or circuit among the amygdala and nearby cortical areas that process emotional stimuli and influence emotional expression, all of which can be disrupted when damage occurs. It is recommended that the terms distress and impairment take into account
4508-429: The anxiety-provoking stimulus is key to the effectiveness of exposure therapy in the treatment of specific phobias. It has been shown that humor is an excellent alternative when traditional systematic desensitization is ineffective. Humor systematic desensitization involves a series of treatment activities that elicit humor with the feared object. Previously learned progressive muscle relaxation procedures can be used as
4600-437: The areas in the brain involved in emotion - most specifically, fear - the processing and response to emotional stimuli can be altered when there are damage to any of these regions. Damage to the cortical areas involved in the limbic system, such as the cingulate cortex or frontal lobes, has resulted in extreme emotion changes. Other types of damage include Klüver–Bucy syndrome and Urbach–Wiethe disease . In Klüver–Bucy syndrome,
4692-419: The brain's limbic system . This is because it forms memories and connects them with emotions and the senses. When dealing with fear, the hippocampus receives impulses from the amygdala that allow it to connect the fear with a certain sense, such as a smell or sound. The amygdala is an almond-shaped mass of nuclei located deep in the brain's medial temporal lobe. It processes the events associated with fear and
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#17328551348864784-457: The chance of fearful and phobic behaviours. In some cases, physically experiencing an event may increase the fear and phobia more than observing a fearful reaction of another human or non-human primate. Informational/instructional fear acquisition is learning to fear something by getting information. For instance, fearing electrical wire after hearing that touching it causes an electric shock. A conditioned fear response to an object or situation
4876-601: The child can also become afraid of the animal. Through observational learning, humans can learn to fear potentially dangerous objects—a reaction observed in other primates. A study on non-human primates, showed that the primates learned to fear snakes at a fast rate after watching parents' fearful reactions. An increase in fearful behaviours was observed as the non-human primates observed their parents' fearful reactions. Although observational learning has proven effective in creating reactions of fear and phobias, it has also been shown that by physically experiencing an event, increases
4968-839: The claim that the child in question was average and healthy. According to researchers who looked at this case years later, if Douglas Merritte was, indeed, Little Albert, his actions during the conditioning sessions align with signs of neurological impairment. This includes Little Albert's use of hand-scooping, rather than grasping gestures typical of this age, as well as poor eye-scanning abilities and his lack of facial expressions. Other research has argued, however, that Douglas Merritte may not have been "Little Albert", who may, in fact, have been young Albert Barger (known later as William Albert Martin). The identity claimed by Beck et al. has been contested by psychology researchers Russ Powell, Nancy Digdon and Ben Harris, who offer an alternative identity based on available data. Albert Barger had been born within
5060-400: The context of the person's environment during diagnosis. The DSM-IV-TR states that if a feared stimulus, whether it be an object or a situation, is absent entirely in an environment, a diagnosis cannot be made. An example of this situation would be an individual who has a fear of mice but lives in an area without mice. Even though the concept of mice causes marked distress and impairment within
5152-401: The exact age Albert Barger had when he left the hospital. Finally, when Powell et al. were allowed to independently verify Douglas Merritte's clinical file, it was revealed that he was "completely blind", which is at odds with the experiment's films where Little Albert engages in probable instances of object-directed action and social referencing. Through the use of a professional genealogist,
5244-410: The expected risks to the subject. Albert was about one year old at the end of the experiment, and he reportedly left the hospital shortly thereafter. Though Watson had discussed what might be done to remove Albert's conditioned fears, he chose not to attempt such desensitization with Albert, and it is thought likely that the infant's fear of furry things continued post-experimentally. Watson later gave
5336-415: The experiment due to complications from the congenital disease. It is stated that the study's authors were aware of the child's severe cognitive deficit, abnormal behavior, and unusually frequent crying, but continued to terrify the sick infant and generalize their findings to healthy infants, an act criticized as academic fraud. These accusations were successfully challenged in the same journals that published
5428-402: The fear he generated was neither strong nor lasting. The aim of Watson and Rayner was to condition a phobia in an emotionally stable child. For this study, they chose a nine-month-old infant from a hospital. The child was referred to as "Albert" for the experiment. Watson followed the procedures which Ivan Pavlov had used in his experiments with dogs. Before the experiment, Albert was given
5520-424: The fear or aggression response is initiated, the amygdala releases hormones into the body to put the human body into an "alert" state, which prepares the individual to move, run, fight, etc. This defensive "alert" state and response are known as the fight-or-flight response . However, inside the brain, this stress response can be observed in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). This circuit incorporates
5612-579: The fear resolves. Medications are not helpful for specific phobias. Social phobia and agoraphobia may be treated with counseling, medications, or a combination of both. Medications used include antidepressants , benzodiazepines , or beta-blockers . Specific phobias affect about 6–8% of people in the Western world and 2–4% in Asia, Africa, and Latin America in a given year. Social phobia affects about 7% of people in
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#17328551348865704-402: The individual's status as of 1 January, even if the status had changed between 1 January and the day of enumeration. Despite the constitutional requirement that House seats be reapportioned to the states respective of their population every ten years according to the census, members of Congress failed to agree on a reapportionment plan following this census, and the distribution of seats from
5796-477: The individual, because the individual does not usually encounter mice, no actual distress or impairment is ever experienced. It is recommended that proximity to, and ability to escape from, the stimulus also be considered. As the phobic person approaches a feared stimulus, anxiety levels increase, and the degree to which the person perceives they might escape from the stimulus affects the intensity of fear in instances such as riding an elevator (e.g. anxiety increases at
5888-491: The initial claims. The articles refuting the "sick baby" claim explain that the child was actually William (called Albert by his family) Barger, and that the child was, in fact, healthy. Phobia A phobia is an anxiety disorder , defined by an irrational, unrealistic, persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months. Those affected go to great lengths to avoid
5980-498: The limited role of benzodiazepines, do not currently have established guidelines due to minimal supporting evidence. Antidepressant medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs ), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors ( SNRIs ), or monoamine oxidase inhibitors ( MAOIs ) may be helpful in some cases. SSRIs / SNRIs act on serotonin, a neurotransmitter in the brain. Because of serotonin's positive impacts on mood, an antidepressant may be offered and prescribed as
6072-417: The middle of a room. A white laboratory rat was placed near Albert and he was allowed to play with it. At this point, Watson and Rayner made a loud sound behind Albert's back by striking a suspended steel bar with a hammer each time the baby touched the rat. Albert responded to the noise by crying and showing fear. After several such pairings of the two stimuli, Albert was presented with only the rat. Upon seeing
6164-423: The midway point between floors and decreases when the floor is reached and the doors open). The DSM-V has been updated to reflect that an individual may have changed their daily activities around the feared stimulus in such a way that they may avoid it altogether. The person may still meet criteria for the diagnosis if they continue to avoid or refuse to participate in activities they would involve possible exposure to
6256-462: The past several decades, psychologists and other researchers have developed effective behavioral, pharmacological, and technological interventions for the treatment of phobia. Virtual Reality treatments produce similar effects to in vivo exposure, another efficacious therapy great for treating phobias. Although Virtual Reality is great for treating phobias, the treatment will not work for every phobia. The treatment has positive effects, but depending on
6348-645: The person is willing to endure some discomfort. In one clinical trial, 90% of people no longer had a phobic reaction after successful CBT treatment. Research in the UK has suggested that for childhood phobias a single session of CBT can be effective. Evidence supports that eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is effective in treating some phobias. Its effectiveness in treating complex or trauma-related phobias has not been empirically established. Primarily used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder , EMDR has been demonstrated to ease phobia symptoms following
6440-402: The phobia, in vivo would be another ideal treatment to use over Virtual Reality. In vivo exposure is a great way to reduce fear over time and is actually more preferred when trying to treat anxiety and fear related problems. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based treatment that can help with phobias. It is a talk therapy that can be used alone or along with other therapies. CBT
6532-622: The phobic stimulus. A specific phobia is a marked and persistent fear of an object or situation. Specific phobias may also include fear of losing control, panicking, and fainting from an encounter with the phobia. Specific phobias are defined concerning objects or situations, whereas social phobias emphasize social fear and the evaluations that might accompany them. The DSM breaks specific phobias into five subtypes: animal, natural environment, blood-injection-injury, situational and other. In children, blood-injection-injury phobia , animal phobias, and natural environment phobias usually develop between
6624-401: The process of receiving stimuli, interpreting them, and releasing certain hormones into the bloodstream. The parvocellular neurosecretory neurons of the hypothalamus release corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), which is sent to the anterior pituitary. Here the pituitary releases adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which ultimately stimulates the release of cortisol . In relation to anxiety,
6716-492: The progress in understanding the acquisition of fear responses in phobias can be attributed to classical conditioning (Pavlovian model). When an aversive stimulus and a neutral one are paired together, for instance, when an electric shock is given in a specific room, the subject can start to fear not only the shock but the room as well. In behavioral terms, the room is a conditioned stimulus (CS). When paired with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (UCS) (the shock) , it creates
6808-443: The rat, Albert became very distressed, crying and crawling away. Apparently, the infant associated the white rat with the noise. The rat, originally a neutral stimulus , had become a conditioned stimulus and was eliciting an emotional (conditional) response similar to the distress (unconditioned response) originally given to the noise (unconditioned stimulus). In further experiments, Little Albert seemed to generalize his response to
6900-462: The region's ability to not only become conditioned to fearful stimuli but to extinguish them eventually. Through receiving stimulus info, the basolateral nuclei undergo synaptic changes that allow the amygdala to develop a conditioned response to fearful stimuli. Damage to this area, therefore, have been shown to disrupt the acquisition of learned responses to fear. Likewise, damage in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (the area responsible for monitoring
6992-429: The researchers learned Barger had died in 2007 at age 87 and identified one close living relative, a niece. In an interview, Barger's niece stated that she and her uncle had been quite close throughout his life, and acknowledged Barger's antipathy toward dogs as a well-known fact that family members, particularly his wife, would tease him about (the researchers noted there was no way to determine whether or not this behavior
7084-413: The risk-benefit ratio usually goes against their long-term use in phobic disorders. This class of medication has recently been shown as effective if used with negative behaviours such as excessive alcohol use. Despite this positive finding, benzodiazepines are used with caution due to side effects and risk of developing dependence or withdrawal symptoms. In specific phobia for example if the phobic stimulus
7176-432: The same building as Watson and did not know the tests were being conducted. When she found out, she took Albert and moved away, letting no one know where they were going. A 2009 report, however, disputes that. The original report had stated that the baby's mother was a wet nurse at the hospital, who may have felt coerced and unable to turn down a request for her baby to be used in Watson's experiment. The claim of coercion
7268-412: The same specific phobia. Similarly, social anxiety disorder is found two to six times more frequently in those with first degree relatives that have it versus those that do not. Agoraphobia is believed to have the strongest genetic association. Beneath the lateral fissure in the cerebral cortex , the insula, or insular cortex , of the brain has been identified as part of the limbic system , along with
7360-461: The scenes and having the phobic person endure more exposure than they might handle in reality. Medications are a treatment option often utilized in combination with CBT or if CBT was not tolerated or effective. Medications can help regulate apprehension and fear of a particular fearful object or situation. There are various medication options available for both social anxiety disorder and agoraphobia. The use of medications for specific phobias, besides
7452-477: The severity of an individual's disorder as well as how long they have been experiencing symptoms. For example, in social anxiety disorder (social phobia) a majority of individuals will experience remission within the first couple of years of symptom onset without specific treatment. On the other hand, in Agoraphobia as few as 10% of individuals are seen to reach complete remission without treatment. A study looking at
7544-720: The situation or object, to a degree greater than the actual danger posed. If the object or situation cannot be avoided, they experience significant distress . Other symptoms can include fainting , which may occur in blood or injury phobia , and panic attacks , often found in agoraphobia and emetophobia . Around 75% of those with phobias have multiple phobias. Phobias can be divided into specific phobias , social anxiety disorder , and agoraphobia . Specific phobias are further divided to include certain animals, natural environment, blood or injury, and particular situations. The most common are fear of spiders , fear of snakes , and fear of heights . Specific phobias may be caused by
7636-457: The unconscious can be retrieved. This state makes people more open to suggestion, which helps bring about desired change. Consciously addressing old memories helps individuals understand the event and see it less threateningly. Outcomes vary widely among the phobic anxiety disorders. There is a possibility that remission occurs without intervention but relapses are common. Response to treatment as well as remission and relapse rates are impacted by
7728-454: The underlying cause of the phobia may be uncovered. The phobia may be caused by a past event that the person does not remember, a phenomenon known as repression. The mind represses traumatic memories from the conscious mind until the person is ready to deal with them. Hypnotherapy may also eliminate the conditioned responses that occur during different situations. People are first placed into a hypnotic trance, an extremely relaxed state in which
7820-517: The white rat. He became distressed at the sight of several other furry objects, such as a rabbit, a furry dog, a seal-skin coat, and even a Santa Claus mask with white cotton balls in the beard. However, this stimulus generalization did not extend to everything with hair. Watson's experiment had many failings by modern standards. For example, it had only a single subject and no control subjects . Furthermore, such an experiment could be hard to conduct in compliance with current laws and regulations, given
7912-478: Was a pseudonym for Douglas Merritte, the son of Arvilla Merritte, then a woman who appears to have been a wet nurse at the Harriet Lane Home. It was later found that Douglas Merritte had hydrocephalus , from which he died at the age of 6. With this condition, which is an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid on the brain, Merritte may have had severe trouble seeing at the time of the experiment, and this disputes
8004-466: Was able to increase Peter's tolerance of white rabbits by exposing him to the animal at gradually shorter distances and having Peter interact with children who were not afraid of the rabbit. Watson is listed in the publication of the study as advisor and editor. Mary Cover Jones was the first psychologist to desensitize, or decondition, a fear response and become known as the "Mother of Behavior Therapy". According to some textbooks, Albert's mother worked in
8096-439: Was challenged in an article published in the same journal as the coercion claim. In 2009, psychologists Hall P. Beck and Sharman Levinson published an article in which they claimed to have discovered the true identity of "Albert B." After reviewing Watson's correspondence and publications, as well as research in public documents (such as the 1920 United States Census and state birth and death records), Beck argued that "Albert B."
8188-487: Was defined as "urban." The 1920 census collected the following information: Full documentation for the 1920 census, including census forms and enumerator instructions, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series . The original census enumeration sheets were microfilmed by the Census Bureau in the 1940s, after which the original sheets were destroyed. The microfilmed census
8280-489: Was identified as a possible target for agoraphobia. An area still in development is reviewing epigenetic components or the interaction of the environment on genes through methylation. A number of genes are being examined through this epigenetic lens which may be linked with social anxiety disorder, including MAOA, CRHR1, and OXTR. Each phobia related disorder has some degree of genetic susceptibility. Those with specific phobias are more likely to have first degree relatives with
8372-529: Was linked to Watson's experiment). She also informed researchers of her uncle's aversion to animals in general, not just dogs. Though it was not a particularly strong aversion, family members would often have to keep their dogs in a separate room when he visited. Outside of this, Barger's niece stated that she did not recall any other phobias he may have had. The researchers concluded that Barger would have been unaware of his role as an infant test subject. The experiment today would be considered unethical according to
8464-555: Was said that most textbooks "suffer from inaccuracies of various degrees" while referring to Watson and Rayner's study. Texts often misrepresent, exaggerate, or minimize the range of Albert's post-conditioning fears. Other criticisms stem from the health of the child (cited as Douglas Merritte) who was not a "healthy", "normal" infant as claimed in the study, but one who was very ill and had exhibited symptoms of hydrocephalus since birth—according to relatives he never learned to walk or talk later in life. The child would die five years after
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