Classical Conditioning And The Fear Of Flying example essay topic

How Lauren may have learned of her Fear of Flying? How Lauren learned she had a fear in flying? Using the Classical Conditioning theory the possibilities could be endless. Classical conditioning in simple terms is the method in which one determines why and the cause of a condition as well as what has brought it about.

There are many stimulus both conditioned and unconditioned that can cause fear or other problems, but the major reason for causes regarding the fear of flying has been mentioned in several articles regarding anxiety disorders. Fear of flying is created by the unconscious mind as a protective mechanism. When using the neutral stimulus explanation, Lauren may not have had a relevant response of interest. Lauren may have learned something or heard someone from her past that caused the continuous fear. Due to the facts in this case, there's little information to provide us regarding Lauren. First we know she's afraid to fly, but we have no further information regarding the condition that caused the fear or the circumstances to what led to this fear.

The first step in Pavlov's theory is trying to discover how Lauren's fear came about, but without more information one can only speculate or guess how Lauren's condition developed. Pavlov's theory states several actions and read actions that could have caused Lauren's Condition. The conditioning of the plane could be neutral stimulus, and the activities on the plane is the unconditioned stimulus. During conditioning of the plane is the neutral stimulus, which is paired with the activities on the plane that is the unconditioned stimulus to produce the unconditioned response, that produces the fear that Lauren has when she is on the plane. After conditioning the neutral stimulus the plane has now become a conditioned stimulus and it produces a conditioned response that is similar to the unconditioned response. This means that Lauren's fear now starts when she sees the plane, and not when see actually gets on the plane.

Summary is that the neutral stimulus now has a response that it didn't previously have. Neutral stimulus would have no bearing in Lauren's case if this were only thing involved. Lauren may have experienced an unconditioned stimulus (an example of this could be from seeing a plane crash on the news, hearing someone talking about their fear to fly or about having a bad experience when they flew). The unconditioned response to this could have left Lauren with the opinion that it was not the safe to fly, but we do not have enough information to conclude that this is true or not. Lauren could have had a condition stimulus (example experiencing problems while flying) and if this were the case it would cause Lauren to develop a condition response.

The condition response would probably be that Lauren has already convinced herself that every other time she has flown she had had a bad experience and therefore why should it be anything different. Even though the original onset my have been on or off a plane, the fear can also be triggered by events: reading about ill-fated flights; viewing crash scenes on TV. The following are some other possible fear factors: o Heights Enclosed space so Crowded condition so Sitting in hot, stale air Sitting and waiting too long Not understanding all the strange actions, sounds, and sensation occurring around Lauren Worrying about the dangers of turbulence o Being dependent on unknown mechanical things to maintain your safety Being dependent on an unknown pilot's judgments. o Not feeling in "Control"o The possibility of terrorism "9/11"o Lauren my have had lost a family member or friend in a plane incident o Fear of the unknown, never been on a plane and really don't know why These fear factors may have been displayed several times in Lauren's past and due to the unconditional stimulus, stimulus that evokes unconditional response without pervious learning associated with Lauren's behavioral response. Lauren's unconditional stimulus response, an unlearned reaction, causes Lauren to continue to have the fear of flying.

We researched various web sites to help us understand Classical Conditioning and The Fear of Flying. The web sites that we used are the following: o web Article on Fear of Flying and how 9/ll increased the fear of flying due to the tragic circumstances. o web Fear of Flying web.