How did the fear develop?
Suppose that a young girl is terrified of bugs, fear may have developed through classical conditioning by developing a kind of nervous disorder. This may have started through an early experience that transpired when she was younger. One day, she was out riding on a bike and when she started to get tired, she bowed her head down and that was when she saw a bug right at the center of the road. As the young girl looked at the bug, she failed to see a motorcycle that was coming right at her and so she lost her balance and fell. Now, every time she sees a bug she begins to feel fear, as if some bad incident is about to happen to her, even if it was just a harmless bug that was in front of her.
What was the unconditioned stimulus?
In this case, wherein a young girl develops a phobia for bugs, the unconditioned stimulus is the act of riding a bike, which naturally triggers an unconditioned response (i.e., fear), as an effect of falling in a bike, which took place when the girl was younger.
What was the conditioned stimulus?
In the given case, the conditioned stimulus is the tendency of seeing a bug in the road at the time when the young girl fell down from her bike when she was younger. The bug is the conditioned stimulus, and it produces a conditioned response, which is the fear of bugs. Thus, every time the girl sees a bug she begins to fear because the unconditioned stimulus led to the conditioned stimulus, and just seeing a bug makes her remember the time when she fell off her bike and so, she begins to feel fearful after seeing the bug. It is even possible for her to remember the pain she felt after she was physically injured when she fell of her bike.
What was the unconditioned response?
In the given case, the unconditioned response is the feeling of fear brought by her experience of falling down her bike when she lost her balance after seeing a bug on the road. This unconditioned response, which is fear of falling down her bike, leads to a conditioned stimulus, which is the bug, which eventually leads to a conditioned response, which is the feeling of fear. Seeing a bug could trigger fear later on, even without reason.
What was the conditioned response?
In the given case, the conditioned response is the feeling of fear. The conditioned stimulus (i.e., sight of a bug) led to a conditioned response (i.e., feeling of fear) because it was a bug that she saw on the road that made her lose her balance and fall down when a motorcycle was about to smash her. Thus, seeing a bug makes her feel fearful, as she recalls the time when she fell off her bike as an effect of seeing a bug on the road one time when she was riding a bike on the road. The conditioned response may also include the feeling of pain, which the young girl experienced physically when she fell off her bike long ago.
Why did the child come to fear all bugs?
The child came to fear all bugs as an effect of classical conditioning, wherein there occurs an association between an environmental stimulus, as well as, a naturally occurring stimulus. It creates behavior as an effect of interacting with the environment, and two stimuli would result to a learned response. For example, a neutral stimulus like a bug, and an unpleasant experience like falling off one’s bicycle, can lead to a phobia of being afraid of bugs, as one thinks that seeing a bug would lead to an incident of falling off her bike.
How can the child overcome this fear?
The child may be able to overcome this fear of bugs by using classical conditioning techniques, which may be useful in treating phobias or anxiety problems. One way of applying classical conditioning techniques is by creating a positive environment to the child for him/her to overcome the feeling of fear. They should be able to associate the neutral stimulus (i.e., bug) with a new conditioned response by putting it in a new pleasant environment or surroundings, where the child will feel more calm and relaxed.
