Historical Transition of Psychological Theories of Fear: The View of Fear in Behaviorism

This chapter will discuss changes in psychological theories regarding concepts of how fear develops. In the early period of psychology, the psychology of learning exerted a strong influence, and it was thought that most behaviors and mental processes were acquired through experience; thus, phobias and fears of specific animals and places were believed to be acquired through learning. Once fear is felt toward a particular animal on one occasion, an individual becomes afraid of that animal through classical conditioning. Mowrer used a two-process model to explain that the avoidance response is maintained even if the animal does not cause any further fear in the individual. His theory was widely accepted not only by experimental psychologists but also by clinical psychologists.