Chapter 11 writing assignment Essays - Psychology, Phobias

Chapter 11 writing assignment One aspect of chapter 1 1 that I found quite interesting was the section on phobias. While the exact cause of phobias hasn't been pin pointed due to its complexity, it has been observed that it's a combination of biological and environmental factors. Studies have shown that the same phobia can be found in several members of the same family. When asked how the individual thinks they acquired the phobia, they stated that it was a result of watching someone else in the family have the same phobia and learning it from them. The same observational learning can be found in animals. Experiments done on monkeys for example, showed that the monkeys had fears of snakes for an extended amount of time but only after watching another monkey be scared of snakes. Observational learning has been indicated to be stronger in animals than in humans. Perhaps this is due to the instinctual need for survival. If one animal observes that another animal of the same species is scared of something, it's safe to assume it' s for a good reason. in order to insure its own safety, that animal will also be scared of it. But what if the species differ?