Seligman’s Theory Of Preparation

Phobias are reactions of disproportionate fear in front of inoffensive stimuli or stimuli that are not completely harmless, but still manageable. There are a wide variety of theories about how we develop and maintain phobias over time, all of which are partly substantiated. Why are some phobias more common than others? The theory of preparation explains this.

According to Seligman’s theory of preparation  we are programmed to fear some stimuli more than others. This postulate is based on two main concepts: the preparation and the predisposition to the acquisition of phobias, concepts that we will deepen in the course of the article.

The theory of preparation: general characteristics

Seligman elaborates his theory of preparation in response to the theory of equipotentiality, according to which all stimuli are equally influenced. In this regard, Seligman states that we are phylogenetically programmed to fear some stimuli more than others.

This means that we are prepared to condition certain stimuli much more easily than others. And this thanks to an evolutionary process, the result of organisms’ need to adapt to the environment.

That is why it is easier for us to fear dangerous stimuli, which threaten the survival of the species, rather than harmless stimuli.

Characteristics of phobias

Seligman stated that phobias are distinguished by four main characteristics:

• Selectivity: Phobias are limited to a certain type of stimuli (certain situations or stimuli that scare more than others). This aspect seems to be related to the survival of the species.

• Easy Acquisition: Phobias can be acquired at once.

• Resistance to extinction. One of the most characteristic aspects of phobias refers to the resistance to extinction of responses conditioned by stimuli that we generally quickly label as dangers, compared to those stimuli that require to be tested several times.

• Irrationality. One of the characteristics of phobias is the disproportion or lack of harmony between the real danger of the stimulus and the response to anxiety.

Main concepts: preparation and preparation

On the one hand, there is preparation, which focuses on the evolutionary processes of the species. Depending on the degree of preparation of the stimuli for conditioning, we can identify three types of stimuli:

• Get ready. These are those biologically designed to be acquired as dangerous and harmful. This form of learning can take place automatically or just one episode is enough.

• Unprepared or unprepared : these are those stimuli that are not automatically acquired as a danger, but which require several tests of association or conditioning to become such.

• Opposite. Let’s talk about those stimuli that it is impossible to learn as harmful, despite continuous association tests.

And then there is the predisposition, which indicates traits specific to the individual and his ontogenetic development and which make him more predisposed to a certain type of phobia.

The extension of the theory of preparation of the Öhman group

Ohman’s group extended the theory of preparation, making a distinction between phobias, according to whether their origin was phylogenetic or evolutionary. Furthermore, a distinction is made between communicative and non-communicative fears.

Non-communicative fears are those that have neither a social nor a communicative function. Communicative fears, on the other hand, are those that perform a social function between species, which transmit a message between species.

In the group of communicative fears we can find animal or interspecific phobias – common among the different species – and social or intraspecific phobias.

Animal fears (interspecies) originate from the behavioral system of defense against predators and generate avoidance or flight responses, triggering automatic processes. This response generates a strong activation of the sympathetic autonomic nervous system.

Social fears (intraspecies) are those that arise from processes of dominance-submission, in the context of the species itself. Since they are involved in less automatic, more reflexive processes, they give rise to responses that depend on controlled processes, and do not always produce sympathetic activation responses.

A great example of preparation theory: the Garcia effect

Saligman experienced the Garcia effect on his skin and explains why we reject a food that we didn’t like at some point in our life. This conditioned aversion to a taste is activated following a single event or trial (easy acquisition) and is sufficient to fuel avoidance in response. Moreover, it continues over time (the resistance to extinction that Seligman spoke of).

In the course of their research, Garcia and Koelling discovered that not all stimuli allowed themselves to be affected as easily. For example, a stomach ache can be easily associated with a food or drink, but it is very difficult to associate it with a stimulus of another nature, such as a type of light or a sound.

In addition to naming this discovery, Seligman experienced the Garcia effect on her own skin. Indeed, his experience shows that this association between food and stomach pain is so strong and resistant to extinction that not even reason can get the better of this and other (irrational) phobias.