Scared of Insects?

I wasn't always afraid of insects. When I was five years old, I was the child who fearlessly killed spiders, cockroaches, mosquitoes, and crickets for my mother. I remember that my family would be screaming and shouting, "Kill it!" as I swatted a shoe at the bug. As I got older, something happened, though. When they wanted me to kill a bug, I would do it, but not as willingly. In fact, I would scream throughout the entire act...just like they did. Now, as an adult, the sight of an insect makes me do a mad dash across the room, all the while screaming for my husband to, "Kill it!" Sometimes I am so afraid and disgusted at the sight of an insect that I get goose bumps. How did I, a once brave bug-killing child, develop into an adult who is scared at the sight of an insect?

Ivan Pavlov, a Russian psychologist, developed the framework of learning that is called classical conditioning. Pavlov conducted an experiment in which he conditioned a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell. Pavlov's experiment proved that through classical conditioning a human or animal can be conditioned to associate involuntary biological responses or urges with an object or event that normal does not produce that response. For example, in Pavlov's experiment the dog was conditioned to salivate (unconditioned response--unlearned, involuntary) to the sound of a bell (neutral stimulus-an object not associated with producing salivation). Pavlov did this by feeding the dog a bowl of meat immediately after ringing the bell. The meat (unconditioned stimulus) naturally produced salivation in the dog. The dog soon began to hear the bell as a sign that it was time to eat and began to salivate at the sound of the bell (now a conditioned stimulus) (Feldman, 2005).

Classical conditioning principles can be applied to the origins and maintenance of my fear of insects. For example, I was conditioned to have fearful reactions (unconditioned response) at the sight of an insect (neutral stimulus). This occurred by observational learning (unconditioned stimilus). As a child I observed the behavior of my family members who acted as models to my impressionable brain. Observational learning, developed by psychologist Albert Bandura, is natural in the process of learning, especially for young children who often began to remember and reproduce actions done by others in their environment (Feldman, 2005). As a result, I soon began to have fearful reactions (conditioned response) at the sight of an insect (now a conditioned stimulus).

Reinforcement, a principle of operant conditioning, increased the probability that I would continue to have fearful reactions to insects. As I began to show signs that I was afraid of the insect, my mother first questioned my behavior, but then began to excuse it. She no longer demanded that I "Kill it!" because she thought that I was truly frightened at the sight of it. According to operant conditioning, my learned response of fearfulness at the sight of an insect strengthened because of a favorable consequence (not having to kill the insect). In addition to not having to kill the bug, my mother would let me hold on to her as she comforted me--another form of positive reinforcement. Now a somewhat interesting twist to this is that my mother could have negatively reinforced my behavior by making me continue to kill the bugs, even though I acted afraid. Maybe negatively reinforcing my behavior would have taught me that it was okay to be afraid of an insect, but that I still must kill it in order to remove the unpleasant stimulus from my environment.

I shouldn't be ashamed to be afraid of insects.... after all I wasn't always afraid. Besides, it's really not my fault at all. We can conclude that I was conditioned through classical and operant conditioning, and observational learning to be fearful of insects. Maybe one day I will outgrow my fear, but until then I am sure that my husband won't mind if he has to "Kill it!".

Works Cited:

Feldman, J. (2005). Understanding Psychology. Boston: McGrall Hill.