PhobiasThe two-process model, and why exposure works.PsychologyMowrer's two-process model.1Acquisition — classicalA neutral stimulus is paired with fear and becomes conditioned.2Maintenance — operantAvoiding it removes anxiety, negatively reinforcing the avoidance.3No extinctionBecause the person never stays long enough for the fear to fall.4Exposure breaks itStaying present until anxiety declines allows extinction learning.EXPOSURE APPROACHESSystematic desensitisation — graded, with relaxationFlooding — immediate, prolongedIn vivo exposure is more effective than imaginedEducational reference. Preparedness: humans acquire fear of snakesand heights far more readily than of cars or plugs.Phobiaslearnposters.com
Phobias — printable life science wall chart from LearnPosters. Free vector PDF, US Letter and A4.

Phobias, step by step

Mowrer's two-process model.

  1. Acquisition — classicalA neutral stimulus is paired with fear and becomes conditioned.
  2. Maintenance — operantAvoiding it removes anxiety, negatively reinforcing the avoidance.
  3. No extinctionBecause the person never stays long enough for the fear to fall.
  4. Exposure breaks itStaying present until anxiety declines allows extinction learning.

Exposure approaches

  • Systematic desensitisation — graded, with relaxation
  • Flooding — immediate, prolonged
  • In vivo exposure is more effective than imagined

Educational reference. Preparedness: humans acquire fear of snakes and heights far more readily than of cars or plugs.

Questions about the Phobias poster

What’s on the Phobias poster?
4 numbered steps, with a full worked run-through. Mowrer's two-process model. Acquisition — classical — A neutral stimulus is paired with fear and becomes conditio…; Maintenance — operant — Avoiding it removes anxiety, negatively reinforcing the avoid…; No extinction — Because the person never stays long enough for the fear to fall.; Exposure breaks it — Staying present until anxiety declines allows extinction learning.. Educational reference. Preparedness: humans acquire fear of snakes and heights far more readily than of cars or plugs.
Who is the Phobias poster for?
Phobias belongs to the Psychology section rather than to a school year, because life science is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning clinical & abnormal can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
When should you use the Phobias poster?
Classical conditioning acquires it. Operant conditioning maintains it through avoidance. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Phobias belongs on the wall where that life science work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
What other posters go with Phobias?
Addiction, Anxiety and Biological Treatments sit alongside Phobias in the Psychology section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.AddictionAnxietyBiological Treatments
Is the Phobias poster free to download and print?
Yes. Phobias downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Psychology section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
What size does the Phobias poster print at?
Phobias is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Phobias loses nothing.Printing guide

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