Historical Variations in Perspectives

As comprehensive psychological theories of human behavior began to
emerge in the early 1900’s, each was faced with the challenge of explaining
the distinct symptoms, but apparently irrational nature, of phobias. For example,
in 1909, Sigmund Freud published his account of the case of “Little
Hans,” a young boy with a horse phobia. Freud hypothesized that Hans had
an unconscious fear of his father which was transferred to a more appropriate
object: the horse. Freud’s treatment of phobias involved analyzing the
unconscious conflicts (through psychoanalysis) and giving patients insight
into the “true” nature of their fears.
An alternative explanation of phobias based on the principles of Pavlovian
conditioning was proposed by John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner in
1920. They conditioned a fear of a white rat in an infant nicknamed “Little
Albert” by pairing presentation of the rat with a frightening noise (an unconditioned
stimulus). After a few such trials, simply presenting the rat
(now a conditioned stimulus) produced fear and crying (the conditioned
response).