Page 94 - Biblical Counseling II

The Biology of Fear
One key to fear learning lies in the amygdala, that limbic
system neural center deep in the brain. The amygdala
plays a key role in associating various emotions, including
fear, with certain situations. In animal research, rabbits
learn to react with fear to a tone that predicts an
impending small shock – unless their amygdala is
damaged. If rats have their amygdala deactivated by a
drug that blocks the strengthening of neural connections,
they, too, show no fear learning (Myers, 2009).

The amygdala is similarly involved in human fears. If an
experimenter repeatedly blasts people with a blaring horn
after showing a blue slide, they will begin to react
emotionally to the slide (as measured by the electricity
conducted by their perspiring skin). If they have suffered
damage to the nearby hippocampus, they still show the
emotional reaction – an implicit memory –, but they won’t
be able to remember why. If they have instead suffered amygdala damage, they will consciously remember
the conditioning but will show no emotional effect of it. Patients who have lost use of their amygdala are
unusually trusting of scary-looking people (Myers, 2009).

Of course, there are people whose fears seem to fall outside the average range. Some, with phobias, have
intense fears of specific objects (such as bugs) or situations (such as public speaking) that disrupt their ability
to cope. Others-courageous heroes and remorseless criminals – are less fearful than most of us. Astronauts
and adventurers who have “the right stuff” – who can keep their wits and function coolly and effectively in
times of severe stress – seem to thrive on risk. So, too, do con artists and killers who calmly charm their
intended victims. In laboratory tests, they exhibit little fear of a tone that predictably precedes a painful
electric shock (Myers, 2009).

Fear Conditioning
When bad events happen unpredictably and uncontrollably, anxiety often develops. Anxious people are
hyper-attentive to possible threats, and panic-prone people come to associate anxiety with certain cues.
Through conditioning, the short list of naturally painful and frightening events can multiply into a long list of
human fears. For example, if my car was struck by another, whose driver missed a stop sign, for months
afterward, I would feel a twinge of unease when any car approached from a side street.
Two specific learning processes can contribute to such anxiety. The first, stimulus generalization, occurs, for
example, when a person attacked by a fierce dog later develops a fear of all dogs. The second learning
process, reinforcement, helps maintain our phobias and compulsions after they arise. Avoiding or escaping
the feared situation reduces anxiety, thus reinforcing the phobic behavior. Feeling anxious or fearing a panic
attack, a person may go inside and be reinforced by feeling calmer. Compulsive behaviors operate similarly.
If washing your hands relieves your feelings of anxiety, you may wash your hands again when those feelings
return (Myers, 2009).

Observational Learning

We may also learn fear through observational learning – by observing others’ fears. As Susan Mineka
demonstrated, wild monkeys transmit their fear of snakes to their watchful offspring. Human parents
similarly transmit fears to their children (Myers, 2009).

Example: When my daughter, Cailey, was four years old, she was interested in bugs. She liked spiders,

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