Child's Fear of Dogs

Definition

The child's fear of dogs refers to a learned emotional response triggered by an unpleasant or traumatic experience with a dog, leading to anxiety or avoidance behavior towards dogs in general.

Related terms

Classical Conditioning:

Classical conditioning is when an individual learns to associate two stimuli together, resulting in a conditioned response. In this case, the dog bite (unconditioned stimulus) becomes associated with fear (conditioned response).

Operant Conditioning:

Operant conditioning involves learning through consequences. If the child avoids dogs and feels less anxious as a result, it reinforces their fear and increases the likelihood of continued avoidance in the future.

Systematic Desensitization:

Systematic desensitization is a therapeutic technique used to reduce anxiety by gradually exposing individuals to their fears in a controlled manner. It could be employed here to help the child overcome their fear of dogs through step-by-step exposure therapy.