5. Phobias AO1

Question 1

What are the two behavioural characteristics of a phobia?

Answer 1

Panic and avoidance

Question 2

What is panic?

Answer 2

This may involve a range of behaviours such as crying, screaming or running away from the phobic stimulus

Question 3

What is avoidance?

Answer 3

Considerable effort to avoid coming into contact with the phobic stimulus

Question 4

What can avoidance cause?

Answer 4

Avoidance can make it hard to go above it everyday life, especially if the phobic stimulus is often seen e.g. Public places

Question 5

What are the two emotional characteristics of a phobia?

Answer 5

• Anxiety/fear and responses are unreasonable

Question 6

What is anxiety and fear?

Answer 6

Fear is the immediate experience when a phobic encounters or thinks about the phobic stimulus, fear then leads to anxiety.

Question 7

What does responses and unreasonable mean?

Answer 7

Response is widely disproportionate to the threat posed

Question 8

What are the two cognitive characteristics of a phobia?

Answer 8

Selective attention to the phobic stimulus and irrational beliefs

Question 9

What is selective attention to the phobic stimulus?

Answer 9

The phobic finds it hard to look away from the phobic stimulus

Question 10

What are irrational beliefs?

Answer 10

Social phobias may involve beliefs such as ‘I must always sound intelligent’