BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH TO TREATING PHOBIAS

Question 1

two process model

Answer 1

Mowrer suggested that behaviour is acquired through c;assical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning.

Question 2

watson and reyner

Answer 2

Watson and Rayner demonstrated how Little Albert associated the
fear caused by a loud bang with a white rat. He was exposed to a white rat (NS), producing no
response. When paired with the loud bang (UCS), this produced the UCR of fear.

Question 3

operant conditioning

Answer 3

takes place when a behaviour is rewarded or maintained.
- by avoiding the phobic stimulus, they avoid the associated fear.
- avoidance behaviour is negatively reinforced and likely to be repeated again, hence maintaining the phobia.

Question 4

evidence which can be added as a strength

Answer 4

comes from little alberts study by watson and rayner where they found that phobia is acquired through association.

Question 5

strength of behavioural approach

Answer 5

• explains the mechanism behind aquisition and maintenance of phobias. mowrer emphasises the importance of exposing patients to the phobic stimulus because it prevents negative reinforcement of avoidance behaviour. patient realises phobic stimulus is harmless, turning it into a succesful therapy.

Question 6

limitation sof the behavioural approach

Answer 6

Mendes and clark found that only 2% of children with phobia of water could recall negative experience of water and 56% parents told the researcher that phobia has been present since childs first encounter to water. these findings suggests that behaviourist approach doesnot fully explain phobias.

• seligman suggested that we are more likely to develop phobias towards prepared stimuli, these are the stimuli which possess threat to our evolutionary ancestors , running away from such stimulus increases chance of survival and reproduction. hence behaviour having a selective evolutionary advantage which means that alternative theories can explain why some phobias are frequent than others.

Question 7

treating phobias

Answer 7

behaviourists assume that phobias are learnt association so they attempt to replace fear with relaxation.

Question 8

reciprocal inhibition

Answer 8

fear and relaxation are two antagonistic emotions, so you cannot feel the two opposite emotions simultaneously.

Question 9

systematic desensitisation

Answer 9

systematic desensitisation relies upon principle pf counter conditioning, learning a new response to phobic stimulus which is because of reciprocal inhibition, its impossible to be both relaxed and anxious at the same time.

Question 10

how does systematic desensitisation takes place?

Answer 10

• therapist teaches the client relaxation techniques
• client then creates an anxiety hierarchy ( most feared on top and least feared on bottom)
• client is then exposed to each level of anxiety hierarchy, starting with least anxiety producing to the most.
• the client must be relaxed at each stage and can only move to next stage once they are fully relaxed.
• when the client can hold the phobic object, [the association is extinct and a new association with relaxation is established.

Question 11

evidence for systematic desensitisation

Answer 11

gilroy et al followed 42 patients who were treated in three sessions of systematic desensitisation for a spider phobia and their progress was compared to a control group with 50 participants who were only taught relaxation techniques.
- extent of phobias was measured through spider questionnaire and observations .
- at both 3 and 33 months systematic desensitisation group showed a reduction in symptom as compared to control group, and has been used as a n evidence of supporting evidence.

Question 12

strengths of systematic desensitisation

Answer 12

1. suitable for many patients including those with learning disabilities. anxiety disorders are often accompanied with learning difficulties so the patients wont be able to make full cognitive commitment in the therapy like cbt. systematic desensitisation would be an alternative for them.
2. as compared to flooding, this technique limits anxiety, as flooding is not particularly suitable for older patients , people with heart diseases, and chidren due to its stressful nature.

Question 13

flooding

Answer 13

flooding is a behavioural therapy designed to reduce phobic anxiety in one session, through immediate exposure to phobic stimulus.

Question 14

limitations of systematic desensitisation

Answer 14

effectiveness may be limited to a controlled environment within the therapists office and might not translate in the real world experience.
- more effective in treating specific phobias rather than social phobias.

Question 15

strength of flooding

Answer 15

Ougrin comapred flooding to cognitive therapies and found it to be cheaper, as because it will cure the patients phobias in one symptoms and allow them to live freely, cost effective as well.

Question 16

limitations of flooding

Answer 16

• less effective for complex and social phobias. in sucg=h xases cognitive therapy could be more appropriate because it targets the direct causes of phobia.

Question 17

additional ao1 point to two process model

Answer 17

bandura’s social learning theory states that phobias can be acquired through modelling.

Question 18

additional a03 on two process model

Answer 18

di nardo et al suggested that a phobia is only induced in an individual if they have a genetic vulnerability which causes pre - disposition to developing phobia.

Question 19

Limitations of flooding

Answer 19

Research has shown that other treatments can be successful in treating phobias. Cognitive Behavioural therapy has been shown to be successful in a range of disorders including phobias. Biological research has also found that SSRI’s and MAOI inhibitors have been used to effectively reduce social anxiety and social avoidance phobias. This highlights an issue with behaviourist treatments, this is because it does nor target all potential causes of the phobia. Therefore, behaviourists treatments may not work for all individuals. For example, if it is a chemical imbalance that is creating anxiety, no amount of behaviourist therapy would be successful because it isn’t targeting biological influences.