p1 - psychopathology.

Question 1

Advantages of systematic desensitisation?

Answer 1

• Research support.
  E - Gilroy et al, 2003. At both 3 and 33 months, the treated group were less fearful than the relaxation group.
  E- Shows that systematic desensitisation is effective, and appropriate when treating spider phobias.
• Less traumatic than flooding.
  E - Gradual exposure, whereas flooding is about being immediately exposed to the phobic object.
  E - More appropriate, more ethical. Causes less psychological harm.

Question 2

Disadvantages of systematic desensitisation?

Answer 2

• Individual differences.
  E - Does not work for everyone. Some people may not be able to progress through the stages.
  E - Not always appropriate and effective.
• Does not work for every phobia.
  E - Would not work for phobias like social phobias. Relies on the idea that phobias come from past negative experiences, however they could be from evolution and so therefore counterconditioning is not possible.
  E - Not appropriate for every phobia.

Question 3

What is systematic desensitisation?

Answer 3

• Uses the principle of classical conditioning.
• A new response is learned (counterconditioning).
• Works on the principle that it is impossible to be afraid and relaxed at the same time.
• One emotion prevents the other (reciprocal inhibition).
• Uses an anxiety hierarchy.
• Gradual exposure.

Question 4

What are the systematic desensitisation steps?

Answer 4

1. Patient is taught how to relax their muscles completely.
2. Therapist and patient construct a desensitisation/anxiety hierarchy - each scenario causes a little more anxiety than the previous one.
3. For example, shown a picture of a spider, and then a video of a spider, until eventually they let a spider crawl on them.
4. Once the patient has mastered one step in the hierarchy (remaining relaxed), they can move onto the next one.
5. Patient eventually masters the feared situation.

Question 5

On the whole, systematic desensitisation is…

Answer 5

Teaching a new response through classical conditioning.

Question 6

Advantages of flooding?

Answer 6

• Cost-effective.
  E - Ougrin, 2011, found flooding to be quicker and highly effective compared to alternatives. Individual sessions are longer, however often only one session is needed to cure a phobia.
  E - Patients are free from their symptoms as soon as possible, making the treatment cheaper.

Question 7

Disadvantages of flooding?

Answer 7

• Less effective for some types of phobias.
  E - Effective for simple phobias, however less so for more complex phobias, like social phobias. May be due to cognitive aspects, as there is not only an anxiety response, but also unpleasant thoughts towards the situation.
  E - These types of phobias could benefit more from cognitive therapies that tackle irrational thinking.
• Traumatic.
  E - Patients are often unwilling to see it through to the end.
  E - Time and money are wasted preparing patients, only for them to refuse to start or complete treatment.

Question 8

What is flooding?

Answer 8

• Immediate exposure.
• Prevents avoidant behaviour so the patient realises the phobic stimulus is harmless.
• This process is called extinction.
• Learned response is extinguished when the conditioned stimulus (e.g. a dog) is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus (e.g. being bitten).
• The conditioned stimulus no longer produces the conditioned response (fear).
• Relaxation may be achieved due to exhaustion from own fear response.
• Flooding sessions are typically longer than s.d, however require less sessions to cure phobia.