Phobias

Question 1

What are the 3 types of phobias?

Answer 1

• specific phobia = phobia of object or situation
• social anxiety = phobia of social situation or public speaking
• agoraphobia = phobia of being outside or in public space

Question 2

What are the 3 behavioural characteristics of phobias?

Answer 2

• panic
• avoidance
  -endurance

Question 3

What are the 3 emotional characteristics of phobias?

Answer 3

• anxiety
  -fear
  -unreasonable emotional response

Question 4

What are the 3 cognitive characteristics of phobias?

Answer 4

• selective attention to phobic stimulus
• irrational beliefs
• cognitive distortions

Question 5

What is the behavioural approach to explaining phobias?

Answer 5

• the two-process model proposed by Mowrer including acquisition by classical conditioning and maintenance by operant conditioning
• little Albert became scared of rats as the noise (unconditioned stimulus) created fear and then he associated that fear with the rats (conditioned stimulus)
• negative reinforcement is where we avoid something unpleasant which happens when we avoid a phobic stimulus meaning that behaviour is the reinforced

Question 6

What are 2 strengths of the behavioural explanation of phobias?

Answer 6

• strength of real world application, the two-process model is present in a lot of phobia examples and can be seen through treatment options like systematic desensitisation
• strength that the two-process model is evidence for a link between bad experiences and phobias, like little Albert study and dental anxiety study - research support

Question 7

What is a limitation of the behavioural explanation of phobias?

Answer 7

• limitation that it doesn’t account for the cognitive aspects of phobias, explains avoidance but not the cognitive aspects of phobias as well - limited application and lacking in validity

Question 8

What is the behavioural approach to treating phobias?

Answer 8

• systematic desensitisation and counterconditioning involving establishing the anxiety heirachy, relaxing the patient, and exposure to the stimulus
• flooding and extinction where the condtioned stimulus is extinguished and no longer produces the fear

Question 9

What are 2 strengths of treatments for phobias?

Answer 9

• strength that SD has evidence of effectiveness, spider study where they tested SD and control group with no treatment and SD was more effective
• strength of flooding being cost effective as it usual happens in one long period

Question 10

What are 2 limitations of treatments for phobias?

Answer 10

• limitation that SD doesn’t work for people with learning disabilities as it requires patients to meaningfully engage and involves a high level or rational thought - not applicable to all cases
• limitation that flooding can be traumatic and unpleasant making it ethically poor so informed consent is needed and attrition (drop-out) rates are higher than in SD