phobias

Question 1

what is a phobia?

Answer 1

an irrational fear of an object or situation that leads to significant anxiety and has a significant impact on day-to-day life

Question 2

what are the 3 categories of phobias in the DSM-5?

Answer 2

1. specific phobias (excessive fear of a particular object or situation)
2. social anxiety/ social phobia (excessive fear of a social situation)
3. agoraphobia (excessive fear of being outside or in public places)

Question 3

what are the behavioural categories of phobias?

Answer 3

1. PANIC : freeze, cry, run away, scream
2. AVOIDANCE: change day-to-day life to reduce chance of coming into contact with phobic stimuli
3. ENDURANCE: if they can’t avoid the phobic stimuli, they will endure it, usually maintain high levels of anxiety during

Question 4

what are the emotional characteristics of phobias?

Answer 4

1. EXCESSIVE ANXIETY: state of discomfort for long period of time, unable to relax and feel positive emotions
2. EXCESSIVE FEAR: more severe but short term immediate response to phobic stimuli

Question 5

what are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?

Answer 5

1. SELECTIVE ATTENTION TO PHOBIC STIMULI: spot them immediately and unable to focus on anything else
2. IRRATIONAL BELIEFS: illogical assumptions about phobic stimuli
3. COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS: change how things look/ characteristics of phobic stimuli to fit irrational beliefs

Question 6

what does the behaviourist approach focus on?

Answer 6

emphasises the importance of observable behaviours so focuses on behavioural characteristics of phobias, rather than cognitive and emotional

Question 7

what is meant by classical conditioning?

Answer 7

learning by association- repeated pairing of two stimuli to create conditioned response (e.g. Pavlov and dogs)

phobias usually arise by stimuli being associated with a traumatic experience

Baby Albert shows how fears can be acquired through classical conditioning

Question 8

what is meant by operant conditioning?

Answer 8

learning through reinforcement (consequences of our actions)

Question 9

what did Mowrer come up with about how phobias are acquired and maintained?

Answer 9

TWO PROCESS MODEL

phobias are acquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning

the classically conditioned response would fade over time but avoidance of phobic stimuli is negatively reinforced

Question 10

explain how phobias are maintained through operant conditioning?

Answer 10

avoiding the phobic stimuli provides relief from the anxiety (anxiety is the punishment)

this strengthens the avoidance behaviour, maintaining the phobia

Question 11

what is the research to support role of classical conditioning in development of phobias?

Answer 11

Little Albert- classical conditioned to develop fear of white rats

lab study-high control- high IV

increases validity of explanation so more likely to trust it

Question 12

how can we counter the supporting evidence of Little Albert for supporting classical conditioning?

Answer 12

single case study- may not be generalisable

time bound case study- not replicable today due to ethical issues- decreases validity of explanation as it may not be falsifiable

also issues with animals- behaviorists assume we elarn the same way but humans actually much more complex- lacks generalisability

Question 13

what are the practical applications of behaviourist explanation of phobias?

Answer 13

used to develop behaviourist treatments of phobias - systematic desensitisation and flooding

helps field of psychology so increased usefulness of explanation

Question 14

what does the behaviourist explanation of phobias not account for?

Answer 14

cognitive processes as well as observable behaviours, since behaviourists believe we are simply S-R beings

we know there are many cognitive characteristics of phobias that behaviourists ignore e.g. irrational beliefs

not a comprehensive explanation of phobias as it fails to explain all aspects of phobias

Question 15

what is the supporting evidence for link between phobias and traumatic experiences?

Answer 15

Ad De Jongh et al

73% of people with a fear of dental treatment had experienced a traumatic experience, mostly involving dentistry (others been victim of violent crime)

control group with low dental anxiety- only 21% had experienced traumatic event

supports association between stimulus (dentistry) and unconditioned response (pain) does develop a phobia

adds validity to explanation

Question 16

what is a counter for Ad De Jongh et al?

Answer 16

value was not 100% for fear of dentists and traumatic experiences, behaviourist explanation doesn’t account for how the other people’s phobias develop

Question 17

how does the evolutionary explanation of phobias counteract behavioural explanation?

Answer 17

Seligman- biological preparedness

the innate predisposition to acquire fears

we easily acquire phobias of things that have been a danger in our evolutionary past as it is adaptive to have these fears

may be better explanation than two-process model as two process model doesn’t explain how people have phobias of things that aren’t traumatic e.g. spiders

Question 18

what does the idea of exposure therapies rely on?

Answer 18

behavioural theory that classical conditioning explains how phobias are acquired, so can also be used to get rid of it

Question 19

what is counter-conditioning?

Answer 19

a new response to the phobic stimuli is learnt

Question 20

what is extinction?

Answer 20

a learning response is extinguished when the conditioned stimulus no longer leads to the unconditioned response

Question 21

what is systematic desensitisation?

Answer 21

a behavioural therapy designed to reduce anxiety towards the phobic stimulus gradually through classical conditioning

Question 22

what are the 3 processes of SD?

Answer 22

1. anxiety hierachy
2. relaxation
3. exposure

Question 23

what is the anxiety hierachy stage?

Answer 23

client and therapist list situations related to phobic stimuli that provoke anxiety from least to most anxiety inducing

Question 24

what is the relaxation stage?

Answer 24

uses the principle of reciprocal inhibition (biological concept that you are unable to be scared and relaxed at same time)

patient is taught to relax using various methods e.g. breathing, visualisation, mindfulness

this is because exposing to phobic stimuli while relaxed leads to unlearning conditioned fear

Question 25

what is meant by the exposure stage?

Answer 25

patient is exposed to phobic stimuli going up anxiety hierachy while relaxed only move up to next stage when patient can remain relaxed in presence of phobic stimuli on that level

Question 26

what is the supporting evidence for systematic desensitisation?

Answer 26

Gilroy et al followed 42 people with arachnophobia SD treatment in three 45 minute sessions and found that at 3 months and 33 months, the SD group were less fearful than control group adds validity to treatment of phobias

Question 27

how is SD suitable for many people?

Answer 27

can be used for people with learning difficulties who may struggle with more cognitive therapies that require complex rational thought also not too distressing compared to other behavioural therapies this sounds like a good use of money!

Question 28

how can we counter that SD is suitable for many people?

Answer 28

EXPENSIVE SD requires many sessions, and is a person centred therapy requiring a professional also can be expensive resources up the anxiety hierachy

Question 29

what is flooding?

Answer 29

a behavioural therapy based on classical conditioning that is designed to reduce anxiety toward phobic stimulus through immediate exposure

Question 30

what are the 4 key features of flooding?

Answer 30

no hierarchy of phobic stimuli fewer sessions that are much longer than SD may achieve extinction due to exhaustion (body can't maintain fight or flight so relax due to exhaustion) informed consent vital

Question 31

what are two strengths of flooding?

Answer 31

-quicker as extinction is reached very fast -cheap- good for NHS

Question 32

how can we counter that flooding is cheap?

Answer 32

high attrition (drop out) rates may mean therapy costs are higher money wasted on flooding then more money might be required to put that person into SD

Question 33

what is the research to show flooding is traumatic?

Answer 33

Schumacher et al found participants and therapists rated flooding significantly more stressful than SD ethical issues- protection from harm this therapy could damage reputation of psychology and damage individual

Question 34

what is a limitation for both exposure therapies?

Answer 34

lack of emphasis on cognitive thought means the underlying causes may not be tackled this leads to symptom substitution- the supposed process whereby removing one psychological symptom leads to another symptom appearing if the basic psychological cause has not been removed.