Phobias Flashcards
(17 cards)
What does acquisition of phobia mean?
To develop a phobia.
What is classical conditioning?
Neutral stimulus + unconditioned stimulus = conditioned response.
How does social learning theory explain phobia acquisition?
observing the role model’s response to a phobia and reproduction of that fear. Most phobias are learned in early childhood, because babies have strong fear-responses and don’t know enough about the world to realise what is really frightening them. You can see a phobia being acquired by a baby in the Classic Study. Explains how people might see role models reacting to feared objects with great panic and imitate that reaction.
What is operant conditioning in relation to phobias?
might reinforce the phobia, because panicking might attract attention and concern from other people or just make the feared thing go away.
What does maintained phobia refer to?
Classical conditioning: repeatedly associating the phobia with fear
Social learning theory: repeatedly the role model would show the observed behaviour
What is systematic desensitisation?
A method based on classical conditioning with two components: counter-conditioning and graduated exposure and sometimes participant modelling
What is counter-conditioning?
Learning to associate the thing you fear with something relaxing or pleasant.
What is graduated exposure?
Introducing you to the thing you fear in stages, starting with brief and remote encounters and building up to longer, closer and more immediate encounters
What is participant modelling?
A role model demonstrates being relaxed and calm in the presence of the feared object.
What did Cook and Mineka demonstrate?
Monkeys showed no fear response to a snake until they saw a video of a snake eating a monkey.
What did Gilroy et al. (2003) study?
studied 42 patients who had been treated for their fear of spiders (arachnophobia) in three 45-minute sessions of systematic desensitisation. The phobia’s strength was measured by a questionnaire and by observing the patient when they encountered a spider. A Control group was taught relaxation techniques without gradual exposure to the spider. After 3 months and again after 33 months, the treatment group were less fearful than the Control group. This shows that systematic desensitisation reduces the power of a phobia and that the effects are long-lasting. MORE ETHICAL THAN FLOODING
What is a objection: Gilroy et al. (2003)?
It lacks ecological validity as facing a phobia this way isn’t representative of everyday situations.Costly and time consuming
What is flooding as a difference?
A method where the phobia is immediately shown in one session to cure the phobia.
What are the stages of the fight or flight response?
Alarm stage- 3-5 minutes of human instinct- fighting or running, pure adrenaline pumping through your body
Resistance stage- forced to resist the urge for fight or flight
Exhaustion stage- her body will stop freaking out and her fear will be changed to relaxation, the association changes from fear to relaxation
What did Joseph Wolpe (1970) demonstrate?
took a girl who was scared of cars and drove her around for 4 hours. At first, the girl was hysterical but she calmed down when she realised that she was in no danger. Afterwards, her phobia disappeared: she learned to enjoy car rides.
how is Ecological validity a credibility.
sudden presentation of the phobia is more representative of day-to-day life
What is a criticism of flooding?
Consent is required from the participant, who must want to cure their phobia of their own accord through flooding
