Phobias

Question 1

Define a phobia

Answer 1

• a type of anxiety disorder which interferes with everyday life
• categorised by extreme, uncontrollable fear and anxiety
• triggered by an object, place, or situation
• an irrational fear that produces a conscious avoidance

Question 2

what’s a specific phobia?

Answer 2

phobia of an object or situation

Question 3

what’s a social phobia?

Answer 3

phobia of a social situation such as public speaking - social anxiety

Question 4

what’s agoraphobia?

Answer 4

phobia of being outside or in a public place

Question 5

emotional characteristics of phobias

Answer 5

• anxiety - feelings of worry and distress in the presence of a phobic stimulus
• fear - the immediate, strong response when encountering the phobic stimulus

Question 6

behavioural characteristics of phobias

Answer 6

• panic - crying, screaming, running away, fainting in the presence of a phobic stimulus
• avoidance - avoiding places where the phobic stimulus might be, makes everyday life hard
• endurance - alternative to avoidance, remaining in the presence of the phobic stimulus

Question 7

cognitive characteristics of phobias

Answer 7

• selective attention to the phobic stimulus - hard to look away once you’ve seen it
• irrational beliefs
• cognitive distortions

Question 8

the behavioural approach to explaining phobias

Answer 8

• classical conditioning
• operant conditioning
• the two-process model

Question 9

what’s the two process model?

Answer 9

• Mowrer (1960)
• states that phobias are acquired through classical conditioning, and maintained through operant conditioning

Question 10

acquiring phobias through classical conditioning

Answer 10

making an association between an object / situation and fear

Question 11

maintaining phobias through operant conditioning

Answer 11

negative reinforcement - individual avoids the phobic stimulus to avoid the fear

positive reinforcement - reduction of fear is a desirable consequence

the avoidance behaviour is more likely to be repeated in the future

Question 12

strength of the two-process model - good explanatory power

Answer 12

• explains how phobias can be maintained over time
• important implications for therapy
• explains why patients need to be exposed to the feared stimulus

Question 13

weakness of the two-process model - alternative explanation for avoidance behaviour

Answer 13

• not all avoidance behaviour is because of anxiety reduction
• e.g. agoraphobia could be for safety reasons
• the two-process model suggests that avoidance is motivated by anxiety reduction

Question 14

strength of the two-process model - King et al (1998)

Answer 14

• reported that case studies showed that children tend to acquire phobias through a traumatic experience
• supports the idea that phobias are acquired through classical conditioning

Question 15

weakness of the two-process model - phobias don’t always follow a trauma

Answer 15

• some people with phobias aren’t aware of having a related bad experience
• the two-process model can’t explain this

Question 16

weakness of the two-process model - trauma doesn’t always lead to a phobia

Answer 16

weakens behaviourist viewpoint

Question 17

strength of the two-process model - Di Gallo (1996)

Answer 17

• reported that around 20% of people experiencing traumatic car accidents developed a phobia of travelling in cars
• can be explained through classical conditioning
• they tended to stay at home rather than make car journeys (avoidance response) which can be explained through operant conditioning
• however, this was only 20%

Question 18

strength of the two-process model - effectiveness of behaviourist treatment

Answer 18

• systematic desensitisation is effective
• supports the behaviourist explanation

Question 19

the behavioural approach to treating phobias

Answer 19

• systematic desensitisation
• flooding

Question 20

what’s systematic desensitisation?

Answer 20

• a behavioural therapy designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through the principle of classical conditioning
• the phobic stimulus is paired with relaxation
• the learning of a different response is called counterconditioning

Question 21

what are the three processes involved in systematic desensitisation?

Answer 21

• the anxiety hierarchy
• relaxation training
• exposure to the anxiety hierarchy

Question 22

what’s the anxiety hierarchy?

Answer 22

• put together by the patient and therapist
• list of situations related to the phobic stimulus that provoke anxiety
• arranged from least to most frightening

Question 23

what’s relaxation training?

Answer 23

• the therapist teaches the patient to relax
• involves breathing exercises, meditation, or sometimes drugs such as valium
• patients can be taught to imagine themselves in relaxing situations

Question 24

what’s exposure to the anxiety hierarchy?

Answer 24

• the patients is exposed to the phobic stimulus while in a relaxed state
• takes place across several sessions starting at the bottom of the hierarchy
• treatment is successful when the patient can stay relaxed in situations high on the hierarchy

Question 25

strength of systematic desensitisation - suitable for a wide range of patients

Answer 25

- more suitable compared to flooding - children or people with certain health conditions may find flooding too provoking

Question 26

strength of systematic desensitisation - low attrition / high completion rate

Answer 26

- systematic desensitisation doesn't cause the same degree of trauma as flooding - low refusal rates for starting treatment and low attrition rates (number of patients dropping out) - more successful than flooding

Question 27

weakness of systematic desensitisation - time consuming

Answer 27

- gradual process can take many sessions - patients may have to take time off work and be committed

Question 28

weakness of systematic desensitisation - generalisation to the outside world

Answer 28

- the patient will need to face their fear without the support of the therapist - makes treatment less effective

Question 29

what's flooding?

Answer 29

- immediate exposure of the phobic stimulus to the patient - longer than systematic desensitisation sessions but less are needed

Question 30

what are the three processes involved in flooding?

Answer 30

- immediate / direct exposure - prevention of avoidance - patient learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless - continuing until patient is calm - extinction, CS is encountered without the UCS

Question 31

weakness of flooding - ethical issues

Answer 31

- unpleasant experience - important that patients give fully informed consent - patient is given choice of systematic desensitisation or flooding

Question 32

strength of flooding - cost effective

Answer 32

- quicker process than systematic desensitisation - patients don't have to take a lot of time off work

Question 33

weakness of flooding - psychological harm

Answer 33

- highly traumatic experience - patients are often unwilling to see it through to the end

Question 34

weakness of flooding - unsuitable for certain patients

Answer 34

unsuitable for those with high blood pressure / heart conditions

Question 35

weakness of flooding - generalisation to the outside world

Answer 35

- patient will need to face their fear without the support of the therapist - makes the treatment less effective - quality of life wouldn't be improved