Phobias

Question 1

What is a phobia?

Answer 1

An anxiety disorder which is characterised by both physical and psychological symptoms

Question 2

What do physical symptoms include in phobias?

Answer 2

Accelerated heart rate

Nausea

Sweating

Question 3

What do psychological symptoms include in phobias?

Answer 3

Excessive and irrational fear

Avoidance of the object or situation

Catastrophising thoughts

Question 4

What do specific or simple phobias involve?

Answer 4

Involves disproportionate fear about objects, animals, activities and places

Question 5

What does a complex phobia involve?

Answer 5

Involves a deep rooted fear about a situation or incident which makes them harder to treat than a simple phobia

Question 6

How does classical conditioning say phobias are acquired?

Answer 6

Acquired through association and maintained through the renewal of the association

Question 7

How does operant conditioning say phobias are acquired?

Answer 7

Acquired through punishment and maintained through negative reinforcement

Question 8

How does SLT say phobias are acquired?

Answer 8

Acquired though imitation of a role model and maintained though vicarious reinforcement

Question 9

What is the supporting evidence/strengths of phobias?

Answer 9

Watson & Rayner

SLT

Classical conditioning

Question 10

What are the weaknesses of phobias?

Answer 10

Validity

One trial learning

Reductionism

Question 11

Why is Watson & Rayner supporting evidence for phobias?

Answer 11

Watson & Rayner (1920) support the idea phobia is acquired though association when a baby is conditioned to associate a white rat with fear which was produced by a loud noise

Question 12

Why is SLT a strength of phobias?

Answer 12

Provides a good explanation for why we may have a phobia of something we have not directly experienced ourselves

Question 13

Why is classical conditioning a strength of phobias?

Answer 13

Led to treatments being developed based around association

Question 14

Why is validity a weakness of phobias?

Answer 14

Much of the research around phobias is conducted using laboratory experiments; these can lack validity and do not reflect real life experiences of fear.

Question 15

Why is one trial learning a weakness of phobias? (classical conditioning)

Answer 15

Classical conditioning ignores the idea of ‘one trial learning’ where it is possible to acquire a phobia after one isolated association.

Question 16

Why is reductionism a weakness of phobias? (learning theory)

Answer 16

Learning theory explanations ignore the possible role that genes may play in the acquisition of a phobia and may therefore be too simplistic.