phobias, SD and Flooding

Question 1

phobia

Answer 1

an exaggerated fear of an object or situation

Question 2

percentage of significant improvement of phobias through treatment

Answer 2

90%

Question 3

4 diagnostic criteria for a specific phobia

Answer 3

.persistent excessive or unreasonable fear cued by the presence or anticipation of a specific object or situation

.the person recognises the fear as excessive or unreasonable

.interferes significantly with a person’s normal routine

.exposure to the stimulus provokes an immediate anxiety response

Question 4

what does behaviour therapy through classical conditioning do?

Answer 4

aims to change behaviour by changing the associations we make

Question 5

what are therapies derived from classical conditioning based on

Answer 5

exposure and response prevention

Question 6

exposure

Answer 6

facing or confronting a fear repeatedly until the fear subsides

Question 7

habituation

Answer 7

the process by which a person’s behavioural and sensory response diminishes over time after repeated exposure to a particular stimulus

Question 8

response prevention

Answer 8

refraining from engaging in typical avoidance or escape behaviours when faced with a feared situation

Question 9

how is a behaviour extinguished

Answer 9

the fear is eliminated

by reversing the process of paired association between a neutral stimulus and a fear inducing stimuli (UCS)

Question 10

Systematic desensitisation

Answer 10

a therapy based on the principles of classical conditioning

Question 11

when is SD complete

Answer 11

when the agreed therapeutic goals are met

Question 12

what 2 things can the process of SD be?

Answer 12

in vitro

in vivo

Question 13

in vivo

Answer 13

exposure to the real object

Question 14

in vitro

Answer 14

imaginary exposure to the object

Question 15

reciprocal inhibition

Answer 15

the fear response is gradually replaced by a relaxed response

two contrasting emotions cannot co-exist

Question 16

4 stages to SD

Answer 16

functional analysis

construction of an anxiety hierarchy

relaxation training

gradual exposure

Question 17

functional analysis

Answer 17

careful questioning to discover the nature of the anxiety and possible triggers and the persons responses to them

Question 18

anxiety hierarchy

Answer 18

hierarchy of anxiety provoking situations from least to most fearful

Question 19

relaxation training

Answer 19

desensitisation

people are taught muscle relaxation, breathing exercises and how to use their imagination to decrease anxiety

Question 20

gradual exposure

Answer 20

each stage of the anxiety hierarchy are worked through using the relaxation techniques learnt

Question 21

what other treatment can SD be paired with

Answer 21

modelling

Question 22

modelling

Answer 22

the patient observed others in the presence of the phobic stimulus who are responding with relaxation instead of fear

participant is encouraged to imitate the models

Question 23

why are the therapeutic outcomes of SD easy to measure

Answer 23

the goals are clearly specified

good scientific justification for this use of therapy

Question 24

why are in-vitro methods used more frequently than in-vivo methods

Answer 24

due to ethical problems - such ass distress to the participant

Question 25

why is SD not very effective for people with more severe disorders?

Answer 25

the person needs to be able to relax the person has to be involved in the whole process not everyone is able to do these things

Question 26

which disorders is SD not effective for

Answer 26

schizophrenia psychoses

Question 27

what criticism do all theories based on the learning approach face?

Answer 27

they fail to identify and treat the underlying causes of abnormality causes have not been addressed

Question 28

what did Craske & Barlow (1993) study on agoraphobics show?

Answer 28

between 60-80% of agoraphobics showed some improvement after SD improvement was only slight and often clients relapse after 6 months

Question 29

why does SD have limited effectiveness for complex phobias?

Answer 29

if the phobia is secondary to something else, the other thing needs to be dealt with first for SD to be effective e.g. agoraphobia is secondary to panic attacks, as clients do not fear the public space but having the panic attack in a public place

Question 30

what are the two other terms that flooding can be referred to as

Answer 30

exposure therapy prolonged exposure therapy

Question 31

ethical issues for flooding

Answer 31

the experience may be traumatic

Question 32

what is flooding

Answer 32

the rapid exposure to the CS rather than more spaced presentations

Question 33

what are the two rationale behind flooding

Answer 33

the patient's anxiety if maintained at such a high level that eventually some process of exhaustion or stimulus satiation takes place if a patient is prevented from making their normal escape / avoidance response extinction will occur

Question 34

Example of a study involving Flooding

Answer 34

Wolpe (1973) - took a girl who was scared of cars and drove her round for hours initially the girl was hysterical but eventually she calmed down when she realised her situation was safe from then on she associated cars with a sense of ease

Question 35

how does rapid exposure help the extinction of a phobia

Answer 35

the person becomes to physically exhausted for the CR to occur

Question 36

why are patients more likely to choose SD over flooding

Answer 36

SD does not cause the same degree of trauma

Question 37

why can flooding be more effective than SD for people with very strong phobias

Answer 37

these people may struggle to keep up with the relaxation of S.D

Question 38

what are the benefits of flooding being so quick

Answer 38

cheaper than alternatives patients are free of symptoms as soon as possible

Question 39

which disorders has flooding also reduced symptoms of

Answer 39

PTSD and OCD