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🧠 Psych A > Psychopathology - Phobias > Flashcards

Psychopathology - Phobias Flashcards

(51 cards)

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1
Q

Behavioural characteristic

A

How a person acts

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2
Q

Emotional characteristics

A

How a person feels

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3
Q

Cognitive characteristics

A

How a person thinks

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4
Q

Definition of a phobia

A

An anxiety disorder characterised by excessive fear triggered by an object, place or situation

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5
Q

Types of phobia

A

Specific - phobia of an object or situation
Social anxiety - phobia of a social situation
Agoraphobia - fear of being outside/in a public place

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6
Q

Behavioural characteristics of phobias

A

Panic
Avoidance
Endurance

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7
Q

Emotional characteristics of phobias

A

Fear
Anxiety

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8
Q

Cognitive characteristics of phobias

A

Selective attention
Irrational beliefs
Cognitive distortion

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9
Q

Phobic

A

The person with the phobia

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10
Q

Phobic stimulus

A

The situation or object which causes a phobic response

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11
Q

Panic in phobias

A

A range of behaviours including crying and screaming which show fear

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12
Q

Avoidance in phobias

A

Making a conscious effort not to come into contact with the phobic stimulus

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13
Q

Endurance in phobias

A

Remaining in the presence of a phobic stimulus when it is unavoidable, but experiencing high anxiety while doing so

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14
Q

Fear in phobias

A

A feeling of terror or being afraid

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15
Q

Anxiety

A

An unpleasant state of high arousal

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16
Q

Selective attention in phobias

A

Being unable to stop thinking about or focusing on the phobic stimulus

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17
Q

Irrational beliefs in phobias

A

Believing incorrect things about the phobic stimulus

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18
Q

Cognitive distortions in phobias

A

Having a changed perception of the phobic stimulus

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19
Q

Two process model

A

Phobias are learned through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning

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20
Q

Who proposed the two process model

A

Mower (1960)

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21
Q

Classical conditioning process on phobias

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A

An unconditioned stimulus produces an unconditioned response (fear).
The unconditioned stimulus is associated with a neutral stimulus and produces the unconditioned response.
The neutral stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus or phobic stimulus and produces the conditioned response of fear.

22
Q

Operant conditioning on phobias

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A

Avoidance of a phobic stimulus lessens anxiety which makes phobias worse through negative reinforcement.

23
Q

Study supporting Two Process Model

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A

Watson and Rayner (Little Albert)

24
Q

Watson and Rayner (Little Albert) study

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A

Used 9 month old Little Albert and conditioned him to be afraid of white fluffy objects by making a loud noise each time he went near a white rat.

25
Generalisation
The fear response is produced by objects similar to the phobic stimulus. (Generalised to other stimuli)
26
Biological preparedness
Idea that even if the 2 process model is correct, humans are genetically programmed to develop phobias of life threatening stimuli from our evolutionary past (eg. Spiders rather than toasters)
27
Behavioural treatments for phobias
Systematic desensitisation Flooding
28
How does systematic desensitisation work?
Counter conditioning and reciprocal inhibition CRAG
29
Counter conditioning
Learning a new positive association to the phobic stimulus
30
Reciprocal inhibition
The idea that conflicting emotions cannot co-exist so relaxation techniques are used to ensure the patient feels no anxiety when facing the phobic stimulus
31
Who proposed the behavioural treatment of phobias
Wolpe (1958)
32
Process of systematic desensitisation
Relaxation techniques Anxiety hierarchy Desensitisation
33
Relaxation techniques
Patient learns how to relax in the presence of the phobic stimulus, like deep breathing and muscle relaxation
34
Anxiety hierarchy
A list is developed of least to most frightening exposures for the patient (eg. Seeing a picture, then a video, then close up, then touching the stimulus itself)
35
Gradual Exposure
Following the anxiety hierarchy and gradually exposing the patient to the phobic stimulus while reinforcing the relaxation techniques. Only moving to the next exposure when fully relaxed.
36
Flooding
Extreme Extended Exposure Leading to… Extinction and Exhaustion
37
How flooding works
One long session where the patient is exposed to the phobic stimulus, causing extinction and exhaustion
38
Extinction in flooding
Negative association is forgotten as avoidance of the stimulus is prevented
39
Exhaustion in flooding
The patient runs out of energy due to their fear response. It reaches a peak and then the patient becomes tired.
40
Strengths of the behavioural explanation of phobias
Real world application (Gilroy et al) Phobias often follow a traumatic event (Sue et al)
41
Weaknesses of behavioural explanations of phobias
Not all phobias follow traumatic experiences (Di Nardo) Biologically preparedness theory (Seligman)
42
Strengths of flooding
More effective (Choy et al) Less time consuming (Wolpe)
43
Strengths of systematic desensitisation
Effective (Gilroy) Less stressful Diverse patients
44
Weaknesses of flooding
Less effective More stressful
45
Weaknesses of systematic desensitisation
More disruptive to lives (up to 100 sessions)
46
Weaknesses of the cognitive treatments of depression
Less effective in strong depression Alternative treatments (drug therapies)
47
Gilroy et al (2003)
P- 42 patients who had SD to treat arachnophobia over 3 45 min sessions. F- after 3 and 33 months they were less fearful C-shows the effectiveness of SD as a treatment
48
Sue et al (1994)
Found that people with specific phobias could remember a specific event that triggered their fear
49
Di Nardo (1988)
P- 14 phobics were interviewed about an activating event causing their phobias F- 100% of phobics believed any future encounter with their phobic stimulus would cause fear and physical harm to them C- Exaggerated fear of physical harm is a key factor in phobias and is the reason phobics show avoidance
50
Seligman (1970)
Proposed biological preparedness theory
51
Choy et al (2007)
Compared phobia treatments and found flooding more effective

🧠 Psych A (18 decks)

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