16. Normative Development of Fears

Question 1

Normal childhood fears are what four things?
1. C____ e____
2. Relatively m____
3. A____ and d____ s____
4. Follow a p____ pattern including d____ with a____

Answer 1

1. Commonly experienced
2. Relatively mild
3. Appear and disappear spontaneously
4. Follow a predictable pattern including decreasing with age

Question 2

Fears of i____ increase with age

Answer 2

Injury

Question 3

Fear Survey Schedule for Children - Revised measures number, severity and type of normal fears children experience. The five reliable factors are:
1. Fear of da____ and de____
2. Fear of fa____ and cr____
3. Fear of the un____
4. Fear of an____
5. St____ and me____ fears

Answer 3

1. Fear of danger and death (e.g. being hit by a car or truck)
2. Fear of failure and criticism (e.g. looking foolish)
3. Fear of the unknown (e.g. going to bed in the dark)
4. Fear of animals (e.g. snakes)
5. Stress and medical fears (e.g. getting an injection from the doctor)

Question 4

What are four methodological issues with the Fear Survey Schedule for Children
1. Some items ou____ and co____ threats not included
2. May not capture cu____ va____
3. Can only measure what is in____
4. Might not index actual fr____ of fears

Answer 4

1. Some items quite outdated and contemporary threats (e.g. climate change) not included
2. May not adequately capture cultural variation in childhood fears
3. Can only measure what is included, not an exhaustive list
4. Might not index actual frequency of fears

Question 5

Ollendick et al. (1989) found top fears related to what two things?
1. D____ s____
2. P____ h____

Answer 5

Dangerous situations and physical harm

Question 6

What are three moderators of childhood fears?
1. G____
2. C____ v____
3. S____ effects

Answer 6

1. Gender
2. Cultural Variation
3. Socioeconomic effects

Question 7

Ollendick et al. (1989) found children who identified as ____ report more fears than children who identified as ____

Answer 7

girls, boys

Question 8

Fear levels may vary as a function of cu____ gr____ me____

Answer 8

cultural group membership

Question 9

____ SES children report more fears

Answer 9

Lower

Question 9

Fear of m____ and g____ decreases with age

Answer 9

Monsters and ghosts

Question 10

Some fears can be learned through c____ experiences

Answer 10

Conditioning

Question 11

There may be specific periods during development when we learn about certain types of fear more r____

Answer 11

readily

Question 12

Some common fears may be i____, or we might be p____ to learn them very rapidly and at an e____ age

Answer 12

innate, prepared, early

Question 13

Fill in the gaps about evolutionary approach:
1. Natural selection favours individuals who ra____ learn about threats that pose a danger to se____ because this facilitates su____
2. Fear sy____ evolved to focus on threats at ages at which those threats would have been greatest risk to our an____
3. Some fears may be in____ and may not need to be learned a____ al____
4. And/or we may be prepared to rapidly ac____ some fears with little or no pr____ learning

Answer 13

1. rapidly, self, survival
2. system, ancestors
3. innate, at all
4. acquire, prior

Question 14

Fill in the gaps about cognitive development approach:
1. Fear and anxiety originates from co____ of threat
2. Conceptualisation of threat depends on a child’s co____, ph____, so____ and em____ abilities
3. As these abilities e.g. biological regulation, memory, self-control, theory of mind, counterfactual reasoning, develop, the things children fear becomes more so____
4. With increasing age/development, the ra____ of fear-provoking stimuli br____ and more co____ features of anxiety (e.g. worry) emerge

Answer 14

1. conceptualisation
2. cognitive, physical, social, emotional
3. sophisticated
4. range, broadens, complex

Question 15

Infants rapidly detect and show greater visual attention to s____ and s____ than to control images

Answer 15

snakes and spiders

Question 16

Rather than fear, children looking at snakes and spiders may be due to p____ b____

Answer 16

Perceptual bias

Question 17

What are three common fears in early/middle childhood?
1. Im____ cr____
2. Fear of da____
3. Fear of sm____ an____

Answer 17

1. Imaginary creatures
2. Fear of dark
3. Fear of small animals

Question 18

What are three main fears in adolescence?
1. S____ fears and e____
2. Fear of i____ to s____
3. M____ g____ w____

Answer 18

1. Social fears and evaluation
2. Fear of injury to self
3. More generalised worry

Question 19

Muris et al. (2002) found increased age and cognitive maturation lead to enhanced ability to el____ on w____, in turn increasing risk for emergence of pe____ w____

Answer 19

enhanced ability to elaborate on worries, in turn increasing risk for emergence of personal worry

Question 20

what does Fear Survey Schedule for Children - Revised measure?
N____, s____ and t____ of n____ fears children experience

Answer 20

Measures number, severity and type of normal fears children experience

Question 21

Ollendick found Children experience some fear of, on average ____ stimuli

Answer 21

14

Question 22

Gender impacts the i____ and c____ of fear

Answer 22

intensity, content

Question 23

Gender effects may be explained by bi____ se____ differences and/or ge____ ro____ or____

Answer 23

biological sex, gender role orientation

Question 24

P____ fears decrease with age, while s____ fears increase with age

Answer 24

Physical, social

Question 25

Rather than fear, snakes/spiders may hold a ‘sp____ st____’ – they may capture young infants visual attention ra____ and this may then allow ra____ le____ of fear

Answer 25

special status, rapidly, rapid learning

Question 26

Young infants may have evolved a ‘pe____ te____’ which allows them to rapidly de____/at____ to things that have sh____/mo____ characteristics typical of sn____/sp____

Answer 26

perceptual template
detect/attend
shape/movement
snakes/spiders

Question 27

The greater a childs a____ and the greater a childs level of c____ d____, the more able they were to ca____ and generate a f____ and w____

Answer 27

age, cognitive development
catastrophise, fear, worry