4.3 Saavedra and Silverman (Button Phobia) Flashcards
What is the psychology being investigated?
Phobias are irrational fears of an object/ situation
Classical conditioning is when we learn by association. Ex. Evaluative learning- when an individual forms an association between a previously neutral stimulus and a negative emotion like disgust. The individual negatively evaluates the object/event without anticipating any threat/danger
Operant conditioning is when you learn by consequences;
If you are rewarded you are more likely to repeat that behaviour;
It differs from Classical Conditioning as the person is being cognitively active by
thinking about disgust and consequences rather than being a passive organism (2 marks);
What is classical conditioning?
Learning through association
A form of learning in which an unconditioned response becomes linked with a previously neutral stimulus to create a learned association
What is evaluative learning?
a form of classical conditioning where attitudes towards stimuli are considered to be the product of complex thought processes and emotions, which lead an individual to perceive or evaluate a previously neutral stimulus negatively
What is operant conditioning?
when a person or animal performs a new behaviour, this can become associated with a consequence
Aim
Highlight the role of evaluative learning and disgust in the development and treatment of children’s phobias
Test the effectiveness of imagery exposure as part of an exposure-based cognitive-behavioural treatment for a specific phobia of buttons
Research method and design
Case study
following techniques were also used-
Interviews with boy and mother for details on phobia
Self-reports
Observations throughout a treatment session
Longitudinal design
Sample and sampling technique
A 9-year-old Hispanic American boy
sought support from the Child Anxiety and Phobia program at Florida International University, Miami.
Met the DSM-IV criteria for phobia
experiencing symptoms 4 years before the start of the study (5 years old)
opportunity sampling technique
Describe the events that led to the boy developing his phobia
It began when he was 5 years old
The incident occurred at his kindergarten
The boy went to the front of the class, to the teacher’s table to get some buttons he needed for his art project
His hand slipped and knocked over the bowl of buttons. The buttons fell on top of the boy. This happened in front of the whole class and the teacher.
How did the phobia interfere with the boy’s normal functioning?
He could no longer dress himself
avoided touching buttons or clothing that could have touched buttons, would not focus on class because he was preoccupied with his school uniform
avoided people with buttons on their clothing
Describe the ‘Feelings Thermometer’
9-point scale (0-8)
hierarchy of feared stimuli, with each item on the list provoking increasing fear
11 stimuli
Table on pg.141
State the two types of treatment/ interventions given to treat the boy
- Contingency management/ behavioural exposure (a form of positive reinforcement therapy)
- Imagery exposure therapy
What is imagery exposure therapy?
therapy in which the person is asked to vividly imagine their feared object, situation or acitivity
Describe the procedure for the treatment- Behavioural exposure
The positive reinforcement was given to the boy by his mother
4, 50-minute treatment sessions, 30 minutes on his own and 20 minutes with his mother
Created the feelings thermometer that had 11 stimuli and placed the stimuli into rank order from those that caused the least distress to those that caused him the greatest distress
In vivo exposures: Gradual exposures to the button in vivo (real life), the researchers observed how he approached the buttons (if the number of buttons the boy could handle increased). Also measured the boy’s subjective rating of distress using the Feelings Thermometer
If the boy could tolerate the buttons, the mother would reward the boy with praise
Describe the procedure for the treatment- Imagery Exposure Therapy
Imagery Exposure Therapy uses visualisation techniques unlike in vivo exposure
7 sessions
Disgust-related imagery exposures were incorporated with cognitive self-control strategies. The boy was asked to imagine buttons falling on him and consider how they looked, felt and smelled. He was also asked to talk about how these imagery exposures made him feel—progressed from larger to smaller buttons along the hierarchy.
Self-report measures were taken of the boy’s subjective rating of distress using the Feelings Thermometer
Results of the first intervention, positive reinforcement therapy
Successfully completed all the exposure tasks listed in the hierarchy, could tolerate more buttons after each exposure
However, subjective ratings of distress increased significantly between sessions 2 and 3 and 3 and 4
ex. more distressed/ increased score when hugging his mother when she wears large plastic buttons
Despite his behaviour to the buttons improving, his disgust (evaluative reactions) increased as a result of positive reinforcement therapy
