5.2 Phobias

Question 1

What is a phobia?

Answer 1

Extreme or excessive fear triggered by an object, place or situation. The fear is disproportionate

Question 2

What are 3 behavioural characteristics of phobias?

Answer 2

• Panic e.g crying, screaming
• Avoidance
• Endurance: remaining in the presence of phobia

Question 3

What are 3 emotional characteristics of phobias?

Answer 3

• Anxiety
• Fear
• Emotional response is unreasonable

Question 4

What are 3 cognitive characteristics of phobias?

Answer 4

• Selective attention to phobic stimulus: hard to look away or concentrate in presence of phobia
• Irrational beliefs: thought not based on reason or logic
• Cognitive distortions: view of phobia may be inaccurate and unrealistic

Question 5

Who proposed the 2-process model + what does it state?

Answer 5

• Mowrer (1960)
• Phobias are acquired by classical conditioning and continue because of operant conditioning

Question 6

Describe a study to support acquisition by classical conditioning

Answer 6

• ‘Little Albert’ showed no anxiety when first presented with rat
• Researchers introduced a loud, frightening noise when rat presented (unconditioned stimulus)
• When neutral + unconditioned encountered close they become associated and produce same fear response
• Learnt to associate something he initially had no fear with something that already triggers fear response

Question 7

Describe maintenance by operant conditioning

Answer 7

• When individual avoids unpleasant situation it results in a desirable consequence which means behaviour is repeated (negative reinforcement)
• This reduction in fear reinforces avoidance behaviour + phobia is maintained

Question 8

What is anxiety?

Answer 8

An unpleasant state of high arousal

Question 9

A03 for explaining phobias

Answer 9

1. Real world application
useful in exposure therapies, phobia maintained by avoidance, when avoidance prevented phobia cured, importance of 2 process model

2. Ignores cognitive aspects of phobia
Increased focus on explaining behaviour, people hold irrational beliefs about phobia, no adequate explanation for phobic cognitions

3. Evidence for link between phobias + traumatic experiences
Little Albert study, frightening experiences lead to phobia, confirm association between stimulus + unconditioned response, Jongh et al - 73% with fear of dental treatment had experienced traumatic experience involving dentistry compared to control group with low anxiety where 21% had traumatic event

Question 10

What is flooding?

Answer 10

A form of behaviour therapy where there is an immediate exposure to a high anxiety situation

Question 11

How does flooding work?

Answer 11

• The learning response is extinguished when conditioned stimulus encountered without unconditioned stimulus
• Conditioned stimulus no longer produces conditioned response (fear)

Question 12

AO3 for flooding

Answer 12

1. Cost effective
Ougrin (2011) found flooding highly effective + quicker than alternatives, free of symptoms as soon as possible, treatment cheaper, can work with as little as one session compared to 10 for SD

2. Less effective for certain phobias
Does not target complex phobias e.g social phobias, have cognitive aspects, benefit more from cognitive therapy that tackles irrational thinking

3. Traumatic
Provokes tremendous anxiety, Schumacher et al: participants and therapists rated flooding as significantly more stressful than SD, ethical issues (protection from harm), high refusal and attrition (dropout) rates

Question 13

What is systematic desensitisation?

Answer 13

A form of behaviour therapy designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through classical conditioning

Question 14

Describe the 3 processes involved in systematic desensitisation?

Answer 14

1. Anxiety hierarchy: client arrange list pf situations relating to phobia from most to least frightening
2. Relaxation: impossible to be frightened and relaxed at same time (reciprocal inhibition)
3. Exposure: exposed to phobic stimulus in relaxed state

Question 15

AO3 for systematic desensitisation

Answer 15

1. Effective
Gilroy et al (2003): 42 patients treated for spider phobia at 3 + 33 months SD group less fearful than control group treated by relaxation without exposure, Wechsler et al (2019): SD is effective for specific phobia, social phobia and agoraphobia

2. Suitable for range of patients
some may have learning difficulties, may not understand flooding process or be unable to engage with therapies, so SD more appropriate than alternatives

3. Acceptable
Preferred choice, does not cause same degree of trauma, includes relaxation procedures, low refusal and attrition rates