Classical Conditioning As A Therapy To Treat Phobias Flashcards
Systematic desensitization
Stage 1 functional analysis
Functional analysis
Carefully questioning the participant to discover the nature of the anxiety and possible triggers
for example asking: “what triggers your anxiety?”
Systematic desensitization
stage 2: construction of an anxiety hierarchy
Construction of an anxiety hierarchy
The client and the therapist create a hierarchy of anxiety provoking situations from least to most fearful
This can be done by giving them situations to rate out of 10
or by asking them what their lowest anxiety causing situation is and then working their way up from there
Systematic decentralization
stage 3: relaxation training
Relaxation training
People talk to relax their muscles and to meditate and to do anything that would help them relax
for example closing their eyes and going to a happy place all teaching them breathing techniques
Systematic desensitization
stage: 4 grandual exposure
Gradual exposure
The stages of the anxiety hierarchy our worked through each stage from lowest to highest
Using the relaxation techniques the participant is exposed to the lowest anxiety situation to see if they were calm if they are then they will progress to the next step if they are not calm they will go back a step
This utilises the idea that fear and calm are opposite so they cannot coexist [ reciprocal inhibition] therefore this displaces fear with calmness
vivo = expose to real object
virto = exposed to virtual object
Evidence for systematic decentralization✈️
(study)
Capafóns et al 1998
Uses SD to treat aerophobia
Each participant in the experimental group partook in SD
to which it was 90% sucessfull at treating the groups aerophobia or atleast making it better
Therefore this study support systematic decentralization as a therapy for phobias
Bad research for systematic desensitization ✈️
study bad?
Capafóns et al 1998 used an virto exposure to the experience of an flight by watching a video of it
This may not represent the true experience of flying therefore the results that SD was 90% successful in reducing the participants aerophobia cannot be generalised to real life experiences on airplanes
Comparison of systematic desensitisation
Time effectivness expence and ethics
flooding is much more effective at treating phobias (as cause the extinction of the phobia via implosion and due to reciprocal inhibition cant feel fear and calm, so removes phobia, where as SD can take a long time with many sessions wich may not lead to progression anyways)
and faster and cheaper as less sessions to pay and do (SD long term 4-6 sessions with a max of 12 and expencive while flooding is 1 session and cheaper)
flooding also has a high chance of causing new phobias and amplifying the Old phobia if it doesn’t reduce it
which SD dosnt do as it is in a controlled setting with support form therapists
This is extremely unethical and risky therefore systematic decentralization is the better therapeutic method to treat phobias
Conclusion and application of systematic desensitization
In conclusion systematic decentralization is a very effective method of reducing phobias as for example it has been used effectively to treat aerophobia in Capafóns et al 1998
aplication: systematic desensitization is frequently used to treat phobias
Systematic desensitisation evaluation order
Explain the four stages
Capaóns evidence the bad research
study
Compared to flooding (SD better)
time expence effectivness, side effects and ethics + compare
Conclusion SD is good at treating phobias
Application SD is frequently used to treat phobias
Flooding
What is it and why it works
Implosion = when a person is bombarded with stimuli that relates to a phobia
This can be virtual (virto) or real (vivo) objects
This works because fight or flight response can’t go on forever* as eventually it gets exhausting (they are trapped in the room so eventually Extinction [which is the learned response being extinguished] will occur) and then they will realize the phobia isn’t as bad as they think and no longer have the phobia
Researchers only interfere if the participant is about to have a panic attack then they will teach them breathing techniques
quick: it causes the extinction of the phobia via implosion and due to *reciprocal inhibition (cant have oppisite emotions at same time cant feel fear and calm), so removes phobia.
Evidence supporting flooding
Keane et al 🇻🇳
studys
Keane et al 1989
some Vietnam vets with PTSD who they split into two groups the experiment group received 16 to 19 sessions of flooding while the control group didn’t
The experimental group had less anxiety and depression after receiving the flooding
This is therefore evidence to support flooding as a therapy to treat phobias
Bad research flooding
Barrett 1969 🐍
(Side effects)
Barrettt 1969 attempted implosion on a college student for the phobia of snakes the way they did flooding was every time the participant closed their eyes they imagine snakes
This participant developed Insomnia as each time they close their eyes they saw snakes
This was extremely unethical due to the lasting psychological harm on this College student therefore this demonstrates bad research into flooding
Flooding comparison to SD
Diff treatments + time + effectivness + side effects/ ethics
While flooding is much more effective, cheaper (less sessions) and faster than SD it is also much higher risk as it can cause new phobias or amplify old phobias if they aren’t fully treated (causing psycho harm to ppts)
Due to a lack of these negative risks SD is a much better therapy to treat phobias than flooding
Flooding conclusion and applications
In conclusion flooding while incredibly effective at treating phobias it is also incredibly unethical and may cause lasting psychological harm and may cause the development of new phobias and the amplification of old ones if they aren’t fully treated
Therefore flooding is not a good therapy to treat phobias due to being risky and unethical
aplication: flooding is a therapy used to treat phobias
Flooding evaluate order
Explain concept of flooding and why it works ( implosion fight or flight can’t go on forever eventually gets exhausted and then Extinction occurs)
evidence for keane vets (study)
bad research barrett 1969 snek (bad study / side effects / ethics)
compared to SD (SD is better)
(+ side effects time/ effectivness /expence)
conclusion flooding is bad
application flooding is used to treat phobias
