contemporary study Flashcards
what were the aims of this study
to assess the therapeutic success of SD using self report scales, clinical interviews and stimulation therapy.
what was the sample
41 people with fear of flying. 20 in experimental group receiving treatment. 8 males and 12 females mean age of 34. 21 in control waiting for treatment. they were recruited from a media campaign aiming to treat fear of flying.
outline the procedure
all ppts were individually interviewed and completed the self report method IDG-FV. They were then assess using a stimulation situation using a video tape. after watching the videotape another interview was had discussing plans with treatment (for experimental group). treatment consisted of 1 hour a week (minimum of 12 sessions and maximum of 15). this took 8 weeks, following 8 weeks ppts repeated the self report and video tape stimulation video to see improvement/ lack of.
give strengths of the research
high internal validity control of extraneous variables such as the room temperature 22.5c sat 1.8m away from the TV.
high reliability - standardised procedure, could be replicated to test consistency of findings that treatment works.
gives weaknesses of the study
not very ethical, ppts were deceived, they had signed up for the treatment and they did not get it. this is a violation of the BPS guidelines so cannot be ethically replicated to test the consistency of the findings.
lacks external validity as it uses in vitro techniques so doesn’t show that the fear of flying in real life has gone but rather that they no longer fear the computer stimulation. so cannot establish that this treatment would work when flying on real planes.
low reliability - demand characteristics, volunteer sample, motivated to recover so they may try harder to overcome fear. someone who was really scared may have not made the same improvements (anomalies).
what were the results of the study
there was a decrease in fear of flying by 12.3 after treatment for experimental group compared to 9.8 increase for the control group. catastrophic thoughts of the treatment group decreased by 5.3 where as they increased by 0.009 in control. there was a 90% success rate
what is the application/ conclusion of the research
it successful reduced fear of flying so the treatment has good application for treatment of phobias in real life conditions ie fear of insects and fear of going out in public. improving peoples quality of life so we are able to live better within society.
