contemporary study: capafons 1998

Question 1

aim

Answer 1

to assess the effectiveness of SD in the treatment of fear of flying.

Question 2

method

Answer 2

• volunteer sample using media advertising
• 41 participants
• 20 assigned to treatment group ( 8 female, 12 male
• 21 assigned to control

Question 3

the following dependent variables were measured pre and post treatment:

Answer 3

• self report fear of flying scale eg. during flight, going through airport, seeing plane
• self report scale of expectations of danger and anxiety eg. engine catching fire
  physiological measures eg. heart rate, muscular tension

Question 4

procedure

Answer 4

Ppts were interviewed to complete a self-report measures of dependent variables 1 and 2
Ppts were later called back to watch the simulation of flying from packing a suitcase to touching down after the flight
The ppts physiological responses were measured for 3mins before being shown the video
They then watched the video and were told to feel as involved as possible

Question 5

proceudre of SD

Answer 5

patients had 12-15 one hour treatment sessions
each created their own hierarchy
they were exposed to the experience of flying using a blend of their own imagination, videos of simulations and real visits.
taught relaxation techniques, visualisation techs
after 8 weeks, they were invited back to retake a questionnaires and watch video.

Question 6

results

Answer 6

no difference in mean scores between control group and treatment group prior to treatment
comparisons were made before and after treatment measures.

Question 7

conclusion

Answer 7

overall, the program successful reduced fear of flying in the treatment group. overall, there was no corresponding reduction in fear to the control group, showing that mere passage of time was not enough to reduce fear.

Question 8

generalisability

Answer 8

:( can be questioned eg. participants were volunteers who had a fear of flying. they could have been more motivated and determined to extinguish their phobia and so this is not a representative sample meaning that the study lacks population validity.
it also limits the effectiveness to fear of flying only. this means that the use of SD on other people or other phobias may not be as positive.

Question 9

reliability

Answer 9

:) can be considered reliable, eg. there were a number of controls like the matching of participants for those in the treatment and control group on sex, age and anxiety levels and every participant experienced initial stages in the study in the same way.
this gives the study high internal reliability and means they could replicate the study to see the ffectivness of SD.
CA= that said, the measures of self report could be inconsistnt in terms of how the participants interpreted and answered the questions, therefore decreasing the reliability of these measures.

Question 10

application

Answer 10

:) results of this study have important applications because they suggest that systematic desensitisation should be offered as one of the main methods of treating fear of flying as it can greatly benefit people with it.
CA= however, the measures of anxiety were only taken shortly after treatment. so we have no idea from the results of this study how long the benefits of treatment lasted. therefore, it may give a false impression of the effectiveness.

Question 11

validity

Answer 11

:) they used some objective measures of fear. eg their physical reactions, and as all the measures produced quant data this allowed for direct comparisons to be made, before and after treatment and between the treatment group and control and also meant that inferential statistical tests could be used in order to determine whether the differences were significant.
:( a big issue with the results is that they may lack ecological validity because watching a video of someone else going on a plane is not the same as going on one yourself in real life, and so the measures of their fear may not be a true reflection of their actual fear of flying.

Question 12

ethics

Answer 12

:) SD can be viewed as an ethical treatment for phobias because of the gradual exposure to what is feared.
:( it is not ethical to deny people treatment but this study did not do this because people in the control group were placed on the waiting list, and so did receive it at end of study. however, it could be argued that it was not fair to make people wait for what they needed.