Contemporary Study: Capafons (1998) Flashcards
What were the aims of this contemporary study?
- To test whether systematic desensitisation is effective as a therapeutic technique for treating a fear of flying
- To test whether this can be achieved through a simulation
Who were used in the sample?
- 41 in total
- 20 in the treatment
- 8 males and 12 females with a mean age of 29.65
- 21 in the control group
- 9 males and 12 females with a mean age of 34.05
What was the participant design?
Matched pairs:
- age
- sex
Which sample method was used?
Volunteers through a media campaign advertising free treatment for aerophobia.
What type of method was used?
Lab
What was the IV?
Condition ppts were in
- e.g. treatment/control group
What were the 3 DVs?
1) Diagnosis of fear with IDG-FV
- e.g. “How afraid of flying would you say you are?”
2) EMV measuring fear during flight, EPAV measuring catastrophic thoughts
3) Physiological measures
Briefly describe part 1 of the procedure of Capafons.
- 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
- Room temp remained at 22.5 degrees and distance from the screen was 1.8m
- Their physiological responses were measured during this time
Briefly describe part 2 of the procedure of Capafons.
1) Experimental group
- Took lace over 8 weeks
- Ppts had 2 one hour sessions per week
- 1st phase: relaxation training of breathing (4 sessions)
- 2nd phase: going through hierarchy (2 sessions)
- 3rd phase: applying it (3-5 sessions)
2) Control group
- Received no treatment yet
Briefly describe part 3 of the procedure of Capafons.
- Carried out after the patient had taken 2 in vivo flights (out and return)
- The first flight took place 7 days after treatment
- Recordings of heart rate, palm temp and muscular tension were recorded during take off
What were the results of this contemporary study?
- All variables decreased before and after treatment for the treatment group
- There was a decrease of 12.3 in fear during flight after treatment for the treatment group compared to an increase of 9.8 for the control group
- Catastrophic thoughts of the treatment group decreased by 5.3 whereas they increased by 0.09 for the control group
Describe the conclusion of this experiment.
- Overall there was a successful decrease in fear of flying in the treatment group
- There was no corresponding reduction in fear in the control group
- This shows that a mere passing of time is not enough to reduce fear
Evaluate the generalisablity using a high and low point.
P - High
E - Balanced in age and sex
E - Can generalise to many different groups
P - Low
E - Volunteer sample of only 41
E - This small sample all share similar characteristics and aerophobia and so cannot generalise to people without aerophobia
Evaluate the reliability using 2 high points.
P - High
E - Standardised procedure, such as distance from screen
E - Easy to replicate
P - High
E - Uses quantitative data, such as heart rate
E - Easy to measure and makes the results objective and so easier to test for consistency in comparisons
Are there any applications?
P - Yes
E - 18/20 ppts who received the treatment had a decrease in fear of flying
E - Therefore showing that systematic desensitisation can be used to treat phobias
