Dysfunctional Behaviour - Treatments of Dysfunctional Behaviour Flashcards
What was the aim of McGrath’s study?
To treat a girl with specific noise phobias using systematic desensitisation
What is the behavioural study on treatments of dysfunctional behaviour?
McGrath
What was the method of McGrath’s study?
A case study that details the treatment of a noise phobia in one girl
Who was the participant in McGrath’s study?
Lucy, a 9-year-old girl who had a fear of sudden loud noises. These included balloons, party poppers, guns, cars backfiring and fireworks. She had a lower than average IQ, and was not depressed, anxious or fearful (tested with psychometric tests), so only had one specific phobia.
What was the design in McGrath’s study?
A single-participant design.
What was the procedure in McGrath’s study?
Lucy was brought to the therapy session and taught breathing and imagery to relax, and was told to imagine herself at home on her bed with her toys. She also had a hypothetical ‘fear thermometer’ to rate her level of fear from 1 to 10. She would pair the stimulus of the loud noise with relaxation etc. This would lead her to feel calm and associate the noise with feeling calm and after 4 sessions she had learnt to feel calm when the noise was presented. She did not need to imagine herself at home with her toys anymore.
Wait were the findings of McGrath’s study?
By the end of the fourth session, Lucy was able to signal a balloon to be burst 10 meters away, with only mild anxiety. In the fifth session Lucy allowed a small balloon to be burst in the consulting room, at the end she was able to pop the balloons herself. Party poppers were then introduced over the next three sessions and went from not allowing them into the consulting room to being able to pop one if the therapist held it. Cap guns were then introduced and were used outside but Lucy was quickly able to agree to one being fired in the consulting room. By Lucy’s tenth and final session, her fear thermometer scores had gone from 7/10 to 3/10 for balloons popping and 9/10 to 3/10 for party poppers; the cap gun had gone from 8/10 to 5/10.
What were the conclusions of McGrath’s study?
It appears that noise phobias in children are amenable to systematic desensitisation. The important factors appear to have been giving Lucy control to say when and where noises were made, and the use of inhibitors of the fear response which included relaxation and a playful environment.
What was the biological study on treatments of dysfunctional behaviour?
Karp and Frank
What was the aim of Karp and Frank’s study?
To compare drug treatment and non-drug treatments for depression.
What was the method of Karp and Frank’s study?
A review article of previous research into the effectiveness of single treatments and combined drug and psychotherapeutic treatments of depression.
Who were the participants of Karp and Frank’s study?
The research that was reviewed concentrated on women diagnosed with depression.
What was the design of Karp and Frank’s study?
Much of the research used an independent design, with patients having single drug treatment, single psychological treatment, combined treatments and sometimes placebo groups.
What was the procedure of Karp and Frank’s study?
Depression was analysed using a variety of depression inventories, and patients were tested generally prior to treatment, after treatment and in some cases after a period of time as a follow up. Some health practitioner assessments of symptoms were also used by some of the research.
What were the findings of Karp and Frank’s study?
Adding psychological treatments to drug therapy did not increase the effectiveness of the drug therapy. Occasionally studies did show less attrition when combination therapies were used. This means that people were more likely to continue with treatment if cognitive therapy was given in addition to drug therapy.
