Lecture 5

Question 1

What is a phobia? according to the DSM

Answer 1

an irrational fear of an objectively harmless stimulus or situation

Question 2

According to the DSM, what can phobias be considered?

Answer 2

a type of anxiety disorder, that are split into three categories

Question 3

what are these 3 categories of phobias

Answer 3

agoraphobia
social phobia
simple/specific phobia

Question 4

agoraphobia

Answer 4

public places / outside home
a complex disorder that typically develops during adulthood
a fear of places that are thought to be difficult to escape if a panic attack were to occur

Question 5

social phobia

Answer 5

being watched / appraised by others
a complex disorder that typically develops during teenage years
leads to avoidance of social situations

Question 6

simple phobia

Answer 6

fear of a specific phobia/item or situation
typically occurs in childhood/teenage years
5 broad categories

Question 7

5 categories of simple phobias

Answer 7

animals - dogs, snakes or spiders
natural environment - heights or water
medical/injury related - blood or injections
situational - planes, driving or lifts
other types - clowns, vomiting etc

Question 8

DSM criteria of phobias

Answer 8

• unreasonable, excessive fear out of proportion to actual danger
• phobic stimulus always produces immediate fear/anxiety
• fear or avoidance is persistent for 6 months+
• phobia stimulus is actively avoided or endured with intense fear
• fear causes clinical distress
• not better explained by another disorder

Question 9

according to the behavioural approach, how do phobias develop?

Answer 9

• phobic stimulus is paired with a frightening/painful event
• phobias are acquired through classical conditioning
• phobias are maintained via operant conditioning

Question 10

Little Albert case study

Answer 10

• Albert is presented with a rat (CS) and various other animals = no fear
• Albert is presented with a surprising loud noise (US) = fear (UR)
• Albert presented with rat this time paired with loud noise = fear
• Albert presented with rat = fear (CR)

Question 11

conditioned stimulus

Answer 11

previously a neutral stimulus that acquires a response by being paired with a US

Question 12

conditioned response

Answer 12

response evoked by CS

Question 13

unconditioned stimulus

Answer 13

biologically significant event

Question 14

unconditioned response

Answer 14

response evoked by US

Question 15

generalisation

Answer 15

when stimuli similar to the phobic stimulus also produces a fear response
for example, little Albert generalised hid fear of rats and was also afraid of Santas beard and rabbits

Question 16

Mowrer 2 factor theory

Answer 16

fear is established by classical conditioning but maintained by operant conditioning
reduction of fear when avoiding the phobic stimulus results in avoidance being negatively reinforced

Question 17

social approach to phobias

Answer 17

vicarious learning - Bandura
phobias can be learned from others nit just the individuals own experiences

Question 18

how did Mineka and Cook support Bandura?

Answer 18

found that young monkeys that observed their parents display fear towards a snake, they too would devlelop a fear

Question 19

issues withe the behavioural approach

Answer 19

• a phobia won’t always occur
• many people with phobias can’t remember acquiring them
• small set of stimuli seem to form most phobias
• one trial leaning

Question 20

evolutionary explanation - Seligman

Answer 20

evolution has rendered some stimuli more susceptible to phobias that others

Question 21

preparedness theory

Answer 21

CS - US associations operate on a spectrum of preparedness

Question 22

evidence or evolutionary theory

Answer 22

Ohman et al
paired images of neutral stimuli and common phobias with mild electric shock
during an extinction phase spiders and snakes still produced fear, while mushrooms and flowers did not

Question 23

issues with the evolutionary theory

Answer 23

-not all stimuli prepared for learning actually pose a threat
- how do we determine the evolutionary origins of fear
- evidence from experimental studies heterogeneous mixed

Question 24

cognitive theory

Answer 24

• people have faulty cognition about situations or objects
• they overestimate danger inherent in objects / situations

Question 25

issues with the cognitive theory

Answer 25

• how does someone develop a phobia? what causes them to overestimate the danger?
• fear arises before cognition; the cognition occurs afterwards
• leans on the other accounts

Question 26

systematic desensitisation

Answer 26

Wolpe
3 key stages
1. relaxation training
2. fear hierarchy
3. counter-conditioning

Question 27

flooding

Answer 27

immediate or rapid exposure to either real or imagines version of phobic stimulus
phobic stimulus is presented until maximum tolerable anxiety begins to diminish
rapid and effective according to Marks (1975) but can also produce intense anxiety and induce panic attacks

Question 28

modelling

Answer 28

patient observers a therapist successfully interact with the phobic stimulus to sow positive interactions

Question 29

Bandura developed ‘guided mastery’

Answer 29

• modelling
• gradual exposure
• postive reinforcement
• mastery experiences

Question 30

Wolitzky-Taylor et al (2008)

Answer 30

• meta analysis on 33 studies
• looked at various types of therapies
• found that real experience, multi session treatments are most effective, better than imagined exposure

Question 31

virtual reality exposure therapy

Answer 31

provides a way of overcoming logistically challenging phobias
involves using technology to provide a form of exposure

Wechsler has found some promising evidence after conducting a systematic review