Phobias

Question 1

What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias

Answer 1

-Avoidance
-Panic, Physically running away, crying, screaming
-Failure to function, Cannot conduct necessary behaviours because of the phobia

Question 2

What are the emotional characteristics of phobias

Answer 2

• Anxiety, A high arousal state that inhibits relaxation, Focus on future encounters with the phobic stimulus
• Fear, Intense emotional state when the phobic stimulus is present

Question 3

What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias

Answer 3

• Irrational thoughts about the phobic stimulus, Overstating the potential danger of the phobic stimulus
• Reduced cognitive capacity, Due to sufferer focusing attention on the phobic stimulus

Question 4

What is the two process model

Answer 4

Suggests phobias are acquired through classical conditioning and then maintained through operant conditioning

Question 5

Explain acquisition

Answer 5

• Phobia develops through classical conditioning, This is when fear is associated with the phobic stimulus.
• This is supported by Watson and Rayners study on little Albert
  

Question 6

Explain maintenance

Answer 6

• This is when a phobia is further reinforced through operant conditioning
• This occurs by Negative reinforcement as anxiety (negative) Is removed by avoiding the phobic stimulus

Question 7

AO3 Evaluate the behaviourist approach to phobias

Answer 7

+ Successful treatment methods including systematic desensitisation and flooding have been developed
+ Numerous studies provide objective evidence e.g. Watson and Rayner’s development of fear of rats in Little Albert
+ DiNardo found 60% of dog phobics reported a painful experience with a dog

• Some people have phobias of things they have never been exposed to or the phobia can’t be traced back to a conditioned event
• ignores cognitive aspects of phobias
• Could be argued phobias or biological and a survival instinct

Question 8

Define and explain systematic desensitisation

Answer 8

Aims to counter condition a patient to associate relaxation with the phobic stimulus

1. An anxiety hierarchy is established between the therapist and patient from the least feared phobic situation to the most feared
2. Relaxation techniques like breathing techniques and progressive muscle relaxation are taught to the patient
3. A step approach is then taken as the patient gradually is exposed to each level of the hierarchy

If the patient feels anxious at any stage it will move down to the level below in the hierarchy
Eventually, this leads to the extinction of the fear of the phobic stimulus

Question 9

Define and explain flooding

Answer 9

Flooding is an attempt to counter condition a phobia through immediate and full exposure to the phobic stimulus.
- No opportunity for the patient to escape
- Anxiety (fight or flight) can only be sustained for a finite amount of time, the body returns to homeostasis
- The person will eventually relax and learn new associations to the phobic stimulus

Question 10

AO3 evaluate systematic desensitisation

Answer 10

+ McGrath found SD to be 75% effective among phobics
+ Gilroy et al. (2003) followed a group of 42 patients who had systematic desensitisation for Arachnophobia over 3 45-minute sessions, at 3 months and 33 months later the patients were more in control of their phobia compared to a control group
+ Gradual and has fewer dropout rates than flooding
- Time-consuming and expensive
- May be unrealistic to exposure to the phobic stimulus in real life, therefore, lacking ecological validity

Question 11

A03 evaluation of flooding

Answer 11

+ Quick and efficient if successful
- Ethical concerns with the emotional strain it puts on the patient
- If the Patient escapes the therapy it reinforces the phobia making it worse