Phobias

Question 1

What are the behavioural characteristics of Phobias?

Answer 1

1- panic: crying, running, screaming, fainting
2- avoidance: when faced with object =, response is to evade
3- endurance: frozen and unable to move

Question 2

What are the emotional behaviours of phobias?

Answer 2

1- fear

2- anxiety

Question 3

What are the cognitive behaviours of phobias?

Answer 3

1- irrational beliefs

2- selective attention

Question 4

What is the Behavioural approach?

Answer 4

All behaviour, including phobias is learnt rather then inherited.

Question 5

What is the two process model?

Answer 5

Suggests phobias are initiated through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning.

Question 6

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 6

Learning through association.
Watson and Raynor gave infant ‘Little Albert’ phobia of white rat
Stimulus produces same response as another as both are constantly presented together.

Question 7

What is operant conditioning ?

Answer 7

Learning through reinforcement.

Question 8

Evaluation of the two-process model. (2 GOOD, 3 BAD)

Answer 8

G- model doesn’t label people with having stigma
G- King found children acquire phobias after traumatic experience
B- many people who go through traumatic experiences don’t develop phobias
B- some people may be scared of object they have never encountered (50% dog phobias)
B- model fails to account for biological factors, genetic vulnerability

Question 9

What is SD?

Answer 9

• Developed by Wolpe
• replace fear and anxiety with relaxed response. Two separate emotions cannot be experienced at once- reciprocal inhibition. Therefore, learnt to remain relaxed- counter conditioning

Question 10

What are the stages of treating through SD?

Answer 10

1- anxiety hierarchy
2- relaxed training- patients taught deep muscle relaxation techniques
3- gradual exposure

Question 11

Evaluation of SD. 2 GOOD, 1 BAD

Answer 11

G- Jones supports use of SD to eradicate ‘Little Peter’s’ phobia of white rat
G- Klosko assessed various therapy treatments on panic disorders (87% SD, 50% medication, 36% placebo, 33% no treatment)
B- symptom substitution or symptoms may return due to underlying issues from phobia still remaining

Question 12

What is flooding?

Answer 12

Involves directly exposing patient to their phobic object. Flooding stops phobic responses quickly because avoidance can’t be done, so quickly learn phobic object is harmless so extinction occurs.
Patient may achieve relation with phobic object as they are exhausted by their own fear response.

Question 13

Evaluation of flooding, 1 GOOD, 1 BAD

Answer 13

G- Wolpe supports use of flooding to remove phobias of cars (eradicated in 4 hours)
B- Highly traumatic experience and many unwilling to continue. Therefore, waste of time and money setting it up. Not suitable for children