Phobias Flashcards
Phobias
An anxiety disorder
Characterised by uncontrollable and irrational fears
Anxiety levels out of proportion
Behavioural characteristics
Panic - involve range of behaviours e.g screaming crying kids may react differently e.g freezing
Avoidance- when faced with object immediately avoid it to reduce anxiety hard to go about daily life
Endurance - remain in presence of stimuli experience high level of anxiety may be unavoidable
Emotional characteristics
Anxiety - state of unpleasant high arousal can’t relax or experience positive emotions
Unreasonable response - disruptive not appropriate to danger by phobic stimulus
Cognitive characteristics
Selective attention - hard to look away attention stay on danger not useful when fear irrational
Irrational beliefs - incorrect or distorted ideas held by a person despite there being evidence show otherwise
Cognitive distortions - phobic perception stimulus may be distorted seem it as aggressive looking or alien like
Tow process model
Explains how phobias are learnt
Classical conditioning - how phobia is acquired
Operant conditioning - how phobia is maintained
Explaining phobia using behavioural approach
Aim - human emotional response learn through cc
Procedure - baby shown lots of stimuli’s e.g white rabbit cotton wool show no response then has steel bar smacked behind head 3 months
Findings - when shown the stimuli’s stared crying crawling away
Shows human emotional response can be learned through cc
Strength of behavioural approach to explaining phobias
Supportive research
Watson and rhyner baby
Shows cause and effect process
Limitation of behavioural explanation for phobias
Simplistic neglect other explanations
Sigman - could be evoulutionary through biology inheritance from ancestors danger to them
Shows not a complete explanation for how phobias developed
Systematic desensitisation
Reverse counter conditioning to unlearn maladaptive response to relaxation
- Anxiety hierarchy
- Relaxation Techniques
3 . Gradual exposure
Flooding
Client fully exposed to phobia until anxiety goes away and reaction is extinct one long lesson thrown in deep end
Counter conditioning
Learning new response occurs new response to phone stimulus is learned
Reciprocal inhabitation 
Idea can’t feel afraid and relaxed at same time one emotion prevent the other
Extinction
Anxiety and fear time limited response
Person in a state of extreme anxiety but body become exhausted
Threat level drops
Are the treatment effective
Both very effective
Systematic desensitisation
Is effective long term
Wolpe - drove girl Around in a car for hours still fear was extinct and was calm now enjoys car rides
Cost of treatment
SD more expensive takes multiple sessions cost NHS more
Flooding less expensive only one session seen as cost Effective
