phobias Flashcards
behavioural characteristics of phobias
AVOIDANCE
- avoid phobic object (and places), can interfere w everyday life
ENDURANCE
- freeze / faint when faced w object
DISRUPTION
- anxiety and avoidance, may be so extreme: interferes w ability to function socially or at work
PANIC
- may show characteristics of running, screaming, vomiting, freezing, crying
emotional characteristics of phobias
FEAR
- persistent, excessive, unreasonable, worry about death maybe
PANIC AND ANXIETY
- highly anxious when faced w phobic situation
EMOTIONS (general)
- strong emotions in presence of situation, out of proportion to actual danger that is posed
Cognitive characteristics of phobias
IRRATIONAL
- think in an irrational way, resist rational arguments,
INSIGHT
- person will know their fear is excessive or unreasonable, still can’t help it
COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS
- distorted perception of stimulus, eg snakes = aliens
SELECTIVE ATTENTION
- cannot look away from phobic stimulus, ignore everything else
what is a phobia?
mental disorder characterised by high levels of anxiety in response to a stimulus
- the anxiety interferes w normal living
- can cause irrational fear
what is the behavioural model?
suggests ALL BEHAVIOUR can be LEARNT
phobias are learnt through 2 processes
- classical conditioning
- operant conditioning
what is the 2 process model by Mowrer?
1) onset of phobia
- can occur directly: classical conditioning
- or indirectly: social learning
2) maintenance of phobia : operant conditioning
- feared object is avoided - negative reinforcement
- reduces anxiety = reward
classical conditioning
method of learning - building an ASSOCIATION between 2 diff. stimuli
- so learning takes place
example of classical conditioning
LITTLE ALBERT EXPERIMENT
- white rat = neutral stimulus (no response alone)
- loud banging is presented - steel bars (causes emotional response)
REPEATEDLY PAIR THEM TOGETHER
- present both stimuli until classical conditioning takes place
- baby has emotional response (conditioned response) when they see the rat alone (conditioned stimulus)
— and also other similar objects
what is generalisation
when a conditioned response is produced to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus
- eg little albert was scared of anything white and fluffy that resembled the rat
criticism of Little Albert study
IT WAS ONLY CONDUCTED ONCE
- findings have not been repeated - not very reliable
- questioned whether same results would be gained if study was repeated
- study couldn’t be repeated now though - ethical concerns
strength of Little Albert study (👑)
King (1998) supports the ideas proposed by classical conditioning
- reviewed case studies
- found kids acquire phobias by encountering traumatic experiences w phobic object
disadvantage of Little Albert study (cars)
some people have traumatic experiences, but DON’T HAVE PHOBIAS
- eg many ppl in a car accident don’t have a phobia of cars
- classical conditioning doesn’t explain how ALL phobias develop
- (& opposite - some have phobias without traumatic experience)
criticism of the behavioural model (%s)
Menzies criticises it and the idea of classical conditioning
- studied ppl w a phobia of water
- only 2% of his sample had a traumatic experience w water - classical conditioning
- so, 98% had a phobia without a negative experience - not classical conditioning;
- 50% of ppl w dog phobia have never had a bad experience
SO learning can’t be a factor
social learning theory
based on observational learning
- a young child may OBSERVE A REACTION that their parents have and then the child will COPY this behaviour
- eg if someone starts screaming when they see a dog, the baby will copy this and develop a phobia
MINNEKA
- when one monkey in a cage showed a fear response to snakes, other mon lies in the cage COPIED this response
operant conditioning
learning a new response (phobia) that can result in REINFORCEMENT
- helps explain how phobias can be maintained
-ve reinforcement : person will avoid phobic object to reduce the risk of feeling fear
+ve reinforcement : avoiding this fear is REWARDING (sense of relief)
- therefore avoidance continues
criticism of the two process model (bio)
LIMITED because it ignores OTHER FACTORS that could cause phobias
- focuses on learning and environment
- doesn’t take into account biological or evolutionary factors (that could cause phobias)
- some people may have more genetic vulnerability to develop phobias (behavioural model ignores this)
evaluation of behavioural model (social learning theory)
can be SUCCESSFUL is explaining how learning a phobia can occur in animals and young children
- BUT not strong in explaining how adults can have phobias
- therefore, behavioural model is limited to only explaining learning in YOUNG CHILDREN and animals only
strength of social learning theory
BANDURA supports the idea of social learning theory
- research conducted whereby a person acted in pain when a buzzer sounded - pps had to watch this reaction
- later, pps showed the same response when hearing the buzzer
- so, social learning theory is an EFFECTIVE METHOD when learning to become fearful of an object
strength of two step process
involves TWO CLEAR STEPS that highlight how phobias are learnt and maintained
- learnt by powerful classical conditioning or social learning
- maintained by operant conditioning (+be and -ve reinforcement)
- process seems an ACCURATE way in explaining how phobias can be learnt overall
systematic desensitisation
BEHAVIOURAL therapy (developed by wolpe)
- reduce / diminish phobias using CLASSICAL conditioning
- uses CC to replace irrational fear associated w phobic object with CALM AND RELAXED feelings
what is reciprocal inhibition?
the idea it’s IMPOSSIBLE to feel 2 OPPOSING EMOTIONS
- eg fear and relaxation
- so, if patient can remain relaxed (new emotional response), in the presence of their phobia, they can be cured
- this is COUNTER CONDITIONING (linked to SD)
what is the process of SD?
1) hierarchy of fear
2) relaxation techniques
3) gradual exposure
hierarchy of fear
situations involving phobic object are RANKED from least to most fearful
- constructed by therapist and patient
example of a fear hierarchy - phobia of dogs
say the word dog
think about dogs
show pictures and videos of dogs
bring a dog into the room
have the dog sit next to the patient
touch the dog
relaxation techniques
DEEP MUSCLE relaxation techniques
- like deep breathing, PROGRESSIVE MUSCULAR RELAXATION, and the relaxation response
progressive muscular relaxation
tense up a group of muscles
hold them in a state of extreme tension
relax muscles to their previous state
consciously relax muscles even further
relaxation response
patients asked to sit quietly and comfortably and close their eyes
- start by relaxing feet muscles
- work up the body, relaxing muscles
- breathe deeply and meditate while doing this
gradual exposure
patient is introduced to phobic object GRADUALLY
- work their way up fear hierarchy
- when they feel comfortable (no longer afraid) with a stage, they move up to the next one
- use relaxation techniques (while being exposed to phobic object)
- eventually phobia is ELIMINATED : through repeated exposure to phobic object with relaxation and no fear
strength of SD (rabbit)
JONES (1924) used SD to eliminate Little Peter’s phobia
- white rabbit was presented to him at gradually closer distances
- each time, his anxiety levels lessened
- eventually, he developed affection for the white rabbit
- shows SD can work to eliminate phobias
strength of SD (%s)
KLOSKO et al. (1990) supports SD
- he assessed various therapies for the treatment of panic dosorders
- found that 87% of patients were PANIC FREE after receiving SD
- (compared to 50% receiving medication, 36% receiving a placebo and 33% receiving no treatment)
- so, SD = effective therapy
advantage of SD (feelings)
LESS TRAUMATIC than other behavioural therapies, like flooding (where patients confront phobia directly)
- SD has less ethical implications (less psychological harm) than other therapies
- less upsetting for patient
weakness of systematic desensitisation (sharks)
NOT ALWAYS PRACTICAL for individuals to be desensitised by confronting real life phobic situations
- real life step by step situations are difficult to arrange and control (eg someone scared of sharks)
- so, SD might be difficult to apply to real life situations
- can question the effectiveness of the therapy
criticism of behavioural therapies (some critics believe that…)
behavioural therapies have the adv. that they address symptoms of phobias
- BUT, some critics believe symptoms = tip of the iceberg
- underlying causes of the phobia will remain
- in the future, symptoms might return or SYMPTOM SUBSTITUTION will occur (when other abnormal behaviours replaced the ones that have been removed)
flooding
DIRECTLY EXPOSING the patient to feared object
- immediate situation
- taught some relaxation techniques beforehand
- no gradual buildup
- can be done ‘in vivo’ (IRL) or virtually (eg imagining the situation or a headset)
flooding stops phobic responses very …
QUICKLY
- patient doesn’t have option for avoidance
- may quickly learn the object is harmless (therefore, extinction occurs)
- sometimes, patient may reach relaxation bcs they’re so EXHAUSTED by fear response (so phobic response diminishes)
is flooding ethical?
YES
- patient gives FULLY INFORMED CONSENT (written)
- given choice of SD or flooding
- sessions usually last 2-3 hours
strength of flooding (£)
COST EFFECTIVE
- especially compared to cognitive behavioural therapies (which take months or years to work)
- quick therapy
- useful: patients are free of symptoms asap
- makes treatment cheaper, cost effective
weakness of flooding (types)
less effective for some types of phobias
- eg social phobia
- (maybe bcs social phobias have have more cognitive aspects that flooding can’t address - speaking in public)
- social phobias can be cured more successfully y COGNITIVE therapies
weakness of flooding
HIGHLY TRAUMATIC
- many patients may be unwilling to continue w the therapy until the end
- time and money may be wasted in preparation (if patient drops out)
- their phobia will remain uncured
- maybe alternatives will be better, like SD (WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY)
strength of flooding
OST (1997) stated flooding is an EFFECTIVE AND RAPID treatment
- delivers immediate improvements
- especially the case when patient is encouraged to continue self directed exposure to feared objects
- results from flooding can be applied to EVERYDAY life, outside therapy situation
