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AS-Psychology(*) > Phobias > Flashcards

Phobias Flashcards

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1
Q

what is a specific phobia

A

phobia of an object, such as an animal

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2
Q

what is a social phobia (social anxiety)

A

phobia of a social situation such as public speaking

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3
Q

what is agoraphobia

A

phobia of being outside

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4
Q

give 3 behavourial characteristics of a phobia

A
  1. panic
  2. avoidance
  3. endurance
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5
Q

explain 3 emotional characteristics of a phobia

A
  1. anxiety - unpleasant state of high arousal, this prevents a person from relaxing
  2. fear - fear is the immediate and unpleasant response
  3. emotional response is unreasonable - the anxiety or fear is much greater than normal
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6
Q

explain 3 cognitive characteristics of phobias

A
  1. selective attention - if a person can see the phobic stimulus then it is hard to look away from it
  2. irrational beliefs - a person may hold unfound thoughts in relation to the phobic stimuli
  3. cognitive distortions - the perceptions of a person with a phobia may be inaccurate
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7
Q

what is the behavourist approach to explaining phobias

A
  • they see phobias as being learned through experience by the process of association
  • they explain this using the two-process model
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8
Q

explain the two-process model in simple terms

A

a stimulus becomes associated with a response by classical conditioning and is maintened through operant conditioning

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9
Q

explain how phobias are acquired

A
  • classical conditioning
  • a natural response which causes fear becomes associated with a neutral stimulus
  • therefore, the neutral stimulus causes a fear response
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10
Q

explain how phobias are maintened

A
  • operant conditioning
  • avoiding or escaping the feared situation acts as a negative reinforcer
  • this reduces the experience of fear
  • making it more likely to occur again
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11
Q

what was the study to support that clasicl conditioning induces a phobia

A

Little Albert white rat study

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12
Q

what was the aim of the little albert study

A

provide empirical evidence that phobias could be learned through classical conditioning

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13
Q

explain the procedure of the little albert study

A
  • he was presented with various stimuli including a white rat, rabbit and cotton wool and his responses was filmed
  • he showed no fear
  • a fear reaction was then induced into albert by striking a stell bar with a hammer, making albert cry
  • he was then given a white rat to play with and as he reached to touch the rat, the bar and hammer were struck to frighten him
  • this was repeated 3 times
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14
Q

what were the findings of the little albert study

A
  • when shown the rat albert would roll over and cry
  • he developed a fear towards the white rat
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15
Q

what were the conclusions of the little albert study

A
  • conditioned emotional responses are acquired as a direct result of environmental experiences
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16
Q

what are the two treatments to phobias

A
  • systematic desensitisation
  • flooding
17
Q

systematic desensitisation works on the principle of ——

explain this

A
  • recipricol inhibition
  • a person cannot be relaxed and anxious at the same time
18
Q

explain step 1 of systematic desensitisation

A

the fear hierarchy

  • a list of situations related to the phobic stimulus that provoke anxiety are arranged in order from least to most frightening
19
Q

explain step 2 of systematic desensitisation

A

relaxation

  • the therapost teaches the client to relax as deeply as possible to initiate the principle of reciprocal inhibition
  • Eg, breathing techniqes
20
Q

explain step 3 of systematic desensitisation

A

exposure

  • the client is exposed to the phobic stimulus while in a relaxed state
  • this takes place over several sessions, starting at the bottom of the fear hierarchy
  • treatment is successful when the client can stay relaxed in situarions high on the hiearchy
21
Q

explain the study that supports systematic desesensitisation

A

gilroy et al

  • followed up 42 people who has SD for arachnaphobia
  • at 3 and 33 months the SD group were less fearful than control group
22
Q

explain the process of flooding

A
  • exposing people to their phobia without gradual build up
  • there is immedite exposure
23
Q

explain the study that discourages flooding

A

schumacher et al

  • found flooding was rated signficantly more stressful than SD
  • this raises an ethical issue
  • attrition rates are also high because of this

AS-Psychology(*) (38 decks)

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