Phobias

Question 1

What is a phobia

Answer 1

Instances of irrational fear that produce a conscious avoidance of feared objects/situations

Question 2

What are the types of phobias

Answer 2

Social phobia -social or public situations
Acrophobia - heights
Cancer phobia - developing cancer
Necrophobia -death

Question 3

What are the emotional characteristics of phobias

Answer 3

Fear that is marked and persistent and is likely to be unreasonable
E.g anxiety and panic

Question 4

What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias

Answer 4

When a person with a phobia is faced with the object or situation they try to avoid it
E.g Freeze or faint
This causes distress to everyday activities

Question 5

What are cognitive behaviours of phobias

Answer 5

Irrational nature of the person’s thinking and resistance to irrational arguments
They are aware that the fear is unreasonable this distinguishes phobia from delusional mental illness e.g schizophrenia

Question 6

What is the treatment for phobias through the behavioural approach

Answer 6

Behavioural therapy

Question 7

What is the behavioural approach

Answer 7

The behavioural approach explains abnormal behaviour including phobias as the result of learnt behaviour

Question 8

What is the purpose of behavioural therapy

Answer 8

Seeks to ‘re-learn’ behaviours by creating new associations and reinforcing more positive behaviours

Question 9

What are the types of behavioural therapy ?

Answer 9

Systematic de-sensitisation (SD)
Flooding

Question 10

What are the steps for SD

Answer 10

1)The patient is taught relaxation techniques and how to practice them e.g breathing exercises
2)A hierarchy of fears is created (low to high )
3)Least fearful stimulus is imagined whilst practicing relaxation techniques
4)Once this stage is mastered ,move on to the next in hierarchy
5 )All stages are systematically mastered,so the fear is overcome

Question 11

Example of using SD to overcome heights

Answer 11

1)taught breathing exercises
2)hierarchy of the fears is created
going on stairs that are close together in gap that go up
Stairs that have a bigger gap between the them
Escalators
Rollercoasters
Bungee jumping /ziplining
Going on a plane
3)all theses stages are mastered so the fear is overcome

Question 12

Evaluation of SD :strength

Answer 12

P:one strength of SD is that it works
E:evidence for this is that a researcher found that 75% of patients with phobias responded to SD as it lies with the actual contact with the feared stimulus
E:this shows the effectiveness of SD to treat phobia therefore it is reliable

Question 13

Evaluation of SD:strength

Answer 13

P:one strength of SD is that it is relatively easy to carry out
E:many patients stick with using SD as it is time and cost effective
E:this shows that it is used on a daily basis and therefore has RWA

Question 14

Evaluation of SD:weakness

Answer 14

P:one weakness of SD is that it doesn’t work for everyone
E:evidence for this is that 25% of patients can’t be treated with SD to overcome their phobia
E: this therefore questions the reliability of using SD to treat phobias

Question 15

Evaluation of SD :weakness

Answer 15

P:Another weakness of SD is that with certain phobias the symptoms are only the tip of the iceberg
E:evidence for this is that SD only treats symptoms not the cause therefore the symptoms may resurface in another form or fear
E:this questions the validity as its only substituting the symptom rather than treating the phobia

Question 16

What are the characteristics of flooding

Answer 16

Intense exposure rather than gradual exposure
Still uses relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises
Rapid exposure leads to high release of adrenaline but this gradual decreases
Adrenaline is linked to the flight/fight response
Completed in vivo (actual exposure) or in vitro (virtual reality)

Question 17

Evaluation of flooding :strength

Answer 17

P:it is an effective treatment if people stick to it in comparison to CBT
E:evidence for this is a researcher found that both SD and flooding were effective but were more effective when treating phobias .
E.this shows that flooding is an effective therapy therefore shows reliability

Question 18

Evaluation of flooding :weakness

Answer 18

P:flooding is not for everyone
E:evidence for this is that it’s a highly traumatic procedure and patients are aware of this but they may quit during the treatment which reduces the effectiveness
E:this shows that individual differences in responding to flooding may therefore limit the effectiveness of the therapy showing it lacks representation as it can’t be generalised to the wider population

Question 19

Evaluation of flooding :weakness

Answer 19

P:another weakness of flooding is that it may be that the success of both SD and Flooding is more to do with the exposure rather than the relaxation
E:evidence for this is that a researcher found no difference in the effectiveness suggesting that the active ingredient in SD or flooding may simply be the generation of hopeful expectancies that the phobia may be overcome .
E:this shows that the cognitive factors are more important than the behavioural approach therefore this shows a lack in validity

Question 20

What are the similarities in the behavioural approach to the treatment of phobias

Answer 20

Both use relaxation techniques
Both can be used in vivo (actual exposure ) or in vitro (virtual reality)
Both deal with behavioural reaction but necessarily the cause
Exposure is more important than the relaxation techniques used

Question 21

What are the differences in the behavioural approach to the treatment of phobias

Answer 21

Flooding is arguably more traumatic
Flooding is more of an effective method of therapy
Flooding is instant
SD takes more time to complete