phobias Flashcards
what are phobias
an irrational fear and anxiety, triggered by an object, place or situation
what three categories of phobias does the DSM recognise
specific
social
agoraphobia
what is a specific phobia
phobias of a particular object such as dog or specific situations such as having an injection
what is a social phobia
phobias of social situations such as public speaking
what is agoraphobia
phobia of open/public space
what are the three characteristics of phobias
behavioural, emotional, cognitive
what are the three behavioural characteristics of phobias
panic - crying, screaming, running away
avoidance - effort to avoid coming into contact with phobic stimulus
endurance - remains in the presence of phobia but experiences high levels of anxiety
what is the emotional characteristic of phobias
irrational and unreasonable fear and anxiety - unpleasant state of high arousal
what are the three cognitive characteristics of phobias
(ways in which people process information)
- selective attention to the phobic stimulus - hard to look away
- irrational beliefs
cognitive distortions - perceptions of phobic stimulus may be distorted
what model does Mowrer propose
the two-process model
how does the two process model suggest phobias are acquired
learning by classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning
explain acquisition by classical conditioning
classical conditioning involves learning to associate something of which we have no fear (called a neutral stimulus) with something that already triggers a fear response (unconditioned stimulus)
case study of classical conditioning to explain phobias
‘Little Albert’
9 month old baby. Showed no unusual anxiety at the start of the study. shown a white rat and made a loud frightening noise. the noise is an unconditioned stimulus which creates an unconditioned response of fear. when the rat (neutral stimulus) and the unconditioned stimulus are encountered close together in time, the NS becomes associated with the UCS and both now produce the fear response. Albert became frightened when he saw a rat. the rat is now a learned stimulus (CS) and produces a conditioned response (CR)
Also displayed distress at the sight of other white furry objects.
explain maintenance by operant conditioning
operant conditioning takes place when our behaviour is reinforced or punished. Reinforcement tends to increase the frequency of a behaviour - both positive and negative reinforcement.
in negative reinforcement, an individual avoids an unpleasant situation. This results in a desirable consequence so behaviour will be repeated.
Mowrer suggested whenever we avoid a phobic stimulus we successfully escape the fear and anxiety we would have suffered. This reduction in fear reinforces the avoidance behaviour so the phobia is maintained.
strength of two process model
practical application to therapy - changed the way psychologists will treat phobias, they will expose them to the phobic stimulus. Once a patient is prevented from practicing the avoidance behaviour, the behaviour ceases to be reinforced and so it declines.
weakness of two process model (reinforcement)
not all phobias are the result of anxiety reduction. For example, in agoraphobia (fear of public/outside) they are reinforced by the safety of indoors rather than avoiding the outside. Explains why some agoraphobiacs can go outside with trusted person with relatively little anxiety.
weakness of two process model (evolution)
evolutionary factors probably have an important role in phobias that two process model does not account for. We can easily acquire phobias of things that have been a source of danger in our evolutionary past, such as fear of snakes or the dark. It is adaptive to acquire these fears.
Shows acquiring phobias is more complex than conditioning.
treatment for phobias -
what is systematic desensitisation
type of behavioural therapy based on the principle of classical conditioning.
aims to remove the fear response of a phobia and substitute a relaxation response to the stimulus gradually using counter conditioning
three phases of systematic desensitisation
anxiety hierarchy
relaxation
exposure
what is the process of anxiety hierarchy
the patient creates an anxiety hierarchy starting with the phobic stimuli that produces the least amount of anxiety and building up in stages to the most fear provoking stimuli. This creates a structure for the therapy sessions.
explain relaxation
the therapist orders the patient to relax as deeply as possible. Might involve breathing exercises.
explain exposure
the patient is exposed to the phobic stimulus while in a relaxed state. this takes place across several sessions, starting at the bottom of the anxiety hierarchy. when the patient can stay relaxed in the presence of the lower levels of the phobic stimulus they move up the hierarchy. Treatment is successful when the patient can stay relaxed in situations high on the anxiety hierarchy.
strength of systematic desensitisation
research study tested the effects of systematic desensitisation. They took people with a phobia of spiders and one group had three weeks of systematic desensitisation therapy and the control group only had relaxation techniques. After 33 weeks, through a questionnaire they found that the patients who had systematic desensitisation showed less fear and anxiety surrounding spiders than those in the control group.
what is flooding
flooding involves immediate exposure to a frightening stimulus. So an arachnophobic receiving flooding treatment may experience a large spider crawling over them for an extended period. May only need one session that lasts a few hours.
how does flooding work
without the option of avoidance behaviour, the patient leans the phobic stimulus is harmless. A learned response (CR) is extinguished when the conditioned stimulus (eg a dog) is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus (eg being bitten). The result is that the conditioned stimulus no longer produces the conditioned response (fear).
what ethical guideline needs to be followed prior to flooding treatment.
informed consent.
strength of flooding
studies comparing it to CBT have found that flooding is highly effective and quicker than alternatives. This means that patients are rid of their symptoms faster and makes the treatment cheaper
what is a weakness of flooding
it is less effective for some types of phobias such as social phobias. Sufferers of social phobias do not only experience an anxiety response but they also think negative thoughts about the social situation. This type of phobia may benefit more from cognitive therapies that can tackle the irrational thinking.
what is a weakness of flooding
the treatment is traumatic for patients
