phobias

Question 1

what are phobias

Answer 1

an irrational fear and anxiety, triggered by an object, place or situation

Question 2

what three categories of phobias does the DSM recognise

Answer 2

specific
social
agoraphobia

Question 3

what is a specific phobia

Answer 3

phobias of a particular object such as dog or specific situations such as having an injection

Question 4

what is a social phobia

Answer 4

phobias of social situations such as public speaking

Question 5

what is agoraphobia

Answer 5

phobia of open/public space

Question 6

what are the three characteristics of phobias

Answer 6

behavioural, emotional, cognitive

Question 7

what are the three behavioural characteristics of phobias

Answer 7

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

Question 8

what is the emotional characteristic of phobias

Answer 8

irrational and unreasonable fear and anxiety - unpleasant state of high arousal

Question 9

what are the three cognitive characteristics of phobias

Answer 9

(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

Question 10

what model does Mowrer propose

Answer 10

the two-process model

Question 11

how does the two process model suggest phobias are acquired

Answer 11

learning by classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning

Question 12

explain acquisition by classical conditioning

Answer 12

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)

Question 13

case study of classical conditioning to explain phobias

Answer 13

‘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.

Question 14

explain maintenance by operant conditioning

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

strength of two process model

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

weakness of two process model (reinforcement)

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

weakness of two process model (evolution)

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

treatment for phobias -
what is systematic desensitisation

Answer 18

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

Question 19

three phases of systematic desensitisation

Answer 19

anxiety hierarchy
relaxation
exposure

Question 20

what is the process of anxiety hierarchy

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

explain relaxation

Answer 21

the therapist orders the patient to relax as deeply as possible. Might involve breathing exercises.

Question 22

explain exposure

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

strength of systematic desensitisation

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

what is flooding

Answer 24

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.

Question 25

how does flooding work

Answer 25

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).

Question 26

what ethical guideline needs to be followed prior to flooding treatment.

Answer 26

informed consent.

Question 27

strength of flooding

Answer 27

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

Question 28

what is a weakness of flooding

Answer 28

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.

Question 29

what is a weakness of flooding

Answer 29

the treatment is traumatic for patients