Phobias Flashcards
What is a phobia?
-experiencing extreme fear of a
-object e.g spider
-place e.g lift
-situation e.g crowd
-the fear of the phobic stimulus is irrational and often out of proportion of any real danger
What are the behaviour characteristics of phobias?
PANIC-crying,screaming,running away from the phobic stimulus
alternate freezing/fainting
AVOIDANCE-Making conscious effort to avoid coming in contact with the phobic stimulus
What are the Cognitive characteristics of phobias?
PERSISTANT irrational beliefs of the phobic stimulus e.g the spider will harm me
SELECTIVE ATTENTION-keeping the attention on the phobic stimulus and difficult to look away in case of danger.
What are the emotional characteristics of phobias?
ANXIETY-exposure can lead to distress and worry
FEAR-exposure can lead to terror
unreasonable and excessive
What is the intro of the behavioural approach explaining phobias?
-Phobia is learn behaviour
-Mowrer argues that it is acquired through CC
-and maintained through OC
-two process model
What is classical conditioning?
-Learning association of something your are initially not afraid of (NS)
-with something that triggers a feared response (US)
-the responce triggered by seeing the object
Who did a study on CC?
Watson and Raynor
Explain the study of CC?
-little Albert was not afraid of rats
-every time the rat was presented to him a loud frightening noise would be made with a iron bar (US
-this created a UR of fear
-Associated the NS with the US
-NS became CS and created a CR of fear
Explain OP
-Mainstained
-continue avoiding the feared stimulus
-negatively reinforced as it reduces the anxiety they feel
-long lasting due to continued avoidance
What are the evaluations for explanation of phobias?
-environmental reductionism
-ad de jogn et al
-not all bad experiences lead to phobias
