Phobias Flashcards
What type of disorders do phobias fall under, according to the DSM-5?
Phobias fall under the category of anxiety disorders, which involve excessive, irrational fear responses that lead to avoidance and stress
Define a phobia
A phobia is an intense, irrational fear of objects, situations or concepts. This fear is disproportionate to the actual threat posed, leading to extreme anxiety
How does the DSM-5 categorise phobias?
the DSM-5 categorises phobias into three main types:
1-specific phobia, which relates to specific objects or situations
2-social phobia, which involves gear of social situations
3-agoraphobia, which involves fear of open or public spaces
what are the characteristics that come with social phobia (social anxiety disorder)
Social anxiety disorder can bring a fear of social situations or interactions for example being judged, embarrassed or negatively evaluated by others
What are examples of specific phobias?
specific phobias include things like arachnophobia(fear of spiders), trypanophobia (fear of injections) and claustrophobia(fear of enclosed spaces)
What is a common behavioural characteristics in response to a phobic stimulus?
A common response is to panic which involves things like:
-high stress and anxiety
-“freezing” on the spot
-crying and screaming
-running away
-passing out/fainting
Another behavioural characteristic is avoidance, what would a sufferer do to avoid a stimulus?
-go out of there way to avoid stimulus eg. not booking a flight for a holiday.
what do cognitive characteristics of phobias involve?
cognitive characteristics of phobias involve irrational thinking, cognitive distortions and selective attention.
what do cognitive characteristics of phobias control?
cognitive characteristics may control how the phobic person thinks about the phobic stimulus and the way in which they process information about the stimulus.
give examples of what might a person with irrational thinking and cognitive distortions think surrounding the phobic stimulus
a phobic person may believe:
-“What if i talk to someone new and they laugh at me and tell everyone I’m stupid”
what does selective attention involve?
selective attention involves the phobic person becoming fixated on the stimulus and unable to draw their attention away from it.
What do emotional characteristics revolve around?
Emotional characteristics revolve around the primary feelings and emotions experienced in the presence of a phobic stimulus
what is the key emotion surrounding phobias?
anxiety
What is the definition of a phobic response?
A phobic response is an extreme emotional response which is usually out of proportion to the threat posed by the phobic stimulus.
what does the two process model(TPM)assume about behaviour?
it assumes behaviour is learned through experience via environmental stimuli
what psychological approach is key to understanding the TPM?
behaviourism
what are the key mechanisms of behaviourism?
behaviour can be conditioned via classical and operant conditioning
how does classical conditioning relate to phobias?
it explains the development of phobias
what does operant conditioning explain in the context of phobias?
it explains the maintenance of phobias.
What is classical conditioning?
It involves the transformation of a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus through association.
give an example of classical conditioning
Pavlovs dog, where a bell produced salivation in dogs when associated with food
what is the unconditioned stimulus in pavlovs experiment?
food
what is operant conditioning?
It involves the role of reinforcement in behaviour and learning via consequences
provide an example of positive reinforcement in operant conditioning
rats learn to tap a lever an receive food.
