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Psychology- psychopathology > Phobias > Flashcards

Phobias Flashcards

1
Q

what type of disorder is phobias ?

A
  • anxiety disorders
    –> extreme irrational fear triggered by object, place or situation
  • extent of fear is out of proportion to any real danger presented by phobic stimulus
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2
Q

what are DSM-5 categories of phobias?

A
  • Specific phobias
  • Social phobia (social anxiety)
  • Agoraphobia
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3
Q

DSM-5- specific phobias

A

phobia of an object (animal, body part etc) or a situation (injection etc)
–> animal phobia, injury phobia, situational phobia, natural phobia

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4
Q

DSM-5- social phobia

A

phobia of social situation e.g. public speaking, using public toilet

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5
Q

DSM-5- agoraphobia

A

phobia of being outside or in a public place

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6
Q

behavioural characteristics of phobias?

A
  • PANIC- may include crying, screaming, running away etc (some ppl may freeze)
  • AVOIDANCE- prevent coming into contact with phobic stimulus e.g. not going on holiday to avoid flights, can interfere with work, education, social life
  • ENDURANCE- opposite to endurance, when a person chooses to remain in presence of phobic stimulus
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7
Q

cognitive characteristics of phobias

A
  • SELECTIVE ATTENTION TO THE PHOBIC STIMULUS- person becomes fixated + can’t draw attention away from it
  • IRRATIONAL BELIEFS- holding unfolded thoughts in relation to phobic stimulus, thoughts don’t have any basis in reality
  • COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS- perceptions of a person may be inaccurate + unrealistic
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8
Q

emotional characteristics of phobias

A
  • ANXIETY- (can be long term)
  • FEAR- immediate + extremely unpleasant response when encounter/think about phobic stimulus –> more intense but more short-term than anxiety
  • EMOTIONAL RESPONSE IS UNREASONABLE- disproportionate to any threat posed
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9
Q

what approach explains behaviours?

A

behavioural

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10
Q

who proposed the two process model?

A

Mowrer (1960)

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11
Q

what is the two process model?

A
  • suggests phobias are acquired (developed ) by CC + maintained by OC
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12
Q

what is CC and OC?

A

CC- learning by association (transformation of a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus (Pavlov’s dogs)
UCS (food) –> UCR (salivation)
NS (bell) –> NR
NS + UCS –> UCR
CS –> CR

OC- learning via consequences
- positive + negative reinforcement

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13
Q

strengths of two process model

A
  • case study Little Albert= research support BUT phobias appear following a bad experience
  • real world application (systematic desensitisation) exposure therapy –> stops the avoidance behaviour (negative reinforcement)= phobia not maintained
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14
Q

what is the Little Albert case study?

A
  • initially Little Albert had no fear of white rat
  • conditioning process- Albert presented with white rat and it was accompanied by a loud noise= UCS (noise) created fear response (UCR) –> pairing of rat with noise initially made fear response, then Albert began to display fear (NS) when he saw a rat without a noise (UCS)

UCS (loud noise) –> UCR (fear)
NS (rat) –> NR
NS + UCS –> UCR
CS (rat) –> CR (fear)

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15
Q

weaknesses of two process model

A
  • only focuses of condition determined of phobia development, doesn’t account for phobias which may have an evolutionary origin e.g. fear of heights as could result in injury/death
    –> called preparedness
  • TPM doesn’t explain why some people have strong dislike for something yet don’t develop a phobia
  • doesn’t account for cognitive aspects of behaviour
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16
Q

behavioural approach to treating phobias- what are the two treatments?

A

systematic desensitisation
flooding

17
Q

systematic desensitisation- what is it?

A
  • most common behavioural therapy designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through the principle of CC
    –> if person can learn to relax through presence of phobic stimulus (new response to phobic stimulus learned)= they will be cured
    –> phobic stimulus paired with relaxation instead of anxiety
    –> learning of a different response= counterbalancing
  • impossible to be relaxed + anxious at one time= one emotion inhibits other (reciprocal inhibitation)
18
Q

systematic desensitisation- what are the 3 processes?

A
  1. anxiety hierarchy
  2. relaxation
  3. exposure
19
Q

systematic desensitisation- anxiety hierarchy

A

patient + therapist work together to construct an anxiety hierarchy (list of situations that involve phobic stimulus from least to most frightening)

20
Q

systematic desensitisation- relaxation

A

breathing exercises (calms patient physiologically by slowing breathing). Visualisation (person places themselves mentally in a cal, env.) drug therapy

21
Q

systematic desensitisation- exposure

A

while in a relaxed state patients exposed to phobic stimulus (starting at stage 1 of hierarchy) + moving up stage by stage at a pace that suits them till they reach top of hierarchy whilst remaining relaxed

22
Q

systematic desensitisation- strengths

A
  • research support from Gulroy –> studied 42 patients who had SD as treatment for spier phobia over 3 x 45 mins sessions –> showed that they were less fearful than control group long + short term
  • help ppl with learning disabilities
  • can do SD with virtual reality (VR)= cost effective
23
Q

systematic desensitisation- limitations

A
  • doesn’t treat cause of behaviour only the behaviour it results in –> means phobia could return= useless
  • some ppl may not be able to deal with phobia outside therapy sessions + apply what they’ve learnt
  • patient may require vivid imagination + needs to be motivated
24
Q

flooding- what is it?

A
  • involves sudden, extreme exposure to the phobic stimulus (with no prior build-up or gradual approach)–> designed to extinguish fear
  • immediate exposure! ‘all or nothing approach’
  • has no relaxation techniques+ patient won’t be in a calm state
  • sessions= normally only one that lasts a few hours (longer than SD)
25
Q

flooding- how it works?

A
  • stops phobic responses quicky as client has no other option of avoidance behaviour so quickly learns stimulus is harmless –> extinction occurs –> conditioned stimulus (CS) no longer produces the conditioned response (CR)
26
Q

flooding strengths

A
  • cheaper than SD and other phobia therapies –> only needs one sessions compared to around 10+
  • works well with simple phobias
27
Q

flooding limitations

A
  • can be traumatic for patient (even though they give informed consent prior to therapy, unethical?
    –> Schumacher et al found ppl rated flooding more stressful than SD –> may lack ethical validity
  • less effective with more complex phobias e.g. social phobias as requires social events= needs skill + training which flooding can’t provide
  • may only mask symptoms, not tackle underlying cause of phobia

Psychology- psychopathology (4 decks)

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