Phobias

Question 1

What is a phobia

Answer 1

An irrational fear of an object/situation

Question 2

Key AO1 on phobias

Answer 2

All phobias are characterised by excessive fear and anxiety is triggered by an object, place or situation

The extent of the fear is out of proportion to any real danger presented by the the phobic stimulus

Can be categorised into 3 different phobic disorders:

• Specific phobia-phobia of an object, such as an animal or body part, or a situation such as having an injection: animal phobias, injury phobias, situational phobias and natural phobias
• Social anxiety- phobia of a social situation such as public speaking or using a public toilet
• Agoraphobia- phobia of being outside or in a public place

Question 3

How are phobias acquired and maintained(behavioural approach)

Answer 3

Phobias are acquired through classical conditioning

Phobias are maintained by operant conditioning(positive and negative reinforcement)

Question 4

Give an example of Mowrer’s two model process for a fear of planes

Answer 4

UCS(turbulence) UCR(Fear)
NS(Plane) CS(plane) CR(Fear of planes)
UCS-UCR
NS-Nothing
NS+UCS-UCR
CS-CR

Maintained through positive reinforcement for example going to the cinema or out for dinner after avoiding a flight or embrace from parents and loved ones

Maintained through negative reinforcement if a flight gets cancelled or you walk away and avoid the plane meaning you don’t need to fly anymore

Question 5

What are the three treatment methods to treat phobias

Answer 5

Flooding and Systematic Desensitisation and Virtual Reality Exposure treatment

Question 6

What is systematic desensitisation

Answer 6

A behavioural therapy designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through the principles of classical conditioning

Question 7

How does systematic desensitisation work

Answer 7

Through the use of progressive muscle relaxation therapy to calm down and relax the mind and body, it helps create a new phobic stimulus which links a bad stimulus to a positive response which is the relaxation feeling and because it is impossible to be anxious and relaxed at the same time, one emotion inhibits the other which is called reciprocal inhibition- this involves vitro(artificial) and vivo(real-life) methods

Question 8

What is involved with SD

Answer 8

PMR

Anxiety hierarchy(Gradual steps/goals to achieving complete exposure of phobic stimulus)-consists of vitro and vivo methods

Exposure over many weeks

Question 9

What is flooding

Answer 9

The immediate exposure to a phobic stimuli which triggers a fight of flight response

Question 10

Similarities of SD and Flooding

Answer 10

• Both are used to break the association for a phobic stimuli and fear
• Both use biological processes to achieve a level of calmness in proximity of their phobia

Both have vivo

Question 11

Differences of Flooding and SD

Answer 11

• SD is gradual exposure whereas flooding is immediate prolonged exposure
• Flooding focuses on causing the patient to get tired of being scared whereas SD uses vitro and vivo methods in order to reduce their anxiety
• SD teaches life long skills

Flooding has poorer ethics

Question 12

What is Virtual Reality Exposure Treatment

Answer 12

Takes a phobia and implements it into VR

Gradual prolonged experience in VR

Question 13

What happens in VRE

Answer 13

Patients are put into virtual reality world to face their phobias

Patient is told to breathe and undergoes CBT

Question 14

What phobias are mainly targeted by VRE

Answer 14

Fear of animals, Fear of heights, Fear of small spaces and fear of jabs/injections