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A Level Psychology (Psychopathology) > Phobias > Flashcards

Phobias Flashcards

1
Q

How long do you have to have the phobia for to be diagnosed?

A

6 months

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2
Q

2 checklists for mental health disorders?

A

DSM- American- 5th edition- have to pay for the book
ICD-11- made by WHO- free- used by the rest of the world

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3
Q

What are all phobias categorised by?

A

Excessive fear and anxiety

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4
Q

What are phobias triggered by?

A

An object, place or situation

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5
Q

What is a specific phobia?

A

Phobia of an object, such as animal/body part
Or a situation such as having an injection

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6
Q

Injury phobia?

A

Being injured/hurt

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7
Q

Examples of situational phobias?

A

The dark

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8
Q

Example of natural phobias?

A

Storms

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9
Q

Social anxiety?

A

Phobia of a social situation such as a public speaking or using a public toilet

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10
Q

Agoraphobia?

A

Phobia of being outside or in a public place

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11
Q

Behaviour of having agoraphobia?

A

Housebound- do not leave the house unless absolutely necessary
Avoid public areas e.g. public transport to avoid crowding and the unknown
Need for companionship- they require someone trysted to be with

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12
Q

Cognitive of agoraphobia?

A

Irrational- they don’t see reason when it comes to their phobia
Overwhelmed by anxiety

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13
Q

Emotional aspects of agoraphobia?

A

May get upset as they feel like they are being embarrassing
May be easy to get a reaction out of
May lose control in public

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14
Q

Behaviour of specific phobias: animals?

A

Removing yourself from the situation
Panicking
Emotional distress because you are afraid

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15
Q

Cognitive aspects of specific phobia of animals?

A

Irrational thoughts such as thinking something bad will happen due to seeing the animal
Distortion bias- think its normal to have these thoughts when seeing the animal

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16
Q

Emotional aspects of specific phobia: animals?

A

Frightened
Scared
Excessively anxious

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17
Q

Behaviour of people with social anxiety?

A

Panic attacks
Crying
Self- conscious- fear of others
Worrying-scared to see others

18
Q

Cognitive aspects of people with social anxiety?

A

Worried about everyday activities
Find it difficult to do something when someone is watching
Worry about blushing, sweating, feeling incompetent

19
Q

Emotional aspects of people with social anxiety?

A

Sadness
Feeling sick
Depressed

20
Q

How does classical conditioning explain phobias acquisition?

A

The unpleasant emotion is associated with the stimulus so the 2 become associated with each other by conditioning

21
Q

How does operant conditioning explain phobia maintenance?

A

Phobias can be negatively reinforced where the behaviour is strengthened when the unpleasant stimulus is removed
E.g. if someone has a fear of dogs, when they are out walking, they may cross the road to remove the unpleasant stimulus (being in contact with the dog)

22
Q

2 ways to cure phobias?

A

Systematic desensitisation
Flooding

23
Q

What is VRET?

A

Virtual reality exposure treatment- mix of behaviourist and cognitive approach

24
Q

Strengths of VRET?

A

Gradual prolonged repeated experience in the VR world that we may not be able to get in real life

25
Q

What is systematic desensitisation?

A

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

26
Q

What is counterconditioning in systematic desensitisation?

A

A new response to the phobic stimulus is learned
Phobic stimulus is paired with relaxation instead of anxiety

27
Q

What is reciprocal inhibition?

A

It is impossible to be relaxed and anxious at the same time so one emotion inhibits the other

28
Q

What 3 things are involved in SD?

A

Relaxation techniques
The anxiety hierachy
Exposure- in vitro and in vivo

29
Q

What does vitro mean?

A

Not real

30
Q

What does vivo mean?

A

Real

31
Q

What does flooding hope to teach the patient?

A

Help individuals confront their fear directly - aims to expose the sufferer to the phobic object in a safe and controlled environment

32
Q

What is meant by extinction in terms of flooding?

A

Removing a learnt behaviour by removing the previous reinforcement
Removes the negative association between the phobic stimulus and yourself- therefore the phobia will be extinguished

33
Q

What happens when someone is too exhausted to be afraid?

A

The anxiety level decreases

34
Q

What ethical issues are there with flooding

A

Can be dangerous
Not an appropriate treatment for every phobia

35
Q

Similarities of SD and flooding?

A

They both use vivo scenarios
Both break association
Both are based on pavlov’s theory
Both are forms of exposure therapy

36
Q

Differences between SD and flooding?

A

SD is very gradual- flooding is all at once
SD can be relaxing/less overwhelming- flooding is very overwhelming
SD takes longer (12 weeks) whereas flooding can only take a few hours

37
Q

What is the two-process model?

A

Phobias are acquired by classical conditioning and then continue because of operant conditioning

38
Q

Strength of two process model? (Real world application)

A

Real-world application in exposure therapies e.g. systematic desensitisation

39
Q

One limitation of the 2 process model? (Cognitive aspect)

A

Does not account for the cognitive aspects of phobias
Therefore does not completely explain the symptoms of phobias

40
Q

Strength of the 2 process model ( evidence for a link between bad experiences and phobias)

A

Little Albert- the association between the stimulus and the unconditioned response leads to the development of the phobia

41
Q

Limitations of 2 process model?

A

Not all phobias appear folllowing a bad experience
E.g. common phobias like snake phobias occur in populations where very few people have any experience of snakes let alone traumatic experiences
Also, not all frightening experiences lead to phobias
Therefore this means that the association between phobias and frightening experiences is not as strong as we would expect if behavioural theories provided a complete explanation

42
Q

What is biological preparedness?

A

Seligman (1970) said that humans are genetically programmed to learn associations between life-threatening stimuli and fear
These fears are known as “ancient fears”- things that would have been dangerous in our past e.g. snakes, heights etc

A Level Psychology (Psychopathology) (12 decks)

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