Phobias

Question 1

What type of disorder are phobias?

Answer 1

Clinically diagnosed anxiety disorder

Question 2

What is the DSM and when was it first published?

Answer 2

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, first published in 1952 with 106 disorders

Question 3

What is the two-process model? Who proposed it?

Answer 3

1. Imitation happens when a person associates fear with a phobic object (classical conditioning)
2. Maintenance happens when a person maintains phobia due to preferable consequences of actions (operant conditioning)

Proposed by Mowrer (1947)

Question 4

What are the emotional characteristics of phobias?

Answer 4

• Persistent fear
• Excessive and unreasonable fear
• Anxiety
• Panic
• Emotions that occur in presence or anticipation of object

Question 5

What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?

Answer 5

• Avoidance of object that interferes with normal routine
• Freeze or faint
• Stress response
• Panic responses (crying, screaming, collapsing)

Question 6

What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?

Answer 6

• Irrational nature of thinking
• Resistance to rationality
• Recognises fear is excessive