Phobias

Question 1

What is a phobia?

Answer 1

An irrational fear of an object or situation.

Question 2

What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?

Answer 2

Avoidance.
Endurance - remains in the presence of the phobic stimulus but continues to experience high levels of anxiety.
Panic - e.g. crying, screaming.

Question 3

What are the emotional characteristics of phobias?

Answer 3

Anxiety.

Unreasonable - go beyond what is considered rational.

Question 4

What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?

Answer 4

Selective attention on stimulus.
Irrational beliefs.
Cognitive distortions.

Question 5

What behavioural approach model is used to explain phobias?

Answer 5

The two-process model.

Question 6

What 2 stages does the two-process model include?

Answer 6

Classical conditioning.

Operant conditioning.

Question 7

Explain classical conditioning in terms of developing a phobia.

Answer 7

Classical conditioning = learning through association.
We associate something that we initially have no fear of (neutral stimulus) with something that already triggers a fear response (unconditioned stimulus).

Question 8

What study can be used to support the classical conditioning of phobias?

Answer 8

Little Albert.

Question 9

Explain operant conditioning in terms of developing a phobia.

Answer 9

Operant conditioning = learning through reinforcement, and this is how a phobia is maintained.
Postive and negative reinforcement.
If we avoid a phobic stimulus we successfully prevent feelings of anxiety and fear that we would have suffered if we had remained there. This reduction in fear reinforces the avoidance behaviour so the phobia is maintained.

Question 10

State a strength of the behavioural explanation for phobias.

Answer 10

Good explanatory power - it explains how phobias can occur and how they are maintained over time. It has important implications within therapy because it explains why patients need to be exposed to the phobic stimulus. Once a patient is prevented from practising their avoidance behaviour, the behaviour ceases to be reinforced and is therefore declined.

Question 11

State 3 criticisms of the behavioural explanation for phobias.

Answer 11

• Alternative explanation for avoidance behaviour - safety, a sufferer of agoraphobia may avoid public places due to positive motivation of the safety of their home but will feel relatively low anxiety levels when they leave the house with a trusted person.
• Doesn’t take into account evolutionary factors.
• Not all phobias follow a trauma.

Question 12

What are the 2 behavioural therapies used in treating phobias?

Answer 12

Flooding.

Systematic desensitisation.

Question 13

What are the aims of systematic desensitisation?

Answer 13

Aims to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through the principle of classical conditioning.
The learning of an alternative response is called counter-conditioning.

Question 14

What are the 3 processes of SD?

Answer 14

1. the anxiety hierarchy
2. relaxation
3. exposure

Question 15

How does the anxiety hierarchy work?

Answer 15

It is a list of phobic situations, put together by the patient and therapist, that provoke anxiety arranged in the order of least frightening to most frightening.

Question 16

How does the relaxation stage work?

Answer 16

The therapist teaches the patient to relax as deeply as possible - breathing exercises or mental imagery.

Question 17

How does the exposure stage work?

Answer 17

Finally the patient is exposed to the phobic stimulus whilst in the relaxed state. This takes place across several sessions, starting from the bottom of the hierarchy. Once the patient can remain relaxed in the presence of the lower levels of the phobic stimulus, they can then move up the hierarchy.

Question 18

What research evidence supports SD?

Answer 18

Gilroy et al. - followed up 42 patients that had been treated for spider phobias in three 45 minutes SD sessions.
Spider phobia was assessed on several measures, and a control group was treated by relaxation methods without exposure.
At both 3 months and 33 months after the treatment the SD group were less fearful than the relaxation group.
Shows it is effective and has lasting effects.

Question 19

State 2 strengths of SD.

Answer 19

Suitable for diverse range of patients - e.g. learning difficulties can make it very hard for some patients to understand what is happening in flooding or to engage in CBT that requires the ability to reflect on what you are thinking.
Preferred by patients over flooding - causes less distress.

Question 20

How does flooding work?

Answer 20

Involves exposing the patient to their phobic stimulus without the gradual build-up of the anxiety hierarchy.
Flooding stops phobic responses very quickly because without the option of avoidance behaviour, the patient quickly learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless.
Informed consent is needed.

Question 21

State a strength of flooding.

Answer 21

Cost effective - only one session needed.

Question 22

State 3 criticisms of flooding.

Answer 22

Symptom substitution.
Traumatic for some patients - need for informed consent.
Less effective for some types of phobias - e.g. social phobias as it’s more complex as it involves unpleasant thoughts about the situation.