Phobias Flashcards
(34 cards)
what is a phobia?
an irrational fear of an object or situation
what are behavioural characteristics?
ways in which people act
what are emotional characteristics?
ways in which people feel
what are cognitive characteristics?
ways in which people think, know, perceive and believe.
what are phobias characterised by?
all phobias are characterised bu excessive fear and anxiety, triggered by an object, place or situation.
The extent of the fear is out of proportion…
to any real danger presented by the phobic stimulus.
What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?
Panic- crying, screaming, running away, clinging
Avoidance- efforts are made to avoid the feared objects and situations to reduce anxiety.
Endurance- remaining in the presence of the phobia but having high levels of anxiety.
what are the emotional characteristics of phobias?
Anxiety- unpleasant state of high arousal that prevents relaxation and positive emotion.
Emotional responses are unreasonable- the emotions are disproportionate to the behaviours caused.
What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?
selective attention to the phobic stimulus- attention placed on phobic stimulus once identified.
irrational beliefs- unsupported view. eg: spider will kill you.
cognitive distortions- exaggerated and irrational though pattern.
recognition of exaggerated anxiety- conscious awareness that anxiety levels are overstated.
what is behavioural conditioning?
emphasises the role of learning in the aquisition of behaviour. Behaviour is explained in terms of what is observable.
what is classical conditioning?
Learning by association. Occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together- UCS and NS, eventually these will produced the same response that was first produced alone.
what is operant conditioning?
a form of learning in which behaviour is maintained and shaped by its consequences. Positive reinforcement, Negative reinforcement and/or Punishment.
who proposed the TWO PROCESS MODEL?
Mowrer- based on behavioural approach.
what does the two process model state?
states that phobias are acquired by classical conditioning and then continue because of operant conditioning.
Who aimed to demonstrate how the two processes model works in acquiring phobias?
Watson and Rayner (1920)
what was Watson and Rayner’s aim?
aimed to demonstate that an irrational fear could be induced by classical conditioning.
what was Watson and Rayner’s procedure?
They used a placid baby boy named ‘little Albert’, who at 9 months showed no fear of of a laboratory white rat.
at age 11 months they carried out a procedure to aim to induce fear, whenever the rat was placed in Alberts lap, Watson made a loud noise by banging together two steel bars behind alberts back 7x.
talk about the Watson and Rayner’s procedure in terms of classical conditioning ….
loud noise= unconditioned stimulus
Albert’s response (crying)= unconditioned response
before conditioning rat= neutral stimulus
when Albert showed fear whenever he saw the rat= conditioned response.
rat was conditioned stimulus now.
How did Mowrer describe phobias being MAINTAINED?
through operant conditioning.
example of negative reinforcement?
A person who is afraid of spiders is likely to run away when they see one. The escape and constant reduction of fear acts as a negative reenforcement. this increases the likelihood that they will avoid spiders in the future. in this way the behaviour is maintained.
When an individual avoids a situation which is unpleasant, it results in an pleasant consequence, means behaviour is likely to be repeated.
Evaluate the two process model using a strength
The two processes explanation of phobias has good explanatory power.
It provides an explanation of how phobias can be maintained over time which has important implications for therapies
because it explains why patients need to exposed to their feared stimulus.
By preventing patients practicing there avoidance behaviour their behaviour stops being reinforced.
This application to therapy is a strength to the approach.
Evaluate the two process model using a weakness
one limitation of the two process model is that it does not explain the development of all phobias.
some people can’t remember an incident occurring that led to their phobia developing.
This suggests different phobias may be the result of different processes .
However, OST says that it is possible that traumatic events occurred but we just forgot them.
What are the two behaviourist therapies?
systematic desensitisation and flooding (both use the principles of classical conditioning)
what is systematic desensitisation?
a behavioural therapy
designed to reduce phobic anxiety
uses counter conditioning to unlearn the maladaptive responsibly eliciting another response = relaxation.
according to this two states cannot exist at the same time.
