Phobias (Psychopathology) Flashcards
Phobia
An irrational fear that produces a conscious avoidance of the feared object or situations that interferes with daily living.
Acronyms for Emotional, Behavioural and Cognitive aspects of phobias
E - AU
B- APE
C - IC
Emotional aspects of a phobia
AU
Anxiety from fear of the phobic stimulus
Unreasonable emotional response, disproportionate to the danger posed
Behavioural aspects of a phobia
APE
Avoidance- take a lot of effort to avoid stimulus which affects daily life
Panic- crying, screaming, running away
Endurance- if you remain in the presence of stimulus experiencing high anxiety
Cognitive aspects of a phobia
IC
Irrational beliefs- exaggerated belief in the harm the phobic object could cause
Cognitive distortions- perceptions of the stimulus are distorted.
The Two Process Model
Phobias are acquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning.
Acquisition of phobias through classical conditioning
Phobic object changes from being a neutral stimulus with no fear response to a conditioned stimulus with a fear response…
… by being presented at the same time as an unconditioned stimulus that naturally causes a fear response, forming an association
Maintenance of a phobia through operant conditioning
We avoid the phobic stimulus, we avoid the fear (negative reinforcement) and anxiety associated with it, reinforcing avoidance and the phobia is maintained.
Positive and Negative Evaluations of the Behaviourist Approach to Phobias
Watson and Rayner found through Little Albert that phobias can be acquired through association
Not all phobias follow trauma. Some people do not know why they fear something and may not be the result of conditioning
2 types of behavioural therapy
Systematic desensitisation
Flooding
Systematic desensitisation (behavioural therapy) (4)
-gradually reduces phobic anxiety through the principle of classical conditioning
The client works out a hierarchy of fear from the least frightening to the most frightening.
The client is exposed to the phobic stimulus while in a relaxed state. They start at the bottom of the hierarchy and work through to the highest.
The gradual exposure leads to extinction
Flooding (behavioural therapy) (4)
A behavioural therapy designed to rapidly stop a phobic response
Involves immediate exposure to a frightening experience.
There is no option of avoidance and the patient quickly learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless.
This is called extinction.
Evaluation of systematic desensitisation and flooding
SD- Patients tend to prefer systematic desensitisation as it is not as traumatic as flooding. It also includes some pleasant elements (relaxation)
F- It can be highly traumatic. But can be more efficient and therefore cheaper
Both- may not translate from a therapists office to the real world
