phobias, SD and Flooding Flashcards
phobia
an exaggerated fear of an object or situation
percentage of the population affected by phobias in their lifetime
11%
percentage of significant improvement of phobias through treatment
90%
4 diagnostic criteria for a specific phobia
.persistent excessive or unreasonable fear cued by the presence or anticipation of a specific object or situation
.the person recognises the fear as excessive or unreasonable
.interferes significantly with a person’s normal routine
.exposure to the stimulus provokes an immediate anxiety response
what does behaviour therapy through classical conditioning do?
aims to change behaviour by changing the associations we make
what are therapies derived from classical conditioning based on
exposure and response prevention
exposure
facing or confronting a fear repeatedly until the fear subsides
habituation
the process by which a person’s behavioural and sensory response diminishes over time after repeated exposure to a particular stimulus
response prevention
refraining from engaging in typical avoidance or escape behaviours when faced with a feared situation
how is a behaviour extinguished
the fear is eliminated
by reversing the process of paired association between a neutral stimulus and a fear inducing stimuli (UCS)
Systematic desensitisation
a therapy based on the principles of classical conditioning
who invented SD and when
Wolpe in the 1950’s
when is SD complete
when the agreed therapeutic goals are met
what 2 things can the process of SD be?
in vitro
in vivo
in vivo
exposure to the real object
in vitro
imaginary exposure to the object
reciprocal inhibition
the fear response is gradually replaced by a relaxed response
two contrasting emotions cannot co-exist
4 stages to SD
functional analysis
construction of an anxiety hierarchy
relaxation training
gradual exposure
functional analysis
careful questioning to discover the nature of the anxiety and possible triggers and the persons responses to them
anxiety hierarchy
hierarchy of anxiety provoking situations from least to most fearful
relaxation training
desensitisation
people are taught muscle relaxation, breathing exercises and how to use their imagination to decrease anxiety
gradual exposure
each stage of the anxiety hierarchy are worked through using the relaxation techniques learnt
what other treatment can SD be paired with
modelling
modelling
the patient observed others in the presence of the phobic stimulus who are responding with relaxation instead of fear
participant is encouraged to imitate the models
example of a study that uses SD
Capafons
why are the therapeutic outcomes of SD easy to measure
the goals are clearly specified
good scientific justification for this use of therapy
why are in-vitro methods used more frequently than in-vivo methods
due to ethical problems - such ass distress to the participant
what would Psychoanalytical psychologists argue about phobias?
a phobia is a manifestation of some underlying conflict which therapy should aim to uncover
what can be argued about phobias from a social learning point of view?
a phobia has been acquired through the observation of role models rather than direct personal experience
why is SD not very effective for people with more severe disorders?
the person needs to be able to relax
the person has to be involved in the whole process
not everyone is able to do these things
which disorders is SD not effective for
schizophrenia
psychoses
what criticism do all theories based on the learning approach face?
they fail to identify and treat the underlying causes of abnormality
causes have not been addressed
what did Craske & Barlow (1993) study on agoraphobics show?
between 60-80% of agoraphobics showed some improvement after SD
improvement was only slight and often clients relapse after 6 months
why does SD have limited effectiveness for complex phobias?
if the phobia is secondary to something else, the other thing needs to be dealt with first for SD to be effective
e.g. agoraphobia is secondary to panic attacks, as clients do not fear the public space but having the panic attack in a public place
what are the two other terms that flooding can be referred to as
exposure therapy
prolonged exposure therapy
ethical issues for flooding
the experience may be traumatic
what is flooding
the rapid exposure to the CS rather than more spaced presentations
what are the two rationale behind flooding
the patient’s anxiety if maintained at such a high level that eventually some process of exhaustion or stimulus satiation takes place
if a patient is prevented from making their normal escape / avoidance response extinction will occur
Example of a study involving Flooding
Wolpe (1973) - took a girl who was scared of cars and drove her round for hours
initially the girl was hysterical but eventually she calmed down when she realised her situation was safe
from then on she associated cars with a sense of ease
how does rapid exposure help the extinction of a phobia
the person becomes to physically exhausted for the CR to occur
implosion therapy
phobic patients are bombarded with detailed descriptions of situations that they fear for 6 to 9 continuous hours instead of facing the real object
he reduced the time needed for the first flooding session to 2 hours by concentrating on phrases which sparked the most intense reactions
why are patients more likely to choose SD over flooding
SD does not cause the same degree of trauma
why can flooding be more effective than SD for people with very strong phobias
these people may struggle to keep up with the relaxation of S.D
what are the benefits of flooding being so quick
cheaper than alternatives
patients are free of symptoms as soon as possible
which disorders has flooding also reduced symptoms of
PTSD and OCD
