psychopathology-phobias Flashcards
what are phobias characterised by
uncontrollable, extreme, irrational and enduring fear
what are the 3 types of phobia
-social phobia
-agoraphobia
-specific phobia
what is social phobia
fear of being in a social situation
what is agoraphobia
fear of being outside or in a public space
what is a specific phobia
fear of a specific object or animal
what are the behavioural characteristics
avoidance of the feared stimulus
Endurance-freeze
what are the emotional characteristics of a phobia
persistant fear of a specific stimulus
what are the cognitive characteristics of a phobia
irrational beliefs about the feared stimulus
what does the 2 process model explain
-phobias being acquired through classical conditioning
-phobias being maintained through operant conditioning
how are phobias acquired through classical conditioning
UCS———>UCR
UCS+NS———–>UCR
CS————>CR
How is behaviour maintained through operant conditioning
When a person avoids a feared stimulus the negative feelings of fear are removed so behaviour is reinforced through negative reinforcement
how can SLT explain acquisition of phobias
we observe and imitate a phobia via a role model through vicarious reinforcement
Supporting evidence for the idea that phobias are acquired through classical conditioning
-Watson and Raynor-at first the white rat was a neutral stimulus then a loud bang was sounded behind him and he learned to associate the loud bang with the white rat which elicited a fear response
what is a problem with watson and raynors study
-lack ecological validity-not true to how we aquire phobias in real life
-case study so is idiograpahic so cannot generalise to wider population
Supporting evidence for the idea that phobias are acquired through classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning
Di Gallo-reported that around 20% of people experiencing a traumatic car accident developed a phobia of travelling in cars (classical conditoning)
they also tended to make avoidance responses which involved staying at home (operant conditoning as avoidance causes relief)
does Di Gallos evidence raise any limitations
80% didnt develop a phobia showing its not a complete explanation and that there should be other factors
Limitation for behaviourist explanation of phobias
-not all phobias are caused by traumatic events
-could be genetically determined eg-diathesis stress model which suggest we have a genetic vulnerability for developing mental disorders that will only be triggered by certain events
what is the 2 alternative explanations for the development of phobias
-biological-we tend to show feat of snakes as this would’ve been adaptative previously so this has been passed down through evolution
-cognitive-phobias could be acquired through irrational negative beliefs
what are the 2 treatments for phobias
-flooding
-systematic desensitisation
what is systematic desensitisation
- Fear hierarchy- doctor and patient create a fear hierarchy which ranks from least to most feared stimulus
- Patient is taught relaxation techniques that encourage slow breathing and muscle relaxation
- the patient is then exposed to there phobic situation. They are encourage to keep calm as two emotional states cannot exist at the same time (reciprocal inhibition)
what does in vitro mean
when the client imagines exposure to the phobic situation
what does in vivo mean
the client is exposed to the phobic situation
what are 2 pieces of supporting evidence for systematic desensitisation
-ost
-Klosko
what did ost find
90% much improved or completely recovered 4 years later showing systematic desensitisation is effective for a longtime after treatment
what did klosko find
found that systematic desensitisation was better than drug treatment
87% where free of panic after systematic desensitisation compared to 50% for those treated with drugs
why may it be prerable to treat someone with systematic desensitisation rather than drug treatment
drugs have side effects
what doesn’t systematic desensitisation take into account
doesnt take into account evolutonary relationships
-is not effective in treating phobias that werent acquired through classical conditioning
what are some positives of systematic desensitisation
-exposes patient to the feared stimulus gradually creating less distress
-more ethical then flooding
what are some negatives of systematic desensitisation
-less effective at treating social phobias and agoraphobias where cognitive factors are also important
(CBT may be more effective in this situation)
what is flooding
exposing the patient to there phobia in one go and encouraging them to stay near there phobia until the anxiety has worn off
Supporting evidence for flooding
-Kaplan and Tolin
-Wolpe
what did Kaplan and Tolin find
-Kaplan and Tolin-65% of patients had no symptoms of a specific phobia 4 years later showing flooding is effective for a longtime after treatment
what did Wolpe find
-Wolpe-used flooding to remove a girls phobia of being in cars. The girl was driven around for 4 hours until her hysteria had eradicated
what are 3 negatives of flooding
-doesn’t always work and can strengthen the association between the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus should something go wrong
-unethical because It can create loads of distress
-not appropriate for some patients eg-children
