Psychopathology: Phobias

Question 1

What is a phobia?

Answer 1

A phobia is an anxiety disorder characterised by extreme irrational fears.

Question 2

What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?

Answer 2

• avoidant/anxiety response, disruption of functioning (avoidance is so strong it interferes with everyday functioning)

Question 3

What are the emotional characteristics of phobias?

Answer 3

persistent excessive fear, fear from exposure to phobic stimulus

Question 4

What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?

Answer 4

• recognition of exaggerated anxiety

Question 5

What are simple phobias?

Answer 5

• e.g. animal phobias (e.g. arachnophobia)

Question 6

What are social phobias?

Answer 6

• e.g. performance phobias (fear of eating in public at a restaurant)

Question 7

What is Agoraphobia?

Answer 7

• occur due to fears of embarrassment or contamination (e.g. someone too scared to leave home)

Question 8

Phobias can either be…

Answer 8

Learnt or genetically transmitted

Question 9

What is the two process model of phobias?

Answer 9

1. The acquisition of the phobia through classical conditioning
2. Maintenance of phobias through operant conditioning and social learning.

Question 10

How does a phobia form through classical conditioning?

Answer 10

when 2 stimuli are paired together —> the development of a phobia.
Process - UCS is paired with an UCR of fear - a NS produces a NR - NS paired with UCS to produce an UCR of fear - this becomes a CS which produces a CR. Example - Little Albert has a phobia of rats created when a baby, by associating a loud bang with rats. The UCS was the bang, the UCR was fear, NS = rat, the CS was the rat and CR was fear.

Question 11

What is the maintenance of phobias through operant conditioning and social learning?

Answer 11

behaviour is maintained by consequences and therefore reinforced.
Negative reinforcement - when the person maintains a phobia because by avoiding the stimulus, they avoid the negative consequences. They feel better when they don’t go near the stimulus, so they avoid a punishment and therefore the phobia is maintained over time.

Question 12

What’s an example of a phobia?

Answer 12

A dog phobia:
- acquired directly via classical conditioning, e.g. someone was bitten by a dog, or indirectly through social learning, e.g. someone sees another person getting bitten.
- maintained through avoiding situations dogs may be present is negatively reinforcing - reducing the anxiety with dogs, so the avoiding response likely to occur again.

Question 13

What’s some general evaluation of the behavioural approach to explaining phobias?

Answer 13

• The 2-process model neglects the influence of evolutionary theory, suggesting humans have a genetic tendency to be phobic of things that can cause harm- e.g. insects or the dark, a mechanism ensuring caution and increase survival
• Evolution adds to the element of preparedness which adds together the ideas of a gene that prepares you to learn a phobia - adds in a genetic vulnerability to learning theory.
• Behaviourist treatments of SD are very effective, supporting the idea they were learned in the first place as they involve relearning.
• Not everyone experiences traumatic events before a phobia, and not everyone that has experienced these events goes on to develop a phobia.

Question 14

What is Systematic desensitisation (SD)?

Answer 14

based on classical conditioning and designed to reduce unwanted response through 3 stages. Main focus is reciprocal inhibition - cannot relax and be anxious at the same time.
Process:
1. Anxiety Hierarchy - putting together a list of what scares you from the least fearful to the most fearful
2. Relaxation - therapist teaches relaxing techniques such as picturing a happy place as you cannot be scared and relaxed at same time
3. Exposure - patient exposed to the least fearful stimulus in their relaxed state and then slowly work their way up the hierarchy until their phobia is cured
Covert Desensitisation (imaging scenarios). In Vivo Desensitisation (actual contact)

Question 15

What’s an example of SD?

Answer 15

someone with a snake phobia - initially the phobic would be placed in a mild anxiety-producing situation, e.g. being in a room where there is a snake in a locked tank. Relaxation strategies would be used to reduce any anxiety. Then in gradual steps, interaction with the snake would increase, with relaxation strategies again used to reduce anxiety, until the phobia was removed.

Question 16

How did Jones use SD to remove a fear of white fluffy animals in objects like wool, in ‘Little Peter’?

Answer 16

The rabbit was presented closer and closer distances each time as his anxiety levels subsided. Peter was rewarded with food (developing a positive association) Supports SD as is provided evidence that a re-association with a phobic object can be learnt.

Question 17

What’s some general evaluation of SD?

Answer 17

• SD is mainly suitable for patients that are able to learn and use relaxation strategies; and have vivid enough imagination to create images of feared objects
• If used in an imaginary sense, there is no guarantee it will work in a real situation, suggesting in vivo treatment is superior to covert desensitisation
• Behaviourist treatments work best on simple phobias, not as effective for agoraphobia and social phobias

Question 18

What is flooding?

Answer 18

also known as implosion - where fear is taken to the worse case, either imagined or real, until the client can no longer feel fear due to exhaustion. The high anxiety produced would not be sustainable and would reduce itself naturally, thus removing the phobia as no avoidance response could be made.

Question 19

How did Wolpe use flooding to remove a phobia of cars?

Answer 19

girl was forced to be driven around in a car for 4 hours until fear was eradicated. Supports flooding as it shows the effectiveness.

Question 20

What’s some general evaluation of flooding?

Answer 20

• Ethical considerations - psychological harm
• Not suitable for all patients - e.g. those with bad health, as could risk heart attacks.