psychopathology - phobias Flashcards
what are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?
- panic
- avoidance
- endurance
what are the emotional characteristics of phobias?
- anxiety - unpleasant state of high arousal, can be long-term
- fear - immediate unpleasant response, more intense and short-term
- the emotional response is unreasonable
what are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?
- selective attention
- irrational beliefs
- cognitive distortions
what is the two-process model?
phobias are acquired by classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning
who proposed the two-process model
Mowrer (1960)
what is the process of classical conditioning?
UCS creates UCR
NS becomes associated with unconditioned stimulus
- NS becomes CS
CS produces CR
what is the Little Albert experiment?
conducted by Watson and Rayner (1920)
the NS of the rat was associated with the UCS of noise to create CR of fear
what is the process of operant conditioning?
the frequency of the behaviour is increased through positive and negative reinforcement.
how does negative reinforcement maintain the phobia?
the individual avoids the phobic stimulus which results in a desirable consequence of not being afraid.
Mowrer suggests what when we avoid the phobic stimulus we escape the feeling of fear, which reinforces the avoidance behaviour, thus maintaining the phobia.
strengths of the two-process model
real-world application
exposure therapies prevent avoidance behaviour, which means it is no longer reinforced and avoidance declines
evidence to link trauma and phobias
Jongh et al (2006) found that 73% of people with a fear of dental treatment had a traumatic experience, compared to only 21% in control group with low dental anxiety
limitations of the two-process model
reductionist explanation
doesn’t consider the cognitive aspects of phobias, such as irrational beliefs
not all phobias are linked to trauma
some common phobias occur in populations where there is little interaction with the phobic stimulus - e.g snakes.
evolutionary explanation of phobias.
what is systematic desensitisation?
uses the principle of classical conditioning to gradually reduce phobic anxiety
counterconditioning - a new response to the phobic stimulus is learned
what are the three processes of SD?
- anxiety hierarchy
- relaxation and reciprocal inhibition
- exposure
what is an anxiety hierarchy?
put together by client and therapist, listing situations related to the phobic stimulus that provoke anxiety from least to most frightening.
Exposure starts at the bottom of the anxiety hierarchy and builds up
what is reciprocal inhibition?
the patient cannot be simultaneously anxious while in a relaxed state.
so the therapist teaches the client relaxation techniques in order to prevent feeling afraid when exposed to the phobic stimulus
strengths of SD
evidence of effectiveness
Gilroy et al (2003) followed up 24 people who had SD and found that after 33 months they were less fearful than the control group who had relaxation without exposure.
can be used for people with learning disabilities
more suitable than alternatives as they may struggle with complex rational thought in cognitive therapies and may feel distressed by flooding
limitation of SD
impractical form of treatment
multiple sessions, which can be time-consuming
due to it being a more long-term treatment, it’s also expensive
what is flooding?
immediate exposure to a very frightening situation
sessions are longer - 1 session can last 2-3 hours, and sometimes only 1 session is required to cure the phobia
what is extinction?
without avoidance behaviour, the individual may learn the phobic stimulus - CR is extinguished when CS is encountered without UCS
client may also achieve relaxation because they’re exhausted by their own fear response.
what are the potential ethical issues of flooding?
it’s an unpleasant experience and can be traumatic so the client must give fully informed consent
the client would normally be given a choice between SD and flooding
strength of flooding
cost-effective
clinically effective and not expensive as it can work in as little as one session, while multiple would be required for SD
limitation of flooding
traumatic
Schumacher et al (2015) found that participants and therapists rates flooding as significantly more stressful than SD.
potential ethical issues for therapist as they know they’re causing stress to their client, although less of a problem with informed consent.
