Psycopathology - Phobias Flashcards
Behavioural signs of phobias
Panic
Avoidance
Endurance
What is the behavioural characteristics of panic
Person might panic in the presence of the phobic object
Might show crying, running, screaming, freezing
What is avoidance
When faced with the phobic object the response is to evade the object or situation
Can interfere w daily life
What is Endurance
May remain in the presence of the phobic object and be frozen and unable to move
Emotional characteristics in the presence of a phobia
Fear
Anxiety
What is fear
Persistent and unreasonable worry and distress in presence of the phobic object
What is anxiety
A person will be apprehensive about what will happen when encountering their phobic object
Cognitive characteristic signs of phobia
Irrational beliefs
Selective attention
What is the characteristic of irrational beliefs
Persons thoughts about their phobia do not make logical sense
Distorted perception of the simulated
What is Selective attention
When the person encounters the phobic object they will become fixated on it bc of irrational beliefs
What is the two process model
The phobia is initiated through classical conditioning
The phobia is then maintained through operant conditioning
What is the Little albert experiment
Researchers struck a metal bar behind Albert’s head every time he reached for the white rat
This made Albert cry
Eventually Albert cried every time he saw a white rat
Generalised to fluffy or white objects
Metal bar and Albert Before conditioning
Sound - unconditioned stimulus
Albert reaction - unconditioned response
White rat and Albert before conditioning
White rat - neutral stimulus
Albert response - neutral response
White rat + sound and Albert during conditioning
White rat+sound - neutral and unconditioned
Albert response - unconditioned response
White rat and Albert After conditioning
White rat - conditioned stimulus - now phobia
Albert response - conditioned reaction
How does the experiment on Albert remove stigma of being mentally ill
It perceives phobias as incorrect responses that can be corrected
What is systematic desensitisation
Behavioural therapy developed by Wolpe (1958) to reduce phobias by using classical conditioning
Reciprocal inhibition
Central idea of SD is that it is impossible to experience two opposite emotions at the same time
They replace fear of a phobia with relaxed responses to the phobia
Use of Counter conditioning in phobias
Using reciprocal inhibition to make the patient learn to remain relaxed in the presence of the phobic object
How to introduce someone to their phobia
Slowly introduce - eg. Photos videos
Introduce irl from far
Close up
Flooding
The patient is taught relaxation techniques and then immediate exposure to very frightening and extreme situation
Why is flooding effective
Patient does not have option to avoid and quickly learn the phobic object is harmless - extinction occurs
Some patients might achieve relaxation bc they are so exhausted
All factors of phobias
Endurance
Panic
Avoidance
Fear
anxiety
Irrational beliefs
Distorted perceptions
Selective attention
