Saavedra and silverman Flashcards
What is the psychology being investigated
-Classical conditioning
-Evaluative learning
What is classical conditioning
This is the idea that we learn by associating two or more events , so that the presence of one event signals the presence of the other event
What is evaluative learning
Here the individual does not expect a threat/harm from the object or situation of phobia.However he evaluates the object or situation of phobia with a negative emotion e.g disgust
What is a unconditional stimulus
This is a natural stimulus that elicits a reflexive (natural) response
e.g food elicits saliva
What is a unconditional response
A natural/reflexive response to a unconditional stimulus
e,g Saliva is a unconditional response to food
What is a conditioned stimulus
This is a stimulus that induces a response with the help of conditioning
This is a stimulus that acquires the characteristic of the unconditional stimulus after repeated pairings
e.g pairing a bell with food will elicit the occurrence of saliva even without the food
What is conditioned response
This is a learned response to a conditional stimulus
What is the experimental method in the study by Saavedra
It is a case study , because the boy is presenting a rare type of phobia
- It obtains detailed data about the boys button phobia through triangulation
What was the ADIS-C/P (anxiety disorder interview schedule , child and parent version)
used to gather data about?
-The onset of the phobia
-The event proceeding the phobia
-How the phobia affected the boys functioning
-How the boy presented with the phobia
What is the name of the interview that the researchers used in the study by Saavedra and Silverman to gain more information about the boys phobia
ADIS-C/P
The interviews with the boy and his mother in the study by Saavedra ruled out what other possible causes for the boys phobia
-Sexual abuse
-Accidents
-Other significant trauma
What is the feelings thermometer in the study by Saavedra and Silverman
This was a hierarchy of feared buttons with specific distress ratings created by the boy
This hierarchy was used during therapy to;
-Asses entry symptoms
-Asses progress of treatment
-Asses long - term effectiveness of treatment at follow up sessions
What were the aims of the study (button phobia)
1) To investigate the role of classical conditioning in the development of a button phobia
More specifically to investigate the role of evaluative learning in the development of disgust towards phobias
2) To investigate the role of imagery exposure therapy in the treatment of disgust towards buttons
Describe the sample of Saavedra and Silverman (button phobia)
- 9 year old Hispanic American boy
-He developed an intense fear of buttons which interfered with his school life \
-He sought support at the Child anxiety and phobia program in Florida international university Miami
-He met the DSM-iv criteria for a specific phobia
What is the sampling technique in the study by Saavedra
Opportunity sampling
When did the boys phobia begin according to the ADIS-C/P interview
when he was 5 years old
Describe the kindergarten experience that caused this phobia
The boy and his classmates were doing an art project using buttons on their poster boards
The boy ran out of buttons to paste on his poster board and was asked to go to the front of the class and get more from a large bowl on the teachers desk
when he reached for the bowl his hand slipped and all the buttons fell on him
How did the boy feel about his experience
in the study by saavedra and silverman
He described the experience as distressful and from then on his avoidance of buttons increased
How did the boys phobia affect his functioning
-He was not able to dress himself
-He could not concentrate in school because he was always preoccupied in not touching his school uniform or anything his uniform touched
During diagnosis the boy did not meet the DSM-IV criteria for one disorder
name the disorder
OCD
What intervention procedures were used on the boy
1)Positive reinforcement therapy
2) Imagery exposure therapy
Describe the positive reinforcement therapy (behavioural exposures procedure)
The boys mother was used to provide positive reinforcement on the boys successful completion on gradual exposure to buttons
the sessions lasted 30 mins with the boy alone and 20 with the mum
the exposure progressed from the least difficult to the most difficult buttons
the exposures were done in vivo (in flesh)
Describe the Imagery exposure therapy (disgust related exposure sessions)
-it was done in 7 sessions
- it targeted disgust
- it was done through visualizing
- The boy was told to imagine hundreds of buttons falling all over him and to ;
a)describe how they felt
b)how they smelt
c) how they look
- it progressed from the least to the most difficult buttons
- Self control (a type of cognitive behavioural therapy) was used to help the boy deal with the anxiety caused by the buttons
describe the Positive reinforcement therapy results
-The boys avoidance behaviour had decreased significantly , he was now approaching buttons more positively for example he was now able to handle larger amounts of buttons in the later sessions
-However his subjective ratings of distress increased significantly between sessions 2 and 3 and continued to rise for a number of items
e.g hugging his mum while wearing buttons
This means that despite his avoidance behaviour decreasing his feelings of disgust increased
Describe the imagery exposure results
-It was successful in reducing the boys distress ratings
for example the small plastic buttons (clear and colored) were given a distress rating of 8 before therapy
however they reduced to 5 midway during therapy and 3 at the end of therapy.
Describe the post treatment results
-He reported minimal distress about buttons
-He no longer met the DSM-IV criteria for specific phobia of buttons
- He was now wearing plastic clear buttons on his school shirt on a daily basis
Describe the 12 and 6 months post treatment results
-He reported minimal distress ratings towards buttons
- He was in remission for DSM-IV specific phobia diagnosis
- He continued wearing clear plastic buttons on a daily basis , on his school uniform
Describe the conclusions of the study by Saavedra and Silverman
1) Imagery exposure therapy has long-term effectiveness in the management of a button phobia
2)Emotions and cognitions related to disgust are important when learning new responses to phobic stimuli
List and 3 advantages of the study by Saavedra and silverman
-Its a Longitudinal study
-High in internal validity
-Ethics
-Quantitative data
List 3 weaknesses of the study by Saavedra and Silverman
1)Ethics
2)Low generalisability
3)Subjectivity
4)Demand characteristics
Why is the study by Saavedra and Silverman from the learning approach
-Classical conditioning can be used to explain changes in behaviour
for example in the study the boy developed a fear of buttons that disrupted his academic function. This fear is thought to have been learnt from classical conditioning
List two useful applications to everyday life from the study by Saavedra and Silverman
Imagery exposure therapy and self control can be used in clinical set ups to target disgust during treatment and management of phobias
