saavedra and silverman Flashcards
psychology being investigated
- classical conditioning
- evaluative learning
- operant conditioning
classical conditioning
a previously neutral stimulus triggers the same reaction as an unconditioned stimulus as you associate the NS wit the UCS. The UCS becomes a CS.
This is called expectancy learning. You expect a negative and
potentially threatening event whenever you see the now conditioned stimulus
evaluative learning
a strong emotional response to a previously NS acquired via classical conditioning.
There is no expectation of a certain type of event. However, the object is now associated with strong feeling.
operant conditioning
behaviours that are followed by positive reinforcement become more common.
behaviours followed by punishments become less common.
background
- Diagnosis
- Phobias are diagnosed by clinical psychologists using manuals such as the DSM-5 .
-Semi-structured interviews are often used to diagnose patients
2.Previous research
-Targeting disgust can help treat adults with blood-injury phobias.
-As fear decreases, so does disgust in spider-phobic children.
aims
- To identify the cause of the boy’s phobia.
- To test cognitive-behavioural therapy, including imagery exposure, as a treatment for a disgust-based phobia of buttons.
research method
case study
research design
a longitudinal design
data was gathered before, during and after therapy and at 6- and 12-month follow-ups
data collection techniques
- Quantitative data:
-A psychometric rating scale called a feelings thermometer was used to measure subjective distress from 0–8.
-The number of buttons touched, held or manipulated was counted in each session. - Qualitative data:
-There was a semi-structured interview and observation of therapy sessions.
-Notes made about approach/avoidance of buttons.
sample
Size: 1.
Demographic: A Hispanic-American boy (age nine) was refered to a clinic in Florida, USA due to a phobia of buttons. He had no other disorders (e.g. OCD).
Sampling technique: opportunity sample – chosen by the researchers due to his unusual phobia.
procedure
- Assessment of phobia
- The Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV–Child and Parent (ADIS-C/P) was used to confirm the boy’s phobia diagnosis using a semi-structured interview.
-A ‘feelings thermometer’,9-point scale (from 0–8), was used to assess symptom severity.
- Possible triggers of the phobia were explored (eg. trauma) to inform treatment. - Treatment of phobia
- 4 50-minute exposure sessions (20 minutes with mother):
- Boy ranked 11 button-related stimuli from least to most distressing using a feelings thermometer
- The ranked list used to create a disgust/fear hierarchy.
-The boy was gradually exposed to each stimulus.
- The boy was positively reinforced for tolerating/touching the buttons e.g. praised by his mother.
- The therapist conducted 7 disgust-related imagery exposure sessions: The boy imagined and described the look, smell and feel of buttons. The therapist used cognitive restructuring.
- The ADIS-C/P was used to measure symptoms after the treatment sessions had finished and at 6 and 12 months after treatment
ethical issues
- Informed consent and psychological harm: was obtained from mother and child, helping to protect both
2.Psychological harm and confidentiality: Personal details relating to the acquisition of the phobia may have compromised the boy’s anonymity.
results
- Cause of phobia
- Button avoidance began following a distressing event when the boy was 5: He tipped a bowl of buttons onto himself at kindergarten in front of the class and the bowl was on the teacher’s desk.
-Difficulties experienced following this event:
-He was unable to touch/handle buttons, including dressing
-He had poor concentration at school due to buttons on his uniform.
-He avoided clothes with buttons and people with buttons on their clothes.
2.Exposure therapy progress (sessions 1–4)
- Positive outcomes:
-The boy worked through all the
situation on the disgust
hierarchy.
- He handled more buttons in
each exposure session.
- Negative outcomes:
-distress ratings increased.
-some of the situations from the
disgust hierarchy received
higher ratings after the 4
sessions than before.
- Disgust-related imagery and cognitions (sessions 5–11)
- The boy said buttons are ‘disgusting’ and ‘gross’. He could not say why, except that buttons smell unpleasant.
- Distress ratings on the feelings thermometer decreased. - Follow-up sessions at 6 and 12 months (after therapy ended)
- Phobia criteria were not met when assessed using the ADIS-C/P:
- Buttons no longer triggered distress.
-School uniform with small clear plastic buttons was worn without issue.
conclusions
Childhood disgust-based phobias:
- can be explained using evaluative learning
- may require imagery exposure and cognitive restructuring as well as exposure therapy.
evaluation
- Reliability
- test-retest reliability on diagnostic interviews schedule (S)
- difficulty of replication (W) - Validity
- longitudinal design (S)
- case study method (S) - Objectivity (W)
- Generalisations
-generalising beyond the sample (W)
