[🧠] Saavedra and Silverman (button phobia)

Question 1

Describe the psychology that is being investigated in the study by

Saavedra and Silverman

Answer 1

• Evaluative learning, a form of classical conditioning in which a person comes to perceive or “evaluate” a previously neutral object negatively.
• Evaluative learning does not depend on the individual expecting or being aware of the association between the neutral object and the negative outcome.
• An individual may negatively evaluate a specific object or event without anticipating the threat of an objective contaminant, eliciting disgust rather than fear.

Question 2

Describe the background of

Saavedra and Silverman

Answer 2

• Disgust → revulsion or disapproval aroused by something unpleasant or offensive.
• Disgust could interact with the fear of a phobic stimulus produces, to increase avoidance of that stimulus, acting as a concurrent emotion.
• Phobia → a persistent and unreasonable fear of an object. The fear is disproportionate to the danger posed and leads to avoidance of the object.

Question 3

Describe the aim of

Saavedra and Silverman

Answer 3

• To investigate the cause of button phobia in a child.
• To attempt to treat a child’s phobia via targeting both disgust and fear responses.

Question 4

Research methods used in

Saavedra and Silverman

Answer 4

Case study, observations and questionnaires

Question 5

Describe the sample of

Saavedra and Silverman

Answer 5

• 9 year old boy
• Hispanic-American
• He went to the Child Anxiety and Phobia Program with his mother
• has a phobia of buttons

Question 6

State the sampling technique of

Saavedra and Silverman

Answer 6

Opportunity sampling