The behavioural approach to: treating phobias Flashcards
True/False: Systematic desensitisation and flooding both involve exposing people with a phobia to their phobic stimulus
True
Flooding involves exposing people with a phobia to their phobic stimulus without…
a gradual build-up in an anxiety hierarchy
What does Flooding involve?
Immediate exposure to a very frightening situation
What may a person with arachnophobia receiving flooding treatment experience?
A large spider crawling over them for an extended period
True/False: Systematic desensitisation sessions are typically longer than flooding sessions
False, flooding sessions are typically longer
How long do flooding sessions last?
Often two to three hours
True/False: Sometimes only one long flooding session is needed to cure a phobia
True
Why does flooding stop phobic responses very quickly?
This may be because, without the option of avoidance behaviour, the client quickly learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless
Without the option of avoidance behaviour, the client quickly learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless? What is this process called in classical conditioning?
Extinction
When is a learned response extinguished in classical conditioning?
When the conditioned stimulus is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus
What happens when a conditioned stimulus is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus?
Extinction - the conditioned stimulus no longer produces the conditioned response
Why may a client achieve relaxation in the presence of the phobic stimulus during some cases of flooding?
Simply because they become exhausted by their own fear response
It is important that clients give fully ________ _______ to flooding. Why?
So they are fully prepared before the flooding session
True/False: Flooding is an unpleasant experience
True
To treat a phobia, what would a client normally be given a choice between?
Systematic desensitisation and flooding
Clinical effectiveness
How effective a therapy is at tackling symptoms
Flooding is highly/not cost-effective
Highly
When we provide therapies in health systems like the NHS we also need to think about how…
much they cost
When does a therapy become cost-effective?
If it is clinically effective and not expensive
True/False: Flooding can work in as little as one session
True
How is flooding more cost-effective than SD?
Ten sessions of SD can achieve the same result as flooding
The cost-effectiveness of flooding compared to SD means…
more people can be treated at the same cost with flooding than with SD or with other therapies
In what way is flooding a highly unpleasant experience?
Confronting one’s phobic stimulus in an extreme form provokes tremendous anxiety
Schumacher et al. (2015) found that participants and therapists rated flooding as significantly more/less stressful than SD
more
The fact that participants and therapists rated flooding as significantly more stressful than SD raises the ethical issue for psychologists of…
knowingly causing stress to their clients
The fact that participants and therapists rated flooding as significantly more stressful than SD raises ethical issues. How can this be negated?
Obtaining informed consent
Attrition
Dropout
The traumatic nature of flooding means that _________ rates are higher than for SD
attrition/dropout
The fact that attrition rates are higher for flooding than for SD suggests that…
overall, therapists may avoid using this treatment
A limitation of behavioural therapies, including flooding, is that they only ____ symptoms and do not…
mask, tackle the underlying causes of phobias
A limitation of behavioural therapies, including flooding, is that they only mask symptoms and do not tackle the underlying causes of phobias. What is this called?
Symptom substitution
What did Persons (1986) find when treating a woman with a phobia of death using flooding?
Her fear of death declined but her fear of getting criticised got worse
The only evidence for symptom substitution comes in the form of…
case studies
The only evidence for symptom substitution comes in the form of case studies. In the case of the person with a fear of death, this…
may only generalise to phobias in the study. E.g. the phobia of death. may be different from a phobia of heights
Systematic desensitisation is a ___________ therapy designed to…
behavioural, gradually reduce phobic anxiety
Systematic desensitisation is a behavioural therapy designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through which principle?
Classical conditioning
If a person can learn to _____ in the presence of the phobic stimulus they will be cured
relax
How does systematic desensitisation use classical conditioning to reduce phobic anxiety?
Essentially a new response to the phobic stimulus is learned - it is paired with relaxation instead of anxiety
Counterconditioning
Learning a different response
What are the three processes in systematic desensitisation
The anxiety hierarchy, relaxation and exposure
What is the first process involved in systematic desensitisation?
The anxiety hierarchy
Who is the anxiety hierarchy put together by?
A client and their therapist
What’s included within an anxiety hierarchy?
A list of situations related to the phobic stimulus that provoke anxiety
How are situations arranged in an anxiety hierarchy?
In order from least to most frightening
Where would a person with arachnophobia put a picture of a small spider in their anxiety hierarchy?
Low
Where would a person with arachnophobia put holding a tarantula in their anxiety hierarchy?
High
What’s the second process involved in systematic desensitisation?
Relaxation
During the second process in systematic desensitisation, the therapist…
teaches the client to relax as deeply as possible
Why does the therapist teach the client to relax in systematic desensitisation?
It is impossible to be afraid and relaxed at the same time, so one emotion prevents the other
It is impossible to be afraid and relaxed at the same time, so one emotion prevents the other. What is this called?
Reciprocal inhibition
What may relaxation in systematic desensitisation involve?
Breathing exercises, drugs such as Valium or mental imagery techniques such as imagining themselves in relaxing situations
During which stage of systematic desensitisation may someone be taught to imagine themself lying on a beach?
Relaxation
True/False: Relaxation as a part of systematic desensitisation is sometimes achieved using drugs such as Valium
True
What’s the third process involved in systematic desensitisation?
Exposure
What happens during the third process in systematic desensitisation?
The client is exposed to the phobic stimulus
What state is the client in when exposed to the phobic stimulus during systematic desensitisation?
A relaxed state
True/False: In systematic desensitisation, exposure takes place in one session
False, it takes place across several sessions
How does exposure take place in systematic desensitisation?
Starting at the bottom of the anxiety hierarchy and when the client can stay relaxed in the presence of the lower levels of phobic stimulus they move up the hierarchy
At what point is systematic desensitisation successful?
When the client can stay relaxed in situations high on the anxiety hierarchy
How many people did Gilroy et al. (2003) follow up with who had SD for spider phobia?
42
What did Gilroy find about 42 people who had SD for spider phobia?
At both 3 and 33 months, the SD group were less fearful than a control group
How much systematic desensitisation had Gilroy’s participants been in receipt of?
Three 45-minute sessions
What was Gilroy’s control group?
A group who had been treated by relaxation without exposure
What did Wechsler et al.’s 2019 review conclude about SD?
It is effective for specific phobia, social phobia and agoraphobia
Wechsler et al.’s 2019 review conclusion stating the effectiveness of SD suggests…
it is likely to be helpful for people with phobias
True/False: Systematic desensitisation can be used to help people with learning disabilities
True
Why may people with learning disabilities struggle with cognitive therapies?
They require complex and rational thought
Why may people with learning disabilities struggle with flooding?
They may feel confused and distressed as it is a traumatic experience
What’s the most appropriate treatment for phobias for people with learning disabilities?
Systematic desensitisation
What’s the main advantage of using VR to conduct the exposure element of systematic desensitisation?
Can be used to avoid dangerous situations such as heights - also cost-effective because the psychologist and client need not leaving the consulting room
Why is using VR as part of systematic desensitisation cost-effective?
The psychologist and client need not leaving the consulting room
What’s the main argument against using VR to conduct the exposure element of systematic desensitisation?
There is some evidence to suggest this exposure may be less effective than real exposure for phobias as it lacks realism (Wechsler et al. (2019))
