Tpo Flashcards
Symptoms of phobias
▫️Intense and irrational fear of anxiety which could result in a panic attack
▫️Avoidance behaviour- where the person may engage in extreme complicated behaviours just to avoid the object or situaiton
▫️ this could be gradual or rapid
What are the 3 types of phobias?
Agoraphobia
Social
Specific
What do psychologists use to diagnose phobias?
The Dsm. This is a manual which lists what behaviours must be shown if a person is suffering from a mental disorder.
Eg- marked and persistent fear which is irrational and excessive due to the anticipation of an object or situation
Behaviourist explanation of phobias
Classical conditioning States that a fear is learnt through associating one thing which naturally produces a fear and the new thing which the individual had learned to be afraid of. U.S.-NS
How would the behaviourist approach explain how someone has a fear of the sea?
Ucs- being bitten by a shark-
Ucr fear
Ucs- being bitten + NS- sea = result of fear
Being in the sea = fear
What is observational learning?
This explains why people can get phobias from observing/watching others. They watch the model experiencing pain and upset from a situation and develop a fear themselves. For example a child sees their mother as a role model. Classical condition would operate and say that the slider and a fear reaction of the mother- the daughter will have a phobia too
Operant conditioning- how does this explain phobias?
Explains the maintenance of a phobia. If a person receives love and comfort due to their phobia then this is like positive reinforcement- therefore they are ore likely to repeat the behaviour and maintains their fear of phobias.
What study used operate conditioning to condition a fear?
Watson and Rayner- little Albert. Tried to condition a fear. They found little Albert- a small child who loved his rat and liked to play with is (NS) Every time he played with is he was hit with the metal bar around his ear (UCS) which produced an UR- fear. Gradually little Albert associated the rat (CS) with fear (CR)
What was mowrers two factor/process model
He believed that phobias are initiated through classical conditioning (factor one) but maintained through operant conditioning (factor 2).
Avoidance of the phobic situation and reduction in anxiety from this is negative reinforcement. Reduction in anxiety is positive reinforcement.
For example a phobia could be publicly speaking (CS) and response could be anxiety (CR). The person would phobic behaviour reinforced due to avoidance and this reinforcement would then reduce anxiety
Evaluation of behaviourist approach
❌ it is unlikely that in reality, two stimuli would be systematically paired to produce a phobia like they were in Watson and Rayner
❌ people often have unpleasant experiences which don’t result in phobias.
❌ the theory is based on lab experiments which lack ecological validity. This is because they involved animals in experiments and this is difficult to generalise
✅ behaviourist therapy such as flooding and systematic desensitisation have been proved successful
❌ case studies point to a particular event which caused phobias however there isn’t always a specific point where a phobia developed
❌ nomothetic- applied laws to everyone and ignores individual differences. Ignored free will and says that behaviour is determined by environment and learning
Psychodynamic explanation of phobias
Phobias are seen as the conflict between Id and ego. The id has unacceptable impulses usually sexual or aggressive and this creates a phobia which is expressed as anxiety. These impulses are therefore repressed. They remain unconscious and are displaced onto an object which is the focus of the phobia
What might a fear of snakes represent in psychodynamic?
Genitals- penis. By avoiding the object the person avoids having to face up and deal with the repressed conflict
What would he psychodynamic approach say that agoraphobia is caused by?
Resulting from separation anxiety which we experience as a child. The child has irrational thoughts that they will become separated from their parents and this the jeeps the, at home. Unconsciously they feel that staying at home reduced the likelihood of being separated
Evidence of phobias- little hans
Boy developed fear of horses after seeing a horse pull a bus and fall over, with its legs in the air. Little hans though the horse was dead. Freud stated that due to the Oedipus complex hans was terrified of his father. He saw the blinkers on the horse as his fathers glasses and the black around the mouth as his beard. Freud believed that the boys ego had displaced his fear into horse. He believed that little hans wanted his father dead like the horse
Evaluation of psychodynamic approach
❌unscientific- can’t be priced as it occurs in unconscious so is also unfalsifiable. Can’t be disproved though
❌ culture specific- can’t be generalised to other cultures
❌ only evidence is little hans and Freud never even met little hans- no evidence
❌ no evidence or support that agoraphobia is due to separation in childhood
✅ it is ideographic- treats everyone as individuals
❌ignores free will
OCD definition
A disorder which a person has recurrent and unwanted thoughts which creates a need to complete repetitive and rigid actions
What is an obessesion?
A persistent thought, idea or image which is experienced repeatedly which is intrusive and causes anxiety. They cannot be controlled by the individual and constantly occur
What is a compulsion?
A repetitive and rigid behaviour which an individual feels they have to produce in order to reduce anxiety.
Eg hand washing
How do obsessions and compulsions differ?
An obsession is something’s such an irrational fear of germs and how they can give aids
The individual then Carries out a compulsion in order to put these worries at bay for a period of time- washed their hands and sterilises things
What does the Dsm class as traits of OCD?
Recurrent obsessions and compulsions
Recognition that these are abnormal/unreasonable
Their daily life is interrupted by these obsessions
What is the biological approach to OCD? What are genetics?
Evidence from family and adoption studies show that there could be a genetic component which contributed to OCD
What did McKeon and Murray study?
Relationship between OCD and family members. Go,Alfred families with seine who had OCD with families who had no one. They found that the person who had family members with OCD were 2xs as likely have other family members with the disorder. Could be genetic influence
Evaluation of McKeon and Murray
❌small sample
❌ results could be down to socialisation and learning OCD from other family members
Serotonin and link to OCD
Lack of serotonin is seen to cause OCD. It is known that the brain deactivates neurotransmitters once they have passed on the message to the next neuron this is by a chemical called monoamine oxidase. This then breaks down the chemical and prepare for the next firing. OR the neurotransmitter is reabsorbed by the firing neuron once the message has been passed along (reuptake).
