Underlying Processes + Practical Application Flashcards
Phobias
overgeneralization of a fear response to a CS
- strong emotional memory
- repeated exposure required to reduce the fear
Critiques of Little Albert
highly unethical
results were not documented well and a lack of validity (questioned)
Real Life Phobias
only requires one pairing of US with CS to be established
- grows stronger over time (incubation)
Factors in Phobic Conditioning
many people can’t recall the conditioning even before their symptoms
people exposed to very frightening event don’t develop phobias ex: soldiers having short term fear to sir raids
Factors involved in phobic conditioning
observational learning, temperament, preparedness, incubation, US revaluation, cognitive control
Observational learning
phobias acquired by observing a fear response in other people
temperament
base level emotionality + reactivity to a stimulus
- people may be more genetically susceptible than others to conditioning
ex: introverts (lower threshold of arousal) condition more than extroverts
preparedness
the stimulus is what matters, being genetically predisposed to develop fears to a certain object (object determines the fear response)
incubation
if a stimulus is associated with a fearful event, that stimulus will be avoided at all times
extinction can’t occur cause the person is never faced with it - buried exposure to aversive CS
US revaluation
Recinsidering the value of an US and adjusting your fear to reflect the new value
ex: skateboard fall (mild) vs. car accident (severe) -> skateboard (severe)
Cognitive control
strong emotional memory attached to the CS
inability to inhibit the intrusion of aversive memories = more phobia
3 ways to treat phobias
systemic desensitization, counter-conditioning, flooding
systemic desensitization
pairs a relaxation event with stimuli that elicits fears (watson)
- gave peter with a fear of rabits cookies
counterconditioning
you feed a cat in a room that it isn’t afraid of and slowly feed it in rooms that look more and more like the feared room (reciprocal inhibition)
image treatment: relaxation: think of scary images, relaxation, scarier each time
flooding
prolonged exposure to fear stimulus (maximal opportunity for extinction
- imaginal flooding
- in vivo flooding
