Phobias

• What is a Specific phobia?


  The most common type of phobia, such as fear of spiders or flying.
• What is Agoraphobia?


  Fear of being trapped in a public place where escape may be difficult.
• What is Social phobia?


  Extreme shyness, panic attacks, and fear of social situations.
• What is Classical conditioning?


  Fears are acquired when an individual associates a neutral stimulus with a fear response.
• Watson and Rayner (1920) - Classical conditioning example


  Conducted the Little Albert experiment where a baby associated fear with stimuli, reinforcing the fear response.
• Munjack (1984) - Operant conditioning example


  Driving experiment - Studies a sample of ppts with a driving phobia. Only 1/2 had experieneced a accident. The control group (No driving phobia) 1/2 had been in an accident. Showing phobia cant alwayse by created by operant conditioning.
• Diathesis Stress model


  An interactionist approach combining nature and nurture to explain a behaviour. People with phobia have both a biological predisposition and a traumatic enviromental event to trigger their phobia.
• Operant conditioning


  Avoiding the stimuli is reinforcing and rewarding the phobia because it relieves anxiety.
• What is the Neural explaination?


  Phobias could be a result of abnormal activity in the Ameygdala. MRI scans have shown increased blood flow in this part of the brain. Maybe proving Munjack theory.
• What is the evolutionary approach?


  Certain phobias (dark, snakes, spiders and storms) have been inherited from our ancestors, because they posed a threat to life.
• What are the three cognative characteristcs of a phobia (Thought)


  1. Irrational thought

  2. Realisation of irrational thoughts

  3. Selective attention
• What is irrational though


  Thoughts not based on logic or reason, often at the root of phobias.
• What is selective attention?


  Focusing intesly on the feared object or situation, being hyper-aware of its presence.
• What is realisation of irrational thoughts.


  Knowing the phobia cannot hurt you in any way.
• What is the one emotional characteristic of a phobia?


  Extreme fear of anxiety.
• What are the three behavioral characterisitcs of a phobia


  1. Impact of you life

  2. Avoidance

  3. Extreme reaction
• What is Avoidance?


  Exessively staying away form the phobia object or situation
• What is impact of you life?


  Significant effect or influence on an individual's life, such as job stability or punctuality.
• What is a panic reaction?


  An intense response like crying, screaming, freezing, or running away when facing the phobic trigger.
• What is a psychotic disorder


  A mental disorder characterized by a disconnection from reality, different from recognizing irrational fears.
• What is the two-process model (behavioural approach)


  Phobia are aquired in 2 stages. 1. Classical conditioning learnt through ASSOSIATION.

  2. Operant conditioning - entrenching the fear through REINFORCEMNET
• What is systematic desensitisation?


  The idea that two incomatable emotioal states cannot exist at the same time. (anxiety and relaxation)

  The aim is to replace the fear responce with relaxation.

  This is done by re-teaching the individual to associate the feared object with fealing of being relaxed.
• What does In vivo mean when talking about SD


  Real life desensitisation
• What does in vitro mean when talking about SD


  Desensitisation through imagination
• What are the strenghts of SD


  It is the most sucessful psychologicl treatment to ever be developed.(the success rate is 75% and 90% with phobia of injection)
• What are the weaknesses of SD


  - Relapses are common

  - Psychodynamic psychologists claims it never tackles the underlying cause

  - Evolutionary psychologists say genetic phobia cannot be cured.