Phobias

• What are specific phobias?

  Fears about specific objects or situations
• What are social phobias?

  Anxiety related to social situations
• What is agoraphobia?

  Fear of being trapped in a public place where escape is difficult
• What are the behavioral responses associated with phobias?

  • Panic
  • Avoidance
  • Freeze (fight, flight, or freeze)
• What are the emotional responses associated with phobias?

  • Anxiety
  • Emotional responses are often unreasonable
• What cognitive aspects are involved in phobias?

  • Irrational beliefs
  • Selective attention to the phobic object
  • Cognitive distortions
• What are phobias acquired through?

  Classical conditioning
• How are phobias maintained?

  Through operant conditioning
• What types of reinforcement can maintain phobias?

  Negative or positive reinforcement
• What is an example of negative reinforcement in the context of phobias?

  Avoiding the phobic stimulus because it reduces fear
• What is an example of positive reinforcement related to phobias?

  Attention received
• What are the key processes involved in the acquisition and maintenance of phobias in the two-process model?

  • Acquisition: Classical conditioning
  • Maintenance: Operant conditioning
  • Negative reinforcement: Avoiding the phobic stimulus reduces fear
  • Positive reinforcement: Attention received
• The two-process model Ao3:

  • ✅ Support for classical conditioning (Little Albert)
  • ❌ Incomplete explanation - many people have frightening experience & don’t develop phobias - could be explained with Diathesis-Stress Model
  • ❌ Ignores cognitive factors - phobias develop because of irrational thinking
  • ❌ People have phobias that aren’t because of frightening experiences -
• Systematic Desensitisation - treat a phobia by gradually introducing the feared stimulus
• Systematic Desensitisation Procedure

  • Counterconditioning- client is taught a new association ( relaxation instead of fear)
  • Relaxation - client is taught relaxation techniques
  • Hierarchy of fear - gradually introducing the client to the feared stimulus, one step at a time
• Systematic Desensitisation Evaluation

  • ✅ Research support - 75% of clients respond well - success lies with actual contact of the feared stimulus
  • ❌ Not effective for all phobias
  • ❌ Cognitive restructuring - behaviourist approach ignores cognitive thinking
  • ✅ Sufferer has some control over the treatment - actively making a change
  • ❌ Expensive
  • ❌ Takes a long time
• Flooding procedure

  • Client is exposed directly to the phobia until the patient’s anxiety has disappeared
  • A person’s fear response has a time limit. As adrenaline levels naturally decrease, the feared stimulus is now associated with a non anxious response
  • Before, patient is taught how to relax their muscles completely
• Flooding evaluation

  • ✅ Effectiveness - more effective than SD
  • ❌ Ethical issues - client is put in a state of extreme anxiety
  • ❌ Individual differences - can’t work for people with heart issues
  • ❌ Not all phobias can be faced (drowning)