biofeedback L11

• What is biofeedback?

  Learning voluntary control over involuntary behaviors
• How does biofeedback combine different approaches?

  It combines biological and psychological approaches
• What are the four processes in biofeedback?

  1. Learning relaxation techniques
  2. Feedback
  3. Operant conditioning
  4. Transfer
• What is the purpose of learning relaxation techniques in biofeedback?

  To reduce sympathetic nervous system activity
• What happens to adrenaline and noradrenaline during relaxation techniques?

  They are no longer produced
• What does feedback in biofeedback involve?

  Measuring sympathetic activity with machines
• What is an example of a machine used in biofeedback?

  Skin conductance response machine
• What types of biological activity can be measured in biofeedback?

  Heart rate, brain activity, muscle tension
• How does operant conditioning work in biofeedback?

  Lowering physiological activity is rewarding
• What is the effect of reinforcement in biofeedback?

  It makes the behavior more likely to be repeated
• What does transfer mean in the context of biofeedback?

  Applying learning to real-world stressors
• Who first demonstrated biofeedback?

  Miller and DiCara
• What was the method used by Miller and DiCara in their biofeedback study?

  Rewarding rats for heart rate changes
• What was the outcome of Miller and DiCara's experiment?

  Unconscious learning reinforced heart rate changes
• What disorder has biofeedback been used to treat?

  PTSD
• What can trigger the development of PTSD?

  Experiencing a traumatic event
• A03: research evidence for effectiveness...

  • Bradley (1995) found that biofeedback users had significantly fewer tension headaches than people using relaxation alone
  • Additionally, Lemaire et al. (2011) found that doctors reported less stress after using biofeedback daily for a month
  • these findings suggest that biofeedback can be successful at managing the negative effects of stress
• A03: limitations of biofeedback...

  • It is a relatively lengthy treatment, typically lasting more than a month, and requires expensive specialist equipment
  • In addition, it requires effort from the person undertaking it, and supervision from trained staff
  • This means that alternative approaches may be more useful at cost, time and effort may make biofeedback unsuitable
• A03: Advantages in comparison to other methods...

  • biofeedback, unlike drugs, is not invasive, and can be used when drugs or SIT isn't effective (e.g. with children)
  • whereas drugs treat symptoms, biofeedback tackles problems and symptoms, offering a long-lasting way of managing stress
  • this means that biofeedback is a useful alternative when other methods cannot be used