Saavedra & Silverman

• Title of Research Study :

  Button Phobia
• Approach : Classical Conditioning (Learning/Behavioural Approach)
• Assumptions of the Learning Approach :

  • We begin life as a blank slate (tabula rasa). Experiences and interactions with the environment shape our behaviour and these changes are directly observable.
  • We learn through the processes of operant conditioning classical conditioning and social learning. This can be understood using the stimulus-response model.
• Aims of the Study :

  • To understand the causes of button phobia in a child
  • To treat a child’s phobia of buttons using disgust and fear responses.
• Methodology of the Study : Case Study
• Weaknesses of a Case Study :

  • Can be expensive + time-consuming
  • Research bias
  • Generalisability - difficult to replicate
• Strengths of a Case Study :

  • Provides detailed information 
  • Provides insight for further research
  • Permitting investigation of otherwise impractical (or unethical) situation
• Details about the Participant:

  • He started showing symptoms for 4 years prior to the start of the study when he knocked over a bowl of buttons in front of his class and teacher.
  • Sampled through the opportunity sampling technique.
  • The boy and the mother gave informed consent to participate and publish the results.
• Sampling Technique :

  • Opportunity Sampling
• How can this information be used?

  Shows how therapy based on classical conditioning can be used to treat some phobias. It also shows the long-term improvement from exposure therapies.
• Nature/Nurture Debate :

  Classical conditioning relies solely on a nurture-based explanation of learning. Phobias are not innate but, are considered to be products of negative experiences with previously neutral stimuli.
• Strengths of this Study :

  • Reliability - “Feelings Thermometer” used as a baseline and can be reproduced + Assessed with DSM-4
  • Applicability - Can lend support for choosing imaginal desensitisation rather than in vivo therapies for phobias involving disgust. 
  • Validity - In depth (case study) which means a lot of detail
• Weaknesses of this Study :

  • Generalisability - Only one boy
  • Ethics - Some distress in the exposure therapy sessions
• • Unconditioned stimulus = A stimulus that leads to an automatic response.
  • Unconditioned response = Is the unlearned response to a stimulus
  • Neutral stimulus = The stimulus that does not produce the unconditional response 
  • Conditioned response = The response made by a person or animal after learning to associate an experience with a neutral or arbitrary stimulus
  • Conditioned stimulus = A stimulus that can eventually trigger a conditioned response
• Details about the Participant:

  • 9-year-old Hispanic-American boy
  • Data collected through a self-report at the Child Anxiety and Phobia Program at Florida International University was
• Results - progress in the first 4 sessions 

  • Positive outcomes: the boy faced all 11 situations on his disgust hierarchy 
  • Negative outcomes: behavioural exposure - subjective feelings of distress increased between sessions 2 and 3 and sessions 3 and 4 
  • He reported being more distressed by ‘medium coloured buttons’ and hugging his mother when she was wearing large plastic buttons than at the beginning of the treatment
• Follow up

  • At the follow up session 6 and 12 months the boy no longer met the DSM 4 criteria for a phobia 
  • He was able to wear clear buttons on his uniform
• Conclusions Drawn:

  • Disgust plays a big role in the development and maintenance of a phobia
  • A mixture of behavioural exposure (T1)  and cognitive restructuring (T2) can help to eliminate disgust