Phobias

• What is the two process model?

  Mowrer proposed 2 stages to explain how phobias are learnt and maintained.

  Stage 1: Classical conditioning (association) when a phobia is learnt by associating it with a bad experience. This can be seen on the little Albert study where they conditioned him to be scared of white rats.

  Stage 2: Operant conditioning (positive/negative reinforccement) is how a phobia is maintained as by avoiding the phobia, you avoid an unpleasant situation (negative reinforment) aand get rewarded with anxiety reduction. This reinforces the phobia.
• What is a strength of the 2 process model?

  Research support: Many people with phobias often recall a specific incident when the phobia appeared . Sue et al found that many who suffer from agoraphobia recall having a panic attack.
• What are 2 weakness of the 2 process model?

  Ignores biological factors: Some people with phobias don't recall a specific traumatic event. Seligman argues that many phobias aren't learnt but are due to evolutionary advantages that help us survive and were once dangerous to our ancestors.

  Ignores cognitive factors: The cognitive approach suggest that phobias occur due to irrational thinking that cause extreme anxiety. Engels found that people with phobias respond well to CBT suggesting phobias may be due to irrational thoughts instead of classical conditioning.
• What is systematic desensitisation?

  Step 1: patients are learnt relaxation techniques and breathing excercises.

  Step 2: they construct a desensitisation hierarchy, each one causing a higher level of anxiety than the last.

  Step 3: The patient works their way up the hierarchy. Relaxation is practised at each stage until they're desensitised to the stimulus.

  Step 4:Once the patient can fully relax, they move on to the next step in the hierarchy (gradual process).

  Steep 5: Patient eventually masters the phobia.
• What are 2 strengths of systematic desensitisation?

  Effective: Mcgrath et al found that 75% of people respond well too systematic desensitisation.

  In comparision to CBT, it's quicker and requires less effort. It can also be self-administered. Al-kubaisy et al found that the success rates between self administrated and therapist systematic desensitisation were the same.
• What are 2 weaknesses of systematic desensitisation?

  Ohman et al found that systematic desensitisation isn't as effective inn treating anxieties that have an underlying evolutional survival component e.g fear of heights.

  In some cases symptoms can reappear in another form (symptomm substitution) as the cause off the phobia remains. Freud suggest that phobias are symbolic.
• What is flooding?

  The patient has one long session where they experience their phobia at its worst and most extreme form while practising relaxation. The patient learns that their phobia is harmless and eventually run out of energy to produce a fear response.
• What is a strength of flooding?

  Choy ey al found that flooding was more effective that systematic desensitisation.
• What is a weakness of flooding?

  It can be traumatic and patients need to give fully informed consent for this to be ethical. If the patient leaves without completing the session and while they still have fear, the phobia will be reinforced through a reduction in anxiety.