Systematic Desensitisation

• Who intended to cure Baby Albert of his fear of white furry animals in 1920?

  Watson & Rayner
• Why did Watson & Rayner not get the chance to cure Baby Albert of his fear?

  Albert's mother withdrew from the study
• Who perfected the technique called systematic desensitisation in the 1950s?

  Joseph Wolpe
• On what type of conditioning is systematic desensitisation based?

  Classical conditioning
• What are the two main components of systematic desensitisation?

  • Counter-conditioning
  • Graduated exposure
• What does counter-conditioning involve in systematic desensitisation?

  Associating fear with relaxation or pleasantness
• What does graduated exposure involve in systematic desensitisation?

  Introducing feared things in stages
• What is an additional component sometimes used in systematic desensitisation?

  Participant modelling
• What does participant modelling involve in systematic desensitisation?

  A role model demonstrating calmness
• In counter-conditioning, what type of response is paired with the fear-producing stimulus?

  An incompatible response
• What did Wolpe teach his patients as a relaxation technique?

  Controlling breathing
• Who uses humour therapy as a type of counter-conditioning?

  Larry Ventis
• In counter conditioning, what replaces the old Conditioned Response (CR) of fear?

  A new CR, like relaxing
• What do therapists and patients create to list encounters from least to most intense?

  Stimulation hierarchy
• What are some qualities of less intense encounters in a stimulation hierarchy?

  • Pictures or imitations rather than real
  • Far away rather than close-up
  • Brief rather than long-lasting
• Why is it important that the stimulation hierarchy is created by the patient and not the therapist?

  The patient knows best what makes them anxious
• How does having control over therapy proceeding contribute to relaxation?

  It is itself relaxing
• What ethical principle is upheld when respecting people's control over what happens to them?

  Autonomy
• During systematic desensitisation, what does it mean that the procedure is voluntary?

  The patient can stop at any point
• What is often used to tell how anxious a patient is during systematic desensitisation?

  Biofeedback
• Who used social learning theory to improve systematic desensitisation?

  Douglas Bernstein
• Who recommends covert modelling for severe phobias?

  Richard Sharf
• According to Douglas Bernstein, what is it called when someone else models the relaxation techniques?

  Participant modelling
• What does covert modelling involve as the first step on the stimulation hierarchy?

  Imagining someone else encountering the feared object
• What is systematic desensitisation based on, providing a scientific basis for the therapy?

  Classical conditioning
• Why does research in controlled laboratory conditions provide a strict scientific basis for systematic desensitisation?

  It makes it possible to measure effectiveness
• What makes it easy to tell if systematic desensitisation is succeeding?

  Observing how far patient can proceed
• In what year did Gilroy et al. study patients treated with systematic desensitisation for arachnophobia?

  2003
• How many 45-minute sessions of systematic desensitisation did Gilroy et al. use in their study?

  Three
• How did Gilroy et al. measure the phobia's strength in their study?

  Questionnaire and observation
• What did the control group in Gilroy et al.'s study learn?

  Relaxation techniques
• Why is respecting the patient's autonomy important in systematic desensitisation?

  Helps them feel less anxious
• What did Gilroy et al.'s study show about the effects of systematic desensitisation?

  The effects are long-lasting
• For which type of phobias is systematic desensitisation less effective?

  Phobias of situations or concepts
• What is a potential problem with systematic desensitisation regarding real life situations?

  Benefits might not generalise
• Why is systematic desensitisation less effective for phobias of situations or concepts?

  Hard to re-create in therapy
• What is helping to apply systematic desensitisation to situations that were difficult to set up in the therapy session?

  Virtual reality
• In terms of stimulus hierarchy, how does flooding differ from systematic desensitisation?

  Flooding skips all the stages
• Compared to flooding, why is systematic desensitisation much more ethical?

  Participants are only exposed gradually
• Which therapy is still more upsetting even when carried out in vitro?

  Flooding