Phobias

• What is a phobia?

  An irrational fear of an object or situation
• What are the behavioural characteristics of a phobia?

  Panic

  Avoidance

  Endurance
• What are emotional characteristics of a phobia?

  Anxiety

  Fear

  Unreasonable thoughts - disproportionate to potentially harmful stimuli
• What are cognitive characteristics of a phobia?

  Selective attention - fixation on phobic stimuli

  Irrational thinking

  Cognitive distortions
• What does the two process model assume?

  That behaviour is learned through experience via environmental stimuli
• What does the two process model state about phobias?

  Phobias are originally learned via the methods of classical conditioning and are maintained via the mechanisms of operant conditioning
• How may classical conditioning cause a phobia to arise?

  Before - UCS — UCR and NS — NR

  During - UCS + NS - UCR

  After - CS — CR
• How is operant conditioning used for the maintenance of a phobia?

  A person avoids the phobic stimuli and so avoids the distress and anxiety that comes with it so they will be more likely to repeat the avoidant behaviour
• What are the two methods of treating phobias?

  Systematic desensitisation

  Flooding
• What method of conditioning do systematic desensitisation and flooding use to break the association?

  Classical conditioning
• What is systematic desensitisation?

  A method designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety by replacing the fear association individuals have of their phobic stimuli with relaxation
• How does systematic desensitisation aim to use classical conditioning?

  The method aims to turn the conditioned phobic stimulus back into being the neutral stimulus by reversing the methods of classical conditioning
• What are the three stages of systematic desensitisation?

  Anxiety hierarchy

  Relaxation

  Exposure
• What is the anxiety hierarchy?

  The patient and therapist work together to create a list of situations that involve the phobic stimulus from least to most frightening
• How is relaxation used?

  Breathing exercises and visualisation are practiced
• How is exposure used?

  The patient is exposed to the phobic stimulus starting at the bottom of the anxiety hierarchy

  The patient moves up the hierarchy stage by stage
• What is flooding?


  Involves the rapid and immediate exposure to phobic stimulus in a very frightening situation
• How does flooding work?

  The patient cannot make their usual avoidance response and anxiety peaks at a level that cannot be maintained so eventually the anxiety subsides - this leads to extinction