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psychology paper 1
psychopathology
phobias
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psychology paper 1 > psychopathology > phobias
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Cards (45)
characteristics of a phobia?
anxiety disorder
irrational
/
extreme
fear of
object
/
situation
fear
is
disproportionate
to the actual
danger
/
risk
it gives
what are the 3 types of a phobia?
specific phobia
social phobia
agoraphobia
explain specific phobia?
related to
exposure
to specific
objects
/
situations
fear
/
anxiety
may be triggered by
presence
/
anticipation
of object/
situation
explain social phobia?
long-lasting
&
overwhelming fear
of
social situations
explain agoraphobia?
fear
of being in
situations
where
escape
might be
difficult
or that
help
wouldn't be
available
if
things
go
wrong
scared
of being
scared
2 behavioural characteristics?
panic
avoidance
explain panic?
screaming
&
crying
explain avoidance?
avoiding situations
& scenarios which could involve them
coming
into
contact
with
phobic
object
emotional characteristics?
emotional responses are
unreasonable
- having
greater
fear
than what phobic obect should
anxiety
&
fear
- high levels of
arousal
&
fear
when around
phobic
object
cognitive characteristics?
irrational
beliefs
about phobic object
cognitive
distortions
- what they
think
about the phobic object is
different
/
distorted
from
most
perceptions
explain the behavioural explanation for phobias?
abnormality
is
learnt
like normal
behaviour
we learn to have a
phobia
explain the 2 process model for phobias?
acquire
the phobia through
association
-
classical conditioning
maintain
the phobia through
negative
reinforcement
-
operant
conditioning
name the 2 treatments for phobias?
systematic desensitisation
flooding
what is systematic desensitisation?
gradually introduces
the patient to the
phobic content
works in
3 stages
what is the first stage of systematic desensitisation?
construction
of
anxiety
hierarchy
a list of
objects
/
situations
that produce
fear
for client
bottom
- what patient would feel
most
comfortable
with
top - what would
create
the
most
fear
/anxiety
in between are stages which
gradually
build
up
anxiety
second stage of systematic desensitisation?
client is provided with
relaxation
training
&
deep
muscle
relaxation
can be achieved through
deep
breathing
last stage of systematic desensitisation?
patient
gradually
introduced to
phobic
object
/situation
using
relaxation
techniques
, work from the bottom & work way up
cannot
move
up fear
hierarchy
until they are
fully
relaxed
&
no
longer
fearful
key things about systematic desensitisation?
if
move up too quickly
will experience
anxiety
it is
impossible
to experience
fear
&
relaxation
at the
same
time
what is flooding?
immediate exposure
of
phobic
object
to the patient
can be
invitro
-
imagining
exposure
can be
invivo
-
actual
real
life
experience
only
one
session
this is done until
client
is
calm
&
fear
is
extinguished
2 * of behavioural explanation for phobias?
scientific
led to
effective treatment
2 X of behavioural explanation for phobias?
reductionist
contradictory evidence
of
behavioural explanation
* scientific?
focuses entirely on
behaviour
we can
observe
&
measure
such as
symptoms
&
responses
*
internal
can establish
cause
&
effect
relationship between
phobic
objects
&
behavioural
characteristics
research takes place in an
environment
which
controls
evs
* led to effective treatment?
sd works by
helping
people
unlearn
their
phobias
& has been
effective
at
treating
them for many patients
*
valid
has been used to develop a
treatment
for
phobias
so has had
positive
impact
on
society
X contradictory evidence of behavioural explanation?
research has found that
many
people
with
phobias
have not had a
fearful experience
with phobic object in past
study showed that only
2% children
who had
phobia
of
water
had actually had
frightening
experience
with water in
past
? valid
suggests we may not acquire &
learn
behaviour
through
classical
conditioning
& association
may be
other
factors
that are involved in
development
of
phobias
X reductionist?
reduces
phobias down to fact we
acquire
it through
association
& maintained by
negative reinforcement
pro
- allows us to
research
in great
detail
& likely to be
scientific
con
-
ignores
other factors such as
bio
logical that could explain phobias
? valid
other
important
factors are
not
taken into
account
when
explaining
phobias
too
simplistic
3 * of systematic desensitisation?
evidence
to show
effectiveness
from
barlow
et al
2002
requires
little
effort
not as
unethical
as
flooding
X treats symptoms not cause for sd?
treatment
focuses on
behaviour displayed
in
response
to
phobic object
replaces
anxiety
with
relaxation
to
reduce panic
& other
symptoms
but does not deal with
reasons
behind these
behaviours
which means phobia may
return
later
? effective
causes
of
phobia
are not
dealt
with meaning it may not
fully
treat
phobia
in
long
term
* evidence to show effectiveness for sd?
barlow
et all
2002
examined those with
injections
&
spider phobias
found sd has
60-90%
success rate for clients
effective
shows in
majority
of patients with
phobia
sd
successfully
reduces
symptoms
of
anxiety
allows them to
lead
normal
lives
* requires little effort for sd?
involves
3
simple steps which just requires creating
anxiety heirarchy
&
learning relaxation techniques
does
not
require
changing thoughts
/
personality
stages are
easy
& not
cognitively demanding
many people can complete this such as
children
& those with
learning difficulties
appropriate
easier
for
clients
to go through in order to have
phobia treated
means more people can
access
it &
suitable
for everyone
* not as unethical as flooding?
main aim
of
treatment
is to treat
phobia gradually
through
replacing anxiety
with
relaxation
so
less chance
of
psychological harm
through
stress
appropriate
protects clients from
harm
makes it
more
ethical
so clients
more
likely
to undergo this therapy
X for flooding?
traumatic
for
patients
not
effective
treatment for all
phobias
* cost effective treatment for flooding?
treatment requires
less time
than others
only
one session
so
cheaper
for
client
appropriate
phobias
can be treated in more
suitable time frame
makes it more
accessible
for
wider population
even those with
lower income
X flooding traumatic for patients
involves
immediate exposure
to
phobic object
can cause psychological harm
some people may
pass out
/
have anxiety
due to being
exposed
so
quickly
?
appropriate
doesn’t protect patients from
psychological
harm
may be
deemed
unethical
people less
likely
to undergo treatment reducing its
practicality
X not effective treatment for all phobias for flooding?
works well for
some
phobias
e.g arachnophobia
much more
difficult
to treat other phobias e.g
social
phobias
these people have
irrational
thoughts
which
accompany
their phobia which
flooding
fails
to
treat
? effective
treatment cannot
successfully
treat all phobias
may be
better
treatments
that are
universal
for all
individual
symptoms
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