effectiveness

• point :)

  SD appears to be an effective treatment for specific phobias
• example :)

  • Rothbaum et al. (2000) used SD to treat participants with a phobia of flying
  • Rothbaum compared participants with a phobia of flying who received SD against a control group who did not
  • the research found that following SD, 93% agreed to take a trial flight, and had much lower levels of anxiety than the control group - these positive effects were found six months after treatment
• explain :)

  this is evidence that the therapy works and the effects are apparent immediately as well as some time after therapy is completed
• link :)

  therefore, SD can said to be effective, but it is unclear how long the positive effects lasted for beyond the 6 months of treatment
• point :(

  there is evidence to suggest that SD is not effective for all types of phobias
• example :(

  • Seligman suggests that some phobias are the result of biological preparedness
  • we are biologically prepared to fear certain stimuli such as dangerous animals or heights as it would be advantageous to our evolution to have these "ancient flaws"
• explain :(

  since these phobias have an evolutionary survival benefit, they therefore cannot be treated using the principles of conditioning
• link :(

  this illustrates that SD is not appropriate for all phobias and thus has some limitations in terms of effectiveness