Phobias
When people develop some irrational fear of an object/situation
Operant conditioning
Classical conditioning: inspired by Pavlov
When stimuli are associated together after several pairings happen
There was an art project using buttons (in kindergarten)
He had run out of buttons (for his project)
His hand slipped as he reached for the bowl
All of the buttons fell down on him.
The child and parent were interviewed about button phobia
Using ADIS-C/P as a standardized interview schedule for the phobia
DSM-IV was used
He met criteria for button phobia, didnât meet criteria for OCD
Interviews: w/boy and his mother
Self reports: Feelings Thermometer
Observations during therapy sessions
Rated 11 different scenarios involving buttons
Ranked from 0-8 â 0 was the lowest distress, 8 was the highest distress
Itâs subjective
He couldâve lied
0-8 are restrictive
4 sessions
Contingency management = positive reinforcement
Rewarded for showing less fear and handling buttons & mother provided positive reinforcements
Sessions lasted 30 minutes for the boy alone
20 minutes for sessions w/boy and mom
Produced the fear hierarchy/Feelings Thermometer
Exposed to these fears
3 sessions
Classical conditioning - âVivo methodâ
Boy believed that it was disgusting for buttons to touch his body and they emitted an unpleasant smell
Asked to imagine buttons falling on him
How they looked, felt, smelled, and made him feel
Exposure progressed from pics of larger to smaller buttons in line w/boyâs fears
They re-administered two measures
One measured his anxiety towards buttons
He was also assessed against DSM (IV) criteria
To see if he still had a diagnosed phobia (of buttons)
Boy approached buttons more positively but his ratings of distress increased b/t sessions 2 and 3
By session 4, the # of items on the hierarchy increased in dislike
Boy reported minimal distress
He didnât meet DSM-IV criteria for a phobia anymore
He was able to wear clear plastic buttons on his uniform
Disgust does play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of a (button) phobia
Imagery exposure can have a positive long-term effect on reducing distress linked to phobias
Phobias are an irrational fear of an object
Investigated evaluative learning
A person comes to perceive (evaluate) a previously neutral object or an event negatively.
The person negatively evaluates the object/event without anticipating any threat/danger.
This negative evaluation elicits a feeling of disgust rather than fear.
Operant conditioning is when you learn by consequences
If you are rewarded you are more likely to repeat that behaviour
Feeling Thermometer
20 minute sessions with the boy alone
Allows for reliability
Confidentiality = not broken; We donât know the pptâs name just their age, gender, and that he was in a program in FL.
Informed Consent = not broken; Both mother and child gave full consent for the procedures involved in the therapy
Privacy = broken; Child revealed which buttons he was scared of, may have felt embarrassed while doing this
Protection from psychological harm = broken; Exposed to buttons he was scared of, which couldâve caused mental distress
Part of this therapy was based on operant conditioning. He was rewarded for being able to handle buttons on the Feeling Thermometer
He had an experience of the bowl of buttons falling on to him. He never had this phobia before then so the phobia has been learnt
Shows how therapy based on classical conditioning can be used to treat some phobias.
It also shows the long-term improvement from exposure therapies.
After four sessions of the mother providing positive reinforcement the boy could cope with his worst button fears. Therefore, for children with phobias having a parent involved in the therapy might bring about faster positive outcomes.
The boyâs disgust/fear (for buttons) was found out using a Feelings Thermometer. This might be useful for schools to use with students who show fear to help understand what is causing the fear in a child at school.
Results are unable to be generalized:
One ppt limits applicability
Demand characteristics
Boy provided informed consent and knew the studyâs purpose so he couldâve had social desirability bias.