PHOBIAS

What is the behaviourist approach to phobias

People are the product of their experiences

How do humans learn

Classical conditioning - learn through association

Operant conditioning - learn through consequences

What is the 2 process model

Mower in 1960

State we aquire phobias by classical conditioning and maintain them by operant conditioning

how do we acquire phobias by classical conditioning

Phobias are acquired When we associate a neutral stimulus to an unconditioned stimulus

The neutral stimulus becomes an unconditioned one which produces the conditioned response of fear

Positive and negative punishment/reinforcement

What is counter conditioning

Change a fear response to a new relaxing response

What are the 2 types of treatment

Flooding and systematic desensitisation

What is step 1 of systematic desensitisation/flooding

Client is taught relaxation techniques

What is reciprocal inhibition

The fact that you cannot feel fear and relaxation at the same time

What is step 2 of SD

Creating a hierarchy if most to least fearful

What is step 3 of SD

Gradual exposure, client works with up the hierarchy while in state of deep relaxation

What is step 2 of flooding

Immediate exposure, fear is a limited time response so after enough time the client will become exhausted and the fear will deplete

What is the difference between SD and flooding

SD gradually builds up client to most feared experience, flooding is straight into the deep end

SD research support

Gilroy in 2003 had 42 arachnophobia’s treated with 3 SD sessions and a group without the gradual exposure

SD improved more

Flooding research support

Wolpe in 1970 drove a girl with a fear of cars around for 4 hours

By the end her phobia was gone

How is flooding better than SD

It is less time consuming

How is SD better than flooding

More cost effective

Client is in control of their exposure rate, so less people drop out and refuse treatment

What is a con of both types of treatment

They cannot be used for complex types of phobias like social ones

This is because they are better treated with cognitive treatments