behaviourist approach to phobias

Operant conditioning is:

• learning through information

• learning through conditioned stimuli

• learning through consequences

• a hair product

Which of these are behavioural therapies for phobias?

• rational emotive behavioural therapy

• systematic desensitization

• cognitive behavioural therapy

• flooding

Which of these is not a process involved in systematic desensitization?

• formulation of an anxiety hierarchy

• intense exposure to phobic stimulus/i

• relaxation to create reciprocal inhibition

• eased exposure to phobic stimulus/i

what does the behaviourist approach to phobias fail to account for?

• cognitive factors involved in phobias

• a patient's upbringing

• the role of classical conditioning in the formation of phobias

• the role of operant conditioning in the maintenance of phobias

what may be useful to a therapist when formulating a course of systematic desensitsation as per the behaviourist approach?

• access to SSRIs

• anxiety hierarchy

• good debate skills

• CAT scanner

what could be considered a limitation of flooding?

• traumatic nature of the therapy may deter those who may benefit from it

• requires many sessions to be effective which incur a high cost

• inappropriate to phobias where there is a risk to life

• it is a culture-bound idea

select the studie(s) that support the behaviourist approach to phobias

• Taylor (2013)

• Cromer et al 2007

• Ad De Jong et al. (2006)

• Watson and Rayner (1920)

what may be considered a strength of systematic desensitisation?

• often takes months to complete a course, the patient has to make a commitment

• as it is less traumatic than flooding there are low dropout and refusal rates

• not greatly cost effective

• the prolonged intense exposure to the phobic stimulus results in 'extinction'

what is the principle behind the 'two process model' as proposed by Mowrer (1947)

• classical conditioning maintains a phobia

• operant conditioning creates a phobia

• classical and operant conditioning work in unison to create and maintain a phobia respectively

• classical and operant conditioning cancel each other out to treat a phobia

what was the unconditioned stimulus in the case of Little Albert (Watson and Rayner 1920)

• Watson

• man in gorilla suit

• fluffy white rat

• hammer striking a steel bar