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AQA psychology - all psychopathology 16 markers
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- Psychopathology
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Notes created by an A-level psychology private tutor + A* student. All 16 markers for psychopathology AQA Psychology A-level
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vendredi 3 juin 2022Psychopathology essays
Phobias
Outline and evaluate the use of the behavioural approach to explaining
phobias (16 marks)
The behaviourist approach assumes that all behaviour is learnt, therefore they assume that phobias
are a learnt behavioural response. Mowrer (1960) proposed the two process model, which explains
phobias through the behaviourist explana on and suggests that phobias are acquired through
classical condi oning and maintained through operant condi oning. Classical condi oning involves
learning to associate something we have no fear of (neutral s mulus) with something that already
triggers a fear (uncondi oned s mulus). As a result the condi oned response of fear will be trigged
every me that that feared object is seen even in the absence of the uncondi oned s mulus.
Moreover the condi oned response is generalised to similar situa ons and objects. Mowrer then
explains that phobias are maintained through operant condi oning: when a phobic avoids their
phobic s mulus they also avoid an anxiety response that they may have endured. As a result the
reduc on of fear nega vely reinforces the avoidance behaviour and so the phobia is maintained.
Both processed are needed because responses learnt through classical condi oning tuned to decline
over me however phobias are a long-las ng behavioural response to a speci c s mulus.
One strength of the behavioural explana on for phobias is that there is real world applica on.
Therapies such as systema c desensi sa on use counter-condi oning, by replacing the fear
response with relaxa on. Lang and Lazovik used systema c desensi sa on on 24 par cipants with a
snake phobia and found that they showed a great reduc on in phobic behaviour in the presence of
the phobic object (the snake) when compared to a control group. This is a strength as therapies
have been used successfully to treat phobics. Providing support for the for the validity of the
behaviourist explana on.
However a weakness is that a key assump on of the explana on is not always met. Phobias do not
always develop a er a trauma c event. DiGallo found that only 20% of people who had been in a
trauma c car accident developed a phobia of travelling whereas 80% did not. Therefore the diathesis
stress model may be a more valid explana on as it accounts for why some people develop phobias
following a trauma c event. It suggests that people inherit a gene c vulnerability which means
environmental factors are more likely to trigger the acquisi on of a phobia. As a key assump on of
the behaviourist explana on is not always met the validity is limited as a result.
A further weakness is that the two process model has been cri cised for reducing phobias to a
s mulus response which ignores the role of cogni on. Irra onal thinking plays a key role in the
development of phobias rather than learning as proved by Tomarken et al (1989) who presented a
series of slides of snakes and neutral images to par cipants who had a phobia of snakes, and
par cipants who did not. They found that the par cipants with a phobia overes mated the number
of snake images presented demonstra ng the tendency towards cogni ve distor ons. By ignoring
the role of cogni on, the explana on is limited sugges ng that cogni ve therapies may be more
e ec ve than behavioural therapies.
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, Outline and evaluate the behaviourist approach for trea ng phobias (16 marks)
The Behavioural approach to trea ng phobias assumes that phobias are learned through classical
condi oning and maintained through avoidance behaviour and operant condi oning. A faulty
associa on between a condi oned s mulus and a condi oned response can be treated by applying
the principles of classical condi oning and exposing the pa ent to the fear provoking s muli.
Exposure therapies can be in vivo, in vitro or using computer simula ons.
Flooding is based on ex nguishing the condi oned response. The pa ent is exposed to the
condi oned s mulus but in a safe environment for example being placed in a room with a spider.
A er an o en long period of intense anxiety the pa ent’s bodily arousal is exhausted as fear is a
me limited response. As the fear response is ex nguished they realise that the snakes do not
cause harm. The phobia as a result becomes ex nct
Systema c desensi sa on is a process of counter-condi oning based on the idea that fear and
relaxa on cannot coexist: reciprocal inhibi on. The process involves the pa ent and therapist
crea ng fear hierarchy of anxiety provoking s muli, star ng with the least fearful to the most fearful
this could include a transi on from in-vitro exposure to in-vivo exposure. The pa ent is taught
relaxa on techniques, eg deep breathing, medita on, then exposed to the least fear-provoking thing
on the hierarchy whilst prac cing the learnt relaxa on technique. When able to remain relaxed at
this level in the hierarchy the pa ent is exposed to the next level. Over a series of sessions the
anxiety response to the phobic s muli is replaced by relaxa on; crea ng a new associa on between
relaxa on and what was previously the phobic s mulus.
The behavioural approach has been found to be par cularly e ec ve in trea ng speci c phobias.
Gilroy et al (2002) examined 42 pa ents with arachnophobia. Each pa ent had been treated using
three 45 minute systema c desensi sa on sessions. When examined at three and 33 months the
systema c desensi sa on group were less fearful than a control group who were only taught
relaxa on with no exposure. This evidence supports systema c desensi sa on as an e ec ve
therapy when trea ng speci c phobias and demonstra ng that systema c desensi sa on has
long-las ng e ects.
However a limita on of ooding is that as it can be very trauma c for pa ents it can lead to the
treatment not being e ec ve. Whilst pa ents do give their consent it does not mean they are
necessarily informed, as a result of the trauma they endure they may be unwilling to see the
treatment through to the end. This is a weakness as termina ng the treatment prematurely can
result in more extreme fear therefore it is not e ec ve nor is it cost-e ec ve. Due to this
systema c desensi sa on may be more appropriate than ooding as it does not cause the same
distress as pa ents are gradually exposed to the phobic s mulus. Furthermore as pa ents are taught
relaxa on techniques it can prove to be a more posi ve and pleasant therapy compared to ooding:
this can be seen through the low a ri on rates of systema c desensi sa on.
In addi on to this a limita on of both is that they are not e ec ve in trea ng complex phobias such
as social phobias and agoraphobia. This is because complex phobias are a result of irra onal
thinking rather than the result of a trauma c event. Moreover some phobias have a survival bene t
and are not a result of learning. Therefore behavioural principles do not apply. This is a limita on as
the therapies produced by the behaviourist approach are not e ec ve or appropriate for all
phobias, these pa ents may be more responsive to cogni ve therapies such as CBT which tackles the
automa c nega ve thoughts. As a result the behaviourist approach is limited in trea ng phobias.
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