Anxiety, Clinical Fears, & Phobias
Chapter 24: Anxiety, Clinical Fears, & Phobias
Definition: An extreme reaction to a stimulus or a situation, characterized by apparent aversion (agitation, verbal report, avoidance, etc.)
Respondent-operant conditioning (fear of the dark)
Respondent phase: “Fear” established as CR
US (loud noise) ( UR (startle reaction)
CS (lights go off) + US ( CR
Operant phase (Sr-): Avoidance of CS established
EO (lights off) ( Scream ( Parent turns lights on
Operant conditioning (school phobia)
Sr+: EO (school) ( Feign illness ( Stay home (watch TV)
Sr-: EO (school) ( Feign illness ( Stay home (no school)
Approaches to Treatment
Focus on respondent processes
Relaxation training (establish Alt R to CR)
Desensitization (gradual exposure to CS)
In vivo: Actual exposure to CS
Systematic: Representational exposure to CS
Extinction (repeated exposure to CS)
Flooding, implosion
Focus on operant processes
Extinction: Do not deliver Sr+ or Sr-
DRA: Reinforce Alt R
Leitenberg, Agras, Thompson, & Wright (1968)
General focus: Treatment of phobic behavior
Specific aim: Evaluation of feedback during treatment
Study 1
Participant: 51 yoa female, claustrophobic
DV: Duration of time in 4’ x 6’ closed room
Procedures:
FB: S timed duration on stopwatch
No FB: “Watch broke”
Design: Reversal (BAB)
Results: Duration ∆+ in both conditions, but larger increases during FB
Study 2
Participant: 59 yoa female, fear of knives
DV: Duration of exposure to knife (in box)
Procedures:
(B) FB: E said time after trial (and cum for 10 trials)
(C) FB + Praise: Criterion = former + 50% of increase
(A) No FB, no Praise
Design: Reversal (BCBABCB)
Results:
Duration ∆+ during B and C
No difference between B and C
Duration ∆- during A
Implications and Extensions
Major contributions:
Experimental analysis within the context of “psychotherapy”
Demonstration of functional characteristics of feedback
Limitations:
Therapy = simple exposure + feedback
Role of praise unknown
No direct measure of generalization
Extensions:
Measurement of physiological correlates of phobic reaction
Clarification of role of praise
Evaluation of other methods of exposure
Evaluation of performance in the natural environment
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