Psych 282 Fear and Anxiety Reduction Procedures Questions with 100 % correct answers | verified

Fear - caused by a stimulus or situation that produces unpleasant physiological response (autonomic nervous system arousal, or anxiety) and cognitive appraisal - comprised of both respondent conditioning and operant behaviours - respondent conditioning: conditioned emotional response (CER) e.g., sight of escalator (CS) → autonomic system arousal (CR) - operant conditioning: escape or avoidance (negative reinforcement) e.g., autonomic system arousal (SD) → avoiding escalator and taking stairs (behaviour) → relief (SR-) 2 basic principles used to reduce fear and anxiety - Respondent Extinction & Counterconditioning Respondent Extinction - - presenting a CS repeatedly without the US - part of procedure to reduce Conditioned emotional response - can help extinguish CRs associated with substance abuse e.g., exposing person to situation or environment linked to drinking or having person hold an alcoholic beverage (CS) without drinking it (US) Kinds of CS in Respondent Extinction - - in vivo - imaginal -symbolicin vivo - real life events, objects, or people imaginal - mental representations of events, objects, or people symbolic - overt representation of events. objects, or people imagining sitting on an airplane - imaginal sitting on an airplane - in vivo looking at a picture of a person sitting on an airplane - symbolic counterconditioning - - includes extinction: involves presenting the CS without the US - trains the person to substitute a competing or incompatible behaviour for the CR when the CS is present progressive body relaxation - - alternately tensing and relaxing different muscle groups while resting - this leaves the muscles more relaxed than they were before - follow-up assessments show that positive psychological and physiological results continue after treatment, and may even get stronger over time - can be used with children as young as 3 years of age to relieve fear and anxiety during dental treatment, for example diaphragmatic breathing (a.k.a. deep breathing) - - using the muscles of the diaphragm to breathe deeply and slowly in a rhythmic pattern- characterized by expansion of the abdomen instead of just the chest - during breathing, the person focuses on the act of breathing and its sensations - this behaviour is incompatible with the rapid, shallow breathing associated with high arousal and anxiety - can be used in conjunction with other relaxation procedures 3 types of attention-focusing exercises - guided imagery, autogenic training, meditation guided imagery - - person imagines pleasant and peaceful scenes and images - therapist guides the person through a script that describes what is experienced by each of the senses in the situation e.g., walking along a beach, or floating on a cloud - attention is focused on the scene instead of anxiety-provoking thoughts and feelings - can be done in person with a therapist or while listening to an audio recording