A new reality television show, ‘Phobia Face-Off,’ features contestants confronting their specific phobias. One contestant, Ben, has a severe phobia of needles (trypanophobia). Prior to the show, Ben had a minor incident where he felt faint during a routine blood test. Now, even the sight of a syringe on television triggers intense anxiety. The show’s psychologist is using a biopsychosocial approach to understand and address Ben’s phobia.
b. Outline how classical conditioning and operant conditioning could explain the precipitation and perpetuation of Ben’s phobia.
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Create Free Account Log inThis is a free VCE Units 3 & 4 Psychology practice question worth 4 marks, testing your understanding of Phobia development. It falls under What influences mental wellbeing? in Unit 4: How is mental wellbeing supported and maintained?. Submit your answer above to receive instant AI-powered marking and personalised feedback.
In this unit students explore the demand for sleep and the influences of sleep on mental wellbeing. They consider how changes to a person’s sleep-wake cycle can affect psychological functioning. Students explore the concept of mental wellbeing, including social and emotional wellbeing as a multidimensional and holistic framework. They apply a biopsychosocial approach to specific phobia, exploring how biological, psychological and social factors are involved in its development and management. A student-designed scientific investigation involving the generation of primary data related to mental processes and mental wellbeing is undertaken in either Unit 3 or Unit 4 or across both Units 3 and 4, and is assessed in Outcome 3 of this unit.
In this area of study students explore mental wellbeing in terms of social and emotional wellbeing, levels of functioning, and resilience to cope with and manage change. They consider mental wellbeing as a continuum influenced by internal and external factors. Students apply a biopsychosocial approach to specific phobia, investigating biological, psychological and social factors in its development and management. Students also consider the importance of cultural determinants as integral to the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
the relative influences of factors that contribute to the development of specific phobia, with reference to gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) dysfunction and long-term potentiation (biological); behavioural models involving precipitation by classical conditioning and perpetuation by operant conditioning, and cognitive biases including memory bias and catastrophic thinking (psychological); and specific environmental triggers and stigma around seeking treatment (social)
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