Learning Objectives
• To be able to understand how to improve
on the end of unit exam on Anxiety
disorders
Do Now: Consider your response to
the following question ‘What is the
difference between an experimental
design and an experimental method
in Psychology?’
Starter
• Discussion ‘What is the difference
between experimental design and
experimental methods in Psychology?’
• Name 3 methods
• Name 3 types of experimental design
Introduction
• You want to investigate the effectiveness of
systematic de-sensitisation in comparison to a
control treatment (sitting in a room with a
therapist and talking) on patients with a phobia
of dogs
• You will explore how you would do this using
each form of experimental design (matched
pairs, independent measures, repeated
measures)
Experimental Design: Phobia of
Dogs
• Matched Pairs – match people for how afraid they are of
the dogs using some physiological measure e.g. heart
rate response to a picture of a dog, put one of the pair
matched for their fear in the control group and one of
them in the experimental (SD) group
• Independent measures – get a group of people who
have a phobia of dogs and randomly put half into the
control group and half into the experimental group
• Repeated measures – get a group of people who have a
phobia of dogs and first give them the control treatment,
then measure the effect it has on their phobia (possibly
through some physiological measurement of their
anxiety response), next, give them the experimental
treatment and measure the effect it has on them
Main: examination feedback
• You will need a highlighter
• You will highlight your work according to
where you picked up marks
• You will add any improvements to your
work as we progress through each
question
Main: Examination Feedback
2. Explain what is meant by a phobia (2 marks)
• Up to 2 marks for a description of features of a
phobia. Likely points:
• An extreme fear of an object / situation / activity
• An irrational fear or fear which is
disproportionate to the danger
• A fear that leads to avoidance
• A fear that is maladaptive or disruptive to
everyday life
• 1 mark for any of the above. Max of 1 mark if no
reference to ‘fear’
A researcher wanted to investigate the effectiveness of a cognitive therapy as a treatment for obsessivecompulsive disorder in children. Before the therapy started, the mothers of 10 children with obsessivecompulsive disorder each rated the anxiety of their child. They used a rating scale of 1–10, where 1 meant not
at all anxious and
10 meant extremely anxious. Each child then attended a programme of therapy. At the end of the programme,
each mother rated her child again, using the same anxiety scale.
The scores for each child before and after therapy were used to calculate a median anxiety rating.
The data are shown in Table 1 below.
3. (a) Identify two symptoms of obsessivecompulsive disorder. (2 marks)
• [AO1 = 2]
AO1 Up to 2 marks for description of both
obsessions – recurrent/persistent
thoughts/ideas/images/impulses and
compulsions – repetitive behaviours/ritual
acts/behaviour that reduces anxiety.
Accept physiological symptoms of anxiety.
• (b)Name and outline the experimental design used in this study. (2
marks)
• [AO3 = 2]
• AO3 1 mark for naming repeated measures design.
• 1 further mark for an elaboration of repeated measures design.
• Possible answers: Repeated measures design means that the same
participants are used in both conditions of the study.
• If the answer is related to the study described: This means that the
children whose anxiety ratings are taken in the before therapy
condition are the same children as those who provide the anxiety
ratings for the after therapy condition.
• (c)Explain one advantage of this experimental design. (2 marks)
• [AO3 = 2]
• AO3 Up to 2 marks for an explanation of one advantage of using
repeated measures design.
• The advantage of repeated measures design (in this study) is that
there will be no participant variables (1) so any differences in
performance (the median anxiety ratings before and after therapy)
are more likely to be due to the manipulated variables/variables
under test (therapy programme) than other variables so the validity
of the results is increased.
• Answers based on the idea that fewer participants are required than
in other designs are relevant.
• Note:
• If the answer to 20 is incorrect full credit can be awarded for 21 if
the advantage given matches the experimental design identified in
the answer to 20.
• (d)Explain what the median ratings in Table 1
indicate about the effectiveness of the cognitive
therapy programme.
• Up to 2 marks for a brief explanation of what the
results indicate.
• As the median anxiety ratings have decreased
(1) since the therapy programme that would
seem to indicate the programme was effective in
reducing the anxiety (1).
• Accept other plausible explanations of the
difference in the medians.
• 1. Describe how systematic desensitisation
might be used to treat a specific phobia such as
a phobia of spiders. Evaluate the use of
systematic desensitisation to treat phobias.
• (10 marks)
• [AO1 = 5 AO2 = 5]
• AO1 Up to 5 marks for description of systematic
desensitisation. Programme includes relaxation
training for patient, description of construction of
hierarchy of anxieties with example, gradual
exposure from least to most frightening stage
with relaxation replacing fear as the response.
Pairing of feared object with pleasant stimulus.
Can be carried out in vivo or imagined.
• Credit description of relevant evidence up to 2
marks.
• 1. Describe how systematic desensitisation might be
used to treat a specific phobia such as a phobia of
spiders. Evaluate the use of systematic desensitisation
to treat phobias.
The majority of people are still failing
• (10 marks)
to elaborate on A02 points!
• AO2 Up to 5 marks for discussion of the effectiveness of
systematic desensitisation. Application of knowledge of
the programme to specific phobia. Analysis of how
programme works – based on premise that fear and
relaxation cannot exist together – they are competing
emotions. Evaluation of the programme including
support from studies and comparison with the other
treatments such as VRET – cheaper, easier and equally
effective. Limitations of the therapy – cannot be applied
to generalised social phobia. Works well in therapeutic
situation but may not always generalise to everyday life
situations. Credit use of relevant evidence up to 2 marks.
POINT – EVIDENCE - EXPLAIN
Plenary
• What have you learnt today?