Biological explanation of phobic disorders

According to the Biological approach, humans have an evolutionary predisposition to fear what was a danger to early ancestors

• True

• False

Fear and anxiety have evolutionary advantages for survival because they trigger “flight-or-fight” response

• True

• False

To investigate the genetic basis of phobias researchers have focused on

• Clinical trials

• Twin studies

• Observation studies

• Family studies

Twin studies compare the difference in concordance rates for identical (MZ) and non-identical (DZ) twins

• True

• False

Genetic factors are most relevant for what type of phobia (select one answer)

• Social phobia

• Agoraphobia

• Specific phobia

According to the biochemical account, what is the underlying cause of phobic disorders?

• Low activity levels of neurotransmitter GABA

• High levels of the neurotransmitter GABA

What explanations sees phobias as the result of abnormalities in the structure of the brain and nervous system

• Genetic

• Biochemical

• Neuroanatomical

Research has focused on which 3 specific areas of the brain which are structured differently, when someone is suffering from a phobia/anxiety disorder?

• grey matter, amygdala and hippocampus

• brain stem, hippocampus and thalmus

• thalmus, hippocampus and amygdala

• grey matter, thalmus and brain stem

Which structure in the brain is responsible for the processing of fear & startle stimuli

• Hippocampus

• Thalamus

• Amygdala

The biological explanation of phobias shows how physical abnormality in structure, function and bio-chemistry of the nervous system and the body causes phobias

• Yes- there is a direct causal link

• No- we can only infer associations, not causation