Understanding Fear and Phobias

What is classical conditioning in the context of fear development?

• A way to increase physical endurance.

• A technique to enhance memory retention.

• A method of teaching using rewards and punishments.

• A process where a neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that elicits an automatic response.

How can phobias be developed through modeling?

• By observing others reacting fearfully to a stimulus.

• By experiencing a traumatic event directly.

• By reading about phobias in books.

• By being exposed to loud noises.

What is instructional fear acquisition?

• Acquiring fear through meditation.

• Learning to fear something through direct experience.

• Being told by others to be afraid of something.

• Developing fear through genetic inheritance.

What does the term 'biological preparedness' refer to?

• The genetic predisposition to be fearless.

• The tendency to develop certain fears more easily due to evolutionary history.

• The process of overcoming fears through exposure.

• The ability to learn any fear equally well.

Why might primates be more likely to fear snakes and spiders?

• Because of an evolutionary history of danger from these creatures.

• Due to a lack of exposure to these animals.

• Because they are more colorful.

• Because they are more common in urban areas.

What did the study in Tanzania suggest about fear of the dark?

• Darkness has no impact on predator attacks.

• Lion attacks were more common during the day.

• Darkness increased the risk of predator attacks.

• Fear of the dark is purely a cultural phenomenon.

What is a key limitation of evolutionary hypotheses about fear?

• They focus only on human fears.

• They are based on modern-day observations only.

• They cannot be tested through controlled experiments over generations.

• They ignore the role of genetics.

What is exposure therapy?

• A method of treating phobias with medication.

• A way to increase fear through repeated exposure.

• A technique to gradually reduce fear by controlled exposure.

• A method of avoiding fears by staying away from them.

How does exposure therapy work?

• By avoiding the feared object completely.

• By gradually increasing exposure to the feared object.

• By using hypnosis to eliminate fear.

• By replacing fear with another emotion.

What is the ultimate goal of exposure therapy?

• To replace the phobia with a different one.

• To make the feared object more frightening.

• To reduce the power of the phobia over the individual.

• To eliminate all fears completely.