IGCSE Psychology: Sample Paper 1 Answers for Learning, 'Saavedra and Silverman (button phobia)'

*The following answers present one way of answering the given question out of many possibilities of ways in which a candidate is free to answer.

Sample Question -

The study by Saavedra and Silverman (button phobia) investigated the case of a child.
Identify two characteristics of this case.                                                                     [2]

Sample Answer - 

Two characteristics of this case include:

1) The child's age was 9 years.
2) The child's ethnicity was Hispanic.

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Sample Question -

From the study by Saavedra and Silverman (button phobia):

Describe one conclusion from the study                                                                    [2]

Sample Answer - 


One conclusion from the study is as follows:

Evaluation of  a stimulus negatively, particularly as being disgusting can cause the development of phobia for that object in children. That is, disgust and evaluative learning can be the cause of certain childhood phobias rather than fear.

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Sample Question -

Two ethical guidelines are informed consent and confidentiality.

Explain how these guidelines were maintained in the study by Saavedra and Silverman (button phobia)                                                                                                                         [4]

Sample Answer - 

These ethical guidelines were maintained as follows:

Informed consent was obtained from the boy being studied and his mother of the assessment and treatment the boy had to undergo as a part of the study. Further, written consent was obtained from the boy's mother for the writing of the research report and its publication.

Confidentiality was maintained in the research report by not disclosing the private details of the boy that could facilitate his identification, including his name, name of the school he attended, his residential details, etc. Only general demographic details of the boy such as his age and ethnicity were revealed.

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Sample Question -

The study by Saavedra and Silverman is about button phobia. 

 

Describe what is meant by 'phobia'.                                    [4]

Sample Answer - 

A phobia can be described as follows:

A phobia is a type of an anxiety disorder that is characterized by persistent and excessive fear of a particular object, person or situation. The person who suffers from a phobia seeks to avoid the stimulus he is phobic towards at all costs. An example is claustrophobia or the excessive fear of closed spaces, a person suffering from which avoids using an elevator or working in closed cabins. If the person is unable to avoid the feared stimulus and is compelled to confront it, he shows signs of great physical and emotional distress such as an increased heart rate, shivering, screaming, pleading to escape, crying, etc.

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Sample Question -

From the study by Saavedra and Silverman (button phobia) :

 

Describe the procedure in the study from the point when it was identified that the distress ratings by the boy were increasing despite in-vivo exposure therapy.   [5]

Sample Answer - 

Once it was observed that the distress ratings by the child were increasing despite routine therapy, the following course of action was taken by the researchers:

The boy was probed further and as a result, it was discovered that he found the contact of buttons with his body disgusting, primarily, that the buttons emitted unpleasant odors.

Thereafter, the next seven sessions consisted of exposing the boy to disgust-related mental imagery and teaching him to use self-control strategies to deal with the same. The boy was encouraged to describe the sensations - particularly smell, emotions and thoughts he experienced when he imagined scenarios such as buttons falling on him. The therapy progressed from imaginations involving large buttons to that involving smaller buttons. The boys ratings of distress were also collected at every session of disgust-exposure; before, midway-through and after every exposure.

Post this treatment, six and twelve-month follow-up assessments were done with the boy and he was again assessed on the ADIS-C/P to check whether he still met the DSM-IV criteria for specific phobia diagnosis.

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Sample Question -

Identify two strengths of the study by Saavedra and Silverman (button phobia)   [4]

Sample Answer - 

Two strengths of the study by Saavedra and Silverman include:

Internal Validity - The diagnosis of the boy as suffering from button phobia was made on the basis of official DSM-IV criteria which is a standardized tool used by clinical psychologists to identify psychological disorders. This lent reliability and construct validity to the diagnosis.

In-depth Exploration - The case of the boy was studied through a long period of diagnosis, assessment and treatment. Furthermore, his history was collected which enabled past exploration and the case was also followed into a year after completion of treatment. Data was also collected from multiple sources using multiple methods including interviews with the boy and his mother as also self-ratings of distress from the boy and his assessment on the ADIS-C/P, a standardized scale for diagnosing phobia in children. This extensive investigation added greatly to the knowledge of the relation between disgust, evaluative learning and phobias.

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