STRENGTHS
What method is used for the study to allowed detailed and varied data to be collected?
Case study
What is the main limitation of using only one participant?
Low generalisability
Which ethical issue is most relevant in exposure therapy?
Protection from psychological harm
Name one phobia that could be treated using similar exposure therapy
E.g. spiders, elevators, dogs
Describe the sample used in this study.
9/10-year-old Hispanic American boy with button phobia for 4 years, along with his mother.
Why is this study useful for psychology despite having one participant?
Provides in-depth insight into treating rare phobias
Why is researcher bias a potential issue?
Because the therapists also assessed the improvement
Why is protection from psychological harm an important ethical consideration in Saavedra & Silverman’s study?
Because the exposure therapy involved deliberately exposing the child to feared buttons, which could cause temporary distress or anxiety.
What type of therapy was used in this study?
Exposure therapy / positive reinforcement / systematic desensitisation
Outline one feature of the procedure used to treat the button phobia.
Gradual exposure to buttons using systematic desensitisation, with fear ratings taken at each stage.
Interview the background of this child's phobia
Observing the change in behaviour after treatment
How does the use of fear ratings strengthen internal validity?
Allows comparison before and after treatment
Why might reliability be questioned in this study?
Because the use of subjective self-report fear ratings. It may reduce reliability because responses may not be consistent across time.
Was it ethical to expose the child to buttons? Explain.
Temporary distress justified by long-term benefit
Why is this study useful for clinical psychologists?
Evidence that exposure therapies are effective to treat phobias
Why is a single-case study an appropriate method for researching a rare phobia?
It allows in-depth investigation of a rare condition that would be difficult to study using large samples.
Why is the use of standardised fear measures a strength in terms of reliability in Saavedra & Silverman’s study?
Standardised measures ensure fear is assessed in the same way each time, increasing the reliability of the results and allowing comparisons before and after treatment.
Explain one methodological limitation of using a single-case study design in this study.
Findings have low generalisability because results from one participant may not apply to others.
Explain how informed consent may have been limited in Saavedra & Silverman’s study.
Although parental consent was likely obtained, the child may not have been able to fully understand or predict the level of distress caused by exposure therapy, limiting fully informed consent.
How could teachers apply this approach to exam anxiety?
Gradual exposure to exam conditions
State the aim of Saavedra & Silverman’s study and explain how the results addressed this aim.
The aim was to investigate whether exposure therapy could reduce a child’s button phobia. The results showed a gradual reduction in fear ratings during treatment and maintained improvement at follow-up, demonstrating that the therapy was effective.
Why is the long-term follow-up a strength?
It demonstrates that the reduction in button phobia was maintained over time, suggesting that exposure therapy has lasting effectiveness and high ecological validity.
Why might the lack of objective measures be a weakness in Saavedra & Silverman’s study?
Because improvement was mainly measured using subjective self-report fear ratings, which may be inconsistent or influenced by demand characteristics, reducing the reliability of the findings.
Evaluate whether the use of a child as a participant in Saavedra & Silverman’s study raises ethical concerns.
Using a child raises ethical concerns because children are considered a vulnerable group and may have limited ability to give fully informed consent. However, parental consent and careful monitoring during therapy reduce the ethical risk, and the treatment aimed to benefit the child by reducing long-term fear, meaning the study can be considered ethically justified overall.
Explain one limitation when applying this therapy in real life.
Requires time / motivation from the person themself / need a trained therapists
What evidence suggests the phobia was learned & how does it support the nurture debate?
The phobia appears to have been learned because the child’s fear of buttons was reduced through exposure therapy, which is based on learning principles. This supports the nurture debate because the phobia was changed by environmental intervention rather than biological factors, suggesting that the fear was acquired through experience and could be unlearned.