Question

Select the correct answer.

In systematic desensitization for a patient with arachnophobia (an irrational fear of spiders), which of the following would most likely occur in the final stage of therapy?

A. have the patient look at a picture of a spider
B. have the patient touch a spider
C. have the patient be in the same room as a spider
D. have the patient watch a video of a spider

Answer 1

Answer:

B. have the patient touch a spider.

Explanation:

This will be the last stage of the therapy. If the person cannot do it, then they start all over.

have the patient touch a spider is your answer.

Answer 2

The correct answer is B. Have the patient touch a spider

Explanation

Systematic desensitization is a behavior modification technique developed by the American psychiatrist J. Wolpe that focuses on reducing the feeling of fear and phobia through the creation of incompatible simultaneous reactions, that is, to react to that stimulus of a different form to the fear. This strategy proposes that the progressive increase in the intensity of the stimulus that produces fear, coupled with the creation of incompatible responses, reduces fear.

According to this, in this treatment, an arachnophobic patient would be gradually exposed to spiders to the point the patient could touch the spider without feeling fear as this involves high exposition to the stimulus and thus is one of the last stages. So, the correct answer is B. Have the patient touch a spider