ses, instead, on eradicating the phobic behavior. Using this method, an agoraphobic would receive reinforcement aimed at getting him to leave the house alone. One reinforcement strategy that is said to be especially effective with agoraphobic patients, as well as with patients with other social fears, is praise delivered for desired non-phobic behaviors.
(3) The biological model. Biological approaches to phobia postulate a biophysical disposition to anxiety. In other words, the phobic patient tends to generally be more anxious than the non-phobic patient, even before the development of the phobic behavior. The result of this increased anxiety is that the phobic patient tends to be more likely to react to precipitating stressors with panic rather than with some other type of response. Treatment based on this model tends to be pharmacological with drugs being used to reduce arousal of the autonomic nervous system.
This chapter examines how to measure phobic behavior. The point is made that how phobia is measured is dependent upon whether test developers are using the psychoanalytic, behavioral, or biological model. Moreover, the authors of this chapter, Agras and Jacob, report that comprehensive measurement would require assessment using at least three convergent indices.
The chapter then goes on to discuss various types and categories of measurement for phobia. These can be listed and described as follows:
(1) Personality Scales. Based on the psychoanalytic model, these categories of measurement assess phobia as a trait or characteristic. Examples of personality scales that measure phobia are said to include the Eysenck Personality Inventory and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.
(2) Fear Survey Schedule. This survey and others like it essentially consist of a checklist of situations which the patient rates as to the level of fear it engenders. The purpose of the survey is to identify the type...