Question

Don has a cleanliness obsession that revolves around a fear of dirt and germs. His compulsion involves hand-washing. In treatment for his disorder, Don is asked to touch all the dirty doorknobs in his therapist’s office building and is told he cannot wash his hands. He and the therapist then sit together while Don tries to relax and overcome his feelings of extreme discomfort. This treatment

a.is better suited for generalized anxiety disorder.
b.has been shown to be ineffective and may even make symptoms worse.
c.is an appropriate therapy based on extinguishing a conditioned response.
d.is less effective than drugs in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Answer 1

The correct answer is c. is an appropriate therapy based on extinguishing a conditioned response.

Step-by-step explanation:

In psychology, a conditioned response is a behavior triggered by a certain stimulus that is not natural, but is the product of some learning process experienced by the individual. In our case, the conditioned response is the obsessive hand-washing, while the stimuli that provoke this response is something like touching dirty doorknobs, which triggers his fear of dirt and germs. In order to make Don unlearn the conditioned response, his therapist orders Don to go around the building touching all the dirty doorknobs without washing his hands. This is an appropriate therapy based on extinguishing a conditioned response. Once Don gets over his initial fear and repulsion, he will slowly unlearn to associate the stimuli (being exposed to dirty things) with the conditioned response (washing his hands), which is a big step towards treating his obsessive-compulsive disorder.