Universität Wien

200142 SE Advanced Seminar: Mind and Brain (2020W)

Mechanisms of exposure therapy as a dynamic feedback system

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 20 - Psychologie
Continuous assessment of course work

Dieses Vertiefungsseminar kann für alle Schwerpunkte absolviert werden.

Vertiefungsseminare können nur fürs Pflichtmodul B verwendet werden! Eine Verwendung fürs Modul A4 Freie Fächer ist nicht möglich.
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 20 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

This seminar will take place online, meaning that we will meet virtually at the respective times using a video conference tool.

  • Wednesday 07.10. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal E Psychologie, Liebiggasse 5 1. Stock
  • Wednesday 14.10. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal E Psychologie, Liebiggasse 5 1. Stock
  • Wednesday 21.10. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal E Psychologie, Liebiggasse 5 1. Stock
  • Wednesday 28.10. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal E Psychologie, Liebiggasse 5 1. Stock
  • Wednesday 04.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal E Psychologie, Liebiggasse 5 1. Stock
  • Wednesday 11.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal E Psychologie, Liebiggasse 5 1. Stock
  • Wednesday 18.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal E Psychologie, Liebiggasse 5 1. Stock
  • Wednesday 25.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal E Psychologie, Liebiggasse 5 1. Stock
  • Wednesday 02.12. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal E Psychologie, Liebiggasse 5 1. Stock
  • Wednesday 09.12. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal E Psychologie, Liebiggasse 5 1. Stock
  • Wednesday 16.12. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal E Psychologie, Liebiggasse 5 1. Stock
  • Wednesday 13.01. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal E Psychologie, Liebiggasse 5 1. Stock
  • Wednesday 20.01. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal E Psychologie, Liebiggasse 5 1. Stock
  • Wednesday 27.01. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal E Psychologie, Liebiggasse 5 1. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Exposure therapy is a highly effective behavioral intervention to treat anxiety disorders. However, much of what is known about exposure therapy is based on experience rather than on empirical evidence. In this seminar, we first aim at dissecting the psychological and neuroscientific underpinnings of exposure therapy. Subsequently, we attempt to develop a theoretical framework for designing a research agenda that might allow for optimizing and even automatizing exposure therapy.

Specifically, we will address the following questions:
- What is exposure therapy and how is it currently used?
- What is the common core of all exposure therapy variants?
- What are the key parameters of successful exposure therapy?
- What are the neural underpinnings of how exposure therapy acts?
- Can we formulate exposure therapy as a dynamic feedback system to optimize and maybe even automatize exposure therapy?

This seminar is open to students from all fields (all Schwerpunkte).

Assessment and permitted materials

- attendance
- active participation in discussions
- presentation of a scientific paper

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

- missing 2 classes max
- active participation in discussions: 50%
- presentation of a scientific paper (approx. 15min): 50%

Examination topics

Active participation in discussions of literature covered in the seminar, critical thinking, sharing knowledge, asking relevant questions.

The presentation of the scientific paper will cover a concise summary of its content, provide context, and stimulates discussion of open questions.

There won’t be a written exam.

Reading list

Will be announced in the seminar. Here are some examples:

Davis TE, Ollendick TH, Öst LG: One-Session Treatment of Specific Phobias in Children: Recent Developments and a Systematic Review. Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2019 May 7;15:233-256. doi: 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050718-095608. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Lindner, P., … Carlbring, P. (2020). Gamified, Automated Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Fear of Spiders: A Single-Subject Trial Under Simulated Real-World Conditions. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11(March), 1–9.

Taschereau-Dumouchel V. et al.: Towards an unconscious neural reinforcement intervention for common fears. PNAS. 2018 Mar 27;115(13):3470-3475. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1721572115.

Grös DF, Antony MM. The assessment and treatment of specific phobias: a review. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2006 Aug;8(4):298-303.

Reddan, M. C., Wager, T. D., & Schiller, D. (2018). Attenuating Neural Threat Expression with Imagination. Neuron, 100(4), 994-1005.e4.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 14.09.2020 00:05