Marcus has a debilitating fear of lifts (elevators). He developed this phobia after being trapped in a small, dark lift during a power cut at work. Since then, he has avoided them entirely, opting to use stairs. Marcus recently tried to overcome his fear by forcing himself to ride a busy lift, but this resulted in a severe panic attack, causing him to exit at the very next floor.
Marcus has just been promoted to a new role located on the 15th floor of a high-rise office building. Eager to take up the job and avoid climbing 15 flights of stairs every day, Marcus is considering systematic desensitisation to treat his phobia.
Discuss how systematic desensitisation could be used to help Marcus with his fear of lifts.
Practise Edexcel A Level Psychology Content with exam-style questions for A Level Psychology. 1,059 questions covering Bowlby's work on attachment, Ainsworth and the Strange Situation, Research into deprivation, Research into privation, Research into day care, Cross-cultural research into attachment, Autism, Individual differences, and Developmental psychology, matched to the Edexcel A Level Psychology (9PS0) specification and written in Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.
