Association of Social Work Boards Masters (ASWB MSW) Practice Exam

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What does systematic desensitization aim to replace anxiety responses with?

Punishment reactions
Neutral stimuli
Relaxation responses
Operant conditions

The correct answer is: Relaxation responses

Systematic desensitization aims to replace anxiety responses, which are fear or stress reactions, with relaxation responses. This is achieved by gradually exposing a person to the source of their anxiety while they are in a relaxed state. By pairing the feared stimuli with a relaxed state, the person learns to associate relaxation instead of anxiety with the stimulus. The other options, punishment reactions, neutral stimuli, and operant conditions, are not correct because they do not involve replacing anxiety responses with relaxation responses. Punishment reactions involve using aversive consequences to decrease the likelihood of a behavior occurring again, neutral stimuli do not cause any particular emotional response, and operant conditions are training or shaping behaviors through rewards and punishments.