8) Cognitive Behavioural Approach 1 Flashcards
What does behaviourism focus on?
- focuses on changing behaviours you can see
How does the behavioural approach view psychological distress
Psychological distress viewed as learned patterns of behaviour
Who came up with Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov
What is the principle of classical conditioning?
You can train an association between stimuli and response
Describe Pavlov’s experiment
- had an UCS (stimulus that elicits specific reflexive response)
- UCS = food
- reflexive response = salivating
- UCR = salivation
- CS = previously neutral stimulus (bell)
- UCS + NS –> UCR
- overtime UCS and NS become associated with one another
- CS –> CR
- the ringing of the bell (CS) would elicit salivation (CR)
How was conditioning applied to Humans? Explain with reference to Little Albert.
- Little Albert had no fear of rats or other furry animals before experiment
- Little Albert was conditioned into fearing the rat
- Done by being introduced to rat
- Loud noise then made behind Albert
-Startling Albert, eliciting fear response - Overtime, when introduced to rat, Albert would show fear
Who came up with operant conditioning?
B.F. Skinner
What is operant conditioning?
Learning via reinforcement and punishment
What are the two types of reinforcement?
- positive reinforcement
- negative reinforcement
Define positive reinforcement
something positive is gained, encouraging repetition of behaviour
Define negative reinforcement
something negative is taken away/avoided, encouraging repetition of behaviour
According to the behavioural view, how does conditioning cause phobias?
Classical conditioning may lead to phobia through learning a fear response to a specific stimuli
According to the behavioural view, how does reinforcement maintain phobias?
- phobias maintained through negative reinforcement
- this is done because we learn to avoid conditioned stimulus (stimulus to triggers the phobic response)
- through avoiding stimulus, we avoid feelings of fear and anxiety
How is does behaviourism explain the maintenance of OCD?
- during fearful situation, individual may engage in behaviour that causes anxiety to disappear
- association is learnt that that behaviour relieves fear
- leading to compulsive behaviour
- classical conditioning explains the association of relieving of anxiety and behaviour
- negative reinforcement explains the maintenance of OCD
Who came up with social learning theory?
Albert Bandura
What does SLT focus on?
importance of observational learning and perceived self-efficacy
What is the meaning of self-efficacy?
refers to an individual’s belief in their capacity to execute behaviours necessary to produce specific performance accomplishments
What does Bandura’s SLT begin to introduce?
- introduce role of society into relationship between person and their behaviour
- according to this theory, phobias can be learnt through childhood to parents
What are the goals of behavioural therapy?
- target symptoms and behaviours rather than underlying causes
- emphasis on observable behaviours
- symptoms target of treatment
What are the characteristics of behavioural therapy?
- time limited
- clients actively involved in process
- 3 main stages of therapy
Outline the 3 main stages of behavioural therapy
- behavioural assessment
- treatment phase
- assessment
What does behavioural assessment involve?
(ABC model)
- client will discuss issue at hand using ABC model
A - antecedents (what triggers behaviour)
B - behaviour (behaviour that wants to be changed)
C - consequence (what happens when they react this way)
What does treatment phase involve?
- client will decide on goals for therapy
- client will agree on method used in session
- method used will be supported by empirical evidence and scientific support
What does assessment involve?
- periodic assessments throughout treatment
- this is to check on progress towards goals that were set
-evaluate if treatment is having effect
How are the different types of interventions grouped?
grouped according to the approach that they follow
What are types of intervention according to classical conditioning?
- systematic desensitisation
- exposure therapy (graded/flooding)
- aversion therapy
What are types of intervention according to operant conditioning?
- reinforcement interventions (e.g.: token economy)
What are types of intervention according to SLT?
- modelling
Explain systematic desensitisation
- unlearning the association between the conditioned stimulus and the conditioned response
- idea that one response inhibits another response
- e.g.: you cannot feel both anxious and calm at the same time
- Idea that relaxation will inhibit fear
What are the steps involved with systematic desensitisation?
- Relaxation training
- Teaching of muscle relaxation techniques
- Practiced with no exposure to the feared stimuli - Constructing a hierarchy
- Client constructs a hierarchy of their fears
- Hierarchy begins with something that would provoke low anxiety and would work up to most anxiety provoking situation they could imagine
- Hierarchy is subjective as it is created by client
What is graded exposure?
- Involves confronting the feared objects but in a safe space
- In vivo (real life contact with the feared stimulus until fear response subsides)
- Anxiety can be self-managed or with the help of a therapist
- Uses the same hierarchy as systematic desensitisation, gradually working way up the hierarchy
What is flooding?
- Start with the most feared scenario
- Can be done directly or by vividly imagining scenario
- Exposed to fear situation until the anxiety reduces and your acclimatized to it
What is aversion therapy?
- Target stimulus is paired with aversive stimulus
- Person learns to associated the target with an unpleasant outcome
What are reinforcement interventions and Token Economies?
- Token economy that is based on operant conditioning
- Person given a token when displaying desired behaviour
- Positive reinforcement increases the frequency of desired behavior and reduces undesired behavior
- Token can then be exchanged for something meaningful to individual
What is modelling?
- Therapist will model an appropriate behaviour and the client will learn from this
- This uses the hierarchy created by client (least feared to most feared)
- Rather than client going through the hierarchy, client observes the therapist complete the first stage without anxiety
- Client will then imitate this behaviour
What are some positives in support of behavioural therapy?
- there is evidence to support behavioural therapy can work for disorders such as anxiety, OCD, phobias
What are some negative in contrast to behavioural therapy?
- less useful in understanding other disorders such as depression
- behavioural approach doesn’t consider the internal cognitive progresses. Behaviourism only focuses on external, learning from the environment. It does not consider anything going on internally.
