Behavioural approaches Flashcards
What are the 3 generations of behavioural therapies?
-Traditional/radical behavioural therapy
-Cognitive behavioural therapy
-‘Third wave’ behavioural therapy
Describe the process of classical conditioning
-Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)
-Learning through association of stimuli
-UCS = biologically important stimulus that elicits a certain response e.g. food
-UCR = natural response e.g. salivation
-CS = previously neutral stimulus that elicits learnt response when paired with UCS e.g. metronome
-CR = learned response elicited by CS
Describe John Watson (1878-1958) view on behaviourism
-Felt like psychology should be considered a science, so is objective and based on observable evidence
-Emphasis on external behaviours compared to internal processes
What is the study conducted by Watson and Rayner - Little Albert study (1920)
-9 month old baby who had limited fears and would happily play with furry animals
-Conditioned to fear rats as he was startled by a loud noise every time a white rat would be near
-Associated rats as him being fearful
-Generalisation occurred and so he began rot fear other white furry objects such as Santa, cotton wool, a white fur coat etc.
Describe the process of operant conditioning
-Stated the CC was too simplistic
-States that we can learn through positive and negative reinforcement as they increase the likelihood of certain behaviours
-Positive reinforcement refers to receiving something pleasant in response to desired behaviour
-Negative reinforcement refers to something unpleasant getting taken away due to desired behaviour
-Positive punishment refers to something pleasant being taken away in response to undesired behaviour
-Negative punishment refers to something unpleasant being added due to undesired behaviour
Describe maintenance of phobias
-Reinforcement can help to explain the maintenance of phobias
-Acquisition through CC and OC
-Can explain OCD where in a fearful situation, a behaviour can occur such as hand washing
-The threat subsides and so this behaviour is linked to fear being reduced and so is negatively reinforced and becomes a compulsion
-Lack of opportunity to unlearn behaviour
What was Albert Bandura’s (1925-2021) view on behaviourism?
-Social learning theory/Social cognitive theory
-Found that when people observed others who had overcome a snake phobia by holding snakes, they were then less avoidant of the snakes than ppts who had been presented with systematic desensitisation
-Behaviours learnt through observation of role models
What are the goals of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) ?
-Change observable and current behaviour
-Symptoms are the target of treatment
-Specific and measurable goals
What are the characteristics of CBT?
-Will be given for up to 20 weeks
-Clients are actively involved in the process
What are the 3 stages of CBT?
-Behavioural assessment
-Treatment
-Assessments
Describe the first stage of CBT; behavioural assessments
-Client and therapist discuss issues using ABC model (antecedents, behaviours and consequences)
-Antecedent is whatever triggers behaviour
-Behaviour is the behaviour that they want to change
-Consequence is what happens when they react this way
Describe the second stage of CBT; treatment
-Client decides their goals and they agree on a method that will be used
Describe the third stage of CBT; assessments
-Whilst receiving treatment they will have periodic assessments which check their progress toward desired goals and see how effective the treatment is
What is the process of systematic desensitisation?
-Joseph Wolpe (1915-1997)
-Classical conditioning to unlearn association that’s been made
-Reciprocal inhibition occurs as one response inhibits another response e.g. relaxation inhibits fear as you can’t feel both at the same time
Describe the stages of systematic desensitisation
-Relaxation training - Involves muscle relaxations
-Anxiety hierarchy - Establishing what part of fear is the worst e.g. seeing spider crawl on bed, thinking about a spider
-Gradual exposure using relaxation techniques
Describe the research conducted by Egara and Mosimege (2024)
-Maths anxiety and achievement within Nigerian schools was studied
-120 ppts (58 boys and 62 girls) with mean age of 15 years
-Scored more than 51 on Mathematics Anxiety Scale at baseline
-Split into 2 groups, 58 in the systematic desensitisation group and 62 in the control group
-Compared their scores on Mathematics Anxiety Scale and Mathematics Achievement Test before and 1 week after the SD programme
-Higher score meant more increased anxiety/better achievement
What were the results of this study?
-Treatment group had lower post-intervention maths anxiety compared to controls
-Treatment group had higher post-intervention maths achievement compared to controls
Describe the process of graded exposure
-In vivo - real life contact with feared stimulus until fear response disappears
-In vito - virtual reality experience
-It’s where you confront the fear in a safe space
-Controlled by hierarchal structure
Describe the process of flooding
-Begin with most feared scenario
-Intense and prolonged exposure
-Requires high client motivation
-Can be stressful for patient and therapist (Schumacher et al. 2015)
What is the research that was conducted by Emmelkamp et al. (2001)
-Compared in-vivo and in-vito exposure to treat phobia of heights
33 ppts (15 female, 18 male) with a mean age of 43.97 years
-Exposed to 3 environments; 4 storey mall in Amsterdam, 50 foot high fire escape in Amsterdam, 65 foot high roof garden on university building overlooking the mall
-Exposure was gradual in both conditions e.g. start on ground floor and then go up with therapist and then lean over railings and then go up alone
What did the results of this study find?
-Both groups improved on measures of anxiety and avoidance and maintained improvement at the 6 month follow up
-No difference between groups
Describe the process of aversion therapy
-Simultaneous pairing of target with aversive stimulus e.g. alcoholism and electric shock
-Used to be used to treat homosexuals as it was viewed as wrong and so viewed as a controversial approach
-Forming an association
-Type of aversive stimuli given may have an impact e.g. faradic (electrical) and chemical (emetic)
Is aversion therapy effective or not, based on research?
-Bordnick et al., (2004) found that it was effective in reducing cravings for crack cocaine
-Saeed et al., (2024) found that it was ineffective in reducing smoking habits
What is token economy programme?
-Allyon and Azrin (1968)
-Uses positive reinforcement to increase frequency of behaviour that is desired and reduce any unwanted behaviours
-Not massively used within clinical practices, but tend to be used in other settings such as in schools and prisons
What is the process of modelling?
-Learning behaviour through others
-Bobo Doll experiment by Bandura (1969)
-Therapists can model certain appropriate behaviours to help reduce anxiety
-Requires high self-efficacy from client
What are the 2 positives of the behavioural approach?
-Emphasis on research into techniques and assessment of outcomes
-Much success in helping people with anxiety disorders and OCD
What are the 2 negatives of the behavioural approach?
-Less useful in understanding other disorders such as depression
-Purely behavioural approach, doesn’t consider other factors such as the influence of cognition
