cognitive approach

Question 1

what does the cognitive approach suggest

Answer 1

that cognitive distortions and cognitive deficiencies may be at the root of psychological disorders

Question 2

what is cognitive distortions

Answer 2

dysfunctional thought processes

Question 3

what is cognitive deficiencies

Answer 3

the absence of sufficient thinking and planing

Question 4

3 assumptions

Answer 4

the mind can be likened to a computer
schemas
internal mental processes are all important

Question 5

SEE
internal mental processes are all important

Answer 5

cognitive approach say that humans use cognitive processes to make sense of and respond to the world around us. we use our senses to collect the information and then internal mental processes to interpret the information. these processes are memory, language, attention, decision making and perception. these work together for us to understand the world.
a key example can be seen in addictive behaviours. Griffiths looked at the thought processes of people who gamble compared to those who don’t. the study found that gamblers used more irrational verbalisations than non-gamblers as a result of distorted internal mental processing.

Question 6

SEE
mind is likened to. computer

Answer 6

cognitive psychologists liken the functioning of the human mind to a computer, sees that our mind takes in information (input) store/change it (process) and then recall if needed (output) during the input stage, we use cognitive processes, mind is compared with the hardware of a computer and the cognitive processes that we utilise with a computers software. inputs are the sensory info from our environment (sounds…) outputs Is the information we recall from our memory.
used to understand behaviours of phobics. after watching a video of a plane crash, average person would be able to think rationally and would judge the incident as a horrible accident that had a small chance of happening. a phobic would think irrationally and process the event by catastrophizing the likelihood of it happening again. the output would be very different, first person would continue taking flights and go on holiday, the second person refuses to get on a plane

Question 7

SEE
schemas

Answer 7

schemas are organised pockets of information that are built up through experience, and stored in our long-term memory. schemas are usually derived from past experiences, they can be refined and manipulated through interactions with people and the world around us. schemas don’t necessarily reflect reality. for example the burglar schema, most people will not have witnessed a burglary, their schema for burglar would probably contain info such as male, young, wearing a balaclava. may not be truthful.
the schemas we hold may affect our behaviour, for instance, an individual who holds a negative self-schema may suffer from depression as the they think about themselves only negative attributes come to mind.

Question 8

free-will/ determinist
s/w

Answer 8

free will
strength as we are sophisticated beings, we have some control over our own behaviour

Question 9

application to approach/free-wil

Answer 9

it sees that only we are responsible for our own thoughts and therefore the source of the information cannot be blamed.
for example, bereavement is not the cause of depression, a person’s thoughts are

Question 10

reductionist/hollistic
S/W

Answer 10

reductionist
weakness because no one behaviour is likely to come down to the influence of one factor alone

Question 11

application to approach
reductionist

Answer 11

it reduces human behaviour down to the influence of thoughts only. it would disregard the contributes such as genetics and biochemistry. to suggest the human mind being like a computer is limited as our behaviour is limited as our behaviour is influenced by many factors
weakness because it looks at only our thoughts and ignores any other factors, any therapy developed is unlikely to treat everyone.

Question 12

pratical applications
S/W

Answer 12

yes
strength, means the approach has improved the quality of life of real individuals.

Question 13

applications
practical applications

Answer 13

CBT
the national institute for clinical excellence identified CBT as the first-line approach in treating anxiety disorders. widely prescribed by the NHS. improving qualities of life of individuals

Question 14

idiographic/nomothetic
S/W

Answer 14

nomothetic
weakness
fails to recognise human behaviour as being unique

Question 15

application to approach
nomothetic

Answer 15

sees all human behaviour is a product of the same cognitive processes e.g memory/perception
all humans are viewed as information processors where cognitive processes allow us to make sense of and respond to the world around us. fails to appreciate human nature and how everyone is different

Question 16

nature/nurture
S/W

Answer 16

interactionist
S valid attempt at explaining behaviour, believe we are a product of internal/external factors

Question 17

application to approach
interactionist

Answer 17

nature- internal mental processes, present from birth
nurture- how experiences affects behaviour.

Question 18

scientific/non-scientific
S/W

Answer 18

scientific
supported with evidence, makes the assumptions harder to argue against
Strength

Question 19

application to approach
Scientific

Answer 19

model lends itself to scientific research. memory research has been conducted and more recently used brain scanning techniques to pinpoint specific areas of the brain involved in short and long term memory. researchers are able to establish the exact responsibilities of different areas of the brain to our cognitive processes

Question 20

therapy

Answer 20

CBT

Question 21

what do the negative triad lead to

Answer 21

cognitive biases e.g selective abstraction

Question 22

what does CBT utilise

Answer 22

both cognitive and behaviourist techniques to manage psychological conditions

Question 23

who does CBT occur between

Answer 23

client and therapist

Question 24

aim of CBT

Answer 24

is to challenge faulty thoughts and replace them with more rational ones in the hope of reducing suffering

Question 25

origins of CBT

Answer 25

came through Becks beliefs about the negative triad. beck proposed that depressed individuals held negative beliefs in 3 areas, themselves their future and the world

Question 26

how do thoughts become automatic

Answer 26

individuals are often unaware of these thoughts which are to blame for their suffering

Question 27

what will the therapist try to do

Answer 27

replace current thoughts with more realistic and rational ones. therapist will use diary methods where the patient is encouraged to record their thoughts and triggers to irrational thinking

Question 28

what will the therapist identify using the diaries

Answer 28

irrationalities which exist in the patient’s mind which they will look to re-build through cognitive restructuring

Question 29

what does the therapist use to challenge thoughts

Answer 29

reality testing

Question 30

what does reality testing involve

Answer 30

changing the perceptions of the patient by encouraging more realistic interpretations of events

Question 31

what homework will the client be given

Answer 31

asked to engage in pleasant activity scheduling. designed to re-focus the client’s thinking towards positive occurrences, to feel a sense of accomplishment

Question 32

what might a client also require

Answer 32

skills training, to prevent certain areas acting as a trigger to negative thinking in the future

Question 33

example of skills training

Answer 33

working on their social skills if this is a problematic area

Question 34

how do assumptions apply to CBT

Answer 34

assumption that our thoughts influence our emotions and the behaviours that follow. cognitive psychologists believe anxiety and depression stem from irrational thinking, to help them their thinking patterns need to change. CBT works by changing patterns of thinking and their behaviour. therapist needs to change the clients perception of the world around them
another important aspect of CBT relates to schemas influence beck said that depressed people have developed negative schemas of themselves, the world and their futures. in CBT client is helped to change these schemas

Question 35

effectiveness strength of CBT

Answer 35

highly effective in treating depression and anxiety
Jarret et al. (1999) found that CBT was as effective as some antidepressant drugs when treating 108 patients with severe depression over a 10 week trial
suggests CBT is an effective treatment for psychological conditions

Question 36

effectiveness weaknesses

Answer 36

not suitable for all patients suffering with a particular mental health condition
CBT appears to be less suitable for people who have high levels of irrational beliefs or are both rigid to change or if their situations are too complex (simon et al. 1995)
not wholly effective, only advocates for a certain types of therapist

Question 37

ethical weakness 1

Answer 37

therapy assumes the client is responsible for their own disorder
important situational factors may be overlooked which may be contributing to their disorder. client might not be in a position to change. blaming the individual for the way they think/feel is unlikely to be helpful in their recovery, CBT could be seen as causing psychological damage to ones self-esteem

Question 38

ethical weakness 2

Answer 38

who gets to decide what is rational?
alloy and abrahamson (1979) suggest that depressive realists tend to see things for what they are, normal people tend to disort things in a positive way.this can create an ethical issue in that CBT may damage self-esteem causing psychological harm

Question 39

one assumption applied to the formation of relationships

Answer 39

schemas, the matching hypothesis suggest that when looking to form a relationship we fall for someone who we believe to have a similar level of attractiveness. also apply to things like hobbies/interests/intelligence… self-schemas are important, they contain all info we hold about ourselves including the way we view ourselves
if we have a strong self-schema (believe we’re attractive) we will seek out someone who is hihgly attractive for a relationship. other way round
Murstein asked pps to judge the attractiveness of engaged and dating couples. study found there was a tendancy for couples to be of a similar level of physical attractiveness

Question 40

classic evidenc
cognitive

Answer 40

loftus and palmer

Question 41

methodology

Answer 41

2 lab experiments
independent groups design
IV= verb used to describe impact
DV= estimate of speed
sample = experiment 1= 45 students
experiment 2= 150 students in various group sizes

Question 42

cognitive approach

procedures experiment 1

Answer 42

7 films were shown of a traffic accident between 5-30 seconds
asked to ‘give an account of the accident you’ve just seen’ pps were given specific qs about the accident
critical question= ‘how fast were the cars going when they hit each other’
9 pps were asked this
remaining pps were divided into groups of 9, word hit was replaced with ‘smashed’ ‘collided’ ‘bumped’ and ‘contacted’
pps estimates of speed were recorded
lasted 1.5 hours

Question 43

procedures experiment 2

Answer 43

students were shown a film of a multiple car crash
film was less than 1 minute, accident lasted less than 4 seconds
pps given a questionnaire
asked to describe accident
50 pps were asked ‘how fast cars were going when they smashed into each other’
50 ‘hit’
final 50 were a control group not exposed to any q
one week later pps returned and asked if they saw any broken glass
(no broken glass in the accident, the subjects in the smashed condition were expected to say yes more’

Question 44

findings experiment

Answer 44

mean speed
smashed ; 40.8
collided; 39.3
bumped’ 38.1
hit; 34.0
contacted; 31.8

Question 45

what did the findings demonstrate

Answer 45

a single word within a question can affect a witness’s answer
leading questions can distort a persons memory

Question 46

findings experiment 2

Answer 46

in the smashed group 16/50 people reported seeing glass on the scene. in the hit group 7/50 people reported seeing glass/ in the control group where no q about speed was asked 6/50 pps reported being glass

Question 47

cognitive

what do findings of experiment 2 demonstrate

Answer 47

leading qs can affect a persons memory for the event one week later
peoples accuracy for reporting the details of a complex event is easily distorted through the use of leading qs

Question 48

conclusions

Answer 48

findings indicate that the form of the q can affect a witness’s answer to the q
actual speed of the vehicles has little effect on the pps reporting of speed
L&P suggested different speed estimates could be a result of response-bias factors, results of experiment 2 suggest this is not the case
L&P suggested that the q form causes change in the subjects memory of accident.

Question 49

methodological strength of classic evidence

Answer 49

controlled experiment
by deliberately manipulating the IV we can see an effect on the DV and draw a conclusion. suggests their research has strong internal validity. conclusion can be trusted

Question 50

cognitive

methodological weakness

Answer 50

lacks ecological validity
pps watched clips of the accident, not the same as witnessing an accident. people don’t take the task seriously as they’re not emotionally aroused. foster et al (1964) found that if pps thought they were watching a real robbery and thought their response would influence the trial, identification would be more accurate

Question 51

ethical strength
classic evidence

Answer 51

protects pps from psychological harm. watched clips, lowered ecological validity but the clips were more considerate of pps welfare, ensured they were protected from unnecessary harm and distress as this could have been long lasting. mindful pps left the study in the same emotional state as they entered it

Question 52

ethical weakness
classic evidence

Answer 52

lack of valid consent
if pps would’ve been aware if the aims of the study this would’ve affected their behaviour to avoid demand characteristics. pps weren’t aware of their role in the study

Question 53

social strength
classic evidence

Answer 53

changes have been made to the law on the back of this
huff et al. nearly 60% off 500, mainly American cases of wrongful convictions involved EWT. as a society we place too much emphasis on EWT. suggests L&P has been influential in bringing positive societal changes to protect us all

Question 54

social weakness
classic evidence

Answer 54

unreliable EWT huge financial implications for the UK taxpayer
re-trials and compensation for those wrongfully convicted bring huge bills. estimated about £124 billion per year. money could be better spent