Cognitive Approaches Flashcards
1
Q
What is the cognitive approach
A
- Looks at how people structure their experiences as well as making sense of them.
- Relate current experiences to past experiences
- our emotions and behaviours are as a result of our thinking patterns
2
Q
Albert Ellis (1966)
Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy
A
- ABC theory. Activating event, Irrational beliefs, Consequences
- Adaptive functioning, behaving rationally
- Maladaptive behaviour, caused by irrational beliefs
- Irrational beliefs, unrealistic views and perfectionist values I.e. everyone hates me
- Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy:
Aim, restructure beliefs
Outcome, positive sense of self worth
3
Q
Aaron Beck (1921)
A
- Developed CBT
- Dysfunctional Thoughts cause psychological problems
- Cognitive Bias, the way we interpret events determined our emotional reaction
4
Q
Cognitive Model of Psychopathology
(Information Processing Model)
A
- Information from environment is processed via cognitive processes such as memory and attention.
- Problems are caused by bias processing
- Biases distort the way people see the world.
- Schemas are organised network of accumulated knowledge, they are biased as it depends how we interpret the situation
5
Q
Attention Bias
A
- Anxiety (Cisler & Koster, 2010) attention bias towards threat related stimuli.
- Depression (Rosier et al, 2012), attention to negative emotional material.
6
Q
Memory Bias
A
- Depression (Rosier, Elliot & Sahakian, 2012), remember negative material
- Anxiety (Mitte, 2008, Craske et al, 2009), implicit vs explicit memory for threat cues.
7
Q
Appraisal Bias
A
Anxiety (Craske et al, 2009), situations interpreted as more threatening
8
Q
What is a Schema
A
- Cognitive framework which involves beliefs, knowledge and assumptions made about the world
- Main types of schema: Object, Person, Social, Self, Role, Event
9
Q
How are Schemas Activated
A
- Activated by experiences, they help us organise and categories the world as well as emotional responses.
e.g. Real world event (Spider)-> Schema (Spider)-> Automatic cognitive response i.e. fear.
10
Q
How are new experiences incorporated into existing Schemas
A
- Assimilation: incorporating new experiences into existing cognitive frameworks
- Accommodation: changing existing schema to incorporate new information that doesn’t fit.
- Accommodation is the goal of CBT and other cognitive therapies.
11
Q
When Do Schemas develop
A
- Develop when we are children.
- As we learn more about the world they then become more fixed
- Schemas incorporate deeply held core beliefs about ourself, the future and the world.
- Core beliefs are automatic thoughts
12
Q
Pros and Cons of Schemas
A
- Allow us to focus on relevant information amongst all the information available to us
- Can cause psychological vulnerability if they are not accurate.
13
Q
What are self schemas
A
- They are a part of our identity, they involve our core beliefs
- i.e. I am trustworthy
14
Q
Negative core beliefs
A
- These may occur as a result of childhood trauma
- ‘I am unlovable’
15
Q
Cognitive distortions/errors
A
- Labelling ourselves or others: ‘they’re an idiot’ ‘I’m useless’
- Personalisation: blaming yourself for things that weren’t your fault or blaming others for something that was your fault
- All or nothing: either do it right or it’s completely wrong
- Over generalising: ‘everting’ is always rubbish (broad generalisations)
- Mental filter: only noticing failures and not success
- Disqualifying the positive: discounting good things ‘that doesn’t count’
- Jumping to conclusions: mind reading and fortune telling
- Magnification: blow things out of proportion or making things not seem important
- Emotional reasoning: what we think must be true
- Should, Must: critical words
