Cognitive approaches Flashcards
what is the congnitive approach?
ognitive processes such as memory, attention, perception etc. Shape our behaviour and emitons we experience
Sometimes these processes can become dysfunctional and contribute to maladaptive behaviours/emotions
how did Bandura contribute to the field of the cognitive approach?
Behaviourists look at explaining behaviour as a response to a stimulus
Bandura- developed early cognitive behavioural perspective – trained in behaviourism
Cognitive psychologists: also look at behaviour is determined by the way we process information taken in from our environment
What is Ellis’ ABC model
Ellis’ ABC model
A- activating events
B- internal beliefs
C- consequences (emotional)
Irrational beliefs: Misguided or innacurate assumptions; absolutes; unrealistic views of the world
Outline REBT
REBT designed – to challenge irrational beliefs – to restructure a person’s belief system and self-evaluation, to gain more self-worth
■ REBT therapist searches for – patient’s irrational beliefs, – highlighting the impossibilities of fulfilling them, and – persuades patient to adopt a more realistic belief
■ Also uses behavioural techniques – homework given to encourage clients to have new experiences, in order to break negative chains of behaviour
therapist directly challenges the patient’s belief during therapy “That’s impossible! That’s irrational!”
Ellis Linking to mental disorders…
who was Beck?
Developed cognitve therpay for depression first, then later other disorders e.g anxiety
Influenctial to CBT Also focuses on irrational thoughts of people with psychological problems…and much more ■ The way we interpret events and experiences determines our emotional reactions to them
outline how the view of Beck and Ellis differ
“Psychological problems are not necessarily the product of mysterious, impenetrable forces or irrational beliefs], but may result from usual processes such as faulty learning…
what did Beck view caused mental health issues?
Past experinces/learning influence
–> SCHEMA Organized network of accumulated knowledge
–> Interpreter of the situation
what is a schema?
An underlying representation of knowledge (relatively stable network of core beliefs) that serves to guide our processing of information and may lead to distortions in attention, memory and comprehension
Ambiguous situations harder to interpret and need substantial input from our schemas
outline the positive and negative effect of schemas
People develop different schemas – Self-schemas: about ourselves, who we are (might be in future), roles we have, etc. – About world around us, other people, social roles, events – Future
POSITIVE ASPECT: Enable us to focus on relevant/important information among influx of information available to us
NEGATIVE ASPECT: But also a source of psychological vulnerability if distorted and inaccurate
how are new expereinces incorperated into existing schemas?
Assimilation: incorporate new experiences into existing cognitive frameworks
– Even if new information has to be reinterpreted or distorted to make it fit
– Results in clinging to existing assumptions and rejecting new information that contradicts them
■ Accommodation: changing existing framework in order to incorporate new information that doesn’t fit
– More difficult and threatening
– Accommodation - basic goal of cognitive and cognitivebehavioural therapies
how do schemas impact mental health issues
Different psychological problems are characterised by different maladaptive schemas
-> cognitive disrotions or biases –> emotional reactions to them
Outline Beck’s cognitive theory of depression
Cognitive theory of depression:
Negative triad: negative views of self, future and world
Negative schema triggered–> becomes a distortion when ued to interpret new info –> e.g. over generalising; see a pattern based on a single event this leads to cognitive disortions which leads to depression
give the issues of Beck’s cognitive theory of depression
He then extended this model to other disorders.
Scientific evidence:
Cognitions aren’t observable so difficult to study
Great deal of info is processed non-consciously, hence difficult to study and change
But there is evidence for distorted processing
Memory bias in depression
-attention bias in depression
Interpretation bias in anxious and chronic pain groups.
Cognitive approach has been considerably advanced by sophisticated information processing studies, which do not rely on self-report techniques
■ And also, more and more evidence accumulates for the efficacy of CBT for various disorders
give evidence for memory bias in depression
Example experimental procedure:
■ Patients and controls are presented with a list of randomised single words, such as: depression, neutral…. words
■ These are carefully controlled experiments & participants are unaware of study aims
■ Words are presented briefly (e.g. 3 seconds), followed by a brief delay (e.g. 500 milliseconds)…
■ Participants given a ‘surprise’ memory test later, and asked to recall as many words as possible – Depressed patients display recall bias for depression stimuli – This indicates an underlying maladaptive scheme
give evidence for attentional bias in anxiety
Example experimental procedure
■ Carefully controlled experiments, participants unaware of study aims
■ Measures selective attention
■ Works by examining the reaction time of the participant to respond to negative emotional words
■ Elicits certain behavioural outcomes, e.g a slowing in response times to certain words
■ Appears to capture attention and slow response time due to the emotional relevance of the word for the individual
