Motivational Principles and the Medical Model

Question 1

instinct (type of motivational principle)

Answer 1

an unknown force with unknown antecedents that is a push from within to act toward particular behaviors/goals; assumed to be derived genetically; cannot be measured or observed directly, and can only interpret post hoc; allows little possibility for change; consistent over time (no cyclical pattern - always “on” at the same level).

Question 2

drives (type of motivational principle)

Answer 2

genetically determined state of motivation that is characterized by the unpleasant state of arousal, which in turn lends one to learn behaviors that decrease that arousal

characterized by a cyclical pattern of ___ reduction: deprivation –> intensification –> action –> ___ reduction (primary motivation is to return to homeostasis)

problem: does not explain social ___/behaviors adequately (and social ___ are not cyclical)

Question 3

empirical law of effect (type of motivational principle)

Answer 3

people’s primary motivation is to maximize pleasant stimulation and minimize unpleasant stimulation (want to do more of what you like and less of what you do not like)

things are either naturally reinforcing at birth or learned through experience

does not explain what occurs BEFORE birth, only explains after

positive reinforcement is not just the absence of punishment - it is maximizing the positive in addition to minimizing the negative

2 primary goals: 1) seek positive reinforcement 2) avoid punishment (goals are learned not fixed - biologically based/inborn)

Question 4

nature of explanation

Answer 4

there is no “cause” of any behavior, because one can always look further back in time - more useful to use “explanation” within a time frame and perspective –> “cause” ignores that the event itself must be abstracted to understand it

the further you go back in time, the less predictability you have of behavior

explanation = choosing particular aspects of an event to focus on for a specific purpose in a certain cross-section of time

Question 5

dualism

Answer 5

people are composed of a separate mind and brain (they have 2 substances in them), which are regarded as actual things that exist in the world instead of just constructs

problem: mind and body are two abstractions of the same event (you); they can’t cause each other because they’re not separate things - they are simultaneous abstractions

Question 6

Watsonian dualism

Answer 6

mental events are insubstantial because you cannot see or touch them; therefore, we can only deal with observable behavior

there are two kinds of events (mental and physical) - and we can only deal with physical events

Question 7

reductionism

Answer 7

mistaken belief that the smallest unit of analysis or the most specific construct is superior/always the best explanation

Question 8

medical model beliefs

Answer 8

Derives from imbalance of bodily humors and germ theory.

1. Each disease has a set of symptoms [problem: even if people have the same disease, does not mean they will have the same set of symptoms].
2. Knowing the disease indicates the cause [problem: most psychological disorders do not have a singular cause].
3. Knowing the disease indicates the treatment [problem: no one drug or treatment will work for everyone].

Question 9

Jessor (1958) - The problem of reductionism in psychology

Answer 9

detailed historical movement to make the language of psychology more “scientific” as the implication was that physical language is more fundamental and clinical psychology can’t be scientific unless it focused on behavior or neurology, nothing mental. Essentially suggests the only legitimate/real phenomena in psych are overt behaviors and physical stimuli/brain activity (physical description increases reliability, but since it’s such a specific construct, severely limits predictions).

Question 10

Bloom (2005) - Worse than Creationism

Answer 10

author argues against dualism, but his argument unknowingly supports Watsonian dualism (mental constructs are insubstantial things arising out of real physical events; does not regard brain constructs as constructs)

Question 11

Harman (2018) - Will Genes Resonate?

Answer 11

suggests that because the assumptions about what genes control are overblown (genes control cells’ production of proteins – not behavior), genes are constructs, not real things in the world

Question 12

McCabe and Castel (2008) - Seeing is Believing

Answer 12

supported the notion that our society is heavily reductionistic - participants given an article with a brain scan (vs. those given an article without) rated the one with a scan as more scientific

Question 13

Harrington (2019) - Mind fixers: Psychiatry’s troubled search for the biology of mental illness

Answer 13

the “biological revolution” in the 80s was really a political ploy to increase credibility for psychiatry as a science, suggesting that there is no true scientific evidence for the biological basis of mental disorders

Question 14

Valenstein (1998) - Blaming the Brain

Answer 14

found that there is no evidence that there is a chemical imbalance in the brain - cannot be measured. these explanations are favored, however, because it is a simple solution to a complex problem.

Question 15

Turner et al (2008) - Selective publication of antidepressant trials

Answer 15

found that there was an inflation for the success rate of psychiatric drugs, that journals published primarily positive results, and that articles that were ambiguous about the effects of the drugs were skewed in a positive way.

Question 16

Kirsch (2010) - The Emperor’s New Drugs

Answer 16

findings that support chemical imbalance theory argue that psychiatric meds help reduce symptoms, but this is circular reasoning. also, most of the effects felt from the meds are due to the placebo effect - this is true even in double-blind studies because it is impossible to have an actual double-blind while studying meds.