OCD

Question 1

Learning theories

Answer 1

obsessions: stimuli that come to elicit distress via classical conditioning- maintained by compulsions - negatively reinforcing as they are escape/avoidance behaviours
Received some empirical support but objsessions may develop in absence of link to a traumatic event and compulsions sometimes increase anxiety
Doesn’t explain complexities

Question 2

Cognitive theories

Answer 2

obsessions develop when person misinterprets otherwise typical intrusive images or thoughts as indcative of underlying character flaws or predictive of subjsequent catastrophes and indicative of increased responsibility for bringing about or preventing harm
Anxiety and distress arise from these misinterpreations
Rituals to try reduce anxiety, seek safety and reduce harm/ decrease responsibility

Question 3

ERP

Answer 3

Exposure and response prevention
Habituation- decrease in association between intrusive thoughts and compulsions
Exposed in vivo or in imagination to stimuli that evoke obsessive thoughts and distress and encouraged to refrain from compulsive behaviours
Although originally derived from learning theory, ERP proto- cols often include cognitive procedures. For example, Foa et al. (2005) noted that therapists may discuss patients’ OCD-related beliefs along with the evidential disconfirmation provided by exposure assignments

Question 4

efficacious and specific

Answer 4

two or more independent research groups have found that the treatment leads to a better outcome than another treatment or nonspecific control

Question 5

efficacious

Answer 5

at least two independent research teams have shown the treatment to be more efficacious than its absence

Question 6

possibly efficacious

Answer 6

supported by evidence from only one research group awaiting replication

Question 7

ERP and CBT

Answer 7

efficacious and specific
unclear whether adding cognitive restructuring enhances the efficacy of more purely behavioural interventions
From a theoretical perspective, it is possible that the reason both ERP and CBT are efficacious and specific in the treatment of OCD is because both address the same maintaining factors, such as maladaptive beliefs (e.g., inflated responsibility), neutralizing strategies

Question 8

ACT, EMDR, and satiation therapy

Answer 8

Based on the findings of single studies in each instance (with the one supporting ACT being the most methodologically sound), these treatments can be said to be possibly efficacious.