Psycho 3.0 Flashcards
(39 cards)
Evaluation:two process model
Good explanatory power:main advantage of this theory is that it can explain the mechanism begin the acquisition and maintenance of phobias which classical or operant conditioning cannot do alone.This leads to practical benefits to therapies as it demonstrates why patient need to be exposed to their phobic stimulus.Once patients is prevented from practicing their avoidance behaviour the behaviours ceased to be reinforced so it declines.EG FLOODING AND SD.Strength leads to enhanced therapies
Evaluation:Two process model
Alternative explanation for the-avoidance behaviour for all phobias is not as a result to avoid anxiety at least not in more complex phobias like agoraphobia.For example Buck et suggested that safety is a greater motivator for avoidance behaviour rather than simply avoiding due to anxiety.For example social phobias such suffers can venture out into public but only with a trusted friend despite being exposed to hindered of strangers that would usually trigger their anxiety.This means that Mowrers explanation of phobias may be incomplete and only suited for some.
Evaluation:The two process
Alternative explanation for the requisition of phobias:Seligman suggests that we are more likely to develop phobias towards prepared stimuli.These are stimuli which would have posed a threat to our evolutionary ancestors such as fire or deep running and so running away from such stimulus increased the likelihood of survival and reproduction and so this behaviour has a selective evolutionary advantage.This means that alternative theory’s can explain why some phobias are much more frequent than other phobias .
Evaluation:Two process model
There’s been research support for the importance of classical condition.Dinardo et al found that 60% of of dog phonics could recall a frightening experience with a dog this supports the behaviourist approach.However there’s mixed views of the importance of classical conditioning.Although Dinardo et al found this in the control group of participants without a phobia of Dogs the same percentage reported a frightening experience with a dog.This demonstrates that some people develop phobia without a frightening association and that frightening association does not cause phobias in everyone.Such individual difference pose a problem for this explanation.
Evaluation:treating phobias
SD
It is effective in the treatment of phobias.For example gilroy et al followed up 42 patients who had been treated for spider phobia in three 45 minute sessions of sd.SD was assessed on several measures including the spider questionnaire and by assessing response to a spider.A control group was treated by relaxation without exposure.At both three months and 33 months after the treatment the SD group were less fearful than the relaxation group.This is a strength as it shows that SD is helpful in reducing the anxiety in spider phobia and the affects are long lasting.
Evaluation:Treating phobias
SD
It is acceptable to patients-Those given the choice of Sd and flooding tend to prefer sd.this is largely because it does not cause the same degree of trauma as flooding.sd included elects such as relaxation procedures that are actually pleasant.there has been low refusal and attrition rates and this idea has economical implications because it increases the likelihood that the patients will agree to start and continue the therapy as opposed to waist time and effort of the therapist.
Evaluation:Treating phobias
SD
It is more suitable for a diverse range of patients.The alternatives of sd like flooding and cognitive therapies are not well suited for some patients.For example suffers of anxiety disorders like phobias have learning
Difficulties.Learning difficulties make it hard for some patients to understand what is happening during flooding or engage in cognitive therapies that requires the ability to reflect on what your thinking.Therefore sd is the most appropriate treatment compared to alternatives.
Evaluation:flooding
Less effective for complex phobias.Social pianos involves bother anxiety and cognitive aspects .For example thinking unpleasant thoughts about a situation.Thus in this case a cognitive therapy may be more appropriate because this therapy can target the unpleasant thoughts.This suggests that the alternatives may be more supportive
The treatment is traumatic for patients-The problem with flooding is that it’s not unethical but patients are often unwilling to see it through to the end.
Evaluation:Flooding
Seen as cost effective-ourgin compared flooding to cognitive therapies and found it to be cheaper.This is because the patients phobia will typically be cured in one session therefore freeing them of their symptom and allowing them to continue living a normal life.This makes the treatment quickly as it is quicker.
Evaluation:becks theory
There is good supporting evidence that supports that depression is associated with faulty information processing.For example Terry and grazioli assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression before and after birth.They found that those women who judged to have been high in cognitive vulnerability were more likely to suffer post natal depression.Clark and beck reviewed research on this topics and concluded that there was solid support for all these confine vulnerability factors,suggesting that beck might be right about cognitions causing depression at least in some cases.
Evaluation:Becks theory
Has practical application to CBT:becks cognitive therapy forms the basis of CBT.All cognitive aspects of depression can be identified and challenged in cbt.These inside the components of the negative triad that are easily identifiable.This means that the therapist can challenge them and encourage the patient to test whether that they are true.This is a strength of the explanation because it translates well into successful therapy.
Evaluation:Becks
It does not explain all aspects of depression.Becks cognitive theory explains heartily the basic symptoms of depression however depression is complex.Some depressed patients are deeply anagrams beck cannot explain these extreme emotions.Some suffers of depression suffer hallucinations and bizarre believes.Very occasionally depressed patients suffer cotard syndrome,the delusion that they are zombies ,beck cannot explain these cases.
Evaluation:Elis ABC model
One strength is that elisis explanation has a practical application in cbt.Has led to successful therapy / treatments for depression like cbt and rebt.this idea that by challenging irrational negative beliefs a person can reduce their depression is supported by research evidence by Lipsky et al.This in turn supports the basic theory because it suggests that irrational beliefs had some role in the depression.These therapies have been successful to treat people with depression proving further support to cognitive explanation of depression
Evaluation:Eli’s abc model
One weakness of the cognitive approach is that it does not explain the origins of irrational thoughts and most of the research in this area is just a correlation.Therefore we are unable to determine if negative irrational thoughts cause depression or whether a persons depression leads to a negative mindset.Therefore it’s possible that other factors for example genes and neurotransmitter are the cause of depression and one of the side effects of depression is negative thoughts.
furthermore there are alternative explanations which suggests that depression is biological condition cause by genes and neurotransmitters.Reseach has focused on the roles of neurotransmitters serotonin and found lower levels in patients with depression.In addition drugs therapies including ssris are found to be effective in the treatment of depression which provide further support for the role of neurotransmitter in the development of depression.
Evaluation:Eli’s ABC model
One limitation of Ellis abc model is that not all irrational thoughts are irrational.Alloy and Abrahmson found that depressed individuals had sadder but wiser effect where they have more accurate estimates of the likelihood of a disaster than those not depressed.
Limitation:it gives all responsibility to the individual completely to them which in turn could be seen as blaming them.
Evaluation:Extra for beck
There is research evidence which support the cognitive explanation of depression.Boury et al found that patients with depression were more likely to misinterpret info negatively and feel hopeless about their future which supports different comports of becks theory and the idea that cognitions are involved in depression.
BCT
There is evidence to support the effectiveness of CBT for depression.For example March et al compared the effected of cBT with antidepressant drugs and a combination of the two in 327 adolescents with a main diagnosis of depression.After 36 weeks 81% of the CBT plus antidepressant and 86% of the cBT plus antidepressants groups were significantly improved.Therefore cBT emerged as an effected as medication and helpful alongside medication. Therefore good case for making CBT the first choice for treatment in public health care systems like the NHS.
Cbt
One limitation of cbt is that it make not work for the most severe cases of depression.Since in some cases of depression it can be so severe that the patient cannot motivate themselves to engage with the hard cognitive work of CBT.They may not be able to pay attention to what is happening in the session.In this case it is possible to treat patients with antidepressant medication and commence cbt when they are more alert and motivated.This idea could have been reflected in the evidence found by MARCH Donal where a combination of cbt and antidepressant where most affect.due to the fact that patients may have lack of motivation ,inability to get out of bed.This is a limitation as it shows that cbt cannot be used as the sole treatment for all cases of depression.Also requires motivation
Cbt
One limitation of cbt is that success may be due to the therapist patient relationship.Its been suggested ghat the differences between different methods of psychotherapy may be quiet small.All psychopatherojes all share one essential thing which is this relationship.It may be the quality of this relationship that determines the success rather than a particulate technique used.There has been very small comparative reviews and they find a very small difference.Which supports the view that simply having the opportunist to talk to someone who will listen could be what matters the most.
Cbt
Another limitation of cbt is that it have overemphasis the role of cognitions.CBT suggests that a persons irrational thinking is the primary cause of their depression and cbt does not take into account other factors.Cbt therefore ignores other factors and circumstances that might contribute to a persons depression for example a patient suffer for domestic violence or abuse does not need to change their negative and irrational beliefs but infant needs to change their circumstances.Therefore cbt would be ineffective treating these patients until their circumstances have been changed.
ADDITIONALLY:Fails to acknowledge that some mental disorders have a biological factor for example according to the biological approach that some mental disorders can be linked to low levels of serotonin in the brain suggesting that cognate therapies ignore the biology can play in a mental disorder.
Cbt
A strength of cbt is that research suggests that it can be successful to treat a range of different abnormalities including ocd and social phobias.From a meta analysis it concluded that cbt is an effective treatment for a range of different distorted.This is a positive because it suggests that cbt can be used to help more people than many other treatments aswell as there being no harmful side affects.Furthermore cbt can not only help individuals with their symptoms but they can transfer their skills developed from cbt to help them with other issues such as stress management.
Biological explanation of ocd
One limitation is that there are too many candidate genes.With over 230 candidate genes each individually coding for an increased risk of ocd then this poses as a practical issue.It makes it difficult to assess which candidate genes have the greatest impact and so which genes drug treatments should target.Therefore explanation is likely to have little predictive value in the future.
Explanation:biological explanation of ocd
Another limitation is that it ignores environmental factors.Cromer et al found that of his patients with ocd over half had experience trauma in their lives and there was a positive correlation between an increasing number of trauma a and the increasing severity of the ocd which patients suffered from.This suggest that is cannot be entirely genetic in origin or at least in some cases.It may be productive to focus on environmental causes because we are more likely able to do something about these
Explanations of ocd
One strength is that there is evidence from a various of sources for the idea that some people are vulnerable to OCD as a result of their own genetic makeup.Nestadt et al reviewed previous twin studies of ocd and found that 68% of identical twins compared to 31% of non identical twins share ocd.This strongly suggests that there is a genetic basis for the disease because identical twins share 100% of their genes with each other while dizygotic twins only share 50% of genes with each other.Therefore this strongly suggests a genetic inflict on ocd.
