cognitive approach

• What therapy has the highest overall success rate according to Davia et al (2003)?

  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• What does the study by Canill et al (2003) suggest about the effectiveness of CBT?

  CBT can lead to significant symptom reduction in patients who complete the therapy.
• What percentage of patients who completed 12-20 sessions of CBT experienced a significant reduction in symptoms according to Canill et al (2003)?

  71%
• What was the improvement rate for patients who did not complete CBT therapy?

  Only 13% showed improvement.
• What can be concluded about the effectiveness of CBT based on the studies mentioned?

  • CBT has the highest success rate among therapies.
  • 71% of patients completing CBT show significant symptom reduction.
  • Only 13% of those who do not complete CBT show improvement.
• What is the computer analogy


  input, process, output

  states that the brain is hardware and our thoughts are the software.

  information is input from the environment where we process it so we can output it when appropriate.
• Whats an example of the computer analogy

  The multistore memory model - Atkinson + Shriffrin 1968
• What is the the multistore memory model

  sensory , short term memory, long term memory

  Information enters the sensory memory where most of it is forgotten unless we pay attention to it so then it goes to the short term memory. If it is rehearsed it can be transferred to our long term memory where we can retrieve it when needed.
• What is internal mental processing

  - perception , attention, memory, language, thinking.

  States that the brain uses cognitive processes to make sense of the world. For example if we perceive a bunch of flowers, we may pay attention to it and then search our memory for a similar experience so we can label it and further think about it
• Whats an example of internal mental processing

  Griffiths 1994 study into gambling
• What was Griffiths' study

  Participants were grouped into regular and non regular gamblers to see if there was a difference in thinking processes. Using introspection they found out that regular gamblers made more irrational verbalisations.
• What are Schemas

  States that schemas are pockets of information about our knowledge of the world, stored in the long term memory. The information can be gained through direct and indirect experiences which means they can contain stereotypes.
• What is an example of a schema

  Allport and Postman (1947) study
• What was Allport and Postmans study

  White participants wrongly remembered a black man holding a knife to a white man in a picture. The stereotypes in their schemas had autofilled incorrect information distorting their memories.
• What is internal mental processes as an explanation for cognitive relationships

  Internal mental processing claims that we build memories based on cognitive approaches. If we have positive past experiences, then we are more likely to engage in similar relationships again.
• Example of IMP - relationships

  if we meet somebody at a party that reminds us of someone we've shared happy memories with, we are more likely to pursue a relationship with them. Thus negative experiences would deter us from wanting to pursue a similar relationship again
• Halo effect

  schemas can effect how we feel and act towards others in romantic relationships. The halo effect suggests that if we perceive a person to be attractive, we also assume that they have other positive attributes such as kindness or compassion.
• Example of the halo effect

  For example we often perceive celebrities as successful and attractive, so we also tend to see them as intelligent, kind and funny.so we are more likely to want to form relationships with people we perceive as attractive.
• Matching hypothesis

  according to the matching hypothesis our perception of ourselves help us to choose who we want to form romantic relationships with. We form romantic relationships with those that we perceive to be similar to ourselves.
• For example if our self concept is high, we will try our luck with highly attractive people. if it is low we will not go for those who we perceive better looking than ourselves in fear of rejection unless we feel that we can bring something else to the relationship in compensation such as wealth, status or humour. For example we sometime witness this with celebrity couples.
• what is a dysfunctional thought diary

  this forms as part of a clients homework. A client will read and record their negative thoughts and the events that have preceded the negative thoughts. The client will then rate their belief in these thoughts, this takes the form of a precent. A rational response is written next to this and finally, the client rates their beliefs again. This helps rationalise the clients thoughts
• Cognitive Restructuring

  Once the client has revealed more about their thought patterns to a therapist, they can work together on identifying and changing negative thinking patterns. This is done collaboratively and is also known as therapy in therapy. During CBT the client is taught to challenge some dysfunctional thoughts. By challenging these thoughts and replacing them with more constructive ones, clients are able to try out new ways of behaving.
• Pleasant activity scheduling

  This technique involves asking the client to plan for each day, one pleasant activity to engage in. It could be something that gives a sense of accomplishment it is thought that these accomplishments will induce mire positive thoughts.
• how the assumptions of the cognitive approach are applied in one therapy

  thoughts influence emotion and behaviour. faulty thoughts cause psychological disorders such as depression or anxiety. So to cure these disorders a treatment needs to change irrational thinking patterns. CBT aims to do this. Internal processes such as preception are explored with a therapist - to change a clients perception of the world through cognitive reconstruction. When asked for evidence clients often realise their perceptions are irrational and therefore are more likely to change their thinking.

  For example, Beck claimed that depressed people have negative schemas (themselves, world around them, future) - negative cognitive triad. CBT aims to change these negative schema to change the way they respond to the world around them.

  • Therefore, CBT uses dysfunctional thought diaries, cognitive restructuring and pleasant activity scheduling to try to restructure maladaptive thoughts and help clients to break out of negative cognitive triads.
• What is CBT?

  CBT is used to treat mental disorders such as depression by changing irrational thoughts
• why is CBT the most widely administered therapy used by clinical psychologists in the NHS

  david et al (2003) found that cbt has the highest overall success rate compared to other therapies, highlighting its effectiveness in treating various mental health disorders

  
  

  cahill et al (2003) found that 71% of patients who completed 12-20 sessions of cbt experienced a significant reduction in their symptoms. However only 13% of the patients who didnt complete the therapy showed improvement. This suggests that cbt can be highly effective in symptom reduction
• why might people prefer drugs to cbt


  unlike drugs, cbt has ni addiction or side effects. cognitive therapists also believe that it treats the source of the problem not just the symptoms.

  - jarret (1999) showed that cbt is just as effective as antidepressants in treating depression. showing its benefits
• what did hollon find in regards to the cbt vs drugs debate

  - Hollon (1992) found no difference in cbt when compared to a slighlty different drug, suggesting cbt is not superior to all antidepressants. they also showed that cbt was most effective when used alongside meds.

  this suggests that cbt is effective but not a replacement for drug therapy.
• how much impact does a therapist have on the effectiveness of CBT


  a good therapist can help a client take conrol of their own mental heath unlike the dependantcy encouraged by drugs.

  Research by kuyken and tsivrikos (2009) suggests that up is 15% of the effectiveness of CBT may be attributable to the competence of the therapist. This emphasires the importance of therapist skills in the success of CBT .

  This gives free will to clients allowing them to feel empowered and counters problems of determinsm which are seen in drugs

  
  

  • But there an individual differences as CBT doesn't work for everyone they have to be open for change . only works for the right people in the right circumstances - not life stressors
• ethical issues of CBT

  Alloy and abrahamson (1979) highlights the importance of considering diverse perspectives in defining irrational thoughts. They suggests some people are depressive realists and view their perceptions of reality as accurate and not necessarily biased, even if their outlook is a pessimistic or 'depressive'. CBT practitioners need to recognise and respect this perspective, acknowledging that challenging all negative thoughts may not be appropriate for these individuals.

  
  

  The sadder but wiser effect refers to individuals becoming more pessimistic cautious in their judgements after experinecing negative events or failures. These ppl were found to be more accurate in their estimates of the likelihood of disatser than non depressed individuals.
• what are the limitations of CBT

  Simons et al (2005) noted that CBT has limited use when normal illness is primarily caused by real life stressors such as job loss, divorce or illness. It may address symptoms but not the root cause.

  Lewisohn (1981) discussed the potential limitations of CBT questioning whether negative thoughts are the cause or the result of depression. This raises the concern about whether CBT effectively adresses the root cause of depression
• what was the Loftus and palmer study

  Study was concerned with the inaccuracy of eyewitness testimony. One explanation offered for the inaccuracy of EWT is that questioning by the police or other officials after a crime may alter a witness' perception of the events and affect what they recall.
• what are leading questions

  that some questions are more suggestive than others and suggest to the witness what answer is desired, or leads them to a desired answer
• loftus and palmer methodology

  -consists of 2 experiments conducted in a lab

  -using an independent groups design

  -experiment 1 = 45 student participants

  -experiment 2 = 150 student participants
• L+P - Experiment 1 - PROCEDURE

  -p's were shown 7 film clips of different traffic accidents - ranged from 5-30 secs.

  -after each clip the p's received a questionnaire where they were asked to give an account of the accident they had seen and were also asked a series of questions about the accident.

  -among these questions was one critical question which asked the p's "how fast were the cars going when they.... each other?

  -the word to fill in the blank varied from group to group

  -there five groups with 9 p's

  the words ranged from:

  • hit, smashed, collided, bumped, contacted
• L+P - Experiment 2 - PROCEDURE part 1

  PART 1

  -p's were shown clips of a multiple car crash - lasted less than 4 seconds

  -they were then asked a set of questions including a critical question about speed.

  -p's were divided into 3 groups of 50

  group 1 - "how fast were the cars going when they hit each other"

  group 2 - "how fast were the cars going when they smashed each other"

  group 3 - were the control group - were not asked any questions
• L+P - Experiment 2 - PROCEDURE part 2


  PART 2

  -a week later the p's were asked to return and were asked further questions about the accident

  -the critical question asked "did you see any broken glass"

  -there was no broken glass in the film but presumably those who thought the car was travelling faster might expect there to be broen glass
• what does loftus and palmer experiment 2 investigate

  whether leading questions simply bias a persons response or actually alter the memory that is stored
• ethical/social issues of loftus and palmer - lack of consent

  L+P did not gain valid consent from their p's. If p's had been aware of the aims of the study this would have affected their behaviour. They would have been aware that the questions were 'leading' and more careful in the responses they gave. Therefore their behaviour would not reflect EWT in everyday life.

  They were not psychologically or physically harmed and it is unlikely that knowing the true purpose of the study would have led to refusing to take part.
• ethical/social issues of loftus and palmer - psychological harm

  a criticism of the study is that the p's did not witness a real accident but, instead watched film clips of an accident. This meant that they may not have responded to the task in the way that an eyewitness would in a real accident.

  An alternative may be to expose p's to a real accident but this may be very distressing leading to psychological harm. The emotional impact might be long lasting.

  Avoided psychological harm by using film clips.