alternatives to medical model - behaviourist

• behaviourist explanation

  Believes that mental health issues/abnormal behaviour are learned from our environment
• classical conditioning

  An emotional response (eg fear/anxiety) becomes associated with a particular neutral stimulus. If a person is regularly exposed to a particular stimulus together with an unpleasant experience, then the stimulus will come to elicit a fearful or disgusted response (if extremely unpleasant, even one coupling with the stimulus may be sufficient to create a lasting association)
• pavlov (1903)


  taught dogs to salivate when they heard noises (bells) that they had come to associated with the presentation of food
• little albert study watson & rayner (1920)

  showed that phobias can be learned through classical conditioning. Little Albert was a healthy, normal 11-month old infant who was exposed to a sudden loud noise that would cause him to burst into tears. He was presented with a white rat and then experimenters struck a hammer against a metal bar to induce fear (this was repeated). Eventually Little Albert only had to see the rat and he demonstrated a fearful response: crying and crawling away
• operant conditioning

  Consequences for different behaviours shape subsequent behaviour (learn via positive/negative reinforcement) ie when a behaviour is reinforced through reward, that behaviour becomes more likely to be repeated (opposite for punished). States that depression is caused by removal of positive reinforcement from the environment. Addictive behaviour - eg gambling, having success would reinforce the action of gambling, creating a feeling of compulsive need to continue playing. A schedule of reinforcement
• schedule of reinforcement

  set of rules for giving rewards for behaviour
• social learning theory

  Depression can be seen in a child who witnesses symptoms of depression (eg withdrawal, mood swings) - may see role models reacting to challenges in life in unhealthy, ineffective ways and will therefore imitate what they see and also become frustrated, helpless and depressed.
• treatments

  flooding, aversion therapy, positive reinforcement
• flooding

  Feared stimulus is presented directly to individual in order for them to overcome their fear (replace fear with neutrality/calmness) - difficult to apply to depression
• aversion therapy

  Produce an unpleasant association with stimulus (eg sickness with alcohol addiction) - use electric shocks each time person exhibits depressive symptoms
• positive reinforcement

  Rewarding individuals when they show non-depressive symptoms