Disorders draw upon principles of learning theories, where they are developed or maintained via association (classical conditioning), reinforcement (operant conditioning), or imitation (social learning theory)
Classical conditioning (phobia)
Watson & Raynor's Little Albert experiment
Operant conditioning
The development and maintenance of disorders through positive and negative reinforcement
Operant conditioning
Gambling addiction, phobia maintenance
Cognitive explanations
Disorders and symptoms are the result of faulty information processing and irrational thought processes
Beck's cognitive triad
Negative view of the self, the world, and the future
It is essential for a trauma or serious life event to have occurred to attribute to the development of these belief systems
Psychodynamic explanation
Mental illness is the result of unresolved conflicts between drives and forces in the unconscious mind, often stemming from early traumatic childhood experiences and problematic relationships
Psychodynamic explanation
Little Hans' phobia, Melanie Klein's work on the Oedipus complex
If the superego becomes too strong it may start to cause us to be overwhelmed by guilt, leading to depressive symptoms
Having a cold, rejecting mother in childhood can influence the id to drive personality, causing people to return to a childlike state in which they can confuse reality and fiction (links to schizophrenia positive symptoms)
