Alternative explanations

• Behaviourist - Classic conditioning - phobia

  • Watson and Raynor outlined the case of Little Albert was made phobic of rats, despite previously having no fear of them.
  • This was done by repeated pairings of a loud noise with a white rat.
  • This was generalised to other white things like rabbits or father Christmas’s beard.
• Behavioursit - Operant conditioning - phobia

  • Show some signs of anxiety when see a large dog, and the comfort/attention from parent is then taken as a reward of this behaviour.
  • Next time you see a large dog, you show the feelings of anxiety to gain the reward of comfort again.
• Behaviourist - Negative reinforcement

  • Someone with a lift phobia gets towards the lift doors and experiences anxiety.
  • If they walk away this removes the feelings of anxiety, and so encourages them to take the stairs (not lift) again next time.
• Behaviourist - Social learning theory - phobia

  If a child sees a significant adult with a phobia of a particular animal, they might imitate this behaviour
• Cognitive explanation

  Assumption that mental illness arises from faulty/irrational thinking
• Cognitive - Beck

  • Aaron Beck (1961) suggested that there are 3 main dysfunctional beliefs in people with depression which form a cognitive triad:
  • I am worthless or flawed
  • Everything I do results in failure
  • The future is hopeless
  • He suggested that when a person became depressed then they would seek out information to confirm their negative beliefs.
• Cognitive - Ellis

  • Ellis proposed that irrational thoughts could cause & sustain mental disorders, and believed that faulty cognitions can be summarised within the following 3 points:
  • I must be outstandingly competent, or I am worthless
  • Others must treat me considerately, or they are absolutely rotten
  • The world should always give me happiness, or I will die.
  • They are highly unrealistic expectations to have, and therefore when they are not attained the person is likely to feel like a failure and possibly could lead to depression.
• Psychodynamic explanations

  • Unconscious memories and feelings will manifest themselves in our behaviour.
  • Conflicts between the Id, Ego and Superego can create anxiety or guilt depending on whether we satisfy the Id’s demands or not.
  • A weak and ineffective Ego (as a result of a cold, rejecting mother) could result in the Id not being controlled. May lead to loss of contact with reality as the person unable to identify where their desires/fantasies end and reality begins (schizophrenia?).
• Psychodynamic explanations pt 2

  • Ego defence mechanisms can also be involved. For example:
  • Overusing denial, for example refusing to acknowledge that a relationship is over, can result in depression or anxiety.
  • Repression may cause a person to act unconsciously motivated by the repressed memory e.g. abuse when a child may influence relationships as an adult.
• Psychodynamic explanations pt 2

  • Ego defence mechanisms can also be involved. For example:
  • Overusing denial, for example refusing to acknowledge that a relationship is over, can result in depression or anxiety.
  • Repression may cause a person to act unconsciously motivated by the repressed memory e.g. abuse when a child may influence relationships as an adult.
• Psychodynamic explanations pt 3

  • Unresolved conflicts or inappropriate parental responses in different stages of psychosexual development can also lead to mental illnesses
  • Issues in the oral stage (deprivation or weaning too early) can lead to oral fixation such as addictive behaviour
  • Issues in the anal stage (too harsh toilet training) can lead to obsessiveness
• Psychology as a science - behaviourist

  • Quite scientific as it tends to rely on scientific studies of behaviour which are controlled
  • They allow people to make predictions
• Reductionism/holism - behaviourist

  • Reductionist in that it does not take account of biological explanations or thought processes (individual decision making and how this influences behaviour)
  • Different theories of learning make it more holistic
• Freewill/determinism - behaviourist

  • Determinist suggests that the person has little control over their phobias/anxieties and it is determined by the environment and past experiences
  • But they could be taught strategies to manage it (relaxation techniques used in systematic desensitisation)
• Nature/nurture - behaviourist

  • Nurture reliant on past experiences and learning associations/reinforcement of behaviours as causing mental disorders
• Psychology as a science -cognitive

  • Less scientific than behaviourism as it is difficult to measure cognitive beliefs and how they influence behaviour
  • Reliant on self-report methods which are less objective
  • But there is evidence to support the effectiveness of cognitive treatments (such as RET)
• Reductionism/holism- cognitive

  • Says that it is a combination of learning from past experiences (which develop negative beliefs) and traumatic events so it is more holistic.
  • The diathesis stress model suggests that biological factors can make some more vulnerable to certain conditions
• Freewill/determinism - cognitive

  • Cognitive distortions occur automatically and are often developed in childhood as a result of past experiences so it is again quite deterministic
  • Theses are then triggered by traumatic life events which are beyond our control
  • There negative thoughts determine behaviour
  • Therapies suggests these thoughts can be changed
• Nature/nurture - cognitive

  • Diathesis stress model takes account of biological factors that make people more vulnerable
  • But other factors that trigger these faulty thoughts are learned
• Psychology as a science - psychodynamic

  • Not very scientific as cannot measure if the patient has these unconscious conflicts and therapists will often suggest the underlying thought process (bias)
• Reductionism/holism - Psychodynamic

  • Reductionist in the way it ignores other explanations of disorders such as biological factors and conscious cognitive processes
  • (psychotherapy is a fairly holistic treatment as it considers a range of past experiences to how unconscious conflicts developed)
• Freewill/determinism - psychodynamic

  • Deterministic as unconscious desires and conflicts cannot be controlled and are again determined by how your parents responded to you as a child
  • No role for free will in explaining behaviour
• Nature/nurture - psychodynamic

  • Nature as the individual differences in unconscious drives are nature
  • However, it also suggests that family relationships in childhood and early experiences can shape these unconscious processes