Psy240 Cognitive Paradigm

Front 1

What is the cognitive paradigm?

Back 1

The cognitive paradigm explores the inner workings of the mind, how people view experiences and interpret them. "Sense making literature"

People have schemas - frame of mind created by an accumulation of all their knowledge and experience. This changes how we see things.

Abnormal behaviour can be caused by disadvantageous schemas. In order to change abnormal behaviour, you must change this schema, your cognitive set, change your BELIEFS.

Abnormal behaviour can result from a certain viewpoint. For example, a feeling of perpetual hopelessness can cause depression. It's important for a psychologist to be aware of this viewpoint so he/she can tailor their therapy to changing that.

Front 2

What is cognitive behaviour therapy?

Back 2

A blend of learning and cognitive paradigm. It focuses on manipulating internal processes such as judgement, perceptions, self-statements, unconscious, tacit assumptions in order to change overt and covert behaviour.

Cognitive restructuring occurs to change pattern of thought that causes disturbed behaviour. Try to change a person's internal beliefs/way they reason with the environment, which changes the way they act.

Front 3

How does Beck's Cognitive Therapy work?

Back 3

Depression is CAUSED by a distorted perception of life experiences.
It looks at your beliefs of your experiences and uses counter-examples to point out positive things the client overlooked.

Reversing beliefs is hard to do because it is connected to an entire distorted belief system. On top of that, must also teach patient a new way of reasoning according to new belief system.

It is considered causal because the BDI score decreases and is evident in brain function. BDI changes correlate to changes in the brain via brain scans

Front 4

How does the BDI work?

Back 4

Beck's Depression Inventory has 21 questions, each Q is scored on a scale of 0-3 minimal depression 0-13 and a score of 29-63 is severe depression.

Front 5

How does Ellis' Rational-Emotive Therapy work?

Back 5

Ellis' REBT spends a lot of time discussing how the therapy works. The person must buy into the system and be willing to change in order for it to work.

Sustained emotional reactions are CAUSED by what people say to themselves internally. Internal sentences they say to themselves throughout the day like 'I must be perfect' are irrational beliefs that must be changed.

Ellis also looks at 'demandingness' instead of ppl looking at what they want to do, feel disappointment when it doesnt happen and take steps to getting it done, ppl demand they accomplish certain things and turn to dysfunctional thinking and behaviour.

Plays a strong causal role of cognitions on emotion and behaviour.

Front 6

How does Miechenbaum's Cognitive-Behaviour Modification

Back 6

Miechenbaum not only looks at a person's frame of mind, but how they constructed it. "Constructivist approach"
-The hallmark of cognitive psychology
-relies on patient's memory to reconstruct their life in a narrative - always changes
-life history affects a person's beliefs.
The human being is a constructivist.

2 types of therapy: Self-instructional training and Stress-inoculation training

The thing about CBT is that its main focus is OVERT BEHAVIOUR but through fixing internal thoughts

Front 7

List and describe Miechenbaum's types of therapy.

Back 7

1) Self-instructional training: teach a person skills they can learn, implement, assess and modify. Such skills are used to deal with unnerving situations. Trial and error to see which skills work for them and which don't.

2) Stress-inoculation training: teach skills that inoculate against small stressors such as a term test so that by the time a large stressor comes along, can take all the small techniques and combine to inoculate against a large stressor. It is a humble view, as therapist is not viewed as a god who can teach great things, just small steps to bettering life.

used at first for ppl with self-control problems

Front 8

How does Miechenbaum's contructivist-narrative approach work?

Back 8

Miechenbaum's constructivist-narrative approach means not just teaching the patient coping skills but looking at what is preventing the patient from using them. Barriers such as the past (50%), family, lack of motivation, lack of confidence, perfectionism.

It focuses on getting the person to create a new narrative not so much get rid of negative automatic thoughts and cognitive distortions. Teaches the person that the way they construct their narrative affects how they behave in stressful situations.

Front 9

Is the Cognitive Paradigm effective?

Back 9

-Its concepts such as the schema are not well-defined.
-Doesn't explain much, a gloomy schema means the person has a gloomy outlook. But that is used to diagnose depression.
-Where the schema came from in the first place is unknown
-Focus more on current factors that can cause the disorder not really historical factors.
-It is different from the learning paradigm because cognitive allows merging of overt behaviours with covert. By merging these, can work on both to better fix the problem. Fix overt behaviour by fixing thoughts, schemas, etc.