Historical Approaches to

Abnormal Behavior, Part III

January 29, 2014

PSYC 2340: Abnormal Psychology

Brett Deacon, Ph.D.

Announcement

• Sona systems mass testing has begun

From Last Class

• Chemical imbalance theory

• Psychoanalytic tradition

• Humanistic tradition

From Last Class

• Humanistic tradition: summary

• Rejection of DSM diagnostic system

• Rejection of clinical trials based on DSM

• Assumption that relationship is why therapy works

• Rejection of specific techniques for specific problems

• Assumption clients know what’s best for themselves

The Humanistic Tradition

• What therapy is, and is not, within the

humanistic tradition

• Carol Rogers and client-centered therapy

• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=m30jsZx_Ngs&feature=related

• Critical analysis?

The Behavioral Tradition

• Arose in reaction to psychoanalytic model

• Disagreement with the “deeper meaning” of symptoms

• Rejection of immeasurable concepts as speculative and nonscientific

• Emphasis on experimentally demonstrable principles of conditioning and learning

Classical Conditioning

• First demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov (1927)

• Process by which a neutral stimulus acquires

the power to elicit a response by being

repeatedly paired with an unconditioned

stimulus

• Simple definition: paired learning

Classical Conditioning

How classically conditioned responses are acquired:

1. An unconditioned stimulus (meat) automatically elicits

an unconditioned response (salivation)

2. A neutral stimulus (bell) is repeatedly paired with the

unconditioned stimulus (meat)

3. Eventually, the neutral stimulus (bell) becomes a

conditioned stimulus that has the power to elicit the

response (now called a conditioned response)

Example: Little Albert’s rabbit fear

Classical Conditioning: Examples

• Roommate tormenting: http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo7jcI8fAuI

• Product advertisements: http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V1oNGOVo-4&list=PL0D74B5C94759942A

Classical Conditioning

• How are conditioned responses extinguished?

• Repeatedly presenting the CS in the absence of the UCS

• Hitting the easy button without shooting your roommate

• Drinking Coke in the absence of cuddly polar bears

Another Example

• Jesse is mugged at gunpoint in her driveway

one night by a male with a beard wearing Polo

cologne

• Which previously neutral stimuli might now

feared by Jesse because of classical

conditioning?

• How could such conditioned fears be

overcome?

Operant Conditioning

• Behavior is modified by its consequences

• Pleasurable consequences strengthen behavior• Positive reinforcement• Negative reinforcement

• Aversive consequences weaken behavior• Positive punishment• Negative punishment

• http://canitbesaturdaynow.com/dived/video/adhd_cure/

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt4N9GSBoMI

Operant Conditioning

• Negative reinforcement is not the same thing

as punishment!

• Reinforcement strengthens behavior

• Punishment weakens behavior

Operant Conditioning – Clinical Applications

Irene is a recovering heroin addict with mild mental retardation. On the inpatient substance abuse unit, she often engages in a form of self-injurious behavior in which she stares at a staff member, smiles, strikes her ears with her hands, and repeats the word “no” while shaking her head. Staff members typically respond by approaching her, gently grabbing her hands, and reminding her that such behavior is not acceptable. The persistent nature of this behavior is a serious concern among staff members who don’t want Irene to hurt herself but are also concerned that she is manipulating them.

Operant Conditioning – Clinical Applications

• What operant conditioning process is

maintaining Irene’s self-injurious behavior?

• What operant conditioning process is

maintaining the staff’s response to Irene’s self-

injurious behavior?

• How could you use operant conditioning to

change Irene’s behavior?

The Cognitive Tradition

• Basic principle: People are upset not because of events or situations, but by the meaning that people give to events or situations

• When the meaning is negative, negative emotions result

• Perceived threat = anxiety

• Perceived loss = sadness

• Perceived unfairness = anger

The Cognitive Model: A Clinical Example

Lisa is bothered by recurrent, distressing obsessions that she can’t seem to get out of her mind. These include unwanted urges to stab her friends, urges to hit pedestrians with her car, impulses to engage in sexually inappropriate acts, and urges to drive her car off bridges. She is terrified that she will act on these thoughts, even though she has no desire to do so and finds them abhorrent. She goes to great lengths to avoid acting on them, and her lifestyle becomes dramatically restricted as a result. She eventually begins taking medication and seeing a therapist.

Situation What you think How you feel What you do

Weird thought

I’m crazy for having this thought

I am a horrible person

I might act on it

I might really want to do it

I am perverted

Anxious

Avoid driving

Avoid friends

The Cognitive Model: An Everyday Example

Ed sometimes has weird thoughts, such as

unwanted urges to stab his friends, urges to hit

pedestrians with his car, impulses to engage in

sexually inappropriate acts, and urges to drive

his car off bridges. He has no desire to act on

the thoughts. He easily dismisses them as

senseless and unimportant, and they do not

bother him.

Situation What you think How you feel What you do

Weird thought

It is normal to have weird thoughts

Having a weird thought doesn’t mean I’m a bad or dangerous person

Thinking about something bad happening doesn’t mean it will happen

No emotional response

Nothing in particular

The Cognitive-Behavioral Tradition

• Behavioral and cognitive therapies (i.e., cognitive-behavioral therapy)

• Theory and practice

• Tend to be short-term, problem-focused, present-focused

• Cognitive-behavioral therapies have widespread empirical support

• We’ll talk about plenty of examples this spring