...Outline and evaluate the behavioural approach to abnormality. The behavioural approach to abnormality focuses on observable behaviour not what is in the mind. This approach says that behaviour is learned through a process called conditioning. There are three types of conditioning these are; classical, operant and social learning. The first type of conditioning is classical. Classical conditioning says that behaviours are learnt through a stimulus-response association. This means when someone has an experience (stimulus) and it causes a reaction (response) then that person might associate that stimulus and response every time. For example if someone saw a snake (stimulus) and someone screamed (Response) then a child could associate snakes with screaming and become scared. Classical conditioning is believed to be the cause of phobias. This was shown in the study of Little Albert. The next type of conditioning is operant. Operant conditioning is the child being conditioned by reinforcement and reward/punishment. Operant conditioning is based on two types of reinforcement, positive and negative. Positive reinforcement is behaving in a particular way because it brings a rewarding feeling, whereas negative reinforcement is behaving in a particular way to avoid a punishing feeling. This was looked at by Skinner and was tested in experiments like Skinner’s rats and Pavlov’s dogs. This theory can be also used to explain conditions like OCD. This is because being tidy as...
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...Outline and evaluate the behavioural approach to psychopathology (12 marks) One assumption of the behavioural approach is that only behaviour is important and that this behaviour is learned through experience. The processes of this learning include classical conditioning where associations are made between one thing and the other. Operant conditioning where abnormal behaviour is reinforced or the social learning theory (SLT) where abnormal behaviours are learnt vicariously. For example, a child may observe its mother obsessively cleaning the house and being praised by the father for doing so. This consequence (e.g. praise) may be enough to initiate the same abnormal behaviour (e.g. OCD) in the child. The behaviourist approach assumes that abnormal behaviours that have been learnt can be unlearnt using the same processes (operant conditioning, classical conditioning and SLT). So, undesirable or abnormal behaviour e.g. a phobia, can be replaced with more desirable or normal behavior using therapies such as systematic desensitisation. One strength of the behavioural approach is that therapy can focus directly on the client's maladaptive behaviour. For example, if a patient suffers from arachnophobia then the treatment can be directed solely towards getting rid of the fear of spiders instead of referring to the client's previous or medical history. This shows that changing the behaviour from maladaptive to adaptive is sufficient for a cure. One...
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...Discuss the cognitive approach to explain psychological abnormality. The cognitive approach focuses on the internal mental processes. In relation to metal disorders, the way a person thinks about events and experiences are assumed to go some way toward being the cause of the disorder; often because these thoughts may be irrational and distorted when it comes to someone with an underlying mental disorder. Beck, for example, in 1987 related ‘negative assumptions’ to depression. Beck (1987): Triad of negative assumptions • Negative view of self. ‘I am a worthless person.’ • Negative view of circumstance: ‘Everything is bleak and I cannot cope with what people expect of me.’ • Negative view of the future: ‘Things can only get worse and there is nothing I can do to change them.’ Eating disorders suggest that irrational negative thinking is a cause of mental disorders as people will this illness have the belief that being thin will lead to happiness and attractiveness, which therefore reinforces the idea that they are doing the right thing. Because of this type of behaviour a person is unable to behave adaptively. Therapies associated with this approach aim to challenge the negative thoughts, the cognitive approach is in some ways very similar to the behavioural approach, this is because the cognitive approach is a branch of the behavioural approach, it arose out of disappointment of behavioural therapies and its limitations. The difference between behavioural and cognitive therapy...
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...Abstract Introduction: Metabolic abnormalities, predominantly weight gain, are related with the use of Antipsychotic medications. Objectives: This paper will help us understand the underlying factors that cause metabolic and cardiovascular abnormalities; and to advice interventions that would help improve the condition of mental health consumers. Background: The review articles used in this paper shows a high linkage between metabolic and cardiovascular abnormalities with the use of Antipsychotic medications; which is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity among metal health consumers. Approach: Selective Article Reviews are being used. Findings and Implications: Metabolic and cardiovascular side effects such as weight gain, diabetes and hypertension are some of the risks of Antipsychotic drugs; however, there are other underlying factors that cause this such abnormalities such as genetic factors, lifestyle, and other medications. Hence, education, early monitoring and lifestyle modification is highly recommended. Conclusion: Atypical drugs are the frequently used treatment for mental disorders, particularly schizophrenia; but despite of its metabolic and cardiovascular side effects still it’s used is increasing. Therefore, early intervention and monitoring must be implemented, with the promotions of education, lifestyle and diet management. Introduction It is well known that psychotropic drugs, in general and antipsychotic...
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...Biological approach John exhibits some possible biological abnormalities. He could have inherited a genetic pre-disposition to be aggressive from his father. Serotonin levels maybe unbalanced in his brain due to his depression, add this with his alcohol consumption which will have an impact too. Any one of these things could be an explanation to John’s aggressive behaviour. Psychodynamic approach Psychodynamic approach could say John experienced some kind of emotional disturbance/trauma when he was going through the Psychosexual developmental stages he is verbally aggressive and has now started drinking which would say he could have regressed back to being fixated around the oral stage. Around the oral stage a child will develop an ego and will start to differentiate himself from others. The ego has many defences projection seems to be a big one for John he is projecting his anger from his dad to his boss and his boss to his wife and family. He is also displacing his angry thoughts of his boss and father onto his family as it may be that John is threatened by his father and boss so goes home and takes it out on his wife and family instead who he is not intimidated by. Behaviourist approach Behaviourist approach says all behaviour is learnt. John exhibits several behavioural problems which could be related to learnt behaviour, such as his great need for his bosses approval of things, which has an obvious relationship/connection to his childhood role model his father...
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...Outline and evaluate the Biological Approach to Depression According to the biological approach all psychological illnesses have a physical cause; it focus is on the treatment not the cure this can support the reason why relapse rates are high for individuals with depression. The biological approach to abnormality states that abnormality is caused by a range of different physical factors: Genetics and chemical imbalances in the brain. It is suggested that people possess certain genetic characteristics that make them more prone to developing abnormal behaviour such as depression. It is also thought that chemical imbalances in the brain produce abnormal behaviour, for example a lack of serotonin causes depression. This approach is better at explaining endogenous depression. Family, twin and adoption studies are used to research into depression. Supporting evidence for the biological approach is that depression is universal, as they are increasing and found cross culturally. Weismann (1987) stated that family evidence suggests that a person is 10 times more likely to suffer from depression, if a parent or sibling has a similar disorder. This could be because living with a person who is depressed could be depressing. However, according to a behavioural explanation this behaviour could have being modelled as the female could identify with the eating disorder and use them as a role model. Also family studies are conducted using retrospective data (looking back) and rely on correct...
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...treatment of abnormalities (12 Marks) There are many psychological therapies that are used to treat psychological disorders. Systematic desensitisation is just one of these therapies that are developed by behaviourists in order to treat phobias, as it aims to make an individual learn that feared objects are not so fearful. This can be achieved by introducing the object gradually. If maladaptive behaviours have been learnt by classical or operant conditioning it should be possible to change them, therefore Systematic desensitisation takes a practical problem-solving approach based upon classical conditioning. It uses reverse conditioning to replace a maladaptive response to a stimulus with an adaptive response. Psychologists work with the patient and help create hierarchy of events relating to the original stimulus, by associating an alternative response (e.g. muscle relaxation) to the object instead of the response of anxiety. This is useful as if a person it able to tolerate imagined stressful situations then it will be followed by a reduction in anxiety; meaning the treatment is only effective if a client can apply their learnt behaviour to real life. There is also research evidence to support the treatment, as McGrath et al (1990) demonstrated that Systematic desensitisation is effective for 75% of people with phobias. This empirical evidence demonstrates that SD is an effective technique. However, it is time consuming in comparison to other behavioural methods and this...
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...TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Plagiarism Declaration 2 2 Assignment Table 3 3 References 5 Plagiarism Declaration |I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is using another’s work and pretending that it is one’s own work. | | | |I have used the American Psychological Association (APA) as the convention for citation and referencing. Each significant | |contribution to, and quoted in, this assignment from the work, or works of other people has been attributed and has been | |cited and referenced. | | | |This assignment is my own work. | | | |I have not allowed, and will not allow, anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as his or her own work.| | | |I acknowledge that copying someone else’s assignment, or part...
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...OUTLINE and EVALUATE the BEHAVIOURAL MODEL (explanation) of ABNORMALITY The basic assumption of the Behavioural Model is that all behaviour is learnt. This can happen in 3 ways: - Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning and Social Learning. Classical Conditioning is ‘learning through association’ e.g. a phobia of small spaces may develop when someone has been frightened having been trapped in a lift. They associate fear with small spaces. As demonstrated by the study on little albert by Watson and Rayners 1920. Before conditioning the loud noise was the unconditioned stimulus and led to fear and crying as an unconditioned response. The white rate was a neutral stimulus and there was no response. During conditioning the loud noise paired with the white rat let to fear and crying as such, after conditioning the white rat led to fear and crying. Operant Conditioning is ‘learning through the consequences of behaviour’. If behaviour is rewarded it will be reinforced. E.g. If a child’s tantrum is rewarded by sweets it will be maintained or increased but if it is punished it will decrease. This is known as direct reinforcement. Social Learning is when behaviour is observed and copied. E.g. a child might develop a fear of spiders by watching a parent being frightened by them. This is shown through the Bobo Doll studies by Bandura and Ross. In the study 3 groups of children watched a video in which they witnessed and adult aggressive towards a Bobo doll but with...
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...achieved during his experiences. Nevertheless, memory is fragile to crumble and can give life to serious neurodegenerative mental problems with their consequent deficit, dementia, motor abnormalities, and behavioural disorders. Although in the 21st century, Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most widespread mental disorders of elderly people across the world, there is no existing and secure cure in order to defeat it. The first hints and signs of this disease goes back to 1907, when in German, the doctor Alois Alzheimer found himself in front of weird changes in the brain tissue of a 51-year-old woman....
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...Outline and Evaluate the Behavioural Approach to Psychopathology The behaviourist approach assumes that all behaviours are learnt. It suggests that there are three ways in which this learning can happen, these are classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social learning. The first method is classical conditioning this is when behaviour is learnt through association; via a stimulus and a response. This is an explanation for phobias, an abnormal behaviour can be learned by associating an environmental stimulus; a dog, with a biological response; fear and pain when bitten by the dog. Therefore, every time a person previously bitten by a dog sees a dog, they experience the same fear they felt when being bitten. Thus, the person would develop a phobia of dogs. Another example is, the fear of small spaces, this may develop if fear is felt in a situation involving a small space – an elevator for example. Therefore a past distressing event in the elevator may lead to associating fear with small spaces. The second way is operant conditioning, this is when behaviour is learnt through positive reinforcement; rewarded by a pleasant outcome or a negative reinforcement; rewarded by the removal of the unpleasant condition. This can be associated to abnormalities like anorexia for example. If a person is dieting and they then begin to gain compliments from the weight loss, these compliments act as a positive reinforcement and they will carry on behaving the same way. If this were to...
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...Discuss the behavioural approach to explaining psychological abnormalities (12 marks) The behavioural approach focuses on the behaviour of an individual in order to explain psychological problems. Behaviourists claim that abnormal behaviour is learned through experiences in the same way as most other behaviour through classical and operant conditioning. Behaviourists believe the concept of classical conditioning can be used to explain the development of many abnormal behaviours, including phobias and taste aversions. The theory of classical conditioning is used to explain how behaviour is learnt through ‘stimulus-response’ associations. An event in the environment (stimulus) results in a physiological reaction (response) in the individual. Then the events and reactions are forged into an association which can lead to the development of phobias. For example a person may climb the top of a high hill and when looking down (environmental stimulus) may experience nausea or dizziness (physiological response). This then will be made into a stimulus-response association and will lead to the development of a phobia e.g. the fear of heights, which means the person, will be scared of heights and will avoid them whenever possible. Watson and Rayner demonstrated how phobias are learnt through conditioning in their experiment involving “Little Albert”. They experimented with an 11-month-old boy, ‘little Albert’, producing fear of a white rat by associating it with loud and frightful noise...
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...mental health disorders; Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Major Depressive Episode (MDE).. I decided to focus on these two common mental health disorders as both hold particular interest for me. MDE- What struck me most in researching this topic was the relative ease with which someone could find themselves diagnosed with MDE under current DSM-IV guidelines. Possibly without them having awareness of their impending path and journey into mental health difficulties. I was impacted by BPD in regards to its more challenging behaviours to the therapist, who may be dealing with a client existing between borderline and psychotic worlds. I will explore the application of two theoretical approaches, namely humanistic and cognitive behavioural in relation to these mental health disorders. I will also demonstrate the importance of cultural difference in relation to understanding mental health issues and I will highlight the role risk assessment plays in the provision of supports for clients and the therapists. I will also demonstrate the importance of supervision and record keeping and I will conclude the essay with a brief summary of my key learning, including my understanding of limitations and challenges facing me within the psychotherapeutic relationship. PSYCHOPATHOLOGY A helpful understanding of what pathology is and one that I agree with was suggested by Stirling, who contributed that psychopathology is, ‘The scientific study of abnormal behaviour. As such it...
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...Describe and evaluate therapies derived from either the psychodynamic or the cognitive-behavioural models of abnormality. /30 marks Psychodynamic therapies were suggested by Sigmund Freud at the start of the twentieth centaury. Freud started off with the main therapy witch is psychoanalysis therapy. This therapy is based on neurotic problems that develop during the oedipal stage. The conflicts were suggested to be repressed memories and thoughts that the immature ego can not handle. The role of the psychoanalyst was to recover these repressed memories that was causing the patients undesirable behaviour, these memories would then be talked and discussed with the therapist in the safety of their surgery. Freud suggested the key to unlocking these thoughts was for the surgery to be the right situation for them to come out and develop. This therapy technique is said to be the principle on what all other psychodynamic therapies work on such as word association, free association, dream analyses and psycho drama. Free association is another such psychodynamic therapy, in this therapy a patient is required to lay down and get into the right atmosphere by being relaxed to allow the free flow of thoughts to come to mind. The first thoughts that enter the patients mind must be recalled to the practitioner because these thoughts are supposed to represent unconscious drives and desires . This aims to recall underlying thoughts that you may not be aware you are thinking about. Patients...
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...encompasses all diseases and conditions of the heart and blood vessels (including coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease) caused mainly by blood supply to the heart, brain and legs. | -To improve cardiovascular health by reducing CVD.-CVD is leading cause of premature death and second leading cause of burden of disease.- CVD is also largely preventable and places a large economic burden on the health care system. | 1. biological: cholesterol levels, age, sex and genetics. high blood pressure-indicates that the heart is already working harder and under pressure, which can lead to stroke and kidney disease.Body weight- excess body weight places greater strain on heart and increases hypertension and cholesterol levels.2. Behavioural: physical activity, tobacco smoking poor nutrition-diets high in saturated fat such as cholesterol can contribute to overweight and obesity. Low intake of fruit and vegetables can contribute to increased snacking on high fat and high sugar foods, increasing obesity, which heightens risk of CVD.Physical enviro: air quality (tobacco smoke) Access to recreational facilities-if lacking access, they might not exercise as much as otherwise might. Heightens risk of CVD and obesity.Social envrio- SES, Early life experiences. | Swap it, don’t stop it WHO- Diabetes Australia QueenslandWHAT- * The program works with Heart Foundation, Cancer Council Queensland and Nutrition Australia in QLD. * The program includes an online 12-week planner...
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