Lecture 7: Basic Theoretical Models of Human Functioning - PDF

Lecture 7: Basic theoretical models of human functioning used in clinical psychology part II. Introduction to clinical psychology Anna Gabińska, Ph.D.  Behavioral model  Three major models: 1. The classical conditioning model 2. The operant conditioning model 3. The observational...

Lecture 7: Basic theoretical models of human functioning used in clinical psychology part II. Introduction to clinical psychology Anna Gabińska, Ph.D.  Behavioral model  Three major models: 1. The classical conditioning model 2. The operant conditioning model 3. The observational learning model. Behavioral model  All behavior is learned. Every behavior and menatl disorder can be explained in terms of the experiences you have had as opposed to any inherited dispositions.  Learning is a long-term change in behavior that's based on experience.  Like psychodynamic theorists, behaviorists also believe that our actions are determined largely by our experiences in life. People are born as a ‘blank slate’.  Behavior is all that should concern psychologists – there is no need to search for the mind or analyze thoughts and feelings.  Behavioral model  Normality equaled with the possession of an adequately large repertoire of learned responses  “Mental illness”/“Mental disorder” are not meaningful - no distinction between symptoms and behavior disorder  Focus on symptoms, not causes  Risk of “ symptom substitution”  A major cause for abnormal behavior is a learned maladaptive responses  The primary goal of behavior therapy is observable behavior change.  The treatment of problem behaviors should be stated as testable hypotheses.  Classical conditioning  Learning by temporal association  When two events repeatedly occur close together in time, they become fused in a person’s mind; before long, the person responds in the same way to both events. If a girl hears from the doctor, that the shot she is going to get ”doesn’t hurt at all” and then it actually hurts her a lot (US), the girl may develop a strong anxious reaction (CR) anytime she visits a doctor (including a dentist) and hears that the procedure is not painful and does not hurt a lot (CS). If a man experiences chest pains which result in anxiety while shopping in a department store, he may develop a fear of department stores and begin to avoid them because he associates them with anxiety. Classical Conditioning Step 1: Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) > Unconditioned response (UCR) Conditioned Stimulus (CS) No response Step 2: Pairing UCS and CS > Conditioned Response (CR) + Step 3: Conditioned Stimulus (CS) > Conditioned Response (CR) Techniques based on classical conditioning  Exposure Therapy  Systematic Desentisation  Assertiveness Training Operant Conditioning Operant conditioning explains how consequences lead to changes in voluntary behavior. Humans learn to behave in certain ways as a result of receiving rewards and punishments whenever they do so. Reinforcers make it more likely that you'll do something again, while punishers make it less likely. Positive means the addition of a stimulus, like getting dessert after you finish your veggies, and negative means the removal of a stimulus, like getting a night of no homework because you did well on an exam  Operant Conditioning Reinforcment: increasing the likelihood of the behavior recurring. Positive reinforcement- increasing a behavior by providing a positive reinforcer when the behavior occurs. Negative reinforcement- increasing a behavior by removing a negative reinforcer when the behavior occurs. Punishment- decreasing the likelihood of the behavior recurring Positive punishment:- decreasing a behavior by providing a negative consequence when the behavior occurs. Negative punishment - decreasing a behavior by removing a positive consequence when the behavior occurs  Operant Conditioning Extinction (omission training)- decreasing a behavior by removing a positive reinforcer when the behavior occurs. There aren't many things we do that haven't been influenced at some point by operant conditioning. If consequences shape all behavior, this also includes behavior labeled as abnormal.  Operant conditioning  After eating dinner with her family, a girl clears the table and washes the dishes. When she is done, her mom gives her a big hug and says, "Thank you honey." She may help more.  If a young woman begins to lose weight and her friends and family praise her for doing so, she may continue to lose weight, even if it means starving herself.  Her restricted eating behavior will continue because she now associates a reduction in her diet with the praise and acceptance of others. Operant conditioning Understanding depression:  perceived as a loss, decrease or absence of rewards, or the inability to obtain rewards.  is a result of passive, repetitive unrewarding behavior.  is a result of feelings of helplessness arising from the lack of problem-solving skills or behaviors. Techniques based on operant conditioning Contingency Management: “if... , then...” statements  Reinforcements and punishments  Aversion therapy  Applied Behavior Analysis ABA  Extinction-based therapies  Token economies  Shaping  Behavioral activation How do you understand this? Conditioning as an Explanation for Phobias  Observational learning: Social Learning Theory by A. Bandura  Acquisition of new behaviors does not only rely on personal experiences.  Responses are learned indirectly by observing and repeating behavior of others, there is no direct reinforcement.  Individuals observe role models (people with whom they identify) and learn about the consequences of behavior through indirect reinforcement. These consequences are represented as expectancies of future outcomes and stored as internal mental representations.  Observational learning (SLT)  Observation may lead to learning but the performance of such behaviors is related to other factors.  An individual will display the behavior if the possibility of obtaining reward is greater than the expectation of punishment and if the individual has the skills required to perform the behavior.  The behavior is maintained if there is a reward for it.  Example: A young boy may learn to be aggressive after watching his peers act aggressively and getting what they want and not being punished (-> cont.)  Observational learning (SLT)  Example continued: If this boy is rewarded (gets what he wants and is praised by others) for aggressive behavior, he is likely to repeat the same action in similar situations. With time aggression will have considerable value for him.  Bandura: Behavior is best maintained by the use of self-reward. Positive behaviors may be quickly extinguished if they are not maintained by self-reinforcements.  Bandura: The patient should act better before feeling better.  Learned Helplessness  In their study of animal learning, Overmier & Seligman (1967) described the first animal model of depression, learned helplessness.  Organisms exposed to negative, uncontrollable events find it harder to escape negative but controllable events than organisms that have never been experienced that type of exposure.  Learned Helplessness  Abramson & Seligman (1978) reformulated learned helplessness in human, developing the attribution theory.  People who – as a result of being exposed to negative, uncontrollable contingencies- learn to make internal, global and stable inferences about negative events will be more vulnerable to depression.  Behavioral Factors in Depression  Bandura (1977): behavior is best maintained by the use of self-reward; positive behaviors may be quickly extinguished if they are not maintained by self-reinforcement.  „the patient should act better before feeling better”.  Behavioral Factors in Depression Depression can be the result of:  Reduction of positive behavior  Behavior that has become less rewarding  Lack of self-reward  Use of self-punishment (e.g., self-criticism)  Skills deficits: lack of assertion or poor problem-solving skills  Exposure to aversive situations  Behavioral Activation  From a BA perspective, a meaningful life is one filled with contact with diverse and stable sources of positive reinforcement.  The main idea behind BA is to help the patient increase activities that will lead to positive reinforcement according to his personal values and goals, overcoming avoidance and any other obstacle in the course of achieving the end.