LEARNED BEHAVIOUR
Behavioural models suggest that all behaviour, abnormal included, is a product of learning – mainly learning by association .For example, according to the classical conditioning model of learning (e.g. Pavlov, 1928), 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. There is nothing inherently frightening about department stores, but this man fears them because of the association that he has formed with his earlier anxiety about having a possible heart attack. Here is another example which instead uses the operant model of learning (e.g. Skinner, 1953): if a young normal weight 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 behaviour will continue because she now associates a reduction in her diet with the praise and acceptance of others.There is a third type of learning that does not rely on personal experiences to establish associations. In observational learning, behaviour is learned simply by watching someone else do something and observing what happens to them (Bandura, 1969). For example, a young boy may learn to be aggressive after watching his peers act aggressively.Each of these learning models was built on a solid foundation of empirical research, and there is a great deal of evidence that each of the three learning processes plays an important role in abnormal behaviour.
DISTORTED THINKING
Cognitive models of abnormal behaviour focus on the way people think about themselves, others and the world (e.g. Beck et al., 1979). Distorted cognitive processes – such as selectively attending to some information and ignoring other information,exaggerating negative feelings, expecting the worst, or making
inaccurate attributions about events (see chapters 14 and 17) –have been shown to play an important role in various types ofpsychological disorders.For example, suppose a woman has a bad day at work. If she says to herself, ‘Oh well, tomorrow will be better’, she will probably feel fine. But if she says to herself, ‘Oh, I’m just a horrible person with no future’ (i.e. if she exaggerates her negative feelings), she may become depressed. Or suppose a young man loses at a game of cards. If he thinks, ‘I sure had bad luck with the cards today’, he will feel fine. But if he thinks, ‘My rotten friends purposely cheated me!’ he may become hostile and aggressive.
INTEGRATIVE MODELS
The models of abnormal behaviour described above are quite different from one another, and each is more or less well suited to particular disorders. As most disorders are quite complex, no single model can provide a full explanation of their onset and course over time. Instead, each model can help us to understand a different aspect of each disorder. This is where integrative models are useful. You may have noticed that only some of the models above explicitly focus on childhood factors that may contribute to thedevelopment of abnormal behaviour, whereas the others only do so at an implicit level. For example, behavioural models suggest that abnormal behaviour is the product of ‘earlier’ learning experiences, but they don’t elaborate on exactly what those experiences are. By contrast, developmental psychopathology provides a more rigorous framework for understanding how psychopathology develops from childhood to adulthood. It is also likely that mental illness results only when particular combinations of factors are present. This notion is at the heart of the diathesis–stress model. The diathesis–stress model The diathesis–stress model of mental illness (figure 15.4) suggeststhat some people possess an enduring vulnerability factor (a diathesis) which, when coupled with a proximal (recent) stressor, results in psychological disorder. Neither the diathesis nor the stressor alone is enough to lead to symptoms – both must be present. Diatheses and stressors can be defined broadly. For example, a genetic or biological predisposition to mental illness might be the diathesis, and a troubled parent–child relationship could be the stressor; or a dysfunctional pattern of thinking about the world can be the diathesis, and a major life event the stressor.As you read through the following g sections on the various disorders,you might want to consider how a diathesis–stress process could describe how each comes about.
Behavioural models suggest that all behaviour, abnormal included, is a product of learning – mainly learning by association .For example, according to the classical conditioning model of learning (e.g. Pavlov, 1928), 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. There is nothing inherently frightening about department stores, but this man fears them because of the association that he has formed with his earlier anxiety about having a possible heart attack. Here is another example which instead uses the operant model of learning (e.g. Skinner, 1953): if a young normal weight 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 behaviour will continue because she now associates a reduction in her diet with the praise and acceptance of others.There is a third type of learning that does not rely on personal experiences to establish associations. In observational learning, behaviour is learned simply by watching someone else do something and observing what happens to them (Bandura, 1969). For example, a young boy may learn to be aggressive after watching his peers act aggressively.Each of these learning models was built on a solid foundation of empirical research, and there is a great deal of evidence that each of the three learning processes plays an important role in abnormal behaviour.
DISTORTED THINKING
Cognitive models of abnormal behaviour focus on the way people think about themselves, others and the world (e.g. Beck et al., 1979). Distorted cognitive processes – such as selectively attending to some information and ignoring other information,exaggerating negative feelings, expecting the worst, or making
inaccurate attributions about events (see chapters 14 and 17) –have been shown to play an important role in various types ofpsychological disorders.For example, suppose a woman has a bad day at work. If she says to herself, ‘Oh well, tomorrow will be better’, she will probably feel fine. But if she says to herself, ‘Oh, I’m just a horrible person with no future’ (i.e. if she exaggerates her negative feelings), she may become depressed. Or suppose a young man loses at a game of cards. If he thinks, ‘I sure had bad luck with the cards today’, he will feel fine. But if he thinks, ‘My rotten friends purposely cheated me!’ he may become hostile and aggressive.
INTEGRATIVE MODELS
The models of abnormal behaviour described above are quite different from one another, and each is more or less well suited to particular disorders. As most disorders are quite complex, no single model can provide a full explanation of their onset and course over time. Instead, each model can help us to understand a different aspect of each disorder. This is where integrative models are useful. You may have noticed that only some of the models above explicitly focus on childhood factors that may contribute to thedevelopment of abnormal behaviour, whereas the others only do so at an implicit level. For example, behavioural models suggest that abnormal behaviour is the product of ‘earlier’ learning experiences, but they don’t elaborate on exactly what those experiences are. By contrast, developmental psychopathology provides a more rigorous framework for understanding how psychopathology develops from childhood to adulthood. It is also likely that mental illness results only when particular combinations of factors are present. This notion is at the heart of the diathesis–stress model. The diathesis–stress model The diathesis–stress model of mental illness (figure 15.4) suggeststhat some people possess an enduring vulnerability factor (a diathesis) which, when coupled with a proximal (recent) stressor, results in psychological disorder. Neither the diathesis nor the stressor alone is enough to lead to symptoms – both must be present. Diatheses and stressors can be defined broadly. For example, a genetic or biological predisposition to mental illness might be the diathesis, and a troubled parent–child relationship could be the stressor; or a dysfunctional pattern of thinking about the world can be the diathesis, and a major life event the stressor.As you read through the following g sections on the various disorders,you might want to consider how a diathesis–stress process could describe how each comes about.
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