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  1. The Behavioral Perspective
    1. Behavioral perspective views behavior as result of environmental experience or learning
      1. Cause of behavior is in environment
      2. Proximal focus in treating behaviors
    2. The Background on Behaviorism
      1. Behaviorism rose in reaction to subjective analysis of one's thought processes
      2. Learning is explanation of behavior
      3. Mechanisms of learning laid foundation for behaviorism
        1. Pavlov: The Conditioned Reflex
          1. Conditioned reflex is basic mechanism of learning
          2. Many responses were result of simple learning process
        2. John Watson: The Founder of American Behaviorism
          1. Believed psychology should focus on observable and measurable behavior
          2. Rejected introspection as method
          3. Found emotional responses to be conditioned
        3. Edward Lynn Thorndike: The Law of Effect
          1. Studied relationship between behavior and its consequences
          2. Formulated law of effect describing how consequences can strengthen and weaken behavior
        4. B. F. Skinner: Radical Behaviorism and Operant Conditioning
          1. Developed radical behaviorism: everything person does, says, or feels is behavior
          2. Focused on practical applications of experimental analysis
          3. Contingencies in environment could be altered to change behavior
    3. The Assumptions of Behavioral Psychology
      1. Study behavior by examining learning history
      2. Stimuli and responses must be observed and measured
      3. Goal of psychology is prediction and control of behavior
        1. Laboratory settings provide easy prediction and control
        2. Real-life settings add complexity
      4. Focus on outside of organism to locate real causes of behavior
    4. The Basic Mechanisms of Learning
      1. Respondent conditioning (classical conditioning)
        1. Pairing of stimuli leads to conditioning to what is initially a neutral stimulus
        2. Respondent conditioning is learning of conditioned response
          1. Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
          2. Unconditioned response (UCR)
          3. Conditioned stimulus (CS)
          4. Conditioned response (CR)
      2. Operant conditioning (instrumental conditioning)
        1. Operant behavior is associated with outcomes
        2. Operant conditioning involves increasing or decreasing likelihood of behavior by its consequences
        3. Association between behavior and consequence is a contingency
        4. Reinforcement refers to process where events in environment that increase probability that behavior will be repeated
          1. A primary reinforcer is one that we respond to instinctively
          2. Conditioned reinforcers are stimuli that we have learned to respond to through association to primary reinforcers
          3. Positive reinforcement strengthens response
          4. Negative reinforcement strengthens response by avoidance or removal of aversive stimulus
        5. Punishment refers to process where behavior decreases in frequency
        6. Negative reinforcement and punishment are often confused for several reasons
          1. Similar consequences do not have similar effects on all people
          2. It is hard to think of reinforcement as negative
        7. Functional analysis identifies variables controlling behavior
    5. Other Mechanisms Associated with Learning
      1. Extinction is elimination of a response by withdrawing reinforcer that maintained it
      2. Generalization occurs when organism responds to similar stimuli
      3. Discrimination is learning to distinguish among similar stimuli
      4. Shaping refers to reinforcement of successive approximations of desired response
      5. Learning to follow rules: Instructions as discriminative stimuli
        1. Behavior is acquired through modeling or imitation
        2. Modeling can occur without verbal instruction or external reinforcement
    6. Abnormal Behavior as a Product of Learning
      1. Normal behavior seen as due to genetics and experience
      2. Abnormal behavior seen as due to genetics and experience
        1. Explanations favor complexity over simplicity
        2. Emphasis more on entire life history of individual
        3. Behavior is defined within its context
      3. Skeptical of usefulness of labeling people, which suggests medical model
      4. Function of behavior not form is basis of prediction and influence
      5. Learning may be an important variable in abnormal behavior
    7. The Behavioral Approach to Therapy
      1. Using same mechanisms believed to produce normal behavior
      2. Respondent Conditioning and Extinction
        1. Maladaptive behavior can be unlearned
        2. Systematic desensitization
          1. Systematic desensitization (Joseph Wolpe) based on weakening bond between stimuli and anxiety
          2. Client given relaxation training
          3. Hierarchy of fears developed
          4. Client practices relaxing while confronting fears in hierarchy either in vivo or through imagining
          5. Effective for wide variety of problems
        3. Exposure
          1. Extinction as a clinical practice has replaced systematic desensitization
          2. Patients are confronted with experiences they fear without reinforcement
          3. Flooding involves prolonged confrontation
          4. In graded exposure, the confrontation is gradual
      3. Operant Conditioning
        1. Contingency management involves the manipulation of consequences of behavior
        2. Behavior can be changed by managing its contingencies
      4. Multicomponent Treatment
        1. A disorder has many facets
        2. Different treatments address various problems
      5. The New Radical Behavioral Therapies: Integrating Acceptance with Change
        1. Incorporates behavioral principles with acceptance
        2. Dialectical behavior therapy emphasizes validation and skills training
      6. Behavior Therapy: Pros and Cons
        1. There are several criticisms of behavior therapy
          1. It is superficial since it does not focus on patient's past or have insight as primary goal
          2. It addresses patient's symptoms and ignores underlying causes
          3. It denies individual freedom
        2. Behavior therapy has been shown to be effective in treating wide variety of problems
          1. It tends to be faster and less expensive than other treatments
          2. Paraprofessionals and nonprofessionals can use it
          3. It can be reported, discussed, and evaluated with precision
    8. Evaluating Behaviorism
      1. Criticisms of behaviorism
        1. Oversimplification
          1. It reduces life to small measurable units of behavior
          2. Ignores deeper workings of the mind
        2. Determinism
          1. Argues that there is no free will
          2. Argues that whatever we do is due to learning history
        3. The Issue of "Control"
          1. Suggests that behavioral engineering could be used for totalitarian regime where people are coerced by reinforcement
          2. Control actually refers to predictability and using scientific laws
      2. The Contributions of Behaviorism
        1. Adherence to objectivity and precision in behavioral research
        2. Behaviorists recognize broad range of responses as legitimate
        3. Treatment methods are promising with wide range of disorders and are applied in many settings
  2. The Cognitive Perspective
    1. Introduction
      1. Cognitive perspective argues that abnormal is product of mental processing
      2. Many psychological disturbances involve serious cognitive disturbances
      3. Certain cognitive patterns may be actual causes of disorders
    2. The Background of the Cognitive Perspective
      1. Cognitive perspective grew out of behavioral perspective
      2. Cognition is the mental processing of stimuli
    3. Cognitive Behaviorism
      1. An alliance between cognitive view and behavior view is cognitive behaviorism
      2. Mental processing of environmental stimuli influences behavior
      3. Albert Ellis: Irrational Beliefs
        1. Rational emotive therapy developed by Ellis
        2. Based on idea that psychological problems caused by people's reactions to events and not events themselves
          1. A is for activating experience
          2. B is for beliefs that irrationally follow
          3. C is for consequences
        3. Problems stem from irrational beliefs that need to be confronted and disputed
      4. Aaron T. Beck: Cognitive Distortions
        1. Psychological disorders often associated with specific patterns of distorted thinking
        2. Distorted thoughts centered on triad--self, world, and future
        3. Distortions become automatic and need to be replaced with more reasonable thoughts
    4. Cognitive Appraisal
      1. Evaluating stimuli is called cognitive appraisal and involves using one's memories, beliefs, and expectations
      2. Person's interpretation of stimulus determines response to it
      3. Attribution is one form of cognitive appraisal and includes three dimensions
      4. Dimensions influence feelings of hopelessness and helplessness
      5. Cognitive Variables Affecting Behavior
        1. Competencies--unique set of skills acquired through past learning
        2. Encoding strategies--special way of perceiving and categorizing experience
        3. Expectancies--develop sense of what is likely to lead to rewards and punishments
        4. Values--we place different meaning on different stimuli
        5. Plans and goals--behavior is guided by plans and goals
        6. Bandura's expectancies
          1. Outcome expectancies--expectation that a behavior will lead to a certain result
          2. Efficacy expectations--expectation that one will be able to execute a behavior successfully; believed to be determinant of coping behavior
    5. Information-Processing
      1. Information processing refers to how the mind takes in, stores, interprets, and uses information from environment
        1. Automatic processing operates without conscious awareness and may be part of many abnormal behavior patterns
        2. Controlled processing requires logic and consideration
      2. Computer as model of human mind
      3. Taking in certain information and filtering out the rest is called selective attention and may play a role in some abnormal behaviors
      4. Organizing structures
        1. A schema is an organized structure of information about a particular domain of life
          1. Schemas influence how we select and process new information
          2. Self-schemas are schemas that refer to our self-concept and identity
        2. Irrational beliefs can cause anxiety and depression
    6. The Cognitive Approach to Therapy
      1. Cognitive restructuring attempts to help clients change the ways they perceive and interpret events
      2. Self-instructional training emphasizes modifying self talk--the things people say to themselves before, during, and after actions
      3. Ellis' and Beck's Cognitive Therapies
        1. In rational-emotive therapy (RET) (Albert Ellis), client's irrationality is pointed out
        2. Irrational beliefs are disputed and questioned, and more rational beliefs are modeled and rehearsed
      4. Constructivist Cognitive Therapy
        1. Constructivist cognitive therapy emphasizes construction of new patterns
        2. Self-exploration through writing is important process
      5. Common Strategies in Cognitive Therapy
        1. Hypothesis testing involves clients testing their assumptions in real world
        2. In Reattribution training, client's distorted attributions are changed
        3. Decatastrophizing is a technique whereby client considers what would happen if worst fear were realized
    7. Evaluating the Cognitive Perspective
      1. Criticisms of Cognitive Psychology
        1. It is unscientific since theory is based on inferring forces that cannot be observed
        2. Recognizing that life is not rational may not be enough to produce therapeutic change
        3. Changing thinking may not be appropriate or right
        4. Basis of how cognitive therapy works is unknown
      2. Contributions of Cognitive Theory
        1. Focuses on specific, operationalized variables
        2. Insists on empirical evidence
        3. Techniques can be easily applied
        4. Cognitive therapy most successful with depression, substance dependence, and some personality disorders
        5. There are manuals available describing how to administer and evaluate cognitive therapy
  3. The Sociocultural Perspective
    1. Sociocultural perspective views abnormal behavior to be result of broad social forces
      1. Suggests that abnormal behavior may be the result of many diverse social forces
    2. Mental Illness and Social Ills
      1. Social ills cause psychological ills
      2. Focus should be on social ills such as poverty
    3. Mental Illness and Labeling
      1. Sociocultural view suggests that labeling occurs because individuals violate social norms
      2. Behavior consistent with role is reinforced; inconsistent behavior is punished, becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy
      3. Class, Race, and Diagnosis
        1. Psychological disturbances related to social class
        2. Differences found between people of lower socioeconomic class and those of middle-class
          1. People with lower socioeconomic backgrounds labeled psychotic and hospitalized
          2. People with higher socioeconomic backgrounds labeled neurotic and not hospitalized
        3. Race affects diagnosis
          1. Blacks more likely to be diagnosed as alcoholic or schizophrenic
          2. Whites more likely to be diagnosed as depressed
    4. Prevention as a Social Issue
      1. Approach to treatment involves community prevention programs
      2. Three levels of prevention exist
    5. Evaluating the Sociocultural Perspective
      1. Conditions in society do contribute to psychological disturbances
        1. Some argue that socially engendered stress is primary cause
        2. Some argue that socially engendered stress is secondary cause
      2. More controversy with notion that abnormality is a cultural artifact maintained through labeling





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