Cognitive approach to psychopathology

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  • Created by: Aletia
  • Created on: 10-04-13 19:59
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  • Cognitive approach to psychopathology
    • Accepts the behavioural approach but focuses on the thoughts that causes the behaviour and faulty thoughts known as 'cognitive errors' cause the abnormal behaviour
    • Types of cognitive errors
      • Automatic thoughts- occur without thinking
        • More negative thoughts and inaccurate attributions in abnormal people
      • Attributions- -peoples attempts to make sense of their own world and other peoples behaviour
        • More negative thoughts and inaccurate attributions in abnormal people
    • Faulty cognitive processes
      • Over generalisation
        • Example: getting a bad grade and thinking you're going to fail everything
      • Magnification of failures and minimisation of successes
        • Example: pessimistic approach to life
        • Investigated through clinical observations and questionnaires and interviews
          • Over generalisation
            • Example: getting a bad grade and thinking you're going to fail everything
    • Support: focus is on current thoughts, people with OCD report irrational and unjustifiable thoughts, influential and popular model - cognitive therapists employed by the NHS, empowers people - gives them responsibility to change their thoughts
    • Limitations: doesn't take enough notice of physiological and environmental influences, unscientific - thoughts can't be observed or measured, chicken and egg problem, blames the induvidual, perhaps thought processes are not irrational

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