Psychological Exp:Cognitive Distortions

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What are cognitive distortions?
errors of biases in peoples thinking
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Give two examples of cognitive distortions?
Hostile Attribution Bias
and Minimalisation
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What is hostile attribution bias?
People misenterpret actions of others- assume they are being confrontational when they are not
eg. being 'looked at'
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What research shows an example of hostile attribution bias?
55 violent offenders shown images of ambiguous facial expressions, compared to a control group.
Violent offenders more likely to see the faces as hostile and angry than the control group.
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What is minimalisation?
the attempt to downplay or deny the seriousness of an offence.
eg. burglars describe themselves as 'doing a job'
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What did Barbaree find in her research of minimalisation?
amoung 26 rapists, 54% denied committing an offence and 40% minimalised the harm they had caused to the victim
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How might the explanation be criticised
while it describes how criminals think it doesnt explain why they think like this.
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What is a strength of the cognitive distortions explanation?
Application to therapy
Offenders are encouraged to establish a less distorted view of their actions.
Reducing denial/minimalisation is associated with reduced risk of reoffending.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Give two examples of cognitive distortions?

Back

Hostile Attribution Bias
and Minimalisation

Card 3

Front

What is hostile attribution bias?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What research shows an example of hostile attribution bias?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What is minimalisation?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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