PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT:Humanistic Model, Classical Conditioning

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Abnormal Psychology PSY404

LESSON 5

PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT

PSYCHOLOGICAL MODEL

Humanistic Model

Humanistic view puts the emphasis on the positive aspects of life, free choices and personal growth

experiences. Abnormality results from refusal to accept personal responsibility for one's own actions and

thoughts. So human behavior is caused by the choices we make voluntarily. The Humanistics assume that

human nature is inherently good and they blame abnormal / aggressive behavior caused by the society but

not by the individual.

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) postulated a hierarchy of needs beginning with physiological needs at the

bottom and self actualization at the top. An individual must meet the basic needs before trying to meet the

higher needs.

Self Actualization

Self Esteem

Love and Belongingness

Safety Needs

Psychological Needs

Maslow's Hierarchy of needs

The triangle or pyramid has a broad base and narrow top, so majority of individuals are involved at fulfilling

basic needs and only few reach the top i.e. self actualization means that we can reach our highest potential

in all areas of functioning if we had freedom to grow. Majority of the people are involved in fulfilling the

needs at the lower level and it is very few who reach the top e.g. Quaid-e-Azam, Dr Abdul Salam.

Carl Rogers (1902-1987) originated the client centered therapy, later known as person centered approach.

The therapist takes a passive position and provides the client and environment to develop insight about the

self consists of all the perceptions, ideas and values that characterize "I" "Me" i.e. what I am and what I can

do.

The main constructs of the theory are unconditional positive regard and empathy. Unconditional positive

regard being given the sense that they are valued by parents and others even when they are less than ideal or

perfect.

Empathy is understanding the of client's world from client's frame of reference or putting, yourself in the

client's shoe and trying to understand his problem how he perceives it.

Abnormal Psychology PSY404

Behavioral Model / Cognitive-Behavioral / social learning model

Behavioral model emphasizes that behavior patterns (both normal and abnormal) are learned from the

environment. The three forms of learning associated with psychological disorders are

Classical Conditioning

Operant Conditioning

Observational learning/Modeling.

Classical Conditioning

It is a basic form of learning, discovered by a Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936). Pavlov and

associates were investigating salivation process in dogs. They gave meat powder and the dog salivate it.

The Classical Conditioning process involves following terms

UCS → Unconditioned stimulus

UCR →Unconditioned response

CS → Conditioned stimulus

CR → Conditioned response

The dogs salivated as the researchers were about to provide meat power, soon after the dogs salivated at the

sight of the researchers and also to the sound of their footsteps

Meat powder → salivation

UCS

UCR

Sight of researchers

→

Salivation

Footsteps of researcher

Now learning comes in form of any association with any person or object. This is unconditioned stimulus.

In this case sight of the researchers or the footsteps of the researchers acquires the power to elicit the same

response so now footsteps or sight of researchers is the conditioned stimulus leading to conditioned

response.

Extinction

CS → CR

Now conditioned stimulus does lead to conditioned response. This is extinction. That is the footsteps of the

researchers or their sight did not lead to salivation. In another classic study by Watson (1878-1958) an 11

months old boy Little Albert acquired a conditioned fear. Albert was introduced to a white rat, he showed

no fear to it. When Albert tried to reach the white rat, a loud noise was produced which startled little Albert.

This process was repeated for a number of trials, so little Albert learnt to be afraid of white rat or through

classical conditioning; Little Albert acquired the fear or Phobia of white rat.

White rate

loud noise →

Fear

Paired

UCS

UCR

The neutral stimulus was white rat paired with unconditioned stimulus loud noise leading to fear response

in little Albert. After a number of trials, the neutral stimulus took the status of conditioned stimulus and

evoked the conditioned response that is fear.

White rat

→

Fear

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Stimulus Generalization

Little Albert became afraid of all white furry animals, toys, so this is called stimulus generalization i.e. the

response generalizes to all similar objects. Watson's Student Mary Cover Jones (1896-1987) thought that if

fear could be learned or acquired or classically conditioned perhaps it could be un-learned/extinction can

take place. She worked with a boy Peter, who was three years old, who were already afraid of white rabbits.

Jones decided to bring white rabbit in to the room where peter was playing for a short time each day. She

also arranged for other children whom she knew did not fear rabbits. Jones noted that gradually Peter's fear

decreased and diminished and soon Peter was touching and playing with rabbits.

Extinction is when the bond between conditioned stimulus with conditioned response is weaken or broken.

CS → CR

In this case white rabbit does not elicit fear response. So the bond between the CS and CR is broken.

Parents in our culture create a lot of fear in children, when little children are crying. Parents often say, a jin

will come out of the dark and get you. So our parents condition children to be phobic of dark.

Operant Conditioning

The term operant conditioning was coined by Skinner (1904-1990) behavior operates on the environment

and changes in some way. The reinforcement or reward affects the behavior.

When responses lead to satisfying consequences, the responses are strengthen and likely to occur in future.

When positive consequences follow a behavior, the behavior is rewarded and more likely to

occur in future. Maladaptive and desirable behavior alike can be acquired through their

consequences. When a child screams in the store for a toy, she gets her way because the

parents want her to be quiet. The child learns that screaming produces rewards.

When an unwanted behavior leads to negative outcome, the likely hood that the unwanted

behavior will occur in future is reduced. When an alcohol addict is given some irritating agent

in his drink which causes vomiting and swatting, he learns to give up drinking alcohol or when

misbehaving student is corrected in front of the class, the probability of misbehavior to reoccur

in future is reduced. Punishment can have desirable outcomes but harsh and cruel and

consistent punishments are detrimental.

Shaping, a process of reinforcing successive approximations to a final behavior take an example of a

mentally retarded child. How he has to learn to fill water in his glass and the whole task is broken down in

to small steps, such as

1. Holding the glass.

2. Filling it with water from the jug.

3. Sufficient level of the water in the glass.

4. Putting the jug back on the table.

5. Taking the glass to the level of the mouth.

6. Taking a sip of water without spilling it.

7. As the learner masters each steps of the whole task is reinforced and the whole shaping

process may take a week for the mentally retarded child.

Observational Learning or Modeling

Stanford university professor, Albert Bandura, pioneered the analysis of observational learning or modeling

which is process of learning behavior by observing others. It is learning through imitation. Aggressive

behavior can be learned by observing others. Adult models punched and abused "a bobo doll" while

Abnormal Psychology PSY404

children watched and were later permitted to play with the same doll and children imitated aggressive

behaviors as observed.

Social learning theory by Bandura purposes, that behavior is the product of both external stimulus events

and internal cognitive process.

Cognitive model

Cognitive model is concerned with human cognition how human beings perceive recognize, attend, reason

and judge. This model includes:

1. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. (REBT) (Albert Ellis) 1962

2. Cognitive Theory Of Depression (Aaron Beck - 1967)

1. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. (REBT) (Albert Ellis) 1962

According to Albert Ellis, maladaptive behavior results when people operate on misguided and inaccurate

assumptions. Ellis catalogued 11 irrational believes responsible for maladaptive behavior. The ABC of

rational emotive behavior therapy is where:

A Activating event

B Belief System

C Emotional behavioral consequences.

→

Activating

Emotional Behavioral

Event

consequences

→

Activating events

Filter through one's

Belief system

→

Irrational beliefs

Activating event A can cause unwanted emotional and behavioral consequences when filter through

beliefs that are irrational.

2. Cognitive Theory of Depression.

For Beck, depressed people possess a negative cognitive triad.

About themselves

Deprived, defeated diseased.

Depressed individual

the world which is

and negative cognitions

full of road blocks

Future which is devoid of hope

Beck says depressed individual see themselves as defeated, deprived and diseased and their world as full of

road blocks and their future without hope.

Summary

The models discussed were

Supernatural Model

Biological Model

Psychological Model

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Humanistic Model

Behavioral Model

Cognitive Model

Cognitive theory of depression.

In today's world psychologists study abnormal behavior not with reference to one single model rather they

adopt the integrative approach which respond to all aspects of abnormal behavior.

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