EPPP - Learning Theories - Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions

Conceptualizes emotions and behaviors in terms of a chain of events - A, b, C - where A is the external (activating) event to which the individual is exposed; B is the belief the individual has about A; and C is the emotion or behavior that results from B

In other words, an emotional or behavioral response to an external event is due to beliefs about that event rather than the event itself. 

Irrational beliefs are characterized by dogmatic demands (must's and should's), awfulizing (It's awful if ...), low frustration tolerance, and negative evaluations of oneself and others and are the result of certain biological tendencies that include negativism, moodiness, and excitement-seeking and that interfere with the ability to think productively and rationally. 

During therapy D and E are added to the ABC chain. D is the therapist's attempt to dispute and alter irrational beliefs, and E refers to the alternative thoughts and beliefs  that result from D.

modeling, behavioral rehearsal, problem-solving, in vivo desensitization, rational-emotive imagery, and cognitive homework assignments.

AKA cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and has been successfully applied to depression, anxiety, anorexia, bulimia, sexual dysfunction, and substance abuse

The primary goal is to help clients identify and alter dysfunctional and distorted assumptions

underlying cognitive structures and rules that consist of core beliefs and that determine how individuals codify, categorize, and interpret their experiences.

They are revealed in automatic thoughts and supported by cognitive distortions 

develop early in life as the result of biological, developmental, and environmental factors 

can be functional or dysfunctional and may dormant until they are activated by internal or external stress, especially stress caused by conditions similar to those under which they originally developed.

Surface level cognitions that intercede between an event or stimulus and the person's emotional and behavioral reactions

Not necessarily associated with psychological dysfunction but contribute to dysfunction when they are the result of maladaptive schemas and are frequent, persistent, and not critically examined

Systematic errors or biases in information processing and are the link between maladaptive cognitive schemas and negative automatic thoughts.

Like automatic thoughts, cognitive distortions become problematic when they are pervasive and are not critically examined or challenged

drawing conclusions without corroborative evidence

drawing general conclusions on the basis of a single event

attending to detail while ignoring the total context

erroneously attributing external events to oneself

Thinking in polarized either/or ways - Black or white thinking

believing things are a certain way because one feels they are that way

Each psychological disorder is characterized by a different cognitive profile. 

Depression - cognitive triad of negative view of oneself, the world, and the future

Anxiety - reflects and excessive form of normal survival mechanisms and consists of unrealistic fears about physical and psychological threats

Involves developing a collaborative therapist-client relationship and gathering evidence to test hypothesis about the client's beliefs and assumptions

AKA guided discovery 

Involves asking questions that are designed to help the client reach logical conclusions about a problem and its consequences

activity scheduling, behavioral rehearsal, social skills training, and relaxation

downward arrow (if so, then when?), questioning the evidence, decatastrophizing, mental imagery, and cognitive rehearsal

Used to help impulsive and hyperactive children perform academic and other tasks more successfully by teaching them to interpolate (insert [something of a different nature] into something else) adaptive, self-controlling thoughts between a stimulus situation and their response to that situation.

Involves 5 steps

The client observes a model perform the task while the model makes self-statements aloud. Self-statements include questions about the nature of the task, answers to those questions, specific instructions on how to do the task, and self-reinforcement.

The client performs the task as the model verbalizes the instructions

The client performs the task while instructing him/herself aloud

The client whispers the instructions while carrying out the task

The client performs the task while saying the instructions covertly

Entails eliminating obsessive ruminations, self-criticism, depressive or anxiety-arousing ideas, and other unwanted or unproductive thoughts by using such techniques as covertly yelling "stop, stop, stop!" or snapping a rubber band placed around the wrist whenever unwanted thoughts occur. 

Often combined with covert assertion, which involves making alternative assertive self-statements following the thought stopping.

Focuses on altering the individual's perceptions of the causes of his/her problematic behavior and has been successfully used to treat depression, anxiety, alcoholism and sever other disorders as well as to improve the academic performance of underachieving students

designed to help people deal with stress by increasing coping skills.

Treatment has 3 phases: cognitive preparation/conceptualization phase, skills acquisition and rehearsal phase, and the final application and follow-through phase

Proposes that problem-solving outcomes are determined primarily by two factors: 

problem orientation - refers to a relatively stable cognitive schema that can be either positive or negative and that represents the person's views about problems and his/her ability to successfully resolve them. 

Problem-solving style - refers to the activities the individual engages in when solving problems (rational, impulsive/careless, avoidance).

A brief form of therapy that is usually conducted as group therapy. It is based on the assumption that deficits in three aspects of self-control increase a person's vulnerability to depression and make it difficult to deal effectively with symptoms. 

self-monitoring - selectively attend to negative events and to the immediate consequences of their behavior

self-evaluation - make inaccurate internal attributions and compare their behavior to standards that are excessively rigid and perfectionistic 

self-reinforcement - engage in low rates of self-reward and high rates of self-punishment

Attributes depression to a low rate of response-contingent reinforcement due to inadequate reinforcing stimuli in the environment and/or the person's lack of skill in obtaining reinforcement

A common initial procedure in self-management programs and other cognitive-behavioral interventions and involves having the client record information about the frequency and conditions surrounding the target behavior.

Behavior is under stimulus control when its performance is contingent on the presence of certain stimuli. 

Smoking may be controlled by coffee drinking, talking with friends, being alone, seeing a no smoking sign, etc.

Target physiological responses that are considered involuntary such as heart rate, GSR, skin temperature, brain wave activity, or blood glucose level. 

Thermal (skin-temperature) biofeedback is effective for Raynaud's disease

pelvic muscle (EMG) biofeedback has been successful with certain type of urinary and fecal incontinence 

a combination of thermal biofeedback and autogenic training (relaxation training) is the best approach for migraine headaches.

belief about A

emotion or behavioral result of B

beliefs

schemas

internal or external stress 

automatic thoughts 

cognitive distortions

arbitrary inference

selective abstraction

future

collaborative 

Socratic

dysfunctional thoughts

cognitive participant modeling

covert self-instruction 

thought stopping

external, unstable, and specific

skills acquisition and rehearsal

self-evaluation

response-contingent reinforcement

promoting behavior change

stimulus control

relaxation training

Raynaud's

autogenic training

A

Rehm's self-control therapy is based on the assumption that deficits in three aspects of self-control can increase a person's vulnerability to depression. Self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement are the three targets of self-control therapy.

Answer B: Self-evaluation is an aspect of Rehm's self-control therapy, but self-esteem and self-determination are not.

Answer C: Self-monitoring is an aspect of Rehm's self- control therapy, but self-management and self-actualization are not.

Answer D: Self-evaluation is an aspect of Rehm's self-control therapy, but self-determination and self-acceptance are not.

B

Collaborative empiricism is a key strategy of Beck's cognitive-behavioral therapy. Collaborative empiricism refers to the collaborative relationship between client and therapist that involves working together to gather data and test the logic of the client's thoughts and beliefs.

Answer A: Ellis is known for his rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT), which conceptualizes emotions and behaviors in terms of a chain of events.

Answer C: Adler's Individual Psychotherapy uses a teleological approach to explore how behavior is motivated by future goals, how goals are determined by one's style of life, and how feelings of inferiority fuel the desire to improve oneself.

Answer D: Gestalt therapy is a phenomenological psychotherapy founded by Fritz Perls. Gestalt therapy emphasizes awareness and integration of here-and-now processes in order to maintain equilibrium.

B

Ellis's Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is based on the assumption that emotional and behavioral reactions are the result of a chain of events. In Ellis's model, A refers to the antecedent event; B is the person's belief about the antecedent event; and C is the emotional or behavioral consequence (response) to B.

Answer A: In Ellis's model, behaviors and emotions occur in response to beliefs about the antecedent event, not just to the antecedent event itself.

Answer C: Behaviors and emotions that occur in response to beliefs about an antecedent event represent the C (consequence) in Ellis's model.

Answer D: Ellis's model does not include biological responses to the antecedent event.

D

All of the answer choices describe cognitive distortions, which are systematic errors in information processing. Emotional reasoning occurs when a person believes that things are a certain way because he or she feels they are that way (i.e., "I feel; therefore, I am").

Answer A: Selective abstraction occurs when individuals attend to certain details while ignoring the total context.

Answer B: Overgeneralization refers to arbitrarily drawing the conclusion that a single negative event will happen over and over again.

Answer C: Personalization involves erroneously attributing external events to oneself.

A

Socratic questioning (dialogue) involves asking questions designed to help the client identify and replace maladaptive beliefs. Examples of Socratic questions include "Is there any evidence for this belief?" and "What are the advantages and disadvantages of thinking this way?"

Answer B: Exception questions are used by solution-focused therapists to help identify times in a client's life that were not problematic.

Answer C: Circular questions are used by Milan systemic therapists to help family members recognize similarities and differences in their perceptions.

Answer D: Scaling questions are used by solution-focused therapists to measure changes in attitude, motivation, feelings, etc.

C

Stress inoculation was designed to help people deal effectively with stress by enhancing their coping skills. It consists of the three phases listed in this question (cognitive preparation, skills acquisition, and application and follow-through).

Answer A: Problem-Solving Therapy proposes that problem-solving outcomes are determined by two factors: problem orientation and problem-solving style. Problem orientation refers to the positive or negative cognitive schemas that represent individuals' views about problems, and problem-solving style refers to the activities that individuals engage in when solving problems.

Answer B: Attribution retraining focuses on altering individuals' perceptions of the causes of their problematic behavior.

Answer D: Self-instructional training helps impulsive and hyperactive children insert adaptive, self-controlling thoughts between a stimulus situation and their response to that situation.

D

Thermal (temperature) biofeedback provides feedback on skin temperature, which indicates changes in blood-flow. Raynaud's disease is a disorder of the blood vessels that limits circulation to certain areas of the body (usually the fingers and toes). It is triggered by cold or emotional stress and causes a change in color of the skin with coldness and numbness followed by throbbing, tingling, or stinging pain upon warming or relief of the stress. Thermal biofeedback has been found to be an effective treatment for Raynaud's disease. 

Answers A, B, and C are incorrect as the research has found relaxation training to be as effective or more effective than biofeedback for lower back pain, hypertension, and insomnia.

B

Automatic thoughts occur automatically and elicit an emotional response.

Answer A: Cognitive distortions are maladaptive ways of processing information and may underlie automatic thoughts.

Answer C: Prototypes are models that contain the most salient or typical features of an event, object, etc.

Answer D: Schemata are cognitive structures that guide an individual's perceptions and appraisals.