Behaviour is shaped by internal
processes of the mind
Schemas
Bartlett's 'war of the ghosts' study
Normalising and rationalising
the story to fit existing
schemas
canoe - boat
hunting seals -
fishing
Packets of information that
help make sense of the world
around us
The brain is like a
computer
Input........processing........output
we take information from the
environment and then
process it to make sense of
the world
Mental processes
attention, perception,
memory, language and
thinking
stroop test
INPUT
Colours and words
PROCESS
perception (of list), memory
(what colours look like) and
language
OUTPUT
Correct answer
Attribution Theory
The person; internal/dispositional
attributes
Personality
Someone has a loud
behaviour in terms of their
extroverted personality
Observer bias - Fundamental
attribution error (FAE)
Getting cut in traffic; you assume driver is an 'idiot'
(dispositional attribute), instead could be rushing to
hospital (situational attribute)
The situation;
external/situational attributes
Social norms or luck
Someone is loud because the
environment is noisy
Self-serving bias
Taking credit for our successes and
disassociate ourselves from our
failures
Protects our self-esteem
and gives us a sense of
control
E.g. exam results - good results because
they revised hard, bad results because they
had a bad teacher or a hard paper
Cognitive Behaviour therapy
aims to make abnormal behaviour
normal by changing negative thinking
into constructive, positive thinking
The glass is half full
not half empty
1. client explains what they are finding difficult, how
they feel about themselves etc. The therapist must
then challenge and negative and distorted thinking.
2. The therapist challenges the clients negative self-schema
3. The client is given homework to aid the
process. Dysfunctional thought diary where
unpleasant emotions are recorded and a
rational response is written to challenge these
4. Client is taught relaxation techniques to help in anxious periods.
16-20 sessions are needed and most
effective when used with anti-depressants
Highest success
rate 90%+ (David
and Avellino)
Strengths
Practical applications
90%+ success rate for
CBT by challenging
negative schema
Nature/Nurture
Nature - processing, we are all born
with the input, processing, output
Nurture - schema, everyones
schemas are different depending
on their experiences/knowledge
Weaknesses
Reductionist
Only concentrates on processing
and ignores genes, environment,
the unconscious mind and other
factors
Deterministic
People have no free
will as they have no
control over processing