Exam 2 Flashcards
(100 cards)
Acceptance
A key theme or feature of third-generation behavior therapies that involves embracing one’s current experience without judgment or recognizing what is instead of thinking about what should be.
Mindfulness
A key theme or feature of third-generation behavior therapies that involves being aware of one’s present thoughts, emotions, and behaviors without judging them.
Cognitive Fusion
A principle of psychological inflexibility in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) that involves over-identifying or believing in one’s thoughts. For example, if one had the thought they were a bad mother and they believed that thought to be true, they are demonstrating cognitive fusion.
Experiential avoidance
A principle of psychological inflexibility in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) that involves the behavioral tendency to escape or avoid unwanted or unpleasant thoughts, emotions, or experiences. ACT would argue that experiential avoidance can contribute to suffering because our fear of unpleasantness is reinforced.
Decentering
A goal of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy which involves seeing one’s thoughts as simply thoughts and not truths. Decentering one’s identity from one’s thoughts can help avoid the ruminative patterns that can lead to the recurrence of major depressive episodes.
Describe the 3 generations of CBT
1st-generation behavior therapies focused on controlling environmental antecedents and consequences to change behavior. Examples: contingency management, stimulus-response, token economies, exposure therapy
2nd-generation behavior therapies recognized the importance of cognitions in changing behavior. Examples: cognitive restructuring, problem-solving
3rd-generation behavior therapies focus on the idea that some suffering is inevitable and rather than attempting to change the environment or our thoughts, we must learn to accept some psychological discomfort. Examples: ACT, DBT, MBCT
What are the core themes of 3rd-generation behavioral therapies?
Expanded view of psychological health (some psychological discomfort is unavoidable - focus on the function of the problem rather than the form or frequency), Acceptance, Mindfulness, Creating a life consistent with one’s values
Describe ACT and its basic tenents.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a third-generation behavior therapy that focuses on increasing psychological flexibility by (1) decreasing cognitive fusion, (2) decreasing experiential avoidance, (3) increasing mindful contact with the present moment, and (4) clarifying the client’s goals and increasing behavior towards those goals.
Describe DBT and its basic tenents.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy is a third-generation behavior therapy that focuses on both validating and accepting a client’s experience and helping them develop strategies or problem-solving behaviors that lead to positive changes in their lives. DBT focuses on:
(1) creating mindfulness by helping clients use their wise mind (the intersection of their rational and intuitive or emotional mind),
(2) developing interpersonal effectiveness skills,
(3) emotion-regulation skills, and
(4) increasing distress tolerance.
Describe MBCT and its basic tenents.
The goal of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy is to prevent ruminative patterns of thinking and behaving by decentering or helping clients see thoughts as simply thoughts and not statements of fact. It involves learning mindfulness skills and increasing self-awareness of negative thoughts and feelings.
Outcome vs. Process Research
Outcome research measures the effectiveness of a specific treatment on a dependent variable of interest. It answers the question, “does this treatment work?”
Process research tries to assess why the treatment works or the specific mechanism(s) of change. It seeks to answer the question, “how does this treatment work?”
Case Study
A type of outcome research design that assesses one subject and includes a detailed description of a specific client and the treatment of that client.
Multiple Baseline Study
A type of outcome research design in which the start of treatment is staggered in order to control for confounding variables. They can assess the impact of treatment across multiple target behaviors, across multiple clients, or across multiple settings.
Reversal Study
ABAB Design; a type of outcome research design in which a baseline is assessed (A), the treatment is introduced (B), then the treatment is removed (A), and reintroduced again (B). If the dependent variable changes with the introduction of the treatment and then changes back with the return to baseline, this provides strong evidence of a treatment effect.
Control Group
In an experimental design, a control group who either receives no treatment, a placebo, is waitlisted, or is given an alternative treatment, is compared to an experimental group that receives the treatment of interest (independent variable). This allows researchers to determine if there is a causal relationship between the treatment and the dependent variable(s) of interest.
Efficacy vs. Effectiveness
Efficacy is a term used to assess whether an independent variable or treatment significantly changes a dependent variable in a controlled experiment. Effectiveness is a term that describes how well a treatment or independent variable works in a real-world setting and takes into account how easy the treatment is to use and potential side effects.
Clinical vs. Statistical Significance
Statistical significance measures the relationship between two variables in a statistical analysis. Clinical significance assesses how meaningful a change is to an actual client’s life. A treatment may have a statistically significant impact on a dependent variable in an experiment, but may not have clinical significance.
Transfer & Generalizability
Transfer refers to the phenomenon in which what a client learns in therapy transfers to their everyday life. Generalizability refers to the phenomenon in which therapeutic effects occur in areas of a client’s life not specifically targeted in therapy.
Meta-analysis
A type of statistical analysis in which the results from several studies are compared and analyzed. Allows a more comprehensive view of the effectiveness of a treatment.
Dismantling study
A type of process research that attempts to isolate specific aspects of a treatment in order to determine their effect on a dependent variable of interest. This allows researchers to identify which components or combination of components is responsible for the change in the dependent variable.
Iatrogenic effects
Harmful or problematic effects of therapy or specific treatment that clients may experience. For example, therapists who deliver DID-oriented therapy have been shown to induce new alters in their clients.
EST (Empirically-supported treatment)
Interventions that have been found to be efficacious for one or more psychological conditions. Treatments must meet specific APA criteria and be manualized in order to be considered ESTs.
What are the benefits and limitations of Case Studies?
Benefits: allow you to document success of a specific tx, describe a new tx procedure, demonstrate a novel application of a tx, implement with a new or specific population of individuals
Limitations: can’t generalize, can’t determine causal relationships between tx and DVs
What are the benefits and limitations of reversal studies?
Benefits: the reversal design allows you better control over confounding variables, can be more certain the treatment is what is impacting the DVs
Limitations: can’t generalize to general population, not useful if DVs aren’t maintained by external factors, withdrawing tx can be unethical, and if tx leads to skill development the removal of tx is not as impactful or easy to measure with this design