Liberman - Behavioural Explanation of a Disorder

Question 1

Behaviourist explanation

Answer 1

Majority of behaviour learnt from the environment after birth “tabla rasa” - blank slate. Hence dysfunctional behaviour learnt.
Idea people can learn to suffer delusions unusual however, evidence people with schizophrenia can learn certain behaviours.
Social skills and interactions are rewarding as positive interaction make use feel good. If rewarded social skills will be repeated (continue specific behaviours).
Operant conditioning as looking at positive reward from interaction.

Question 2

Aim

Answer 2

Identify social skills psychotic patients may lack.

Question 3

Methodology

Answer 3

Identify problems psychotic patients may have in behaving appropriately in social situations, which result in a lack of social reinforcers.

Question 4

Procedure

Answer 4

• Review article identified key social skills we should have
  Method:
  role playing of social skills
  behavioural assessment of observable behaviour
  biological data

Question 5

Findings

Answer 5

Individual schizophrenic patients lack appropriate social learning from past experiences.
Institutionalisation leads to loss of social skills.
Excessive anxiety impedes social performance.
Cognitive deficit leads to faulty perceptions of other actions or the situation therefore resulting in appropriate behaviours.

Question 6

Conclusions

Answer 6

Schizophrenics lack social skills needed to function normally.
Could be due to institutionalisation, cognitive deficits or anxiety as findings…
Lack of social skills leads to lack of positive reinforcers for socially acceptable behaviours, therefore abnormal behaviour is maintained.

Question 7

Nature/Nurture

Answer 7

• There is a clear genetic link, however schizophrenia cannot be determined just by biological factors. Certain aspects can be explained through behavioural explanation.
• Behavioural explanation not complete however can explain the environmental aspect of the symptoms.
• Onset of lack of social skills may have been from an early age. Therefore have no sensitivity to reinforcers as it is already biologically determined by nature. There was no choice in not recognising social skills in past experiences, if children were not sensitive to learning social skills from adults they do not learn to interact.
• Capacity to learn something comes from your genes.

Question 8

Useful

Answer 8

Insufficient reinforcement can be improved by specific social skills training.

Question 9

2 types of social skill

Answer 9

Instrumental - skills required to get what you want.

Social-emotional - to do with making friend and meeting affiliative needs.

Question 10

Ethics

Answer 10

Participants may feel uncomfortable with role play.

Question 11

Validity

Answer 11

• Testing social skills instead of cognitive impairment
• Learnt behaviours off each other in institutions
• Used institutionalised participants, therefore not generalisable.

Question 12

Determinism

Answer 12

Unable to choose the inability to not react to positive reinforcement.

Question 13

Behavioural/Biological

Answer 13

Liberman + Gottesman & Shields = essential to use alongside each other to provide complete explanation of schizophrenia.

Question 14

Biological/Cognitive

Answer 14

Gottesman & Shields + Pickup & Frith
Scientific support and credibility.
Objective.

Changes in thinking precede (i.e. come before) the onset… hence biological determination may cause psychotic disorder, cognitive deficits develop as schizophrenia develops.

Question 15

Behavioural/Cognitive

Answer 15

Liberman + Pickup & Frith

Cognitive deficits = consequence of schizophrenia as behavioural symptoms only present when schizophrenia present (eg. no mentalising impairment in remission and passivity explanation group)
Lack social skills due to cognitive deficits… this lack of social skills > lack of positive reinforcement > abnormal behaviour maintained.

Cognitive deficits are not fixed, indicating psychotic disorder cannot be explained by the cognitive approach alone. There is development of psychotic disorder which may be due to environmental influence for instance. Mentalising abilities become impaired as illness develops and are reduced eg. 8 in remission, hence supporting behavioural influence from reinforcement.

Question 16

Cognitive/Biological/Behavioural

Answer 16

However a schizophrenic episodes could be seen as consequence of cognitive deficits as people show significant limitation in ability to learn and function. This inability may be biological therefore no choice. Hence nature and nurture of environment cannot influence the psychotic disorder.