Assignment 10: Helping People Change     Due 4/20/01

Answer each of the following questions in a short paragraph (no more than 50-75 words each).  Answers must be in your own words; you may not quote from the readings or take 5 or more words verbatim from the readings, or use the work of another student.

1. Based on what we currently know about biomedical treatments, why would it be incorrect for a doctor to tell his patient, "You need to take an antidepressant medication because you have a chemical imbalance that causes you to be depressed, and this medication will fix it," and what would be the more accurate statement?

[For Questions 2-4, please refer back to Chapter 2 in your text if you need to refresh your memory about the various perspectives on psychopathology]

2. Freudian therapists emphasize the use of interpretation in psychotherapy and tend to be very directive, while humanistic therapists emphasize the use of unconditional postive regard and tend to be much more non-directive; explain how these differences reflect their different views about people and psychopathology.

3. List and explain two ways that behavior therapies are fundamentally different from intrapsychic psychotherapies.

4. What is the basic assumption about psychopathology and therapy that governs the cognitive approach to treatment? Illustrate with a brief specific example.

5. The Consumer Reports study of therapy is widely cited yet controversial; what is its major conclusion, and what are its major methodological limitations.

The following questions are only for discussion in class.  You should be prepared to offer your thoughts if called on.

6. Psychotherapists often justify their treatment methods by presenting and publishing case studies; as science, why is this inadequate? (Hint: think about the case of Frances that begins the chapter)

7. In trying to determine if some specific form of treatment is helpful, what is the importance of the placebo effect and how is this dealt with in research studies?

8. Even though there is considerable emphasis on how all the many forms of therapy differ from one another, it is possible that all effective therapies consist of pretty much the same critical "ingredients;" briefly describe two such ingredients.

9. The two articles in Chapter 12 of Lilienfeld use what is known as “meta-analysis” for their research; what is meta-analysis, and how does it help us study the effectiveness of treatment?

[continued on other side]
10. Imagine that you were interested in trying to reduce the incidence of alcohol-related problems at UMass Lowell; briefly describe a primary prevention approach and a secondary prevention approach, making sure to show how they differ.
 

Copyright ©1998 Beverly J. Volicer and Steven F. Tello, UMass Lowell.  You may freely edit these pages  for use in a non-profit, educational setting.  Please include this copyright notice on all pages.