HBOT

Exploring the Psychological

Theories
Prepared by: Ana Rowena Patricia V. Orpiada, OTR/L,
OTRP
Revised by: Constantine L. Yu Chua, MD, OTRP (Nov 2015)

November 21, 2015

Recitation

What did we discuss last

week?

Cognitive

Humanistic /
Existential

Psychodynamic

Behavioral

Topics of Discussion
Psychodynamic
Freudian Theory
Topographic and
structural models of the
psyche
Defense mechanisms
Eriksons Psychosocial

development
Behavioral
Classical conditioning
Connectionism
Operant conditioning

Cognitive:

Cognitive errors or

distortions
Humanistic:

Maslows hierarchy

of needs
Logotherapy

Psychodynamic Apparatus

Psychodynamics
Existence and influence of the

unconscious, psychic determinism, past

is prologue.
Includes:
Ego psychology
Object relations
Self psychology
Attachment theory.

Freuds Topographical Model

of the Psyche
Conscious
Include things that are readily accessible to the awareness of

a person.
A small and exceptional aspect of the mind.
Preconscious
Things which can be accessed by oneself with focus and

effort.
Unconscious
Things which are hidden from the awareness of a person. This

hiding is an active process serving to protect the ego.

The hidden things may represent unacceptable wishes,
impulses, or feelings.

Freuds Structural Model of the

Intrapsychic Apparatus
Id
Represents the inborn drives of a person, which are classically

divided into sexual and aggressive.

Works by the pleasure principle.
Superego
Represents a patients conscience: what to do and what not to

do.
Said to be the internalized parental figure, developed upon
resolution of the oedipal phase.
Ego
The reality-oriented apparatus which balances the ids desires and

the superegos prohibitions.

Uses defense mechanisms to do its mediatory work.
The conflict free sphere of ego includes reality testing, impulse
control and executive functions, and intelligence, among others.

Defense Mechanisms
The ego mediates conflict between the primitive

wishes of the id and the prohibitions and

prescriptions of the superego using defense
mechanisms.
The id-superego conflict above is highly

unconscious, thus many people use defense

mechanisms without being aware of it or
choosing it consciously.
Conflict gives rise to anxiety, and defense

mechanisms serve to decrease this.

Specific Defense Mechanisms

Repression intrapsychic conflicts,

forbidden wishes, and anxiety provoking

material are confined into the unconscious; a
component of many if not all defense
mechanisms.
What we forget is also unconsciously driven. It
is an active process of the psyche.
Suppression active setting aside of

conscious conflicts to avoid anxiety, without

repression into the unconscious.

Denial outright neglect or negation of a fact.

Distortion unconsciously changing understanding of
facts to suit ones needs.

Alicia was a medical doctor who got pregnant outside of

wedlock during her residency training. She thought that she
had an abdominal mass as a cause of her enlarging abdomen
and never considered pregnancy.

Projection unconsciously passing on ones own

emotions to another.

Bobby, a college student, felt that his classmate Cedric was

belittling his academic ability and was bringing him down. In
fact, Cedric was a supportive friend and it was Bobby himself
who thought lowly of himself and was competing with Cedric.

Acting out using destructive activity as an outlet to

anxiety.

Denise, an 8-year-old adopted child, is unconsciously afraid

that his new parents would abandon him. He behaves very
destructively and argumentatively to avoid being close to
them.

 Idealization or devaluation attributing perfection or

worthlessness to someone to suit ones unconscious need.

Emmanuel had a long history of childhood neglect. At age 18,

Farrah became his girlfriend. He sees her as a perfect woman and
is unable to feel any anger for her despite her faults.

Passive aggression passiveness (not doing something)

is unconsciously used as a way of expressing internalized

aggression.

Grace resents being enrolled in OT because it was yet again

another decision her parents made for her. Despite being
interested in the subject, she just cannot seem to be motivated to
study and would opt to do other things.

Somatization intrapsychic anxiety manifests in bodily

complaints.

Holly would frequently have bouts of dizziness whenever she

would go to the house of her fiancs parents because of an
ambivalence is she really wants to get married.

Displacement drives which cannot be directed to one

object will be diverted to another, safer one.

Irvin has an unacknowledged anger for his mother whom he

idolizes and constantly tries to please. He would constantly
lash out at his girlfriend for expecting too much from him.

Dissociation splitting the emotional and intellectual

components of an anxiety provoking event or memory.

Jeremy, diagnosed with leukemia, would research intently

regarding blood malignancies and how they develop and
would discuss it very well without sadness when someone
asks him how he is.

Reaction formation the opposite of an unconscious

feeling or wish is expressed as a defensive,
compensatory mechanism.

Kevin, who has a deep-seated, unconscious homosexual

desire for Larry, feels very annoyed with him and sees him
as competition in terms of academic and social standing.

Regression return to an earlier stage of

development as a defense to mature confrontation of
intrapsychic issues.

Whenever Milton would be called to report in front, he would be

very giggly and silly to mask his fear of being judged by others
and looking at himself is incompetent.

Rationalization providing cognitive explanations

(usually cognitive errors) for ones behaviors and
emotions to avoid the anxiety of reality.

Nelia left her fianc Omar because her parents did not approve of
him. To justify her own choice and ambivalent feelings, she says
that the bible says honor your father and mother.

Undoing performing compensatory rituals to cancel

out anxiety-provoking emotions or situations.

Patrick always gives his girlfriend Queenie expensive gifts such

as jewelry. Unconsciously, he is doing this to expiate his guilt of
not feeling in love anymore.

 Humor looking at the funny aspects of a situation or self

to decrease the anxiety it provokes; different from sarcasm

or using humor aggressively.

Samuel realized that he was treating her girlfriend like her mother
by expecting him to make decisions for her. He likened herself to
being pabebe and was able to laugh at himself.

Identification a tendency to take on the characteristics

of a significant someone. Sometimes used to decrease

anxiety (achieving mastery) over an aggressor.

Trudis was physically abused by her mother, a drug user who

eventually passed away. As a teenager, she was left to care for her
little sister, whom she loved dearly but ended up also physically
abusing.

Sublimation channeling forbidden wishes (usually

aggressive or sexual) into positive, productive activity.

Ursula was raised by her parents in a very conservative manner

wherein sex was considered a taboo. Without realizing it, her
fondness for pottery was a productive outlet for her sexual drive.

Eriksons Psychosocial
Development
Eriksons theory posits that the

development of the ego is in relation to

resolution of certain issues that arise from
the relational context of the person at each
life stage.
Successful resolution of the issue results in

the development of virtues which are

carried out onto the next stage.
Unsuccessful resolution may result into a

maladaptation (too much of a virtue) or

Eriksons Stages of Psychosocial

Development

Theories of Behavioral
Learning

Behaviorism
Behavior is determined by

conditioning, following learned

antecedent-behavior-consequence
schemata.
Includes classical conditioning,

connectionism, and operant

conditioning.

Classical Conditioning
Main proponent is Ivan Pavlov
Physiologist turned psychologist
Dog Experiment

Bigge,
1976

Before Conditioning
RF
X
NS

Feldman,
2005

Before Conditioning
UC
S

UC
R

Feldman,
2005

During Conditioning
NS
UC
R

UC
S

CONTIGUITY

Feldman,
2005

After Conditioning
CR

CS

LEARNING OCCURS
Feldman,
2005

Connectionism
Edward L. Thorndike
Stimulus-Response

Bond
Connection of
physical unit
and mental unit.
Bigge,
1976

Laws of Thorndike

Readin
ess

Exercis
e

Effect

Bigge, 1964

Connectionism

1. Law of
Readiness
When someone is ready
to perform some act, to
do so is satisfying,

Connectionism

2. Law of Exercise
We learn by doing. We forget
by not doing.
Practice means perfect.
Use it or lose it.

Connectionism

Thorndikes Cat
Experiment

3. Law of Effect
Pleasure (S)-(R)
strengthened
Pain (S)-(R)

Operant Conditioning
B. F. Skinner
Conditioning +

Reinforcement
Mouse Experiment
(Skinner Box)
Disproves of trial and
error

Bigge,
1976

Skinner Box
Exploration
Food by
chance
Exploration
Increased
Frequency
Learning

Reinforcement

Positive
Reinforcement
Negative
Reinforcement
Punishment

Positive Reinforcement
ADD
ADD

INCREASE
INCREASE

Stimulus
Response
Strength

Negative Reinforcement
REMOV
REMOV
E
E

INCREASE
INCREASE

Stimulus

Response
Strength

Punishment
PAIN
PAIN

Stimulus

DECREASE
DECREASE

PLEASU
PLEASU
RE
RE

Response
Strength

Feldman,
2005

WHY?

REINFORCEMENT
PUNISHMENT

BEST WAY
PUNISHMENT

REINFORCEMENT

Feldman,
2005

Scheduling
Different patterns of frequency and timing of

reinforcement following desired behavior.

Scheduling

Reward
per good
behavior
Faster
Continu
Learning
ous

Intermitte
nt
Generaliza
tion of
behavior
Partial

Partial Reinforcements
Number
of
Amount
Respons
of time
e
FixedFixedinterv
ratio
al
Variabl
Variabl
ee-ratio
interv
al

Fixed-Ratio

Dail
y P50/Blou
Livi se sown
ng

Variable-Ratio

Courtshi
Dail p
Flowers
y
Livi
and
ng
chocola
tes

Fixed-Interval

Dail Texting I
y
love you
Livi every
night
ng
Clas Quiz every
session
s

Variable-Interval

Dail Promoti
y
on
at
Livi
work
ng
Clas Surprise
s
quizzes

Shaping
The process of teaching a complex

behavior by rewarding closer and closer

approximations of the desired behavior.
Calculus
Arithmeti
c,
Algebra

Career
GS, HS,
College,
internshi
p

Marriage
Dating,
Engage
ment

Chaining
Instructional procedure which

involves reinforcing individual

responses occurring in a
sequence to form a complex
behavior.
Buttoning a polo
Positio
shirt
Pull
Insert
n

Forward chaining
Positio
n

Positio
n

Insert

Backward
chaining
Insert

Pull

Pull

Classical Conditioning
NS
UCS

Ivan
Pavlo
v

CS

UC
R

CR

Connectionism
Readin
ess

Thorndike
Effect

Exercis
e

Operant Conditioning
+ RI
- RI
Punishment
Scheduling
Shaping/Chaining

Skinner

Cognitive Distortions

Cognitive Theory
The way we think about the self

and the world dictates the quality

of our experiences and directly
influences our behaviors and
emotions.
Focuses on:
Mental schema
Automatic thoughts
11/30/15
Cognitive frameworks, which can

Cognitive Distortions
1. Filtering.
We take the negative details and magnify them while filtering

out all positive aspects of a situation.

2. Polarized Thinking (or Black and White Thinking).
Things are either black-or-white.. You place people or

situations in either/or categories, with no gray areas for the

complexity of most people and situations.
3. Overgeneralization.
We come to a general conclusion based on a single incident

or a single piece of evidence.

4. Jumping to Conclusions.
Without individuals saying so, we know what they are feeling

and why they act the way they do. In particular, we are able

5. Catastrophizing.
We expect disaster to strike, no matter what. This is
also referred to as magnifying or minimizing. There
is overestimation of consequences.
6. Personalization.
Everything others do or say, or natural situations, are
some kind of direct, personal reaction related to
oneself.
7. Control Fallacies.
If we feelexternally controlled, we see ourselves as
helpless a victim of fate.
The fallacy ofinternal controlhas us assuming
responsibility for the pain and happiness of everyone
around us.
8. Fallacy of Fairness.

9. Blaming.
We hold other people responsible for our pain, or take the
other track and blame ourselves for every problem.
10. Shoulds.
We have a list of ironclad rules about how others and we
should behave. People who break the rules make us angry,
and we feel guilty when we violate these rules.
11. Emotional Reasoning.
We believe that what we feel must be true automatically. If
we feel stupid and boring, then we must be stupid and
boring. You assume that your unhealthy emotions reflect he
way things really are I feel it, therefore it must be true.
12. Fallacy of Change.
We expect that other people will change to suit us if we just
pressure or cajole them enough. We need to change people
because our hopes for happiness seem to depend entirely on
them.

13. Global Labeling.

We generalize one or two qualities into a negative global judgment.
These are extreme forms of generalizing, and are also referred to as
labeling and mislabeling. Instead of describing an error in context of
a specific situation, a person will attach an unhealthy label to
themselves.
14. Always Being Right.
We are continually on trial to prove that our opinions and actions are
correct. Being wrong is unthinkable and we will go to any length to
demonstrate our rightness. Being right often is more important than the
feelings of others around a person who engages in this cognitive
distortion, even loved ones.
15. Heavens Reward Fallacy.
We expect our sacrifice and self-denial to pay off, as if someone is
keeping score. We feel bitter when the reward doesnt come.
Excerpted from the following, with minor revisions:
http://psychcentral.com/lib/15-common-cognitive-distortions/
Beck,

A. T. (1976). Cognitive therapies and emotional disorders. New York:

New American Library.
Burns, D. D. (1980). Feeling good: The new mood therapy. New York: New
American Library.

Humanistic and Existential

Theories

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

https://hanescoaching.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/hierarchy_of_needs_maslow_erg_clayt
on__understanding_people.jpg

Logotherapy
A school of thought established by

Victor Frankl, A Viennese psychiatrist

and Holocaust survivor.
PRINCIPLES:
Life has meaning under all
circumstances, even the most
miserable ones.
Our main motivation for living is our will
to find meaning in life.
We have freedom to find meaning in
what we do, and what we experience,
or at least in the stand we take when
faced with a situation of unchangeable
suffering.

Discovering Meaning in Life

By creating a work or doing a deed.
By experiencing something or encountering

someone.
By the attitude we take toward unavoidable
suffering:
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the
last of the human freedomsto choose one's attitude in
any given set of circumstances".

Assumptions of Logotherapy
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.

The human being is an entity consisting of

body, mind, and spirit.
Life has meaning under all circumstances,
even the most miserable.
People have a will to meaning.
People have freedom under all circumstances
to activate the will to find meaning.
Life has a demand quality to which people
must respond if decisions are to be
meaningful.
The individual is unique.
11/30/15

Class Activity
Give five problematic behaviors common in

late adolescence or early adulthood.

Explain each behavior using the four

schools of psychological thought. Apply

specific theories discussed today.
Everyone must recite.

11/30/15

References
Feldman, R. S. (2005).

Understanding psychology (7th ed.).

New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc.

Homework #1
Start with a short life story (1 page, Arial 11, 1 inch

margins)
Answer the following questions (1 to 2 pages, Arial 11, 1
inch margins)
Psychodynamic: What are the defense mechanisms you

most often use? Are these healthy or unhealthy? Behind

each defense mechanism, what unwanted feeling or wish is
being repressed?
Psychodynamic: Assess how you have fared in each stage of
psychosocial development (Erikson).
Behavioral: Give an example of a habit that is significant in
your life. How was this habit learned?
Cognitive: What cognitive distortions do you tend to have?
How has this affected your behaviors or emotional state?
Humanistic: How would you say that you have reached selfactualization? What are your parameters or criteria?

Homework #2
Movie watching: The Babadook
Guided by the psychodynamic theory, what does
the monster Babadook represent? Explain by
describing the psychodynamics of the mother in the
movie.
Explain the frequent misbehaviors of the son in the
movie using biological, behavioral, and cognitive
frameworks. Research on the principle of executive
functions to guide the biological explanation.
What does the ending represent? What role does
this play in the mothers self-actualization?
11/30/15