The Cognitive Model Cognitive explanations of EDs: –Plenty of evidence to show that thinking processes are biased/distorted in ED sufferers –Some evidence (but not all) shows that altering thought processes is an effective treatment –Less evidence to show that cognitive biases are the cause of EDs

The Cognitive Model Issues for evaluation: –Evidence –Direction of causality –Blaming the victim

The Cognitive Model Evidence –Plenty of research shows that people with psychological disorders have faulty or irrational thinking processes However…

The Cognitive Model Not much evidence for the view that faulty thinking precedes other psychological symptoms (cause or effect?) People who are clinically normal also think irrationally – so what’s the difference? All the cognitive model does is state the obvious e.g. depressed people think gloomy thoughts. No! Really?

The Cognitive Model Ethical issues: –By locating psychological problems in faulty thinking processes, the cognitive model sometimes blames the victim –E.g. a person might be depressed because their situation is genuinely dreadful – but the cognitive model implies that the problem is their perceptions