Cognitive Distortion / Cognitive Bias
Human beings are processing information all of the time: in both a fast and automatic fashion, and as slow and effortful process (e.g., Kahneman, 2011). In the context of psychological therapy the term cognitive bias refers to the ability that people have to selectively attend to and recall information, or to distort information. Clinically, the most widely known aspect of cognitive bias are the cognitive distortions (unhelpful thinking styles) identified by Beck, examples of which include arbitrary inference, over-generalization, and dichotomous thinking (Beck, 1963). Harvey, Watkins, Mansell, and Shafran (2004) define reasoning as “thinking that is concerned with deducing conclusions, generating judgements, and testing hypotheses in a logical and coherent way.” They go on to describe a number of ways in which reasoning processes can become biased with the frequent “result that the conclusion drawn differs from objective reality”. Biases in reasoning or information processing are not necessarily dysfunctional but they often play important roles in maintaining clinical problems, including anxiety and mood disorders. Some forms of cognitive bias which are important in CBT include:
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Cognitive Behavioral Model Of Bulimia Nervosa (Fairburn, Cooper, Shafran, 2003)
Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging. Among young women, the point prevalence of bulimia is about 1 ...
https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/cognitive-behavioral-model-of-bulimia-nervosa-fairburn-cooper-shafran-2003/
Fact Or Opinion
One cognitive error which commonly results in distress is to act on our opinions as though they were facts. This CBT exercise helps clients to practic ...
https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/fact-or-opinion/
Cognitive Behavioral Model Of Tinnitus (McKenna, Handscombe, Hoare, Hall, 2014)
The Cognitive Behavioral Model Of Tinnitus identifies cognitive, behavioral, and perceptual changes which operate to maintain tinnitus perception and ...
https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/cognitive-behavioral-model-of-tinnitus-mckenna-handscombe-hoare-hall-2014/
Cognitive Behavioral Model Of Anorexia Nervosa (Fairburn, Cooper, Shafran, 2003)
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by restriction of energy intake and intense fear of gaining weight. For women, the lifetime preva ...
https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/cognitive-behavioral-model-of-anorexia-nervosa-fairburn-cooper-shafran-2003/
Meaning In Tinnitus
The psychological approach to tinnitus proposes that it is the meaning attached to perceptions which gives rise to distress - this is similar to the a ...
https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/meaning-in-tinnitus/
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Information Handouts
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Unhelpful Thinking Styles (Information Handouts)
| Centre For Clinical Interventions
- Mental Filter
- Jumping To Conclusions
- Personalisation
- Catastrophizing
- Black And White Thinking
- Shoulding And Musting
- Overgeneralization
- Labelling
- Emotional Reasoning
- Magnification And Minimisation
- Challenging Unhelpful Thinking Styles
Recommended Reading
- Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New York: Guilford
- Burns, D. D. (1980. Feeling good. New York: Avon Books
What Is Cognitive Bias?
Disorders That May Be Maintained by Cognitive Bias
Cognitive biases, including biased interpretations, attributions, expectancies, or heuristics, are thought to contribute to the maintenance of:
- panic disorder (interpretation bias, attribution bias, expectancy bias, emotional reasoning);
- specific phobia (expectancy bias, emotional reasoning);
- social phobia (interpretation bias, attribution bias, expectancy bias);
- obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) (attribution bias, expectancy bias, emotional reasoning);
- post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (interpretation bias, attribution bias, expectancy bias, emotional reasoning);
- generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) (interpretation bias, attribution bias, expectancy bias, emotional reasoning);
- pain disorder (interpretation bias, expectancy bias);
- health anxiety (interpretation bias, attribution bias, expectancy bias);
- eating disorders (interpretation bias, attribution bias, expectancy bias);
- depression (interpretation bias, attribution bias, expectancy bias);
- bipolar disorder (attribution bias);
- psychosis (interpretation bias, attribution bias, expectancy bias);
- substance misuse (interpretation bias, attribution bias, expectancy bias).
Helpful Questions for Assessing Cognitive Bias
Some helpful questions for assessing cognitive bias:
- What do you think will happen if you do X or Y?
- What predictions are you making in this situation?
- What sort of evidence are you using to make this judgment or prediction?
- What do you expect will happen here?
- How do you know what will happen?
Treatment Approaches That Target Cognitive Bias
A wide range of treatment interventions are designed to target cognitive bias. These can include:
- data gathering exercises that aim to overcome attentional biases;
- thought-challenging exercises that aim to identify and then overcome cognitive distortions;
- exposure and behavioral experiments that target expectancy biases.
References
- Beck, A. T. (1963). Thinking and depression: I. Idiosyncratic content and cognitive distortions. Archives of General Psychiatry, 9(4), 324–333.
- Harvey, A. G., Watkins, E., Mansell, W., & Shafran, R. (2004). Cognitive behaviouralprocesses across psychological disorders: A transdiagnostic approach to research and treatment. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.