At the centre of a science of psychopathology? Characteristics and limitations of cognitive research.

In this brief paper I will suggest that the cognitive approach has four characteristics which must place it at the centre of any complete science of psychopathology: (1) it leads to testable hypotheses about abnormal mental states; (2) it establishes a link between normal psychology and abnormal mental processes, and therefore obviates the need to dichotomise behaviour into the normal and the abnormal; (3) it has the potential to make apparently bizarre and irrational behaviour understandable; and (4) it is neutral with regard to the relative contributions that biology and the environment make to the aetiology of psychiatric disorders. I also identify three limitations of contemporary cognitive models of psychiatric disorders: (1) an over-reliance on conventional methods of psychiatric classification; (2) an underemphasis on social aspects of cognition; and (3) a failure to integrate findings obtained from different models. Once these limitations are overcome, cognitive research is likely to lead to a revolution in our understanding of abnormal behaviour.