Experimental psychopathology

Abstract

This chapter covers the topics and research questions of "Experimental Psychopathology" (EP) and the experimental tasks used to answer them. We describe historical roots and current models of EP, and we characterize its relevance for Clinical Psychology. The methods of EP are described in detail, illustrating the tasks which are used to study attention, associations, approach-avoidance tendencies, interpretation, memory, cognitive control, and learning processes. We also illustrate the path that EP research has taken from the experimental assessment of clinically relevant phenomena, via the induction of potentially causal processes and their therapeutic modification, to clinical applications.