ABSTRACT
In this chapter I want to describe three major types of hypotheses which are used in cognitive-behaviour therapy and to discuss some issues that arise about the testing of these hypotheses. The three types of hypothesis I will consider are those developed within three different cognitive-behavioural models. These are (1) functional analysis, (2) traditonal Beckian cognitive therapy and (3) schema-focused cognitive-therapy. I will place this discussion in the context of a discussion of hypothesis testing in general. I will argue that one problem which can infect the discussion is the mistaken identification of the scientific method with hypothesis testing. This can have serious implications in what is considered to be evidence and can, therefore, affect our practice. I will argue that an oversimplified view of how we test our ideas has been prevelant in cognitive-behaviour therapy and in psychotherapy generally. I also argue that many of our hypotheses are maintained by non-rational factors (e.g., professional identity) and this also needs to be acknowledged. Hypotheses (that is, tentative statements) can be constructed about any matter of fact at all. Two situations in which hypotheses are tested in cognitive psychotherapy are (1) to establish that a particular causal model is true, and (2) to establish the effectiveness of a particular treatment technique. In both cases it is a valuable activity. However I want to begin by exploring the limitations of hypothesis testing. I will argue (1) that scientific method is not equivalent to hypothesis testing, and (2) hypothesis testing is part of everyday reasoning—that is, science involves a lot more than hypothesis testing and hypothesis testing is part of everyday thinking. Why particular hypotheses are seen as worth pursuing at a particular point in time relates to the background set of beliefs which are held about the world. It is not single hypotheses which are tested but a whole ‘world-view’ or a paradigm (in the terminology of Kuhn, 1962).
