Modelling Health Dictionary

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Modelling: From 1 Different Sources

n. 1. a technique used in *behaviour modification, whereby an individual learns a behaviour by observing someone else doing it. Together with *prompting, it is useful for introducing new behaviours to the individual. 2. An element of normal social learning and development whereby children learn through emulating other people’s behaviour (often that of parents, other adults, or other children).
Health Source: Oxford | Concise Colour Medical Dictionary
Author: Jonathan Law, Elizabeth Martin

Decision Analysis

An approach to decision-making that involves modelling the sequences or pathways of multiple possible strategies (e.g. of diagnosis and treatment for a particular clinical problem) to determine which is optimal. It is based upon available estimates (drawn from the literature or from experts) of the probabilities that certain events and outcomes will occur and the values of the outcomes that would result from each strategy.... decision analysis

Vivisection

For more than a century the medical profession has aimed at maintaining as high a standard as possible for vivisection. It was the medical profession led by Dr James Paget that was responsible for the passing of the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876, which aimed to eliminate cruelty. The in?iction of pain was reduced to a minimum by the use of anaesthetics (see ANAESTHESIA), and the licensing and surveillance of animal experiments was ensured.

Most experiments are carried out on specially bred mice and rats. Fewer than 1 per cent are done on cats, dogs, non-human primates, farm animals, frogs, ?sh and birds. Control on experiments has recently been strengthened.

The great majority of animal experiments are done without anaesthesia because feeding experiments, taking blood, or giving injections does not require anaesthetics in animals any more than in humans. Universities in Britain are responsible for fewer than one-?fth of animal experiments; commercial concerns and government institutions are responsible for most of the rest. Tests on cosmetics account for under 1 per cent of all animal work, but are necessary because such materials are often applied with great frequency – and for a long time – to the skin of adults and infants.

The use of tissue cultures and computer models instead of live animals are methods of research and investigation that are being increasingly used. There is, however, a limit to the extent to which infection, cancer, or drugs can be investigated on cultures of tissue cells. Computerised or mathematical modelling of experiments is probably the most promising line of development.... vivisection

Behaviour Therapy

A collection of techniques, based on psychological theory, for changing abnormal behaviour or treating anxiety. The treatment relies on 2 basic ideas: that exposure to a feared experience under safe conditions will render it less threatening, and that desirable behaviour can be encouraged by using a system of rewards.

Specific behaviour therapy techniques include exposure therapy (also called desensitization), response prevention, flooding, and modelling. Exposure therapy is commonly used to treat phobic disorders such as agoraphobia, animal phobias, and flying phobias. It consists of exposing the patient in stages to the cause of the anxiety. The patient is taught to cope with anxiety symptoms by using relaxation techniques. In flooding, the patient is confronted with the anxiety-provoking stimulus all at once, but with the support of the therapist. In response prevention, the patient is prevented from carrying out an obsessional task; the technique is used in combination with other methods. In modelling, the therapist acts as a model for the patient, performing the anxiety-provoking activity first, in order that the patient may copy.... behaviour therapy

Imitation

n. acting in the same way as another person, either temporarily or permanently. It can be used in therapy (see modelling).... imitation

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