Practice: The Elements of Argument

Below are excerpts from "Cognitive-based Treatment of Tortured Asylum Seekers: A Case Study," published in the Journal of Anxiety Disorder, an academic journal for those scholars of psychology and psychiatry. The authors wanted to know if a psychological treatment known as CBT (cognitive-based treatment) usually used for patients with severe anxiety, could also be demonstrated to be effective on victims of torture who are seeking political asylum and who suffer from the psychological effects of torture, a disorder known as PT SD (post-traumatic stress disorder). The authors note that CBT has been used to help victims of torture in combination with many other types of treatment. But no clinical study before theirs had used CBT as the only treatment, so it had not yet been determined how much CBT had actually contributed to the patient's recovery. Based on their research with many torture victims suffering from PTSD, the authors argue that CBT can be shown to contribute greatly to a patient's recovery.

Consider the brief summary of the argument provided above. In the excerpts from the argument below, chose the answer that best describes the element of the argument the authors employ.

This activity contains 8 questions.

	"CBT was useful in reducing symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety in our patient."   Overall claim or conclusion A link to a reason A challenge A condition that partially concedes to the challenge One of the series of supporting claims that answers the challenge A suggestion for further study

	"because substantial improvement was noted on all measures from pre- to post-treatment."   Overall claim or conclusion A link to a reason A challenge A condition that partially concedes to the challenge One of the series of supporting claims that answers the challenge A suggestion for further study

	"Part of the improvement during follow-up might be due to the fact that the patient was granted political asylum towards the end of the treatment."   Overall claim or conclusion A link to a reason A challenge A condition that partially concedes to the challenge One of the series of supporting claims that answers the challenge A suggestion for further study

	"Although such problems could conceivably interfere with positive response to CBT, our results suggest that this need not necessarily be the case."   Overall claim or conclusion A link to a reason A challenge A condition that partially concedes to the challenge One of the series of supporting claims that answers the challenge A suggestion for further study

	"Clearly, results from a case study have limited generalizability and there is need for controlled studies to ascertain the efficacy of CBT in tortured asylum-seekers and refugees. A more systematic study of this issue is in the interest of both refugees and the host countries that are faced with the challenge of providing mental health care to large numbers of refugees."   Overall claim or conclusion A link to a reason A challenge A condition that partially concedes to the challenge One of the series of supporting claims that answers the challenge A suggestion for further study

	"CBT is sometimes regarded as a 'superficial' form treatment that deals only with symptoms and not the 'essence' of the patient's psychological problems."   Overall claim or conclusion A link to a reason A challenge A condition that partially concedes to the challenge One of the series of supporting claims that answers the challenge A suggestion for further study

	"There is abundant evidence in the anxiety disorders literature that improvement achieved by CBT generalizes to all areas of functioning, including social, work, family and marital adjustment."   Overall claim or conclusion A link to a reason A challenge A condition that partially concedes to the challenge One of the series of supporting claims that answers the challenge A suggestion for further study

	"CBT treatment, on the other hand, requires relatively less verbal communication with the patient (often centering around the issues of task setting) once the treatment rationale is explained and understood by the patient. Thus, compared with other forms of psychological treatment, behavioral interventions are more easy and practical to administer with patients who have language problems."   Overall claim or conclusion A link to a reason A challenge A condition that partially concedes to the challenge One of the series of supporting claims that answers the challenge A suggestion for further study

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