1: Basic Concepts

Question 1

What is the statistical perspective on psychological disease based on?

Answer 1

Individual differences and norms.

Question 2

What is the theoretical perspective on psychological disease based on?

Answer 2

Disease mechanisms.

Question 3

What do standardised tests allow?

Answer 3

Comparison of a participant with a control sample based n the normal distribution.

Question 4

When can Z scores be useful?

Answer 4

To compare two or more scores taken from normal distributions, even when the means and SDs are different.

Question 5

Give 1 advantage of standardised tests.

Answer 5

They area diagnostic.

Question 6

Give 4 disadvantages of standardised tests.

Answer 6

Collection control data is laborious, the normal distinction may differ depending on characteristics of the sub-population, not all psychological variables are normally distributed, and not all of them are easy to measure.

Question 7

What do rating scales use as a baseline?

Answer 7

The individual’s own earlier performance.

Question 8

What are rating scales useful for?

Answer 8

Measuring responses to treatment.

Question 9

Give 4 advantages of rating scales.

Answer 9

They account for subjectivity, are adequate for monitoring treatment and changes over time, cost less than standardised tests and can be used for non-normally distributed variables.

Question 10

Give 3 disadvantages of rating scales.

Answer 10

They are not diagnostic, there is risk if operator error, and they rely on self-report.

Question 11

Give 1 advantage of statistical manuals.

Answer 11

They provide a common language and standard diagnostic criteria.

Question 12

Give 5 disadvantages of statistical manuals.

Answer 12

There’s no evidence of biological causation, no evidence of reliability, validity or prognostic value, a problem of comorbidity, a risk of stigmatising eccentric people and a risk of medicinal using normality.

Question 13

What 2 problems do the BPS suggest with not using diagnostic labels?

Answer 13

Hindering research and creating difficulties in interaction in society (e.g. insurance or the law).

Question 14

Give 2 dissimilarities between mental and physical illness.

Answer 14

There is a traditional distinction between the body and the mind and many mental illnesses don’t have a biomarker.

Question 15

Give 2 similarities between mental and physical illness.

Answer 15

Mental diseases are of the brain, which is a physical organ and some somatic diseases lack a biomarker too.

Question 16

What suggests that faulty genes alone do not cause mental diseases?

Answer 16

No concordance rates of 100% have been found.

Question 17

Give 3 advantages of the genetic model.

Answer 17

Biomarkers mean straightforward assessment, treatment is causal, and guilt is removed.

Question 18

Give 2 disadvantages of the genetic model.

Answer 18

Suggests a lack of control over one’s own mental health and explains only a few diseases adequately so far.

Question 19

How does the neuropharmacological model explain mental disease?

Answer 19

Neurotransmitter imbalance.

Question 20

Give 3 advantages of the neuropharmacological model.

Answer 20

Causal treatments, lack of guilt and biomarkers.

Question 21

Give 4 disadvantages of the neuropharmacological model.

Answer 21

The cause of imbalances is unknown, treatments are not 100% effective, suggests a lack of control, effects can change over time (and be negative at points), and successfully treatments don’t necessarily prove causality.

Question 22

How does the cognitive neuroscientific model explain mental disease?

Answer 22

Malfunction of the neural circuits that support psychological functions.

Question 23

Give 2 advantages of the cognitive neuroscientific model.

Answer 23

It can be diagnostic using functional imaging and uses treatment using brain stimulation.

Question 24

Give 2 disadvantages of the cognitive neuroscientific model.

Answer 24

The field is in its infancy and there is no evidence for long term effects of this treatment.

Question 25

How does the cognitive psychology model explain mental disease?

Answer 25

Faulty thinking.

Question 26

Give 2 advantages of the cognitive model.

Answer 26

Regaining control can be empowering and assessment and treatment can be individualised.

Question 27

Give 3 disadvantages of the cognitive model.

Answer 27

Underlying causes are unknown, people can feel guilty, and negative thinking can sometimes be rational.

Question 28

Give 2 advantages of the sociological model.

Answer 28

It removes the need to test and treat patients and removes guilt.

Question 29

Give 2 disadvantages of the sociological model.

Answer 29

It does not explain similarities of clinical manifestations across different cultures and norms and can create guilt in the social environment.

Question 30

What does epigenetics combine?

Answer 30

The genetic and sociological models.