Abnormal and Clinical Psychology

Question 1

General paresis

Answer 1

Disorder characterized by delusions of grandeur, mental deterioration, eventual paralysis and death.

It was discovered in the 19th Century that the underlying cause was neuro-degeneration caused by syphilis.

This discovery showed for the first time that psychological conditions may have underlying physiological causes.

Question 2

Prefrontal lobotomies

Answer 2

These were performed from 1935-1955 as a treatment for schizophrenia. Unfortunately, it did not improve the condition; it only made the patients easier to handle, because the surgery made patients calmer.

Question 3

Consequences of the advent of antipsychotics

Answer 3

These drugs meant that people with psychotic disorders could be treated more humanely and effectively (no more surgeries or electroshock therapy). Formerly hopeless patients were in some cases entirely released from care thanks to the drugs.

Question 4

The main features of psychoanalysis

Answer 4

It is intensive, long-term and aims to uncover anything repressed due to disruptions of psychosexual development.

Freud initially employed hypnosis, but later focused more on free association, dream interpretation, resistance analysis and transference analysis.

Question 5

Features of Rational-Emotive Therapy

Answer 5

Developed by Albert Ellis, it attempts to reveal to the client that their cognitions are inaccurate. It is generally more combative than CBT.

Question 6

Symptom substitution

Answer 6

The critique of behavioural therapies by psychoanalysts which states that behavioural therapies target only symptoms and not causes of disorders.

Question 7

Neurodevelopmental disorders

Answer 7

These are linked to disruption of the development of the NS, and as such tend to present in childhood and infancy.

They include AD/HD, ASD, learning and communication disorders and Tourette’s disorder.

Question 8

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia

Answer 8

“Positive” does not refer to “good” in this case, but rather to symptoms characterized by the presence of behaviours that aren’t otherwise present. These include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, disorganized thought and disorganized and/or catatonic behaviour.

Question 9

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia

Answer 9

“Negative” does not refer to “bad” in this case (both positive and negative symptoms are bad). Rather, it refers to symptoms characterized by the absence of behaviours that are normally present. These include flat affect, selective mutism and blunted emotional expression.