Abnormalities Flashcards
Ao1: What is the genetic explanation for Schizophrenia?
That schizophrenia is caused by genes so it should be passed down to children from parents. This should mean the disease runs in families.
Ao1: What studies do we use to test if schizophrenia is due to genes and why?
We use twin, family and adoption studies as this tells us whether the disease does commonly run in families and how commonly it does and also rules out the environment as a cause.
Ao1: What would you expect the concordance rate of schizophrenia for twins would be?
You would expect it to be 100% for monozygotic twins as they share 100% of their genes and around 50% for dizygotic twins because they share about around 50% of their genes on average.
Ao1: What is a concordance rate?
This is the likelihood of a person developing a disease someone else already has it.
Ao1: What is the concordance rate for the general population?
1%.
Ao2: What did Joseph find?
They found that the concordance rate for MZ twins was 40.4% and was 7.4% for DZ twins.
Ao2: What does Joseph’s findings tell us about schizophrenia?
That it most likely is genetic as this is a very large concordance rate and different between MZ and DZ as MZ share considerably more genes, therefore we expected this.
Ao2: How does Gottesman support Joseph’s findings about schizophrenia?
They found that the less genes shared the less likely you are to develop schizophrenia which supports the idea that it is genetic also as this means the more genes shared the more likely you are to both have the gene/genes for schizophrenia.
Ao2: What is a problem with Joseph and Gottesman?
You would expect MZ twins to have a concordance rate of 100% as they share 100% of their genes meaning if it is genetic they would both have the gene/genes for schizophrenia. Because it isn’t 100%, the environment must have a play in the development of schizophrenia. Maybe there needs to be something in the environment to set it off? Also, Gottesman’s study is quite inconclusive as it could just be that you are less likely because you share less of your environment, we cannot draw a clear link between genes and schizophrenia.
Ao2: What did Rosenthal Study?
They studied identical quadruplets that all had schizophrenia. They all differed in age of onset and their symptoms. They also had a very bad upbringing as their parents were very unstable.
Ao2: What does Rosenthal suggest about Schizophrenia?
That it is genetic because they all had the schizophrenia which is very unlikely if it is not genetic as no one person can have exactly the same environment. The fact their parents seemed very unstable also supports a genetic cause as they could have had the disease themselves.
Ao2: What are 2 problems with Rosenthal’s study?
It could quite easily be an environmental cause as it could be that the unstable home and upbringing was bad enough to cause the schizophrenia. This would explain why they differed in age of onset and symptoms as maybe parts of the environment triggered the disease at different times. Seems likely that maybe genes and environment interact. This is also a case study meaning we cannot generalise to all families and quadruplets as we do not know the same thing would happen.
Ao1: What did Freud say about people with Schizophrenia?
He said that the id (the instinct driven part of the mind) took over when the person regressed back to primary narcissism (self-importance). This means they cannot make a distinction between what is real and what is fantasy and they cannot delay gratification much like a child cannot either. Their ego struggles to regain consciousness.
Ao1: What did Freud think causes schizophrenia?
He believed that schizophrenia developed due to the upbringing of the mother and family relationships.
Ao2: What did Fromm-Reichmann do to develop on Freud?
They said that schizophrenia was caused by schizophrenogenic mothers. These are mothers who are at one minute rejecting the child and then the next minute overprotective. They are dominant and moralistic and constantly talking about what is right and wrong. They said this confused the child and ended up causing the schizophrenia.
Ao2: What does schizophrenogenic mothers suggest about schizophrenia?
That it has an environmental cause rather than a genetic one, it seems genetic because the parents seem quite erratic themselves but it isn’t, it is caused by how they have been brought up.
Ao2: What is a problem with the theory about Schizophrenogenic mothers?
That the schizophrenogenic mothers could have actually had schizophrenia themselves which means that it could quite possibly be a genetic cause. This theory does not make a direct link between the environment and schizophrenia. It could also be a case of genes and the environment interacting.
Ao2: What is a problem with Freud’s theory?
It is unfalsifiable as it is all to do with he unconscious mind which we cannot see for ourselves. This means we cannot test the theory empirically, so we have no evidence to say whether it is true or not. Freud provided no physical evidence himself which just emphasises on this point.
Ao2: Is schizophrenia caused by the genes or the environment, or do the two of them interact?
It is difficult to say whether schizophrenia is just caused be genes or the environment as it is virtually impossible to actually test this in way of ruling out the other. The environment could even play a part in the mothers womb so it is impossible to control this. However, it seems very likely that maybe they both interact. This can be named as the diathesis stress model. This states that you have a genetic predisposition to something(diathesis) and then something in the environment(stress), like the shcizophrenogenic mothers sets this off.
Ao1: What is ECT?
This is when a electric shock is passed through someones brain to induce an epileptic like seizure.
Ao1: Why did people start using ECT to cure schizophrenia?
Because schizophrenia is very uncommon in people with epilepsy.
Ao1: What happens in modern ECT?
The person is given a general anaesthetic and electrodes are placed unilaterally (one of the temple of non-dominant side of brain and one in middle of forehead). Then 0.6 amps are passed through the electrodes for half a second. This induces a seizure which lasts for 30 to 60 seconds.
Ao1: How many treatments of ECT does one person have?
Around 3-15.
Ao1: What problem arises from the use ECT?
Memory loss and severe confusion.
Ao2: What are the 3 explanations of Brenton?
1) That the pain acts as a punishment, therefore it is like operant conditioning, as the person will think that they will not have an episode again because it will result in the ECT again.
2) That the memory loss caused allows for the patient to reconstruct their life.
3) The biochemical changes produced help to reduct the symptoms.
Ao2: What is a problem with each explanation?
1) When patients given an electric shock which would cause pain but not enough for a seizure it did not work. General anaesthetic and used now also meaning the patients will not feel pain therefore it cannot be a punishment.
2) Unilateral ECT is used now which causes minimal memory loss, definitely not enough for someone to be able to reconstruct their life.
3) Biochemical changes are only temporary but some have found the affects to be permanent.
Ao2: What is Breggin’s explanation for why ECT works?
That it causes severe brain damage which makes the person delusional, like being drunk. This means that the ECT does not actually work, people just think it has.
Ao2: What did Thayran and Adam’s do and find?
They did a review of 26 studies which compared the effects of real ECT with simulated ECT. They found that the real ECT produced much larger affects in the reduction of symptoms.
Ao2: What does Thayran and Adam’s research suggest about ECT?
That it is the real thing that works and not a placebo, therefore it is a successful treatment for schizophrenia.
Ao2: What did Sarita et al do and find which contradicts Thayran and Adam?
Sarita et al tested 36 patients and compared real ECT with simulated ECT and found that there was no significant difference between the affects of the two. This heavily contradicts Thayran and Adams as it suggests that ECT isn’t effective after all as you could just as easily use a placebo.
Ao2: What is a problem with Sarita et al?
It is a very very small sample size compared to Tharyan and Adams which makes it very hard to generalise because of the fact that we do not know everyone else would react in the same way.
Ao1: How does CBT help treat Schizophrenia?
It challenges and replaces maladaptive thoughts with constructive thinking. This eventually leads to healthy behaviour. Schizophrenics are generally unaware they are thinking in this maladaptive way so therapists try and bring this into consciousness so that they can challenge it and see there is no basis for this way of thinking. The cognitive aspect looks at altering the way the person thinks about the world and the behavioural aspect looks at changing their behaviour through learning.
Ao2: What did Drury find about CBT and what does this suggest about CBT?
They found a reduction of symptoms and of recovery time of about 25-30% when combines with antipsychotic drugs. This shows CBT to be affect and suggests the drugs help people to access the benefits of CBT.
Ao2: What is a problem with Drury’s research?
Surely for CBT to be completely successful it should work on its own.
Ao2: What did Kulper’s suggest about Drury’s research?
That it was all down to the drugs, and that CBT had no effect. It is true we cannot infer a cause and effect relationship here because we have the drug as a confounding variable with could be affecting the person more than the CBT is.
Ao2: What did Kingdon and Kirchell suggest about CBT?
That it is not suitable for some people because they are unwilling to participate in the CBT, probably because they think it isn’t going to work. They said this is most common for older people because of the fact they have had more episodes and are therefore probably more delusional.
