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Applied Psychology: Issues in Mental Health > alternative explanations for mental disorders > Flashcards

alternative explanations for mental disorders Flashcards

1
Q

What are the three alternative explanations to the medical model?

A
  1. behaviourist
  2. cognitive
    3 psychodynamic
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2
Q

What are the two components to the behaviourist explanation?

A

operant and classical conditioning

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3
Q

How many stages to classical conditioning are there (and what are they called)?

A

three
1. before conditioning
2. during conditioning
3. after conditioning

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4
Q

What is the formula for before conditioning?

A

unconditioned stimulus → unconditioned response

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5
Q

What is the formula for during conditioning?

A

unconditioned stimulus + neutral stimulus → unconditioned response

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6
Q

What is the formula for after conditioning?

A

conditioned stimulus → conditioned response

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7
Q

How can classical conditioning stages be applied to a real life scenario?

A

before conditioning:
UCS = loud noise → UCR = crying / fear
during conditioning:
UCS = loud noise + NS = rat → UCR = crying / fear
after conditioning:
CS = rat → CR = crying / fear

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8
Q

When discussing phobias is the neutral stimulus always?

A

the phobic object

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9
Q

What part of the stimulus response chain is the cause for a fearful response?

A

unconditioned stimulus

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10
Q

What does the neutral stimulus always become?

A

the conditioned stimulus

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11
Q

How does classical conditioning link to phobias?

A

phobias are acquired through classical conditioning

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12
Q

How does operant conditioning link to phobias?

A

phobias are maintained through operant conditioning

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13
Q

How does positive reinforcement apply to phobias?

A

rewards - caring attention = feels nice = reinforced phobia

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14
Q

How does negative reinforcement apply to phobias?

A

removal - avoidance of phobic object - removal of unpleasant stimuli (phobic object)

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15
Q

What is the cognitive explanation for mental disorders?

A

suggests that mental disorders are caused by our thoughts = cognitive triad

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16
Q

What are the elements of the cognitive triad?

A
  • irrational and pessimistic thoughts
  • 3 levels:
    1. negative view about yourself
    2. negative view about the world (how others view you)
    3. negative view about the future
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17
Q

How many cognitive biases are within the cognitive explanation (+ what are they called)?

A

nine biases:
- magnification
- minimisation
- overgeneralisation
- personalisation
- arbitrary inference
- selective abstraction
- negative self schemas
- errors in logic
- attentional bias

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18
Q

What is magnification?

A

enlarging positive attributes about others

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19
Q

What is minimisation?

A

shrinking down own positive attributes

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20
Q

What is overgeneralisation?

A

viewing a single event as an invariable rule

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21
Q

What is personalisation?

A

blaming an entire event on themselves, believing their responsible for things beyond control

22
Q

What is arbitrary inference?

A

the process of forming an interpretation of a situation, event, or experience when there is no factual evidence to support conclusions

23
Q

What is selective abstraction?

A

the process of focusing on a detail taken out of context, ignoring other more important factors

24
Q

What is negative self schemas?

A

unhealthy, degrading, and harmful versions of self beliefs

25
Q

What is errors in logic (faulty information processing)?

A

illogical thinking

26
Q

What is attentional bias?

A

tendency to pay attention to some things whilst ignoring others

27
Q

What is an example of a cognitive triad - for depression?

A

negative view about self:
I’m not smart like everyone else
negative view of world:
everyone thinks I’m stupid
negative view of future:
I’ll never get a job or into uni

28
Q

What the questionnaire that measures depression?

A

Beck Depression Inventory

29
Q

What are the strengths of the Beck Depression Inventory?

A
  • quantitative data = objective = easy to analyse and compare
  • reliable = replicable = more valid
30
Q

What are the weaknesses of the Beck Depression Inventory?

A
  • fixed choice - closed questions = restrictive
  • social desirability = decrease validity
  • thresholds hard to determine
  • subjective interpretation
31
Q

What is the psychodynamic explanation?

A
  • mental disorders are caused by the unconscious mind as memories and feelings are repressed
  • ID, Ego & Superego
32
Q

What psychologist is the psychodynamic perspective based on?

A

Freud

33
Q

What is the ID?

A
  • pleasure principle
  • demands gratification for immoral desires
  • born with
34
Q

What is the Ego?

A
  • balances ID & superego
  • develops second
  • reality principle
  • deploys defence mechanisms
35
Q

What is the Superego?

A
  • morality
  • reason for guilt
  • develops last (age 4-5) when Oedipus / Electra complex is solved
  • develops depending on type of parenting
36
Q

What are the 4 types of defence mechanisms?

A
  • denial
  • repression
  • displacement
  • regression
37
Q

What is denial as a defence mechanism?

A
  • putting off getting help - don’t want to deal with the uncomfortable
  • safety of object (phobias)
  • hallucinations and delusions (schizophrenia)
38
Q

What is repression as a defence mechanism?

A

pushing feeling / emotion into unconscious mind to try and forget / not think about

39
Q

What is displacement as a defence mechanism?

A
  • placing fear onto something else - symbolic link
  • example: Little Hans fear of being bitten = fear of being castrated by his father
  • taking emotions out on someone else e.g, shouting at someone else
40
Q

What is regression as a defence mechanism?

A

starting to behave as you did as a child e.g., throwing a tantrum, sucking on thumb, rocking back and forth
- symptoms of depression that link = avolition and insomnia

41
Q

How do the ID, Ego & Superego link to phobias?

A

ID = unconscious fear buried in unconscious mind + ID ego conflict
Ego = conflicts with ID
Superego = conflict

42
Q

How do the ID, Ego & superego link to depression?

A

ID = demands gratification, becomes very aggressive and hostile to others
Ego = prevention of harming self (most of the time)
Superego = overactive, lots of guilt, turn to harming self rather than harming others

43
Q

How do the ID, Ego and Superego link to schizophrenia?

A

ID = in control, return to child like state - distorted view of reality (regression) and it becomes hard to distinguish reality
Ego = loss of contact
Superego = loss of contact

44
Q

evaluate the explanations in regards to nature vs nurture

A

psychodynamic:
- both: nature = born with ID / unconscious mind & nurture = superego and ego develop due to childhood experience
cognitive:
- both: nature = thoughts and beliefs & nurture = impact of parents beliefs and social beliefs
behaviourist:
- nurture: blank slate (tabula rosa) learn through conditioning (classical and operant)

45
Q

evaluate the explanations in regards to individual vs situational

A

psychodynamic:
- both: individual = unconscious mind & situational = trauma / childhood experiences
cognitive:
- both: individual = cognitive triads & situational = culture / upbringing
behaviourist:
- situational = the environment

46
Q

evaluate the explanations in regards to social sensitivity and ethics

A

psychodynamic:
- socially senstiive - blames parents - childhood experiences causing mental disorders
cognitive:
- thought processes are very difficult to change - blames the individual - BUT can be changed with CBT
behaviourist:
- blames environment - not socially sensitive - treatment

47
Q

evaluate the explanations in regards to usefulness

A

psychodynamic:
- therapy / psychoanalysis = consciously process childhood = very effective BUT expensive and does not work for everyone
cognitive:
- very useful - CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) BUT does not work for certain groups of people e.g., children or people with schizophrenia
behaviourist:
- systematic desensitisation

48
Q

evaluate the explanations in regards to free will vs determinism

A

psychodynamic:
- deterministic - unconscious mind and childhood experiences cannot be changed - lack of control
cognitive:
- don’t choose the way you think BUT can be changed
behaviourist:
- can learn and unlearn but little choice when learning

49
Q

evaluate the explanations in regards to reductionism vs holism

A

psychodynamic:
- oversimplifies complex interacting factors but most holistic of all as considers childhood experience (nurture) and unconscious mind (nature)
cognitive:
- oversimplifies to thoughts ignoring genetics and childhood
behaviourist;
- oversimplifies to stimulus and response

50
Q

evaluate the explanations in regards to psychology as a science

A

psychodynamic:
- cannot falsify or operationalise (or access) the unconscious mind also qualitative data = unscientific due to subjectivity
cognitive:
- can operationalise thoughts BUT social desirability bias (censor themselves) and cannot see what people think
behaviourist:
- observable behaviour = very scientific & can predict behaviour = causality

51
Q

evaluate the explanations in regards to ethnocentrism and cultural relativism

A

psychodynamic:
- nuclear families = westernised cultures only
cognitive:
- different cultures think very differently e.g., individualist cultures may weight negative thoughts about themself a lot heavier than a collectivist culture ways it
behaviourist:
- not ethnocentric

52
Q

evaluate the explanations in regards to validity and reliability

A

reliability - all but psychodynamic are reliable
validity = psychodynamic not valid BUT does work for some people and cognitive and behaviourist are valid. but reductionist

Applied Psychology: Issues in Mental Health (10 decks)

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