Chapter 5: Psychopathology Flashcards
define psychopathology.
the study of mental disorders and unusual or maladaptive disorders.
what is statistical infrequency?
this occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic, for example being more depressed or less intelligent than most of the population.
any relatively usual behaviour or characteristic thought of as ‘normal’, and any behaviour that is different to this is ‘abnormal’.
what is an example of statistical infrequency?
IQ and intellectual disability disorder.
in any human characteristic, the majority of peoples scores will cluster around the average, and the further we go above or below the average, the fewer people will attain that score.
the average is set at 100. those that range from 85-115 are seen as ‘normal’ however those above or below those values are seen as abnormal.
what is deviation from social norms?
this concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society.
a social norm is how we expect society to behave without telling them what to do to behave. Those who deviate from these social norms and offend peoples sense of what is ‘acceptable’ are defined as abnormal.
what is failure to function adequately?
this occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day-to-day living.
a person may cross the line between ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ at the point when they can no longer cope with the demands of everyday life and they fail to function adequately.
we might decide that someone is not functioning adequately when they are unable to maintain basic standards of nutrition and hygiene or perhaps they cannot hold down a job or maintain relationships with people around them.
who proposed the signs that are used to determine when someone is not functioning adequately, and what are they?
rosenhan & seligman (1989).
the signs include:
-a person no longer conforms to standard interpersonal rules, for example maintaining eye contact and respecting personal space.
-a person experiences severe personal distress.
-a person’s behaviour becomes irrational or dangerous to others and themselves.
what is deviation from ideal mental health?
this occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health.
when there is a picture of how we should psychologically healthy then we can begin to identify who deviates from this ideal.
who suggested the criteria to say whether we are in good mental health, and what is it?
marie jahoda (1988).
the following criteria:
-we can cope with stress.
-we have good self esteem and lack guilt.
-we have a realistic view of the world.
-we can successfully enjoy our leisure.
-we are independent of other people.
what are phobias?
how are they characterised?
an irrational fear of an object or situation.
phobias are characterised by excessive fear and anxiety, triggered by an object, place or situation.
how can phobias be categorised?
they can be categorised by specific phobias or social anxiety.
specific phobias in the sense that there’s such a thing as a phobia of an object or a situation.
social anxiety in the sense that there’s such a thing as a phobia of a social situation or being in a public place.
what are the 3 characteristics of phobias?
behavioural
emotional
cognitive
what are the behavioural characteristics of phobias? (3)
this is the way those with phobias act.
panic- a phobic person may panic in response to the presence of the phobic stimulus. panic may involve a range of behaviours such as crying, screaming or running away. children can cling or have a tantrum as a reaction.
avoidance- the sufferer tends to go to a lot of effort to avoid coming into contact with the phobic stimulus. this makes it hard to go about daily life.
endurance- a sufferer remains in the presence of the phobic stimulus but continues to experience high levels of anxiety. this can be unavoidable in some situations.
what are the emotional characteristics of phobias? (1)
anxiety- phobias involve an emotional response of anxiety and fear. it is an unpleasant state of high arousal. this prevents the sufferer from relaxing and makes it very difficult to experience any positive emotion. anxiety can be long-term. fear is the immediate and extremely unpleasant response.
why are emotional responses seen as unreasonable?
the emotional responses we experience in relation to phobic stimulus go beyond what is reasonable.
e.g a person has a fear of spiders and this will involve a very strong emotional response to a tiny and harmless spider. though this is widely disproportionate to the danger posed by any spider this person is likely to see in a shed.
what are the cognitive characteristics of phobias? (3)
this refers to the process of thinking a phobic has while viewing their phobic stimulus. selective attention- if a sufferer can see the phobic stimulus it is hard to look away from it. keeping our attention on something really dangerous is a good thing as it gives us the best chance of reacting quickly to a threat, but this is not so useful when the fear is irrational.
irrational beliefs- a phobic may hold irrational beliefs in relation to phobic stimuli. e.g ‘i must always sound intelligent.’ this kind of belief increases the pressure on the sufferer to perform well in social situations.
cognitive distortions- the phobics’ perceptions of the phobic stimulus may be distorted.
what are the behavioural characteristics of depression? (3)
activity levels- sufferers of depression have reduced levels of energy making them lazy. in extreme cases, this can be so severe that the sufferer cannot get out of bed.
disruption to sleep- sufferers may experience reduced sleep or increased need for sleep.
eating behaviour- appetite may increase or decrease, leading to weight gain or loss.
what are the emotional characteristics of depression? (2)
lowered mood- more pronounced than the daily experiences of feeling lazy or sad. sufferers often describe themselves as ‘worthless’ or ‘empty’.
anger- on occasion, such emotions lead to aggression or self-harming behaviour.
what are the cognitive characteristics of depression? (2)
poor concentration- sufferers may find themselves unable to stick with a task as they usually would, or they might find simple decision making difficult.
absolutist thinking- ‘black and white thinking’, when a situation is unfortunate it is seen as an absolute disaster.
what are the behavioural characteristics of OCD? (2)
compulsions- actions that are carried out repeatedly. the same behaviour is repeated in a ritualistic way to reduce anxiety.
avoidance- the OCD is managed by avoiding situations that trigger anxiety.
what are the emotional characteristics of OCD? (2)
anxiety and distress- obsessive thoughts are unpleasant and frightening, and the anxiety that goes with these can be overwhelming.
guilt and disgust- irrational guilt, e.g over a minor moral issue, or disgust which is directed to oneself.
what are the cognitive characteristics of OCD? (2)
obsessive thoughts- about 90% of OCD sufferers have obsessive thoughts, e.g about being contaminated with dirt.
insight into excessive anxiety- awareness that thoughts and behaviour are irrational. in spite of this, sufferers experience catastrophic thoughts and are hypervigilant of their obsession.
what is used to explain the behavioural approach in phobias?
the two-process model.
what is the two-process model?
where phobias are learned by classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning.
what is classical conditioning in regards to phobias? include an example
classical conditioning involves learning by association.
e.g an UCS, being bitten, triggers a fear response, where fear is a UCR.
the NS is the dog at first, creating no response.
but once the UCS and NS are paired together, it creates the UCR, fear.
the NS, the dog, becomes a CS producing fear, which is now a CR.
explain the Little Albert study.
watson and raynor showed how fear of rats could be conditioned in ‘little albert’.
-whenever Albert played with a white rat, a loud noise was made close to his ear. the noise (UCS) caused a fear response (UCR).
-the rat (NS) did not create fear unti the bang and the rat had been paired several times.
-Albert showed a fear response (CR) every time he came into contact with the rat, now a CS.
what occurred as a consequence of the Little Albert study?
Albert now generalised his fear to other stimuli, e.g white fury objects, including Santa Claus.
what is operant conditioning in regards to phobias?
operant conditioning takes place when our behaviour is reinforced or punished.
negative reinforcement is used in particular. this is where an individual produces behaviour that avoids something unpleasant.
when a phobic avoids a phobic stimulus, they escape the anxiety that would have been experienced.
this reduction in fear negatively reinforces the avoidance behaviour and the phobia is maintained.
what two behavioural approaches are used to treat phobias?
systematic desensitisation
flooding
