Cognitive explanations for Sz

Question 1

what is the name of the mental process which with noticing the stimuli in our environment (cog approach

Answer 1

perception

Question 2

what is the name of the mental process of selecting which stimulus to focus on (cog approach)

Answer 2

attention

Question 3

what is the name of the mental process by which the mind stores info (cog approach)

Answer 3

memory

Question 4

what does the cognitive explanation of schizophrenia say

Answer 4

the symptoms of schizophrenia are caused by

• dysfunctional mental processes
• dysfunctional attention
• dysfunctional reasoning

Question 5

what are the types of dysfunctional reasoning

Answer 5

• jumping to conclusion bias = a tendency to assume something about a particular situation, based on very little evidence
• persecution bias = a tendency to believe that you are being singled out and unfairly treated

Question 6

Question $2:$ According to the cognitive explanation, which dysfunctional mental processes cause someone to have schizophrenia?

Answer 6

reasoning and attention

Question 7

Question $3:$ What is dysfunctional attention?

Answer 7

When someone gets easily distracted and tends to over-focus their attention on irrelevant details

Question 8

how do dysfunctional thought processes cause delusions

Answer 8

• dysfunctional attention causes patients to over focus on small irrelevant details of real events and coincidences
• this leads to the patient experiencing because the patient tries to explain why coincidences keep happening but their dysfunctional reasoning makes their explanation irrational, causing a delusional belief

Question 9

how does dysfunctional thought processes cause hallucinations

Answer 9

• due to dysfunctional attention, people over focus on things that they imagine
• then over focusing on imagined events causes the imagined events to begin to feel real
• as a result people with schizophrenia struggle to tell the difference between things which are imagined and things that actually happened

Question 10

how do dysfunctional processes lead to negative symptoms

Answer 10

• patients start to become overwhelmed by abnormal experiences, hallucinations/delusions
• patients want to avoid their abnormal experiences
• then patients isolate themselves from the outside world

Question 11

Ziad’s family are concerned about him. He has started collecting local newspaper cuttings about violence, which he says seems to always occur in his local area, mainly by males. He concludes that violent crimes occur because there are too many males living in the area. He now thinks that any male he comes across in the local area will assault him.
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Question $2.$ With reference to Ziad, explain how dysfunctional reasoning contributes to delusions.

Answer 11

Ziad has focussed on certain details about crimes in the newspapers, and because he has dysfunctional reasoning, he has explained the links between these crimes in an irrational way. He has jumped to the conclusion that all males in his local area are violent and commit crimes, and his persecution bias has left him thinking that he will be attacked by any male living locally, which is not rational reasoning.

Question 12

Question $6.$ Explain the similarities and differences between the cognitive explanations for delusions and hallucinations.

Answer 12

Hallucinations are when people with schizophrenia over focus on things that they imagined, whereas delusions cause people with schizophrenia to focus on small irrelevant details and coincidences in real events. Dysfunctional attention and reasoning cause delusions, whereas hallucinations are caused just by dysfunctional attention. Dysfunctional attention is when people with schizophrenia over focus on something.

Question 13

what to findings support the cognitive explanation of schizophrenia

Answer 13

O’Carroll reviewed studied that investigated mental dysfunction
he reviewed studies of people at risk of developing schizophrenia
people who went on to develop schizophrenia already had dysfunctional mental processes before they shows any symptoms
this study showed that dysfunctional mental processes may cause the symptom of schizophrenia

Question 14

what are cognitive deficits

Answer 14

impairments in thought processes eg perception and memory

Question 15

what are cognitive biases

Answer 15

present when people notice, pay attention to, or remember certain types of info better than others

Question 16

limitation of cognitive explanation of schziophrenia

Answer 16

• does not account for the role of biological factors in schizophrenia , such as the role of antipsychotic medication as a treatment for schizophrenia.

Question 17

evaluation of cognitive explanation

Answer 17

• dysfunctional thinking can be a consequence rather than cause
• research support Myer - Linderberg, reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex of schizophrenics when doing a task involving working memory