Essay plans Flashcards
definitions AO1
Statistical infrequency - individual has a less common characteristic according to statistics eg IQ - 100 - below 70 2%
Deviation from social norms - when behaviour is different from the acceptable standards of behaviour in a community or society eg antisocial personality disorder - absence of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to normative behaviour
Failure to functional adequately - when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day-to-day living - eg Rosenhan and Seligman - severe personal distress, irrational or dangerous to themselves or others eg intellectual disability disorder - low IQ so unable to function adequately
Deprivation from ideal mental health - when someone does not meet a set criteria for good mental health - Jahoda - no symptoms or distress, good self-esteem, successfully work, love and enjoy leisure
definitions AO3
Real world applications
Statistical - unusual characteristics can be positive
Statistical - benefits versus problems
Real world application
Cultural and situational relativism
Human rights abuses
Represents threshold for help
Discrimination and social control
May not be abnormal
A comprehensive definition
May be culture bound
Extremely high standards
characteristics of OCD
OCD - obsessions or compulsions - diagnosed likely with both
Behavioural:
Compulsions are repetitive - feel compelled to repeat a behaviour eg hand washing
Compulsions reduce anxiety - 10% show compulsive behaviour alone, no obsessions - instead irrational anxiety - manage anxiety produces by obsessions
Avoidance - attempt to reduce anxiety by keeping away from situations that trigger it eg germs
Emotional:
Anxiety and distress - unpleasant emotional experience - powerful anxiety - obsessive thoughts which are unpleasant and frightening
Accompanying depression - OCD often accompanied by depression - compulsions only temporary relief
Guilt and disgust - irrational guilt, disgust over minor moral issues
Cognitive:
Obsessive thoughts 90% obsessive thoughts - vary from person to person but always unpleasant
Cognitive coping strategies - obsessions - major aspect - respond by adopting cognitive coping strategies to cope with obsessions - help manage anxiety but make the person appear abnormal to others and can distract from everyday tasks
Insight into excessive anxiety - aware their obsessions and compulsions are not rations - people with OCD experience catastrophic thoughts about worst case scenarios - tend to hypervigilant - maintain constant alertness
Cycle - temporary relief, obsessive thought, anxiety, compulsive behaviour
biological explanations of OCD AO1
Orbitofrontal cortex -lateral frontal lobes - obsessive focus on negative / repetitive thoughts - part of brain involved in cognitive processing of decision making
Basal ganglia - increased activity may be source of compulsions as this part of brain initiates motor functions
Parahippocampal gyrus - associated with processing unpleasant emotions, functions abnormally in OCD
Candidate genes - genes involved in producing symptoms of OCD - 5HT1-D beta
Poly genetic - Taylor - different combinations of up to 230 genetic variations
Aetiologically heterogenous - causes are different for different individuals
Concordance rates - Nestalt - 68% MZ 31% DZ - 4 times more likely to develop OCD if family member diagnosed 37% parents, 21% siblings
Diathesis stress - vulnerability triggers by a stressor
Role of serotonin - affects mood regulation - low levels = low moods
biological explanations of OCD AO3
Research support
Environmental risks
Animal studies
Research support
No unique neural system
Correlation and causality
drug therapy for OCD AO1
SSRIs are an antidepressant, and SSRI stands for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
The serotonin is reabsorbed by the presynaptic neuron where it is broken down and reused
SSRIs prevent reabsorption and breakdown, increasing the levels of serotonin in the synapse thus continuing to stimulate the post synaptic neuron - compensates whatever is wrong with serotonin system in OCD
The drugs reduce a person’s emotional symptoms, such as feeling anxious or depressed - engage more effectively with CBT
drug therapy for OCD AO3
Effectiveness
Accessible
Side effects
characteristics of phobias
Phobia -An irrational fear of an object or a situation
Excessive fear and anxiety triggered by an object, place or situation. Fear is out of proportion to any real danger presented by the phobic stimulus
Specific -Phobia of an object, such as an animal or body part, or a situation such as flying or having an injection
Social - Phobia of a social situation such as public speaking or using a public toilet
Agoraphobia - Phobia of being outside or in a public place
Behavioural
Panic - May involve a range of behaviours including crying, screaming or running away
Children may react differently eg freezing, clinging or having a tantrum
Avoidance -A lot of effort to prevent coming into contact with the phobic stimulus
Endurance -Person chooses to remain in the presence of the phobic stimulus
Emotional:
Anxiety - unpleasant state of high arousal
Fear - immediate unpleasant response and we encounter a phobic stimulus - intense but shorter lived than anxiety
Emotional response is unreasonable
Cognitive:
Selective attention to the phobic stimulus - cannot look away from it
Irrational beliefs - unfounded thoughts in relation to phobic stimulus
Cognitive distortions - inaccurate and unrealistic
behavioural explanations of phobias AO1
Behavioural approach -Way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning
Two process model - Explanation for the onset and persistence of disorders that create anxiety, such as phobias
The two processes are ‘acquisition by classical conditioning’ and ‘maintenance by operant conditioning’
Classical conditioning -Learning to associate something which we initially have no fear (NS) with something that triggers fear (UCS)
Watson and Rayner -Little Albert - no unusual anxiety at start of study - when white rat present - research made loud frightening noise
Operant conditioning - Phobias often long lasting
Behaviour is reinforced or punished - reinforcement increases frequency of behaviour
Mowrer - when we avoid phobic stimulus we escape fear and anxiety which reinforces the avoidance behaviour so the phobia is maintained
behavioural explanations of phobias AO3
Application
Cognitive aspects
Phobias and traumatic experience
+ counterpoint
Learning and evolution
Treatment of phobias AO1
Systematic desensitisation - A behavioural therapy designed to reduce an unwanted response, such as anxiety
Classical conditioning - counterconditioning
3 processes - SD - The anxiety hierarchy - list of situations related to the phobic stimulus that provoke anxiety - from least to most
Relaxation - reciprocal inhibition - breathing exercises - taught relaxation techniques or introduced to anti-anxiety drugs - meditation
Gradual exposure - exposed to phobic stimulus - works up the anxiety hierarchy, maintaining relaxation at each level
How does SD work - Counterconditioning - the phobia stimulus is paired with a relaxing stimulus until it triggers relaxation not anxiety
Flooding - Exposed to extreme form of a phobic stimulus in order to reduce anxiety triggered by that stimulus
Fast process -Small number of long sessions, sometimes just one session of three hours
Preparing the client -Flooding is a traumatic experience so the client needs to be well prepared for the exposure
How does it work -Stops phobic response very quickly - extinction - the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus until it no longer triggers a response
treatment of phobias AO3
Evidence of effectiveness
People with learning disabilities
SD in virtual reality
Ethical safeguards
Cost effective
Traumatic
Symptom substitution
characteristics of depression
Depression - A mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels
Different forms:
All recognised by DSM
- Major depressive disorder - severe but often short-term depression
- Persistent depressive disorder - long-term or recurring depression
- Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder - childhood temper tantrums
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder - disruption to mood prior to or during menstruation
Behavioural:
Activity levels - Changes to usual activity levels
Often reduced energy levels making them lethargic
Some have opposite effect - psychomotor agitation - struggle to relax
Disruption to sleep and eating behaviour - Changes to sleep behaviour eg insomnia or hypersomnia - Appetite and eating may increase or decrease
Aggression and self harm -Irritable and sometimes verbally or physically abusive
- Physical aggressive towards self eg self-harm
Emotional:
Lowered mood - Emotional element of depression - More pronounced than in the daily kind of experience - Feelings of worthlessness and emptiness
Anger - frequent experiences of anger - directed towards self and others
Lowered self esteem - reduced self-esteem, can be quite extreme eg self-loathing
Cognitive:
Poor concentration - hard to stick to a task they usually would, hard to make decisions, interfere with work
Attending to and dwelling on the negative - pay more attention to negative aspects of a situation - bias towards recalling unhappy events rather than happy ones
Absolutist thinking - black and white thinking, absolute disaster
cognitive explanations of depression AO1
Cognitive approach - focuses on how our mental processes affect behaviour
Beck - negative triad - negative view of world, self, future - three kinds of negative thinking that contribute to being depressed
Faulty information processing - tend to focus of negative aspects of situation and ignore positives - black and white thinking
Negative self-schema - package of information people have about themselves - interpret all information about themselves in a negative way
- World - impression there is no hope anywhere
- Self - thoughts enhance any existing depressive feelings, confirm the existing emotions of low self-esteem
- Future - reduce any hopefulness and enhance depression
Elllis - ABC model - Conditions like anxiety and depression result from irrational thoughts
A - activating event - a negative life event eg failing an important test
B - beliefs - Irrational interpretations of A make us overreact to the life event
- Musturbation - feeling we always need to succeed
- I-cant-stand-it-itis major disaster when something doesn’t go smoothly
- Utopianism - life is always meant to be fair
C - consequences - emotional and behavioural outcome is depression
cognitive explanation of depression AO3
Research support
Application
Partial explanation
Application
Partial explanation
Ethics
