family dysfunction explanation of schizophrenia and Token economies Flashcards
family dysfunction explanation of schizophrenia states
family dysfunction explanation of schizophrenia states family conflict leads to stress and confusion in individuals, which causes the development of schizophrenia
-also states that both positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia can develop over time
family dysfunction: double bind
-A double bind is when someone receives contradictory messages, confusing them on how they should behave
-A double bind is a very stressful experience that can lead to the development of schizophrenia
family dysfunction: expressed emotion
-high degree of expressed emotion is when family members speak to each other in negative ways
-this causes stress and confusion which therefore leads to the development of schizophrenia
Evidence of family dysfunction
Berger(1965):
-conducted interviews on schizophrenic and non schizophrenic patients on the effects of double binds on the development of schizophrenia
-he found that people with schizophrenia were more able to recall experiences of double binds from their childhood compared to the control group
Vaughn and Leff:
-conducted observations to investigate family relationships of people with schizophrenics
-found that schizophrenics with families displaying high expressed emotion were more likely to relapse after leaving the hospital
limitation of family dysfunction: unreliable evidence
-one limitation of the family dysfunction explanation of schizophrenia is that it has unreliable evidence
-this is because Berger used the self report technique of collecting data
-a limitation of using self report is that when people are reporting their feelings, experiences and attitudes, they sometimes lack objectivity
-this may happen as they might forget forget what happened in their childhood or could be influenced by leading questions from the interviewer
-this therefore reduces the reliability of the family dysfunction explanation of schizophrenia
limitation of family dysfunction: individual differences
-another limitation of of the family dysfunction explanation of schizophrenia is individual differences
Alforter et al:
-observed schizophrenic patients interacting with their families and found that not all families displayed a high degree of expressed emotion
-this therefore suggests that having a family with a high degree of expressed emotion doesn’t cause schizophrenia, but it might just increase the risk of developing schizophrenia
Family therapy is
Family therapy is a psychological therapy that involves both the families of schizophrenic patients and the patients themselves
-its aim is to reduce family conflict
steps of family therapy:
1) Educating families
2) Teaching coping strategies
3) Changing communication styles to reduce the degree of expressed emotion in the family
Evidence for family therapy:
Pharaoh et al:
-Reviewed the studies investigating combining family therapy with medication compared to just taking medication
-they found that patients who were given family therapy were more likely to take their medication consistently and less likely to relapse
-However, there was less clear evidence that family therapy reduced the number of symptoms experienced or improved the patients general mental health
strength of family therapy: cost effective
-Another strength of family therapy is that it is cost effective as it reduced the likelihood of relapse
limitation of Evidence of family therapy
-One limitation of family therapy is that some studies lack validity and reliability
-this is because many studies that claimed they used random allocation didn’t, meaning they didn’t control participle variables
-And in many studies, the researchers weren’t blind as they knew which group was the experimental one
-meaning they might of lacked objectivity
Token economies: Learning through operant conditioning
-token economies are designed to manage behaviour within hospitals
-patients are given tokens when they behave in a positive, adaptive way
-these tokens can be exchanged for rewards
-so, the patients learn to repeat these positive, adaptive behaviours through positive reinforcement
Token economies: Learning through classical conditioning
-At first, the token is a neutral stimulus
-then, through repeated association with the reward, the token becomes a conditioned stimulus
-the patient then develops a conditioned response to the stimulus
Evidence for token economies:
Dickerson et al:
-Reviewed 13 studies in which researchers had used token economies to encourage schizophrenic patients to engage in positive, adaptive behaviours
-He found that 11 out of 13 studies reported an improvement in schizophrenic patients behaviours after hospitals implemented token economies
-Also found that token economies were particularly effective when used in combination with other treatments such as antipsychotic drugs, CBT and family therapy
-this therefore indicates that token economies are effective in managing patients behaviours
3 limitations of token economies:
-one limitation of token economises are that its studies often lack control groups so we cannot be sure if there is a cause and effect relationship between token economies and improvements in behaviour
-may not be very useful outside of a hospital setting because on the outside of the hospital, its harder to monitor patients behaviours and provide a immediate reward for positive behaviour
-Token economies can be considered unethical as patients are treated like children, which might be humiliating and distressing
-Also, patients might become overdependent on rewards for their behaviour, which may have a negative effect once they leave the hospital
