Individual Explanation For Schizophrenia - Cognitive Approach

Question 1

How hallucinations is caused

Answer 1

Morrisons

Hallucinations require trigger that cause inability to process thoughts properly (stress, sleep deprivation)
-cause maladaptive voices
-individual blame on devil
-since voice suggest individual to self harm or withdraw socially
-emotions caused = sadness or shame, making voice sound authoritative
-causing loop of individual to conform

Question 2

How hallucinations is caused - Inner voice - Frith

Answer 2

Schizo fail to control inner voice, misinterpret as outside force
-may be link to irregular neuronal pathways of septo-hippocampal system and prefrontal cortex

Question 3

Negative symptoms

Answer 3

Beck - negative cognitive triad

How negative cognitive triad can explain negative symptoms

Individual give into negative belief of self + dysfunctional ability to feel pleasure (adhedonia) due to it
-leading them to hold cynical view of future

Internal mental processes only allow negative stimuli in, create deficit in ability to process info = fuel pestimistic views

Only feeling negative = flatness of affect
Avolition due to only negative stimuli getting in

Question 4

Attention deficit theory - Frith

Answer 4

Precocious - Mind that takes in all the stimuli individual experience, only the most important stimuli enter the conscious mind of brain, rest is filtered out. This occurs without awareness.

Frith - attention deficit theory -
Schzio unable to filter out preconscious thoughts as well. Leading to their sense being overwhelmed - not function as well
-maybe due to reduce blood flow to certain areas (prefrontal cortex) = less activity in area

-may explain disorganised thinking
- or even hallucinations (unable to process environment stimuli as well schemas fill rest)
- or delusions + disorganized speech (external stimuli cause actions to be less optimal)

Question 5

Evaluation - Scientific

Answer 5

Most cognitive explanation laboratory experiment - participants go to lab + answer cognitive test

Reliable - studies can be compared to find results that can be generalised
-Barch et al - stroop test
-Schizo slower + more mistakes, deficient in ability to separate the font colour of the word + what colour the word is saying

Internal validity - can ask individual to stop taking meds incase they suppress behaviours

Question 6

No causal relationship

Answer 6

Hallucinations
-caused by irregular brain structure or environmental stressors that causes person with schizo to suddenly hallucinate
-what causes individuals to conform or believe?
- if they know it’s not real there would be no emotions inflicted, third variable no yet identified that cause the distress hallucinations can cause

Question 7

Evaluation - Not comprehensive enough

Answer 7

Negative cognitive triad
-this is used to explain depression symptoms not schizophrenic
-ignore other negative behaviour - catatonic behaviour or other movement symptoms
-can be argued not credible enough as it cannot explain all characteristics of schizo