mark scheme answers

Question 1

what is it called when a diagnosis is consistent between psychiatrists?

Answer 1

reliability

Question 2

what is it called when a person has more than one condition at the same time?

Answer 2

co-morbidity

Question 3

what it called when a psychiatrist diagnosis a condition correctly?

Answer 3

validity

Question 4

what is it called when two conditions have some effects in common?

Answer 4

symptom overlap

Question 5

explain what the researchers could do to eliminate or deduce demand characteristics and investigator effects in this study

Answer 5

demand:
•not informing the patients which condition they are in (using a single-blind/ double- blind procedure), the new drug or the placebo condition
•allowing all patients to believe they are receiving the new drug
•ensuring that patients are not aware of the other condition (through careful wording of instructions)
investigator:
•ensure the person administering the drug does not know which patients are talking the placebo (double-blind)
•anonymising patients by eg. giving them all a number
•having standardised procedures and conditions so all patients are treated in exactly the same way

Question 6

briefly outline and evaluate one study of validity in relation to diagnosis of schizophrenia

Answer 6

Rosenhan 1973- misdiagnosis of pseudo-patients and the follow-up studies
- implications on wider society

Question 7

explain how a CBT therapisy might treat Martine’s paranoid delusions

Answer 7

•Martine could be helped to identify her irrational thoughts/ beliefs
•therapist could help Martine understand the voices are not real, explaining how they could be her own thoughts
•Martine could be helped to see the link between her thoughts, her emotions and her behaviours
•therapist could offer alternative interpretations
•therapist could give Martine strategies to encounter irrational thoughts (eg self distraction strategies)

Question 8

what is the diathesis-stress model of schizophrenia?

Answer 8

stressful conditions trigger the development of schizophrenia in people with an underlying predisposition

Question 9

outline a cognitive explanation for schizophrenia

Answer 9

•dysfunctional thought processing explains the symptoms of schizophrenia
•poor memory function in people with schizophrenia
•people with schizophrenia are poor at understanding their own thinking (mega cognition)
•central control deficits may explain disordered deficits

Question 10

outline a limitation of this explanation

Answer 10

•does not explain the underlying cause which is probably biological, only explains some aspects of how people with schizophrenia think
•does not address the underlying cause. so many therapeutic attempts based on the cognitive explanation might just deal with some symptoms
•is a proximal explanation
•not so good at explaining negative symptoms
•reductionist

Question 11

evaluate antipsychotics as a therapy for schizophrenia

Answer 11

•evidence from studies
•side effects, tardive dyskinesia, weight gain, muscle tremors
•revolving door effect
•depot injection- issues of consent
•cost, more expensive

Question 12

what is it called when a person has two or more disorders at the same time?

Answer 12

co-morbidity

Question 13

what is it called when two different disorders have a symptom in common?

Answer 13

symptom overlap

Question 14

evaluate a psychological explanation for schizophrenia

Answer 14

•Read, link between family history of abuse and schizophrenia
•social explanations, family dysfunction can lead to blaming the family
•cognitive explanations can lead to blaming the individual and making them actively responsible
•usefulness where there is often limited space for change, eg if the family’s the problem
•problem if cause and effect- does the family or faulty cognitive processing cause schizophrenia or is it the other way round