P1 Section D (Psychopathology) Flashcards
What is statistical infrequency
Statistical deviation is when a person has a less common characteristic compared to the rest of the population.
What is a problem with statistical infrequency (AO3) - no requirement
A problem with statistical infrequency is that there is sometimes no requirement for an unusual trait to be deemed abnormal such as high IQ.
What is a problem with statistical infrequency (AO3) - subjective (cut-throat)
A problem with statistical infrequency is that there is a cut-off point which determines whether something is abnormal and the norm, this cut-off point is subjective.
What is deviation from ideal mental health
Deviation from ideal mental health is a humanistic definition by Jahoda which defines features of ideal mental health and deviation from them indicates abnormality
What are six features of Jahodas (1958) deviation ideal mental health
Six features of Jahoda’s (1958) deviation from ideal mental health are environmental mastery, autonomy, resistance to stress, self-actualisation, positive self attitude and accurate perception of reality.
What is a problem with deviation from ideal mental health (AO3)
A problem with deviation from ideal mental health is that Jahoda’s criterion are culturally biased to western individualistic societies as many cultures don’t value autonomy or personal success focusing more on their social role in a collectivist culture and also few people who can achieve all these goals so it suggests no one is psychologically healthy
What are social norms
Social norms are expectations of how to act according to a particular social group
What is deviation from social norms
Deviation from social norms is when people break social norms by behaving in an unusual way and are seen as abnormal
What is a problem with deviation from social norms
A problem with deviation from social norms is that Cochrane found it was culturally biased as black people were more likely to be diagnosed with SZ than white or Asian but in Jamaica, the population of those diagnosed with SZ is very low - suggesting cultural values influence diagnosis
What is failure to function adequately
Failure to function adequately is a measure of someone unable to cope with everyday life in the opinion of another.
What is a problem with failure to function adequately
a problem with failure to function adequately is that in the case of Harold Shipman, he was clearly abnormal as he killed over 200 of his patients as a doctor, but he displayed no observable dysfunctional traits, so failure to function adequately isn’t a holistic approach to explaining abnormality
What is a positive of failure to function adequately
a positive of failure to functional adequately is that it is often measured by a WHODAS scale and so people can compared to a checklist to improve
What is a WHODAS scale (difficulties, scale)
A WHODAS scale is a measurement by patients rating daily difficulties on a scale of 1- 6
What is DSM-5 and what does it stand for
DSM-5 is a medical dictionary listing symptoms for mental disorders and it stands for diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders
What is DSMs diagnostic criteria for phobias
DSMs diagnostic criteria for phobias is unreasonable and excessive fear, immediate anxiety response, recognition that fear is irrational, avoidance of extreme distress, lifestyle limiting, six months duration and not caused by another disorder
What is an example of a social phobia
an example of a social phobia is agoraphobia (a fear of public spaces)
What is an example of specific phobias
an example of specific phobias is arachnophobia
What are behavioural characteristics of phobias
Behavioural characteristics of phobias are avoidance of phobic stimulus and not able to complete normal tasks
What are emotional characteristics of phobia
emotional characteristics of phobia are high levels of anxiety and fear
What are cognitive characteristics of phobias
cognitive characteristics of phobias are irrational beliefs about the phobic stimulus and a reduced cognitive capacity (recognise own beliefs are unreasonable)
What is depression
Depression is a mood disorder causing feeling of extreme sadness and low mood and can reduce sufferers ability to function normally
How is depression episodic
Depression is episodic as it’s symptoms are typically present at their full magnitude for a period then gradually reduce
What are behavioural characteristics of depression
behavioural characteristics of depression are weight loss or gain, low energy, self-harm and poor personal hygiene
What are emotional characteristics of depression
emotional characteristics of depression are persistent low mood, sadness, reduced sense of self-worth and extreme guilt
What are cognitive characteristics of depression
cognitive characteristics of depression are poor concentration, suicidal ideation (thoughts of death) and poor self-esteem and negative schema
what is the biological explanation of depression
biological explanation of depression is it is caused by abnormal activity in amygdala and the prefrontal cortex or due to high levels of the stress hormone - cortisol
What is OCD
OCD is a disorder whereby a person experiences obsessions and compulsions
What are obsessions and what are examples
Obsessions are thoughts and urges which are intrusive and unwanted and persistent and unpleasant such as concerns about germs, order and symmetry
What are compulsions and what are examples
Compulsions are the need to engage in repetitive behaviours or mental acts to minimise the distress or to reduce the likelihood of the feared event like hand washing, cleaning, counting and checking
How are obsessions and compulsions often linked
Obsessions and compulsions are often linked as a person with a fear of catching illness (obsession) may spend hours a day washing their hands (compulsions)
What are cognitive characteristics of OCD
Cognitive characteristics of OCD are obsessions and awareness behaviour is irrational
What are behavioural characteristics of OCD
Behavioural characteristics of OCD are compulsions.
What are emotional characteristics of OCD
emotional characteristics of OCD are severe anxiety relating to the obsessions and also guilt after a particular episode
What is the behavioural approach to phobias
The behavioural approach to phobias is that people develop phobias due to a combination of classical and operant conditioning known as the two-process model.
How did Watson and Rayner (1920) show phobia learnt by classical conditioning (little albert)
Watson and Rayner (1920) showed phobia learnt by classical conditioning on 11-month old little Albert by presenting him a rat and making a clash with metal causing him to cry. Through classical conditioning, Watson and Rayner (1920) caused little Albert to fear the rat he previously liked
What is Mowrers (1947) two-process model
Mowrers (1947) two-process model is an origin of phobia by classical and operant conditioning.
How does classical conditioning work in Mowrers (1947) two-process model
Classical conditioning in Mowrers (1947) two-process model works by causing the initial association between a previously neutral stimulus with fear
How does operant conditioning work in Mowrers (1947) two-process model
opertant conditioning in Mowrers (1947) two-process model works by reinforcing the fear because every time a person avoids the fear, they feel calmer (negative reinforcement)
What is counterconditioning
Counterconditioning is where a client learns a new response to a stimulus which previously elicited an undesirable behaviour
What are the two types of counterconditioning
Two types of counterconditioning are aversive conditioning and exposure therapy
What is aversive conditioning
Aversive conditioning is when an unpleasant stimulus is used to stop an undesirable behaviour like smoking and nail biting.
What happens in aversive conditioning
In aversive conditioning, clients will agree to engage in their undesirable behaviour like nail biting and at the same time are exposed to an unpleasant stimulus like a mild electric shock or a bad taste and after repeated associations, the client can learn to stop the unwanted behaviour
What is exposure therapy (flooding)
Exposure therapy (flooding) is when a therapist presents a client with the object or situation that elicits fear and hope they get used to it and can be done via reality, imagination or virtual reality
What is Wolpe’s (1966) criticism of exposure therapy
Wolpe’s (1966) criticism of exposure therapy is that he found a women patient underwent flooding and had to be hospitalised due to anxiety increase but this may be different for men
What is systematic desensitisation
Systematic desensitisation is when an individual draws up a fear hierarchy and is gradually exposed to each fear, starting from the least fearful, a therapist helps client use relaxation techniques to feel less distressed such as breathing exercises
How is classical conditioning used in flooding and systematic desensitisation
Classical conditioning is used in flooding and systematic desensitisation by training the body and mind to associate relaxation with the stimulus rather than fear
What was Ost et al (1991) method to find origin of phobias (blood phobics)
Ost et al (1991) method was asking 81 blood phobics and 56 needle phobics to complete a questionnaire on their origins of their phobia
What did Ost et al (1991) find about origin of phobias (attributed)
Ost et al (1991) found that 52% of patients attributed their phobia to conditioning experiences while 7% attributed it to instruction or information.
What did Ost et al (1991) conclude (behavioural approach to phobias)
Ost et al (1991) concluded that the majority of phobias were due to conditioning - a learnt response
What is a limitation of Ost et al (1991) study (behavioural approach to phobias)
A limitation of Ost et al (1991) study is that it is based upon retrospective memory and so 17% of patients couldn’t remember how their phobia originated.
What did Barlow and Durand (1995) find (phobias of driving)
Barlow and Durand (1995) found that 50% of people with a phobia of driving could remember a triggering event to their fear, supporting that phobias are learnt. However, 50% could not recall any triggering event.
What did Di Nardo (1988) find about phobias (dog)
Di Nardo (1988) found that not everyone who is bitten by a dog develops a phobia, some can be explained by evolution.
What is Seligman’s (1971) preparedness (evolutionary approach to phobias)
Seligmans (1971) preparedness is the idea that we have evolved to be innately fearful of certain dangerous things to aid survival such as snakes and spiders
What is the cognitive view of depression (triggered)
The cognitive view of depression is that depression is triggered by negative thoughts, interpretations, self-evaluations and expectations.
What is Beck’s cognitive theory on depression
Beck’s cognitive theory on depression is that people develop depressive schemas in early childhood which cause dysfunctional and pessimistic thoughts which are activated in later life by stressful life events
What is Beck’s negative triad
Beck’s negative triad is a model suggesting people are stuck in a cycle of negative views about the self, world and future which cause them to think depressive thoughts.
What was Weissman and Beck’s (1978) method to prove negative self-schemas
Weissman and Beck (1978) method to prove negative self schemas was giving people a questionnaire to fill
What did Weissman and Beck (1978) find about negative self-schemas
Weissman and Beck (1978) found about negative self-schemas that depressed participants were more likely to make more negative assessments in their questionnaires than non-depressed and when given therapy there was improvements in self rating.
Why was Weissman and Beck’s (1978) negative self-schema questionnaire bad?
Weissman and Beck’s (1978) negative self-schema questionnaire was bad because it was a self-report which can be heavily influenced by social desirability bias and also demand characteristics are prevalent as participants know they may get therapy or know they may be given diagnosis for depression
What is cognitive therapy
Cognitive therapy is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on a persons thoughts leading to distress and Beck’s negative triad helped form the basis of this
What does cognitive therapy do
Cognitive therapy helps clients change dysfunctional thoughts to relieve distress by helping client see how they’ve misinterpreted a situation and how to view situations in positive light
What does Ellis’ ABC model stand for
Ellis’ ABC model stands for activating event (thing that causes negative thoughts/feelings) , belief (persons thoughts about the activating event) and consequences (emotions and behaviours that follow).
What does Ellis and cognitive therapists believe will happen when a depressive person changes their beliefs
Ellis and cognitive therapists believe when a depressive person changes their beliefs they will interpret events realistically and make emotions healthy.
What is Beck’s cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
Beck’s cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is therapy to identify a persons negative triad and to challenge their negative thoughts
What will therapists do in Beck’s cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
In Beck’s cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), therapists will test the reality of a clients negative thoughts and also send them homework and try to build a strong therapeutic relationship
What is Ellis’ rational emotive behavioural therapy (REBT)
Ellis’ rational emotive behavioural therapy (REBT) is therapy extending on from Ellis’ ABC model to ABCDE, where D means dispute and E means effect.
What does Ellis’ REBT do
Ellis’ REBT aims to identify and dispute a clients negative thoughts like if a person argues how unfair things are, the therapist will argue where this has not been the case
How did Grazioli and Terry (2000) support Beck’s negative triad
Grazioli and Terry (2000) supported Beck’s negative triad by assessing 65 women of cognitive vulnerability and finding more vulnerable women were more likely to suffer from post-natal depression which supports Beck’s idea that cognitions can be seen before depression emerges (like childhood)
weakness of Beck’s negative triad model
a weakness of Beck’s negative triad is that it doesn’t account for all emotions linked with depression such as hallucinations or bizarre beliefs caused by other illnesses such as Cotard syndrome
strength of Beck’s cognitive approach to depression
strength of Beck’s cognitive approach to depression is that it has practical applications in the development of CBT
strength of Ellis’ rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT)
strength of Ellis’ relational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) is that Ellis claimed a 90% success rate
Are genetic and neural explanations for OCD good
Genetic and neural explanations for OCD aren’t good as there is a lack of research
What have family and twin studies suggested about OCD
family and twin studies suggested that OCD has a moderate genetic component
how did Taylor (2013) find genes implicated in OCD
Taylor (2013) found genes implicated in OCD by a meta-analysis finding as many as 230 genes implicated in development of OCD
What type of gene has most frequently been involved in OCD
The candidate gene has most frequently been involved in OCD. There are two types of candidate gene - COMT gene and SERT gene
What is a COMT gene in OCD
A COMT gene is an enzyme which breaks down dopamine in the brain. In OCD sufferers, the COMT gene is mutated and doesn’t break as much dopamine down and so the dopamine levels are too high
What is a SERT gene in OCD
A SERT gene is an enzyme which transports serotonin between cells across the synapse. In OCD sufferers, the SERT gene is mutated so some serotonin gets lost when transporting and so blood serotonin levels are deficient
What was Nestadt et al (2000) family study on OCD
Nestadt et al (2000) family study about OCD was a comparison of 80 OCD patients and 343 of their near relatives against a control group with no mental illness. Nestadt et al (2000) found that there was a 5x greater risk of developing OCD as a near relative
What was Billett et al (1998) twin study on OCD
Billett et al (1998) twin study on OCD was a meta-analysis of 14 twin studies and on average, monozygotic twins were 2x more likely to develop OCD if their twin had OCD than dizygotic twins as they share 100% same genes
What is a downside of Billet et al (1998) twin study meta-analysis
A downside of Billet et al (1998) twin study meta-analysis is that no study has found a 100% concordance rate in identical twins, so there must be environmental factors which play a part
What is the orbitofrontal cortex
The orbitofrontal cortex is part of the OCD circuit and frontal lobe which is involved in learning and decision-making
What happens to the orbitofrontal cortex in OCD sufferers
In OCD sufferers, the orbitofrontal cortex becomes hyperactive when provoked with certain tasks
What does the OCD circuit do
The OCD circuit perceives emotional value of stimuli and then selects a cognitive and behavioural response
What occurs in the OCD circuit in OCD sufferers
In OCD sufferers, the OCD circuit shows heightened activity during symptom provocation suggesting that abnormalities within this region produce symptoms of OCD
What is a bad thing about using neural explanations of OCD
a bad thing about using neural explanations of OCD is that they do not explain differences between obsessions and compulsions
How does the biological approach treat OCD
The biological approach treats OCD with anti-anxiety and anti-depressant drugs
How does anti-anxiety drugs treat OCD
Anti-anxiety drugs treat OCD by enhancing GABA neurotransmitters activity which regulates fight or flight response that helps calm a person down
How do antidepressant drugs treat OCD
antidepressant drugs treat OCD by making use of Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) which blocks the reabsorption of serotonin therefore increasing serotonin levels
What is an example of anti-anxiety drug
an example of anti-anxiety drug is Valium
What is an example of anti-depressant drug
An example of anti-depressant drug is Prozac
What is a limitation of the genetic approach to OCD
A limitation of the genetic approach to OCD is that it is far too simplistic because there may be a learnt behaviour which causes OCD via classical and operant conditioning or even by social learning theory such as imitating it from a parent
What was Soomro et al (2008) study into effectiveness of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
Soomro et al (2008) study into effectiveness of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) was a review of 17 studies of use of SSRIs with OCD patients and Soomro et al found that they were more effective than placebos in reducing symptoms and lasted 3 months so at least in short term
What is a limitation of Soomro et al (2008) study into effectiveness of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
A limitation of Soomro et al (2008) study into effectiveness of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) is that there is no data into whether the SSRIs have lasting benefits because they only tested 3 months after
What did Koran et al (2007) say about the use of drugs against OCD
Koran et al (2007) said that drug treatments should be used after psychotherapies like CBT to provide long term help and also drug treatment is not a lasting cure and when drugs aren’t consistently used, patients relapse within a few weeks
How are the orbitofrontal cortex, caudate nucleus and thalamus linked to OCD
The orbitofrontal cortex releases worry signals to the thalamus when in danger. The caudate nucleus filters relevant signals to the thalamus and the thalamus then inhibits a response. In OCD patients, it is believed that the orbitofrontal cortex is sending faulty worry signals when there is no danger which causes intrusive thoughts.
What was Max et al (1995) study into neurology of OCD
Max et al (1995) study into neurology of OCD was a case study of a young person who developed OCD and impulsive aggression after a traumatic brain injury. Max et al (1995) discovered damage to the frontal and temporal lobe, suggesting they are implicated in development of OCD.
how did Bates support Beck’s role of negative cognitions in developing depression
Bates support Beck’s role of negative cognitions in developing depression as he found that depressed participants who were given negative automatic thoughts statements become more and more depressed.
how did Orgrin support flooding as treatment for phobias
Orgrin supported flooding as treatment for phobias by saying it is more cost-effective than systematic desensitisation and also quicker but ppts distress may lead them to stop the course as it is too traumatic and so it becomes waste of time and money
how did Gilroy support systematic desensitisation as treatment for phobias
Gilroy supported systematic desensitisation as treatment for phobias by finding when 42 ppts underwent 3-45 minute sessions of SD, their arachnophobia fear reduced when tested 3 months and 33 months after the sessions, in comparison to a control group who were only taught relaxation techniques
how does Rosenzweig criticise CBT
Rosenzweig criticise CBT by saying methods of psychopathology treatment are all similar in effectiveness, and it is the relationship between therapist and patient which determines success
negative of Ellis’ ABC model
A negative of Ellis’ ABC model is that it is environmentally deterministic as “activating event” suggests depression is reactive (reactive depression) to an event, so doesn’t account for endogenous depression which is without a traceable origin to life event
how did Alloy and Abrahmson criticise Ellis’ ABC model
Alloy and Abrahmson criticise Ellis’ ABC model by finding depressed people would actually give more accurate accounts of predicted outcomes of activating events - so their beliefs were not irrational just “sadder but wiser effect”
how does March support CBT as treatment for depression
March support CBT as treatment for depression as found in a study of 327 depressed adolescents, 81% CBT group, 81% antidepressant group and 86% combined therapy and drugs significantly improved after 30 weeks
