psychological explanation for Sz

Question 1

what’re the 2 psychological explanations

Answer 1

family dysfunction
cognitive explanations

Question 2

what does family dysfunction mean

Answer 2

the abnormal processes within a family, such as poor communication, cold parenting and high levels of expressed emotion

Question 3

what’re the 3 family dysfunction categories

Answer 3

The Schizophrenogenic mother
Double-Bind theory
Expressed Emotion (EE)

Question 4

what does schizophrenogenic mean

Answer 4

‘schizophrenia causing’

Question 5

what is the Schizophrenogenic mother

Answer 5

• The mother of someone with Sz acts in such a way that causes the disorder.
• the mother acts cold and distant but dominant and controlling. the mother creates a dynamic family dysfunction atmosphere of tension and secrecy
• this causes Sz symptoms such as distrust, which leads to paranoid delusions

Question 6

what is the Double-Bind Theory

Answer 6

• a child finds themselves in situations fearing they are doing the wrong thing, but have received mixed messages.
• they frequently get it wrong due to these, and feel unable to comment on the unfairness of it or clarify what they should do
• they are punished, such as by the removal of love
• this isn’t typical for all families but is a risk factor for developing Sz, with children thinking the world is a dangerous and confusing place
• this could explain disorganised thoughts and paranoid delusions

Question 7

what is EE broken down into

Answer 7

Hostility
Emotional over involvement
Verbal criticism

Question 8

what is Expressed Emotion

Answer 8

• how people with Sz may relapse, rather than the disorders cause.
• EE focuses on the quality of social interaction between an individual with Sz and their family/carers. it refers to the high amount of emotion, especially negative, shown towards the sufferer

Question 9

what is Hostility as a part of EE

Answer 9

being angry with the person with Sz/rejecting them

Question 10

What is Emotional Over Involvement as a part of EE

Answer 10

being too involved in the persons life, being controlling or showing needless self-sacrifice

Question 11

what is Verbal Criticism as a part of EE

Answer 11

insulting or putting down the individual, this could be accompanied by physical aggression

Question 12

what’re 2 limitations of family dysfunction explanations for Sz

Answer 12

information gathering
socially sensitive

Question 13

how is information gathering a limitation for Sz

Answer 13

information about Sz is gathered from families/patients retrospectively, meaning that people’s recollections may be distorted.
this is a limitation due to memory inaccuracies/biased limiting the validity of the information with its unreliable/subjective data basis.

Question 14

how is the dysfunctional explanation for Sz socially sensitive

Answer 14

• all 3 theories can be socially sensitive as placing blame for the disorder on the parents, particularly the mother
• this is a limitation because the blame can cause judgement/prejudice, damaging the role of mothers in society and creating a more stressed/hostile environment

Question 15

what is a strength of the family dysfunction explanations for Sz

Answer 15

• there is a lot of supporting evidence, for example, adults with Sz have been found to be much more likely to have insecure attachment (type C or D).
• he also found 69% of women and 59% of men with Sz report having experienced childhood physical or sexual abuse.
• this is a strength because of the links between negative childhood experiences and Sz, strengthening the explanation

Question 16

what’s the focus of cognitive explanations of Sz

Answer 16

the role of mental processes.
there are a number of brain areas/structures which, when faulty, seem to affect our thought processes

Question 17

what’re the 2 types of dysfunctional thought processing

Answer 17

meta-representation dysfunction
a lack of central control

Question 18

what is meta-representation dysfunction

Answer 18

the ability to reflect on our own thoughts/behaviours and others, and when faulty we can’t recognise that our thoughts and actions are caused by ourselves, rather than someone else

Question 19

what is a lack of central control

Answer 19

the ability to suppress automatic responses while performing deliberate actions, and when faulty we are unable to think before we speak/act, therefore displaying abnormal behaviours/speech

Question 20

what symptoms does meta-representation dysfunction explain

Answer 20

auditory hallucinations and delusions,
as we cannot tell our own thoughts from others

Question 21

what symptoms does a lack of central control explain

Answer 21

disorganised speech, thoughts and behaviour,
as we cannot suppress automatic thoughts or behaviours

Question 22

what is a strength of cognitive explanations for Sz

Answer 22

• Stirling et al. compared 30 Sz people with 30 control on their Stroop test performance
• people with Sz took >2x as long to say the colour
• this shows schizophrenics’ failure to suppress the automatic vocalising of the word rather than the colour, showing a lack of central control, which can therefore lead to disorganised speech, thoughts and behaviour

Question 23

what is a limitation of the cognitive explanation for Sz

Answer 23

• cognitive are ‘proximal explanations’ not ‘distal explanations’
• the cognitive explanation only says what is happening ‘now’ to cause the symptoms - not what initially caused the condition to occur
• for example, genetic explanations would be considered ‘distal’
• this is an issue as the original cause cannot be understood in preventing Sz from developing in the first place, leading to treatment issues