Psychological explanations

Question 1

What structure should you follow when answering a psychological explanations question?

Answer 1

Name, explain, dysfunction, symptom

Question 2

What is SZ characterised by?

Answer 2

Disruption to normal thought processing

Question 3

Who identified types of dysfunctional thought processing?

Answer 3

Frith et al

Question 4

How many types of dysfunctional thought processing are there?

Answer 4

2

Question 5

Name the two types of dysfunctional thought processes?

Answer 5

Metarepresentation
Central control

Question 6

What is metarepresentation?

Answer 6

The cognitive ability to reflect on thoughts and behaviour
Understanding actions of ourselves and others

Question 7

What does dysfunction in metarepresentation disrupt?

Answer 7

Ability to recognise our own actions and thoughts as being carried out by ourselves or others

Question 8

How does dysfunction in the metarepresentation explain auditory hallucinations?

Answer 8

An individual may not understand that a voice in their head is their own voice, not someone elses

Question 9

What is central control?

Answer 9

The cognitive ability to suppress automatic responses whilst performing a deliberate action

Question 10

What can dysfunction in central control explain?

Answer 10

Speech poverty, not able to suppress automatic thoughts and speech triggered by other thoughts/ words spoken

Question 11

What is disrupted spoken sentences known as?

Answer 11

Derailment

Question 12

What is derailment

Answer 12

Where speech is disrupted as spoken word tiggers other associations and the person cannot suppress the action

Question 13

What is the idea of family dysfunction?

Answer 13

An individual develops SZ because they have been raised in a dysfunctional family environment

Question 14

How do a dysfunction family communicate with each other?

Answer 14

Through arguments creating high levels of tension

Question 15

What is the risk of a dysfunctional family?

Answer 15

Development and maintenance of SZ

Question 16

Name the subsections of a dysfunctional family?

Answer 16

Schizophrenogenic mother
Double bind communication
Expressed emotion

Question 17

What does Frieda Fromm-Reichman suggest sz caused by?

Answer 17

Patients early experience of a schizophrenogentic mother

Question 18

Characteristics of a schizophrenogentic mother?

Answer 18

Cold, controlling, rejecting, emotionally unresponsive

Question 19

What kind of family climate does the schizophrenogenic mother create?

Answer 19

Characterised by tension and secrecy

Question 20

What does having a schizophrenogenic mother lead to?

Answer 20

Distrust that develops into paranoid delusions

Question 21

What is the fathers nature in families with a schizophrenogenic mother?

Answer 21

Passive

Question 22

What did Bateson et suggest about double bind communication?

Answer 22

Sz is due to faulty communication patterns within families

Question 23

When does double bind communication occur?

Answer 23

Parent communicates a verbal message which is not matched with non-verbal message (child receives mixed messages)

Question 24

What can confusing forms of communication contribute to?

Answer 24

Avoltion and paranoid delusions

Child feels they cannot do the right thing, withdraw themselves

Question 25

What is expressed emotion?

Answer 25

The level of negative emotion expressed towards a patient through their family members

Question 26

Examples of high levels of expressed emotion?

Answer 26

Verbal criticism
Hostility (anger and rejection)
Emotional overinvolvement
Violence

Question 27

How does expressed emotion affect SZ?

Answer 27

Causes stress due to constant harassment, causing potential relapse

Question 28

Why can be being placed back into the family home cause relapse?

Answer 28

stress causes a resurgence of positive and negative symptoms