Psychological Explanations

Question 1

Family Dysfunctions - SZ Mothers

Answer 1

Family dysfunction studies investigate the link between SZ and childhood and adult experiences of living in a dysfunctional family.

1) Fromm-Reichmann (1948) proposed the theory of the schizophrenogenic mother - theory is based on reports from her own patients.

2) These mothers are cold, rejecting and controlling, and create a family climate of tension and secrecy.
–> Leads to distrust and paranoid delusions and SZ.

Question 2

Double-Bind Theory

Answer 2

1) Bateson et al. (1972) emphasised the role of communication.
2) Described how a child may be in situations where they fear doing the wrong thing, but receive conflicting messages about what counts as wrong.
3) They cannot express their feelings about the unfairness of the situation.
4) When they ‘get it wrong’ the child is punished by withdrawal of love - they learn the world is confusing and dangerous, leading to disorganised thinking and delusions.

Question 3

Expressed Emotion (EE)

Answer 3

1) Expressed emotion (EE) is the level of negative emotion expressed including:
* Verbal criticism of the person with SZ.
* Hostility towards them.
* Emotional over-involvement in their life.
2) Highlights the impact of negative environments (hostile or critical) on SZ patients.
3) High levels of EE cause stress in the person, may trigger onset of schizophrenia or relapse.

Question 4

Cognitive Exp - Dysfunctional Thought Processing

Answer 4

1) Lower levels of info processing in some areas of the brain suggest cognition is impaired.
2) Christopher Frith et al. (1992) identified two kinds of dysfunctional thought processing that could underlie some symptoms:
- Metarepresentation
- Central Control

Question 5

Metarepresentation

Answer 5

1) Metarepresentation is the cognitive ability to reflect on thoughts and behaviour.
2) Gives individuals insight into their own intentions and goals, as well as the ability to interpret the reactions of others.

2) This dysfunction disrupts our ability to recognise our thoughts as our own - could lead to the sensation of hearing voices (hallucination) and experience of having thoughts placed in the mind by others (thought insertion, a delusion).

Question 6

Central Control Dysfunction

Answer 6

1) Central control being the cognitive ability to suppress automatic responses while performing deliberate actions.

2) Malfunction could explain disorganised speech and thought because the patient is unable to suppress automatic thoughts and speech triggered by other thoughts.

Question 7

Strength of Family Dysfunction

Answer 7

RESEARCH SUPPORT

1) Read et al. (2005) carried out a review of 46 studies of child abuse and schizophrenia.
2) Concluded that 69% of adult women with SZ had a history of physical abuse, sexual abuse or both in childhood - The figure was 59% in men.

–> This strongly suggests that family dysfunction does make people more vulnerable to schizophrenia.

Question 8

Limitation of Family Explanations

Answer 8

POOR EVIDENCE

1) Almost no evidence to support the importance of traditional family-based theories e.g. schizophrenogenic mother and double bind.

2) Both theories are based on clinical observation of patients and informal assessment of the personality of the mothers of patients.
—> This means that family explanations have not been able to explain the link between childhood trauma and SZ.

Question 9

Limitation of Family Explanations

Answer 9

SSR - PARENT-BLAMING

1) Research in this area may be useful, e.g. showing that insecure attachment and childhood trauma affect vulnerability to SZ.

2) BUT, research is socially sensitive because it can lead to parent-blaming. This creates additional stress for parents already seeing their child experience SZ and taking responsibility for their care.

—> This means that research into family dysfunction and SZ will always be very controversial but worth it for potential benefits.

Question 10

Strength of Cognitive Exp

Answer 10

RESEARCH SUPPORT

1) Stirling et al. (2006) compared performance on a range of cognitive tasks (e.g. Stroop task) in people with and without SZ.
2) In the Stroop test, pps are asked to name the colour of the ink that a word (naming a different colour) is written in.

3) As predicted by central control theory, people with SZ took over twice as long on average to name the font-colours.
—> Supports cognitive view that cognitive processes of ppl with SZ are impaired.