Psychological explanations and treatments: cognitive

Question 1

what is dysfunctional thinking

Answer 1

• disruption to normal throught processing
• inability to filter out pre conscious thought

Question 2

what is metarepresentation dysfuntcion

Answer 2

• the ability to reflect on own thoughts and behaviour
• dysfunction leads to a disruption in the ability to recognise our own actions and thoughts
• auditory hallucinations

Question 3

what is central control dysfunction

Answer 3

• unable to supress automatic responses while pe4rforming delioberate actions
• avolition, disorganised speech

Question 4

what is attention deficit

Answer 4

• faulty attention system
• attention is based towards threatening stimuli#
• inability to deny pre consious thoughts

Question 5

outline stirlings research into cognitive performance of people with SZ

Answer 5

• assessed cognitive performance using stroop task and other tasks
• 30 SZ people and 30 control
• mean time of control: 1 min
• mean time of SZ: 2 min

Question 6

give a study that provides evidence for metarepresenation dysfunction theory

Answer 6

Bentall

• Two groups: SZ and non-SZ participants asked to read and think of category words
• One week later, identified which words were read, new or thought of
• SZ participants struggled to distinguish between read, new and thought words
• Supports metarepresentation dysfunction in schizophrenia

Question 7

give a strength and weakness of the of the cognitive explanation

points only

Answer 7

• strength: practical application - CBT and AI
• weakness: reductionist

Question 8

give a strength of the cognitive explanation

PEELH

Answer 8

P - practical application
EG - yellowless et al developed an AI machine that produced hallucinations to prove to people with SZ they are not real
Ex - reduces symptoms as it highlights the hallucinations are created in their own brain
L - the symptom severity will reduce
H - may not work for everyone, individual differences

Question 9

give a limitation of the cognitive explanation

PEELH

Answer 9

P - supporting studies lack ecological validity
Eg - Bentall lacks mundane realism as they were required to remember categories of words in a controlled setting
Ex - the evidence may tell us little about how SZ cognition works in real life
L - the explanation lacks validity + reliability as cant be generalised
H - controlled studies do allow for clearer insights into cognitive processes, even if they are not always applicable to everyday life.

Question 10

what is the treatment developed from the cognitive explanation for SZ

Answer 10

CBT

Question 11

outline the steps of CBT for SZ

Answer 11

• works on the assumption of dysfunctional thought
• identify and change faulty cognitions
• use logic to dispute delusions and to challenge and restructure faulty cognitions
• the first stage is to engage the client anf form an alliance
• ABCDE model by ellis is used which provides a process to cognitively restructure irrational beliefs
• reality testing and normalisation

Question 12

give a study that provides supporting evidence for CBT

Answer 12

Jauher et al

• reviewed 34 studies opf CBT
• significant effect on both positive and negative symptoms

Question 13

give 2 strengths of CBT

Answer 13

• no side effects
• idiographic - not a “one size fits all” approach

Question 14

give 2 limitations of CBT

Answer 14

• lengthy and time consuming - more expensive
• only 1 out of 10 get access to it
• requires self awareness and willingness to engage

Question 15

give a strength of CBT as a treatment to SZ

PEELH

Answer 15

P - effective
EG - jauher et al. significant effect on positive and negative symptoms
Ex - shows CBT can be used as a method to reduce symptoms without the use of drugs
L - ?
H - ?

Question 16

give a limitation of CBT as a treatment to SZ

PEELH

Answer 16

P -