Psychological explanations of schizophrenia Flashcards
what does the behavioural explanation of schizophrenia suggest?
that schizophrenia is maintained from association, conditioning and reinforcement
what is the main issue with the behavioural explanation of schizophrenia?
The main issue is that it does not explain how the schizophrenia originates.
what does the behavioural explanation of schizophrenia explain well?
it explains how schizophrenia is maintained well.
what is a good example of schizophrenic behaviour being reinforced?
people giving the patient attention and loving care when they show schizophrenic behaviour.
why do behavioural therapies for schizophrenia support the behavioural theory for schizophrenia?
because the therapies are effective at treating schizophrenia. If the therapy works the explanation upon which it is based must have some credibility.
What did Freud believe about schizophrenia?
He believed that schizophrenia was the result of two related processes. regression to a pre ego stage and attempts to re-establish ego control. Freud saw schizophrenia as a regression to and infantile state (as seen by some symptoms). He believed that the other symptons were an attempt tot re-establish ego control. e.g hallucinations.
give three points that support the psycho-dynamic approach to schizophrenia
the psychodynamic approach was the first attempt at explaining schizophrenia
It also manages to directly address some of the symptoms of schizophrenia.
family relationships often seem to be a causal factor in schizophrenia
what is the main flaw with the psychodynamic approach?
Its main flaw is that schizophrenic patients do not resemble infants in all aspects. For example infants are very curious about the world and are always asking questions. Schizophrenic patients often lack the motivation to learn/acquire new knowledge.
what is the double blind theory?
the double blind theory says that contradictory messages sent by a parent to their child at a young age causes schizophrenia.
give an example of how the double blind theory works
if the mother tells her son that she loves him, yet at the same time turns her head away in disgust, the child receives tow conflicting messages.
how do contradiction cause schizophrenia from the family relationships point of view?
Contradictions inhibit development of an internally coherent construction of reality and in the long run, this manifests itself in the schizophrenic symptoms of flattened affect and withdrawal.
what is the cause and effect issue with family relationships theory?
it is unclear whether a schizophrenic child has caused his/her mother to behave a in a certain cold, dominant and conflicting way or whether the mothers behaviour has caused the schizophrenia.
what are schizophrenic patients more likely to do once they return to a high EE home
they are more likely to relapse when they return to a high ee home
what does EE stand for?
High EE stands for High expressed emotion.
what kind of emotions does EE suggest?
High EE suggests high levels of negative emotions such as hostility anger and criticism.
what did leff do?
he compared patients who returned from hospital to a high EE home with those returning to a low ee home. data was also collected on the amount of time spent in direct contact with relatives during the time at home.
what did leff find?
He found that patients in the high ee homes showed 51% relapse rate compared to only 12% when returned to a low EE home.
what did Berger find?
he found that schizophrenics recalled more double blind statements from their mothers than non schizophrenics
what are three problems with Bergers research?
the data he collected is retrospective and therefore it is more likely to be unreliable.
a schizophrenic may not be very reliable witness to an unusual conversation.
also in some cases it would be subjective when classifying whether a statement was a double blind one or not.
what studies have supported the evidence for bergers research?
no other studies have found similar evidence to berger
what did Laing believe?
he believed that many of the things that schizophrenics say and do make sense when veiwed against teh background of their upbringing?
what is the initial problem with laings beliefs?
that his explanation is speculative and does not have much empirical support.
what is social causation hypothesis?
Social causation hypothesis is the idea that schizophrenia is has a negative correlation with the hight of a social economic group.
What did redlich find?
He found that the diagnosis of schizophrenia is twice as likely to be made in people from the lower classes as those from a higher class.
