psychological explanations of sz

Question 1

what is family dysfunction?

Answer 1

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

These may be risk factors for the development of sz.

Question 2

psychologists have tried to link sz to what?

Answer 2

psychologists have tried to link sz to experiences of a dysfunctional family

Question 3

who propsed the psychodynamic explanation of schizophrenogenic mom?

Answer 3

Fromm-Reichmann (1948)

Question 4

how did Fromm-Reichmann (1948) come up with the schizophrenogenic mom?

Answer 4

she proposed this from the accounts she heard from her clients about their childhood.

Question 5

what does schizophrenic actually mean?

Answer 5

schizophrenia-causing

Question 6

According to Fromm-Reichmann (1948), the schizophrenogenic mother is …

Answer 6

cold, rejecting and controlling, and tends to create a climate characterised by tension and secrecy.

Question 7

what does the tension and secrecy cause?

Answer 7

the tension and secrecy leads to distrust and later develops into paranoid delusions and ultimately sz.

Question 8

what 3 theories are apart of the explanation of family dysfunction?

Answer 8

schizophrenogenic mother,

double bind theory,

expressed emotions.

Question 9

who can up with the double-bind theory?

Answer 9

Bateson et al (1972)

Question 10

what did Bateson emphasise the role of in the development of sz?

Answer 10

Bateson emphasised the importance of the role that communication has in a family in the development of schizophrenia.

Question 11

what happens in the double-bind theory?

Answer 11

the developing child finds themselves trapped in situations where they fear they are doing wrong, but receive mixed messages about what this is, and feel unable to comment on the unfairness and seek clarification.

Question 12

what happens when a child gets something wrong in the double-bind theory?

Answer 12

when the child gets something wrong, they are punished with a withdrawal of love.

this leaves them thinking that the world is dangerous and confusing. This is the reflected in the symptoms that they have like disorganised thinking and paranoid delusions.

Question 13

what are expressed emotions?

Answer 13

EE is the level of emotion, in particular negative emotion, expressed towards a person with sz by their carers.

Question 14

what 3 elements does expressed emotions contain?

Answer 14

1. verbal criticism of person, occasionally accompanied by violence.
2. hostility towards the person, including anger and rejection.
3. emotional over-involvement in the life of the patient, including needless self-sacrifice.

Question 15

what is a source of stress to the patient?

Answer 15

the high levels EE from the carer to the patient is a serious source of stress for the patient.

Question 16

does EE cause a relapse or the onset of sz?

Answer 16

It’s mainly used as an explanation of why patients with sz relapse.

However, it has been suggested that it can cause sz in individuals who already have a genetically vulnerability.

Question 17

does the double-bind theory directly cause sz?

Answer 17

no, it is a risk factor

Question 18

what are the 2 cognitive explanations for sz?

Answer 18

metarepresentation

central control

Question 19

sz is associated with what?

Answer 19

sz is associated with several types of abnormal info processing and these can provide possible explanations for sz as a whole.

Question 20

sz is characterised by what?

Answer 20

it’s characterised by disruption to normal thought processing. This is evident in its symptoms.

Question 21

what 2 symptoms are evidence that sz is caused by disruption to normal thought processing?

Answer 21

1,. reduced processing in the ventral striatum is associated with negative symptoms.

2. reduced processing of info in the temporal and cingulate gyri are associated with hallucinations.

Question 22

what do lower than normal levels of info processing suggest?

Answer 22

it suggests that cognition is likely to be impaired.

Question 23

what 2 types of dysfunctional thought processes did Frith et al. (1992) identify?

Answer 23

1. metarepresentation dysfunction

2. central control dysfunction.

Question 24

what is metarepresentation?

Answer 24

the cognitive ability to reflect on thoughts and behaviour.

Question 25

what does metarepresentation allow us to do?

Answer 25

it allows us insight into our own intentions and goals.

it also allows us to interpret the actions of others.

Question 26

dysfunction in metarepresentation disrupts what?

Answer 26

it disrupts our ability to recognise our own actions and thoughts as being carried out by ourselves rather than someone else.

Question 27

what does dysfunction in metarepresentation explain?

Answer 27

dysfunction in metarepresentation explains hallucinations of hearing voices and delusions

Question 28

what is central control dysfunction?

Answer 28

the inability to suppress automatic responses while we perform deliberate actions.

Question 29

speech poverty and thought disorder could result from the inability to … ?

Answer 29

… suppress automatic thoughts and speech triggered by other thoughts.

Question 30

what is an example central control dysunction?

Answer 30

people with sz tend to experience derailment of thoughts because each word triggers associations, and the person cannot suppress the response to these.