Psychological Explanations of SZ Flashcards
Who proposed psychodynamic approach?
Freud
What is SZ, according to Freud?
Regression to pre-ego state
Attempts to re-establish ego control
Psychodynamic - how can the world of a schizophrenic affect its onset?
- Hard world (e.g. cold/uncaring parents)
- Individual regresses to before ego was properly formed and without realistic awareness of outside world
What did Freud see SZ as?
Infantile state with some symptoms reflecting this primitive condition and other symptoms (hallucinations) displaying attempts to re establish control
What is a limitation of Freuds psychodynamic approach?
No research evidence to support other than psychoanalysts claim disordered fam patterns are the cause
What did Fromm-Reichmann find regarding psychodynamic applications?
Schizophrenogenic mothers/families that are rejecting/dominant/overprotective are contributory factors
Further support regarding parents of SZ patients for Psychodynamic?
Studies - parents do behave differently, particularly in presence of disturbed offspring
parents do behave diff, particularly in presence of disturbed offspring…
May be consequence rather than cause
Where do bio factors come into play in cognitive explanations?
Causes initial sensory experiences
How do cognitive factors influence the offset of SZ?
- Individual attempts to understand new experiences
- Turn to others to confirm beliefs, when people fail to, leads to belief that others are hiding the truth
What will ultimately happen as cognitive factors influence sz?
Begin to reject feedback from others and develop delusional beliefs
What are the AO1 Points?
Psychodynamic Approach Cognitive Factors Life Events Double Blind Theory Expressed Emotion
What are the AO2 points?
Psychodynamic Applications Cognitive Support Life Events Double Blind Theory Family Relationships Expressed Emosion
What is a strength of the cognitive factors explanation?
1) Much evidence on a physical basis to support
2) Support for treatment
What did Meyer-Lindeberg find?
Link between excess dopamine in pre-frontal cortex and working memory
The suggestion that ‘madness’ is a consequence of disbelieving others…
Receives support in terms of treatment implications
What did Yellowlees do?
Virtual hallucination machine - e.g. hearing TV tell someone to kill themselves
Was was Yellowlee’s hallucination machine designed to do?
Show SZ patients hallucinations are not real
Is Yellowlee’s machine successful?
As of rn, no evidence
What are 4 socio-cultural explanations of SZ?
Life Events
Double Blind Theory
Family Relationships
Expressed Emotion
What are life events?
Major stress factor associated with SZ
What are discrete stresses?
Death of family member
What is the death of a family member an example of?
Discrete stresses
What did Brown and Birley find regarding life events/SZ link?
- Prior to SZ episode, those who had previously experienced SZ reported twice as many stressful life events in comparison to healthy control group
What did further research regarding life events/sz find?
LE’s had increased effect after relapse rather than concentrated effect before
What is a limitation of the life events/sZ explanation ?
No casual link
What are two limitations regarding the idea there is no casual link between life events/sz
- Van Os et al - no link
- Research is purely correlational, cannot infer direct link
- Erratic behaviour at beginning of SZ could be cause of life events rather than consequence
What is the double blind theory?
Children who receive contradictory messages from parents are more likely to have SZ
What is an example of a contradictory message in the DBT?
Mother tells child she loves them then turns away in disgust
What is a mother telling a child she loves them then turning away in disgust?
Conflicting messages on different communicative levels
What happens to a child when they receive contradictory messages?
Response is incapacitated by contradictions
Prevents development of internally coherent contraction of reality
Who supported the DBT explanation?
Echoed by RD Laing - SZ is reasonable response to an insane world
AO2 for the Double Blind Theory?
Some evidence to support this account of SZ dvlpt
What did Berger find in relation to the DBT?
SZs reported higher recall of double blind statements
What is a problem with Bergers study into DBT?
Retrospective data
What are two pieces of evidence against the DBT?
Liem - patterns of parental communications, no diff between SZ family and normal family
Hall and Levin - analysis of previous studies, no diff between sz fams and non sz families
Where can the importance of Fam relationships be seen?
Tinari’s adoption study
AO2 fam relationships. If parent had SZ, child were more likely to develop SZ.. but this only occurred
- When adoptees rated as disturbed
Family Relationships AO2 (adoptive parents rated as disturbed) What might be the trigger?
Poor environmental factors
How can Expressed Emotion lead to SZ?
Negative emotion climate (high degree of expressed emotions)
In family environments, what might EE involve?
Fmily communication styke involving criticism, hostility
What can high levels of EE in the family environment cause?
- Relapse rates by up to 4x more than low EE family
What study illustrated the effects of expressed emotions EE?
- Iranian culture
- High EE
- Main cause of SZ relapses
How can EE lead to SZ relapse?
Negative emotional climate aroused patient = stress beyond their coping mechanisms
Is there research support for EE?
Yes - substantial in comparison to DBT
What must we question when looking at EE as a SZ trigger?
Whether it is a cause or effect of SZ
What has EE research lead to?
Effective family therapy
How can EE research lead to effective family therapy?
High EE members taught ways to reduce EE levels
What is a limitation of family therapy that has arose from EE?
EE or general family intervention that lead to success
