Psychology and Abnormality Studies! Flashcards
Gottesman and Shields (1972)
PSYCHOLOGY AND ABNORMALITY
Twin Study in Schizophrenia
-467 twins from Maudsley hospital in London
-24 monozygotic sets of twins, 33 dizygotic sets of twins
-underwent cognitive tests and interviews
RESULTS
-50% of MZ twins share schizophrenic status, compared to only 9% of DZ twins
-MZ twins were more likely to be Schizophrenic if their co-twin’s illness was severe (severe=hospitalised in the last 6 months or had catatonic symptoms)
Frith (1992)
PSYCHOLOGY AND ABNORMALITY
Cognitive approach in Schizophrenia
-recognises that biological factors plays a role in the positive symptoms of schizophrenia
-accepts roles of biochemical processes, brain structure and genetic influence
-use phrases like “abnormality of self-monitoring”, “perceived hallucinations are just inner speech”, “inability to monitor the intentions of others”, “impaired theory of mind”
-schizophrenic patients had to decide whether items has been read to them by themselves, and experimenter, or a computer
RESULTS
-schizophrenic patients with incoherent speech as a symptom performed the worst at the task
-those who were prone to delusion thinking had more misinterpretation of perception
Freeman (2008)
PSYCHOLOGY AND ABNORMALITY
VR and Schizophrenia
-non clinical population of approx. 200 students
-before the study, validated measurement tools were used to profile each person’s level of paranoid thinking, emotional distress, and other social and cognitive traits
-during the VR treatment, measures of persecutory thinking, visual analogue rating scales, degree of immersion were taken
RESULTS
-those who scored highly on the questionnaire for paranoia experienced high levels of persecutory ideation during the VR
-people who experienced auditory hallucinations in the real world also experienced them in VR
Senskey et al (2000)
PSYCHOLOGY AND ABNORMALITY
CBT treatment for Schizophrenia
-randomised control trial
-90 patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia
-aged 16-60
-independent groups design with random allocation
-19 sessions of CBT OR befriending
-CBT treatment was after distinct stages of engaging with the patient and discussing emergence of disorder
-patients kept voice diaries to reord what they were hearing
-participants were assessed by blind raters before the start of their treatment, at treatment completion, adn at 9-month follow up
-standardised, validated assessment scales were used (CPRS, SANS)
RESULTS
-both groups showed significant overall reduction in positive and negative symptoms
-at 9-month follow up, CBT group continued to improve in the reduction of positive symptoms, but those in the befriending group did not
Paul and Lentz (1977)
PSYCHOLOGY AND ABNORMALITY
Token Economies and Schizophrenia
-84 patients with chronic admissions to pscyhiatric institutions
-split into different groups, independent measures design
1. milieu treatment group
2. traditional existing hospital management
3. token economy in hospital ward
-study went on for 4.5 years
-earned tokens could be exchanged for rewards
-behaviour was measured through time sampling observations, standardised questionnaire scales and interviews
RESULTS
-overall reduction in positive and negative symptoms was observed
-this was most affective for catatonic behaviour and social withdraw
-least effective in reducing hallucinations and delusional thinking
-97% of the token economy were able to live independently in the community for 1.5 - 5 years, as compared to only 7% in the milieu group and 45% in the hospital group
Oruc et al (1997)
PSYCHOLOGY AND ABNORMALITY
Genetic basis for Bipolar and related disorders
-42 participants with diagnoses of bipolar
-25 female, 17 male
-ages 31 to 70
-40 extra participants with no personal or family history of mental illness. they were matched for sex and age
-16 people in the bipolar group also had a first degree family member with a major affective disorder
-DNA testing was carried out to check for polymorphisms in serotonin receptor 2C and serotonin transporter genes
RESULTS
-no significant associations in the sample
-however serotonin as a neurotransmitter is understood to be sexually dimorphic
-trends for association with both polymorphisms in female participants were observed
-this suggests that polymorphisms in these genes could be responsible for an increased risk of developing bipolar disorder in females only
Seligman et al (1988)
PSYCHOLOGY AND ABNORMALITY
Attributional style for Depression
-investigated how well attributional style could predict depressive symptoms
-39 patients with unipolar depression
-12 patients with bipolar disorder
-mean age 36
-all from the same outpatient clinic
-all participants participated during a depressive episode
-10 extra control participants
-participants completed the BDI, and an attributional style questionnaire consisting of 12 hypothetical good and bad events
-participants had to make casual attributions for each one and then rate each cause on a 7-point scale for internality, stability, globility
RESULTS
-both bipolar and unipolar participants were found to have more pessimistic, negative attributional styles than the non-patient control group
-more sever depression score=worse pessimism
-those with unipolar depression undergoing CBT therapy had improved scores on both
Lyons and Woods
PSYCHOLOGY AND ABNORMALITY
REBT study
-meta analysis of 70 REBT studies
-found that people receiving REBT demonstrated significant improvement over baseline measures and control groups
Grant et al (2008)
PSYCHOLOGY AND ABNORMALITY
Opiate treatment for gambling addicts
-284 participants with gambling addiction
-16 week course of opiate treatment
-double blind experiment
-3 groups: placebo, opiate nalmefene, opiate naltrexone
RESULTS
-opiate groups showed significant reduction in symptoms
-participants with a family history of gambling and the highest dosage of opiates showed the greatest reduction
Case Study: Kimya
PSYCHOLOGY AND ABNORMALITY
Phobia example
-39 year old woman
-fear of birds
-she couldn’t be around birds, see photographs of them, hear sounds, etc
-she avoided places where she might come into contact with birds
Öst (1992)
PSYCHOLOGY AND ABNORMALITY
Genetic explanation for Phobias
-says that there are particular stimuli in the environment that may pose a threat to survival, so we are genetically set up to avoid them. this is transmitted through our DNA throughout generations to help with survival
-81 blood phobic patients
-59 injection phobic patients
-they were compared with a sample of participants with different specific phobias
-participants underwent a series of background tests and interviews and a behavioural test
RESULTS
-50% of blood phobics and 27% of injection phobics had one or more parents with the same fear
-21% of blood phobics also reported having a sibling who shared the disorder
-high proportion of participants with the blood/injection phobias had a history of fainting
DiNardo et al (1988)
PSYCHOLOGY AND ABNORMALITY
Origin of Phobias
-14 dog-fearful female college students
-21 non-fearful female college students
-individual structured interviews to obtain information on the phobia’s origin
RESULTS
-conditioning events occurred in 56% of fearful participants
-66% of non-fearful participants also had conditioning events
-anticipation of harm occurring was much greater in the fearful group
-factors other than conditioning events affect whether these events turn into a phobia, such as the individual’s own interpretation and rationalisation of events
Wolpe (1958)
PSYCHOLOGY AND ABNORMALITY
Systematic Desensitisation for Phobias
-“reciprocal inhibition”
-puts feelings of phobia directly in conflict with feelings of relaxation and calm
stages:
1. teach patient relaxation techniques
2. patient and therapist create an anxiety hierarchy
3. go up the hierarchy!
Öst et al (1989)
PSYCHOLOGY AND ABNORMALITY
Applied tension treatment for Phobias
-applies tension in muscles to increase blood
-30 patients with blood/wound phobia treated using applied tension, applied relaxation or both
-prior, participants were assessed by self report, behavioural and physiological measures
-participants were measured again after treatment and at a 6-month follow up
RESULTS
-73% of participants across all groups showed improvement in behavioural/physiological responses to blood
Öst and Westling (1995)
PSYCHOLOGY AND ABNORMALITY
Comparing CBT and Applied Tension in terms of Panic Disorder
-38 patients with panic disorders
-12 weekly sessions
-patients were assessed with a self-report scale, and self observation of panic attacks (before, after, and at 1-year follow up)
CBT steps:
1. identifying the misinterpretation of bodily sensations
2. generate alternative, non-catastrophic interpretations of their bodily sensations
3. therapist challenged patient’s evidence for the beliefs, using behavioral experiments to induce the misinterpreted sensations
-in the applied relaxation group, progressive. muscle relaxation techniques were taught
-participants were told to use them in both panic and non-panic inducing situations
RESULTS
-there was no significant difference
-no relapses in either group, suggesting that both were successful in the short to medium term alleviation of panic attack symptoms
