psychology psychopathology Flashcards
what are the 4 definitions of abnormality
statistical infrequency- when an individual has a less common characteristic
deviation from social norms
- behaviour that is different from the accepted standards withing society
failure to function adequetely - occurs when someone is unable to cope with day to day living
devaiation from ideal mental health- not meeting criteria for ideal mental health
what are the two treatments for phobias?
systematic desensitization is gradually reducing phobic anxiety through classical conditioning (learn to relax in the presence of the phobic stimulus)
flooding - immediate exposure to phobic stimulus, fightening with not build up
what are the 3 processes involved in systematic desensitization
anxiety heirarchy made by patient and therapist, a list of situations concerning the phobia from least to most frightening
relaxation - therapist teaches patient to relax as deeply as possible e.g through breathing excercises
exposure, patient is exposed to the phobic stimulus while in a relaxed state across multiple sessions from the bottom of the heiracrhy moving up
what does flooding lead to
extinction - we learn the phobic stimulus is harmless if we are unable to avoid it
evaluation of phobia treatments
Behavioural treatments dont treat the underlying cause of phobias (irrational beliefs) but just symptoms like panic so cbt may be better as it targets the underlying cause.
research supporting sd.gilroy followed 42 patients treated for arachnophobia with 3 sessions of sd compared to a control group with no exposure and just relaxation. this leads to LT solutions
a strength of flooding is its quick and cost effective. this is due to the immediate exposure to the stimulus so it can take up to one session. patients can be free of their symptoms asap
what is the two process model
this states that phobias are aquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning.
explain classical conditioning of phobias with the white rat
loud noise (ucs) -> fear response (ucr)
white rat + loud noise (ns + ucs) -> fear response (ucr)
white rate (cs) -> fear response (cr)
how are phobias negatively reinforced
The behaviour is strengthened because the unpleasant consequence is removed.
we continue to maintain a behaviour (running away) in order to avoid the negative consequence (phobic stimulus)
what does biological preparedness suggest
innate predisposition to aquire certain fears (e.g heights and deadly animals) which will increase our chances of survival
evaluations of phobia explanations
two process model cant explain all phobias. evolutionary phobias dont have to be learned through classical conditioning . outline biological preparedness. theres more to acquiring phobias than conditioning.
weakness is the behavioural approach to phobias doesnt explain cognitive
characteristics e.g selective attention and irrational beliefs. behaviourist approach doesnt consider the role of internal mental processes. cbt may be better
real life application to support behaviourist approach. watsona nd rayner taught little albert a phobia of white rats by repeatedly pairing a loud bang noise with the neutral stimulus of the white rat which then became associated with the fear of the loud bang
behavioural characteristics of phobias
avoidance
panic
endurance
emotional characteristics of phobias
anxiety and fear
cognitive characteristics of phobia
cognitive distortions
irrational beliefs
selective attention to the phobic stimulus
behavioural symptoms of ocd
compulsions and avoidance
emotional symptoms of ocd
anxiety, distress, depression, guilt and disgust
cognitive symptoms of ocd
obsessive thoughts e.g catastrophic thinking, hyper vigilance, insight into excessive anxiety and thoughts
aol for the genetic explanation ocd
individuals inherit specific genes from their parents that make them vulnerable to the onset of ocd
polygenic - taylor found up to 230 genes involved
COMT gene is common in ocd patients. low activity of COMT gene means high dopamine
sert gene affects the transport of serotonin which causes low levels of serotonin linked with ocd
evaluation of the genetic explanation
theres support for genetic. nestadl et al in their twin studies found that 68% of mz twins shared ocd whilst only 31% of dz twins did. closer related means more chance of ocd.however the mz twins could be more similar in terms of shared environments so env. factors may play more of a role, we cant condclude that its genes.
environmental risk factors may increase risk of ocd. cromer et al found more than half patients had a severe traumatic event so ocd cant be entirely genetic and theres a greater risk if theres an environmental trigger. diathesis stress model biological reductionism
neural explanation of ocd : neurotransmitters
Abnormal levels of neurochemicals like dopamine and serotonin are associated with the abnormal transmission of mood related information and obsessive thoughts.
people with OCD have:
high dopamine and low serotonin which leads to low moods –> accompanying depression
evaluations of the neural explanation of OCD
theres an issue with cause and effect. explanation says cause for ocd is the abnormal functioning of the lateral frontal lobe causes impaired decision making. however what if the ocd is what cause the abnormal functioning of lfl
real life application. some anti depressants work by increasing serotonin. Drugs help reduce ocd symptoms proving low levels of serotonin is included in ocd. however lots of people with ocd also have depression so these low serotonin levels could be that they have depression aswell and they are just treating derpression
Explain the process of the neurotransmitter serotonin and how do ssris stop reuptake
- serotonin is released from the presynaptic neuron and diffuses across the synapse
- neurotransmitters chemically convey signals from pre to post synaptic neuron
- re absorbed by the presynaptic neuron where its broken down and reused. this is re uptake
- SSRI’s stop reuptake by increasing levels in the synapse and continuously stimulating post synaptic neuron.
ao3 evaluation for the treatment of ocd
Drug therapy is supported by research. Soomro et al found that SSRI’s were more effective than placebos. however they found the best results when ssris were combined with cbt. however evidence may be biased by drug companies who dont publish all of their answers.
drugs are quick and cheap. ssri perscription is £9 when cbt is £60 a week. ssris are non disruptive to the patients daily life cbt requires time in a therapy session. however once they stop taking ssris theyre more likely to relapse so its not a long term solution
behavioural symptoms of depression
over and under eating
reduced activity levels
disruption of sleep
insomnia
agression and self harm e.g cutting and irritable
cognitive symptoms of depression
poor concerntration
dwelling on the negative
absolutist thinking
emotional symptoms of depression
belief of being worthless hopeless and inadequete
low self esteem
anger/lowered mood
ao1 explain becks cognitive theory of depression
beck believes people are vulnerable to depression dt:
faulty information processing :only focusing on the bad side of things
negative self schemas: interpret everything about themselves badly
negative triad:
negative views about the world
negative views about the future
negative views about oneself
what does cbt and Rebt do?
cbt identifies the irrational belief and then challenges it
rebt is a form of cbt
abc + de for dispute and effect
aim: break the link between negative life event and depression
logical argument - dispute using facts
empirical argument - dispute if theres evidence to back up their beliefs
ao1 explain ellis’ abc model
A- activating event e.g poor grade
B - beliefs e.g i will never succeed
c- consequences e.g feeling worthless and depressed
musturbation - belief we must always succeed
utopianism - belief life should always be fair
ao3 evaluation of becks cognitive theory of depression
evidence to support.grazioli and terry assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression before and after birth. They found that those women judged to have been high in cognitive vulnerability were more likely to suffer post-natal depression. however not representative one group of women.
doesnt explain all depression. some patients have cotard syndrome and hallucinations. becks theory is incomplete as it cant explain these symptoms like a biological explantation can.
ao3 evaluation for ellis abc model
partial explanation. it states depression is caused by an activating agent but that only explains reactive symptoms of depression in response to an event when its not always clear what lead to someones depression at a given time
beck and ellis contributed to treatments for depression. cbt is identifying and challenging irrational thoughts. rebt utilises abc adding dispute and effect to breakdown evens and thoughts. march found that Cbt was effective at treating symptoms and risk of relapse at 81%
A01 depression treatments
cognitive therapy uses thought catching and challenging it.
reality testing : clients have to gather evidence e.g when they enjoyed an event or recieved praise and compare evidence with thought to t=see if they match. This is used to prove clients wrong.
rebt
behavioural activation : activities to improve mood
A03 evaluations of treatment of depression
Cbt takes time and is expensive. average of 12 sessions and £60 per session and they may have to miss work to attend so ssris at £9 may be better. However cbt is cheaper in the long term as its done in 12 sessions but drugs are forever.
cbt may not be effective for sever and disabled cases. It requires complex rational thinking and with a lack of motivation this may be hard to engage with making them feel more hopeless.
cbt has economic impacts. depression is costly to the economy through absenteeism , low productivity and unemployment. In the long term Cbt decreases risk of relapse and helps people go back to work.
what are the a03 evaluations of statistical infrequency
doesnt distinguish between desiraable and undesirable behaviours. it suggests behaviour shown less often is abnormal but some abnormal behaviours are desirable like having an IQ over 150 though very few people do we would say its undesirable and some normal behaviours are undesirable like depression.
Real life application SI is used to assess the severity of symptoms e.g iq below 70 means intellectual disability.beck depression inventory a score of 30+ means sever depression
a03 evaluations of deviation from social norms
incomplete definition. in uk hearing voices and hallucinating is unacceptable whereas it may be normal as in african cultures they believe they’re communicating with ancestors.its not universal
useful in clinical practice.recklessness, aggression, violating the rights of others. These signs of the disorder are all deviation from social norms. acts as a criteria for mental illeness
a03 evaluation of deviation from ideal mental health
this is unrealistic. no one can master their environment everyday and not be insecure some days
not a universal definition because collectivstic cultures dont really value self actualization and autonomy thats mainly westeren cultures
a03 evaluation for failure to function adequetely
this may be deviation from social norms. if a person doesnt live a normal life e.g hold down a job they may be abnormal however are they failing to function or deviating from social norms e.g not having a job or permanent life could be an alt lifestyle like new age travellers.
represents a threshold for professional help. most people carry on with life despite 25% of people having mental health problems this criterion allows people who cant function to get professional help as they need it the most.
neural explanation of ocd: abnormal brain structures
OCD is associated with impaired decision making and illogical thinking which could be due to abnormal functioning of the lateral frontal lobes of the brain
There is also evidence that the left Para hippocampal gyrus, associated with processing unpleasant emotions, functions abnormally in OCD patients
neural explanation of ocd: abnormal brain circuits
people with ocd have a damaged caudate nucleus which suppresses worry signals from the orbitalfrontal cortex.
when the caudate nucleus is damaged it fails to supress minor worry signals from the OFC and the thalamus is alerted which sends signals back to the OFC acting as a worry circuit
PET scans show when a person with a germ obsession holds a dirty cloth, there is heighted activity in the OFC.
What are 2 treatments for OCD other than serotonin
Tricyclics block the transporter mechanism that re absorbs both serotonin and noradrenaline, prolonging their activity in the synapse
SNRI’s increase the levels of serotonin and noradrenaline and are tolerates by those for whom ssris are not effective for
