psychopathology- 1

Question 1

what are phobias

Answer 1

phobias are categorised by excessive fear and anxiety, triggered by a phobic stimuli

Question 2

behavioral characteristics of phobias

Answer 2

avoidance- if a person is in a situation with their phobic stimuli their immediate response will be to avoid it, if they cannot it results in panic- freeze or flight

Question 3

emotional characteristic of phobias

Answer 3

fear and anxiety, anxiety occurs even when phobic stimuli is not present, just through anticipation of phobic stimuli appearing

Question 4

cognitive characteristic of phobias

Answer 4

selective attention and irrational thoughts about possible dangers of phobic stimuli

Question 5

behaviorist explanation for phobias

Answer 5

two process model- acquisition is classical conditioning is operant conditioning, led by avoidance- stimulus genralistation results in heightened emotional characteristics, more to fear

Question 6

strength- behaviourist explanation of phobias- research support

Answer 6

little albert experiment, association between loud noise and rat led to formation of rat phobia - small sample size, lacks population validity

Question 7

weakness- behaviourist explanation of phobias- success of cbt

Answer 7

provides limited exp, only focuses on environmental factors not beliefs, which CBT challenges

Question 8

outline flooding

Answer 8

exposing the sufferer to their phobic stimuli in a safe environment, after they have been taught relaxation techniques- waits till the fear subsides and the patient feels relaxed in the presence of their phobic stimuli

Question 9

why does flooding work

Answer 9

prevents maintenance through avoidance, counterconditioning- learned response replaced with healthier response, works on the assumption that fear is time limited

Question 10

outline systematic desensitisation

Answer 10

create anxiety hierarchy, teaching relaxation techniques, exposure- this can occur invivo or invitro

Question 11

why is SD effective

Answer 11

prevents maintenance through avoidance, counterconditioning- works different to flooding, new association is formed because of the relaxation techniques

Question 12

weakness- flooding and SD as treatment of phobias- effectiveness

Answer 12

CBT more effective, in social phobia, focuses on irrational thoughts, flooding and SD focus on behavioral responses

Question 13

strength- treating phobias through flooding- research support

Answer 13

wolpe (1960) girl with fear of cars, fear response went away- after hours of driving fear became hysteria then calm- unethical, led to psychological harm, small sample size (case study)

Question 14

behavioral characteristics of depression

Answer 14

change in activity, disturbances in sleeping pattern, changes in appetite

Question 15

emotional characteristics of depression

Answer 15

depressed mood, feelings of worthlessness, anger- directed at self or others, can lead to self harming activities

Question 16

cognitive characteristics of depression

Answer 16

difficulty paying/ maintaining attention, inclined to focus on negative characteristics of a situation, absolutist thinking- seeing in absolute terms, irrational thoughts likely to interpret any negative situation as disastorous

Question 17

outline Ellis’ ABC model

Answer 17

Behaviors’ and emotions associated with depression are partly a Consequence of Activating events- also result of irrational beliefs- mustabatory thinking

Question 18

outline becks negative triad

Answer 18

negative thoughts of self, world and future- develops because of early negative experiences

Question 19

strength- cog exp of depression- indirect research support

Answer 19

cog exp led to development of CBT, meta analysis in 2013 revealed it is highly effective in treating depression

Question 20

limitation- cog exp of depression-limited exp

Answer 20

SSRIs effectively treat depression, overlooks the role of biology

Question 21

outline OCD

Answer 21

anxiety disorder charecterised by persistent and intrusive thoughts, cognitive- obsessions, behavioral- compulsions, emotional- anxiety

Question 22

outline the genetic exp for OCD

Answer 22

OCD has a genetic basis meaning it is at least partially inherited, polygenic, different combinations of candidate genes, SERT- low serotonin, COMT- high dopamine

Question 23

outline the diathesis- stress model

Answer 23

only partially genetic, candidate genes make a person vulnerable to developing OCD, must be exposed to stressors- traumatic environmental experiences, interacts with diathesis to trigger OCD

Question 24

outline the neural explanation

Answer 24

hyperactive prefrontal cortex- decision making, caused by low serotonin- inhibitor, and high dopamine- excitor

Question 25

what are SSRIs and what do they do

Answer 25

selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, e.g. fluxotine, work by inhibiting reuptake in serotonergic neurons, controls low level of serotonin, lowers overactive prefrontal cortex

Question 26

what are antipsychotics and what do they do

Answer 26

not a first line treatment, given to patients who don’t respond to SSRIs, dopamine antagonists, block dopaminergic neurons receptors, lowers high dopamine levels, lowers overactive prefrontal cortex

Question 27

limitation -biological treatment of OCD- side effects

Answer 27

loss of sex drive, indigestion. SSRIs have withdrawal effects when users stop taking them, antipsychotics cause weight gain and issues controlling the body

Question 28

strength- bio treatment of OCD- research support

Answer 28

research support-Soomro (2008)- 17 studies using SSRIs were significantly better at treating OCD than placebo
-drug treats the symptoms- use of placebo shows benefits are not a product of the patient’s expectations
- strengthened by it being a review as reviews consider multiple studies- greater external validity

Question 29

strength- bio exp for OCD- research support

Answer 29

research support- Nestadt (2010) review of twin studies, 68% concordance rates with mz twins and 31% concordance rates with dz twins
- review means greater external validity since they consider the results of multiple studies
-limitations of twin studies- assumption of shared environments
- not 100% shows not only genetic basis

Question 30

limitation - bio exp for OCD-correlational research

Answer 30

Correlation does not equal causation
-may be a causal link but direction of causation is unknown, may be a third variable

Question 31

what are definitions of abnormality used for

Answer 31

identifying psychopathologies and who needs help

Question 32

what is a statistical abnormality

Answer 32

behaviors that are statistically rare,
the behavior needs to be quantified before we can judge if it is a statistical deviation -it should be 2 or more standard deviation points away from the mean- can use a bell curve to describe

Question 33

what are the 4 types of abnormality

Answer 33

statistical abnormality, failure to function, deviation from social norms, deviation from ideal mental health

Question 34

what is deviation from social norms

Answer 34

deviates from social norms of appropriate behaviour - unstated rules about how one ‘ought’ to behave in society (culturally specific)
can be very damaging as it impairs their ability to function in society

Question 35

what is failure to function

Answer 35

failing to function in daily life- can’t manage regular activities or behaviour causes significant distress
no longer conforming to standard interpersonal rules- eye contact, and exhibiting behaviour that is dangerous or irrational.

Question 36

what is deviation from ideal mental health

Answer 36

when someone does not meet a set of criteria for ideal mental health- e.g.
no symptoms or distress, rational and perceiving ourselves accurately, able to self-actualise, able to cope with stress, a realistic view of the world

Question 37

strength -statistical deviation- objectivity

Answer 37

criteria for being diagnosed with intellectual disability disorder is their IQ must be more than two standard deviations below the mean IQ.
shows how the definition ca be used to give an unbiased definition of abnormality, definition can give an objective way of categorising people as abnormal

Question 38

limitation -statistical deviation- defining deviation

Answer 38

e.g. depression occurs in roughly 20% of the population while ASPD affects no more than 3% of people.
challenges statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality- defining others as infrequent is less clear- classifications of abnormality will always be somewhat subjective, as researchers must decide what counts as rare enough to be a ‘statistical deviation’.

Question 39

strength- deviation of social norms- avoiding cultural bias

Answer 39

occurs when psychologists ignore cultural differences + interpret all phenomena from own cultural perspective
-helps avoid cultural bias as the normality/abnormality of a behaviour needs to be judged from within a particular cultural context
applies cultural relativism
-can only be judged as abnormal if it is unusual within a particular cultural context

Question 40

limitation- deviation from social norms- universality

Answer 40

definitions of abnormality that are universal would apply everywhere, regardless of culture.
-if abnormality is defined only as behaviour that deviates from social norms, there can be no universal definition of abnormality
- abnormality will vary depending on the social norms of a particular culture

Question 41

strength- failure to function- assessment tools

Answer 41

the Global Assessment of Functioning scale (GAF) is a questionnaire used by clinicians to rate functioning on various domains (e.g., social, occupational and psychological).
-This shows how the definition has practical applications
- It has been used to develop a tool for identifying who is abnormal and therefore in need of treatment- has helped improve people’s lives.

Question 42

limitation- failure to function- applying to people with unconventional lives

Answer 42

The unconventional lives of soldiers lead them to engage in dangerous behaviour that will cause them and others distress.
-Using the failure to function definition, soldiers would be classed as psychologically abnormal just for doing their job.
needs to be considered in respect of a person’s social context- requires a consideration of social norms.

Question 43

strength- deviation from ideal mental health- positive focuses

Answer 43

other definitions of abnormality focus on the negative aspects of abnormality while deviation from ideal mental health identifies the positive aspects of good mental health.
-positive focus of the definition means it is not limited to identifying people in extreme situations
-can be useful in identifying a broad range of people who have the potential to live more fulfilling lives.

Question 44

limitation- deviation from ideal mental health- cultural bias

Answer 44

occurs when psychologists ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena from their own cultural perspective
-may be culturally biased as it appears to interpret ideal mental health from a Western cultural perspective- not applicable to other cultures
e.g. in individualist cultures self-actualisation and independence might be regarded as valuable goals/qualities, but in the more collectivist cultures such as China and Japan, focus on the self could be regarded as selfish and undesirable.
-the characteristics defining the definition may not be seen as ideal in all cultures.