Psychopathology

Question 1

Definitions of abnormality, deviation from social norms

Answer 1

any behaviour that varies from the norms is considered abnormal. Eg, running naked in public. Labels people behaving undesirably as social deviants. The norms vary across cultures, situations, ages and genders.
Evaluation-
helps people- society will intervene in abnormal peoples lives when they can’t help themselves.
Subjective- based on opinions, social norms aren’t real. Used to control those who are a threat.
Individualism- non conformers may just be eccentric, no problem to society.
Cultural differences— vary in and across cultures, hard to know when they are broken.

Question 2

Definitions of abnormality, failure to function adequately

Answer 2

sees people as abnormal when they are seen as not coping with everyday life. Inability to function properly. Often these people experience an unusual range of emotions/behaviour.
Global Assessment of Functioning Scale GAF
(Rosenham and Seligman)
scales is used to rate levels of social, occupational and psychological dysfunction.
1- is someone no longer conforms to the standardised norms; eg personal space
2- if someone suffered severe distress
3- when someone’s behaviour becomes too irrational or dangerous.
Evaluation-
too reductionist- doesn’t take into consideration individual differences.

Question 3

Definitions of abnormality, deviation from ideal mental health

Answer 3

perceives abnormality in a similar way to how physical health is assessed. Looks for signs of an absence of well being but in terms of mental health. It requires a set of characteristics of what is required to be normal.
(Maria Jahoda)- devised the concept of ideal mental health.
1- no symptoms of distress
2- clear perception of ourself
3- we are aiming for happiness
4- we can cope with stress
5- realistic view of the world
6- we lack guilt, usually
7- we can successfully work and enjoy leisure
Evaluation-
positivity- emphasises on positive achievements rather than failures and stress.
Target areas of dysfunction- targets areas to work on when treating specific abnormalities.
Subjective- criteria is vague, hard to measure as its not physical health.
Over-demanding criteria- few people meet all 7, few experience personal growth all the time.

Question 4

Definitions of abnormality, statistical infrequency

Answer 4

idea that behaviours that are statistically rare should be seen as abnormal. What is regarded as rare depends on normal distribution. Anyone who falls outside ‘the normal distribution’ is perceived as being abnormal.
Evaluation-
can be appropriate- can define abnormality, eg mental retardation.
Objective- collecting real data about behaviour and the cut off point has been agreed, objective way of deciding what’s normal.
Not all abnormal behaviours are infrequent.
Cultural factors- what is statistically normal in one culture may not be in another.
Where to draw the line- not clear how far behaviour should deviate.

Question 5

What are phobias

Answer 5

phobias are a type of anxiety disorder that is characterised by uncontrollable, extreme irrational and enduring fears.
simple phobias- fear specific things and environments eg. Clowns
Social phobias- more complex, social situations, perception of being judged and feeling inadequate. Eg. Not going outside

Question 6

Behavioural characteristics

Answer 6

panic when faced with stimuli

Endurance of stimuli

Question 7

Emotional characteristics

Answer 7

feelings of heightened stress when faced with the stimulus.

Question 8

Cognitive characteristics

Answer 8

selective attention to the object you fear.

Irrational beliefs.

Question 9

Behavioural explanations for phobias

Answer 9

two process model- (Howbart and Mowrer)
explains that fear is acquired through classical conditioning
It is then maintained through operant conditioning.
Operant conditioning-
fear is acquired through classical conditioning.
Stimuli either avoided or endured.
Avoidance creates better feeling leading to phobia
The anxiety of fear has been avoided, leading to repeat behaviour- negative reinforcement.

Question 10

Behavioural explanations for phobias, little Albert case study

Answer 10

they developed a phobia in a 9 month old baby.
Managed to create a phobia through negative effects when faced with a neutral stimulus. Lead to Albert having a phobia of a rat because he heard a loud noise when he saw the rat.
Explained that once classical conditioning has taken place behaviour needed to then be reinforced ( rewarded or punished)

Question 12

Behavioural treatments of phobias, systematic desensitisation

Answer 12

designed to gradually reduce anxiety through classical conditioning. completed in 3 steps.
step 1- anxiety hierarchy- order the items by how worrying they are.
step 2- relaxation- therapist helps them learn how to relax themselves. can’t be in a state of anxiety and relaxation at the same time (reciprocal inhibition)
step 3- exposure to stimulus- calmed and then introduced to phobic stimulus. takes place over several sessions and starts from the bottom of the anxiety hierarchy.
eg. arachnophobia.
in vitro- patients imagine that they are exposed to the stimulus and a realistic stimulation is experienced eg vr headset.
in vivo- the patient actually is exposed to the phobic stimulus. eg spider
evaluation-
low internal reliability-not everyone can imagine situations and not everyone imagines in the same way.
economic implications- time consuming, strain on NHS as it’s expensive. However, in LTM getting rid of phobias means people can do daily things better.
different research- gilroy proved a lot of people to be cured by arachnophobia. SD is better than just relaxation and curing phobia.

Question 13

Behavioural treatments of phobias, flooding

Answer 13

patients are exposed to a full phobic stimulus without any gradual buildup. This means they witness their phobic stimulus but don’t witness the negative consequences. called extinction in classical conditioning. in-vivo exposure will be used here so fear is felt in full force.
evaluation-
ethics- can be dangerous for clients, increases the chance of failure, could lead to panic/heart attack. may lead to development of another phobia.
low internal validity- patients may claim their phobia is gone just to end the session, they haven’t actually been treated.
different research- flooding has most success rates in irrational fears.

Question 14

What is depression

Answer 14

unipolar (major) depression- an affective mood disorder that occurs without manic episodes.

bipolar (manic) depression- an affective mood disorder that causes episodes of depression followed by severe episodes of mania. feelings of extreme heightened mood followed by severe low.

Question 15

Behavioural characteristics of unipolar depression

Answer 15

loss of energy and enthusiasm

poor personal hygiene

Question 16

Emotional characteristics of unipolar depression

Answer 16

feelings of worthlessness
constant depressed mood
irritability

Question 17

Cognitive characteristics of unipolar depression

Answer 17

thoughts of death
poor memory
delusional schemas about self and world

Question 18

Behavioural characteristics of bipolar depression

Answer 18

high energy levels
reduced concentration
very talkative
reckless behaviours

Question 19

Emotional characteristics of bipolar depression

Answer 19

elevated mood states
irritability
lack of guilt

Question 20

Cognitive characteristics of bipolar depression

Answer 20

delusions of grandeur (thinking theyre supreme)

irrational and reckless thought process

Question 21

Cognitive explanations for depression, beck

Answer 21

faulty information processing
when depressed we only seem to focus on the negatives.
if you suffer faulty information processing even if so called happy situations you will still be unhappy.
leads to negative triad.
becks negative triad-
faulty thoughts make us perceive the negative in situations
1- negative schemas of the world
2- negative thoughts of the future
3- negative schema of ourselves
He claimed that negative self schemas develop because of negative triads.

Question 22

Cognitive explanations for depression, ellis

Answer 22

ABC model-claimed depressed thoughts were not automatic but were simply irrational, dysfunctional thoughts created by negative events.
Activating event- something negative happens to you, eg. fail a-level exam.
Beliefs- musturbation- huge disaster that somethings gone wrong, eg. feeling sad and useless.
Consequence- leads to poor mental health of individual, eg. depression
once A,B,C has been discovered then add dispute and effect.
Dispute- therapist would argue and challenge the validity of the irrational thoughts.
Effect- breaking the links between the negative events and depression.

Question 23

Cognitive explanations for depression, evaluation

Answer 23

strength- beck, forms the basis for CBT, as all aspects can be identified and challenged to see whether they are true. treatment of depression
limitation- ellis, model assumes depression is caused by an activating event. Some people don’t suffer traumatic events. leads to a model failing if no event in the first place.
supporting evidence- Grazioli, found women with high cognitive vulnerability were more likely to suffer postnatal depression. tested during and after pregnancy. supports idea depression is associated with negative schemas.
economic implications- therapy and medication is expensive. less people provided with it. If the government pays, people would do better in day to day things.

Question 24

Cognitive treatments for depression

Answer 24

cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)-
involves meeting with a therapist to identify negative thoughts and challenge the using cognition conditioning and behaviour changes.
rational emotive behavioural therapy (REBT)-
would employ behavioural actions, which involves individuals to engage in what they see as enjoyable activities.
focusing on the ethos of ‘people are not disturbed by things but their thoughts of things.’

Question 25

Cognitive treatments for depression, evaluation

Answer 25

support- march, compared the effects of CBT with anti-depressants and then a combination of the 2. results 81% for only CBT and only antidepressants. combination of the 2, 86%. showed CBt just as effective as drug therapy and known to last longer.
counter- study is not representative as only tested on adolescents where teenage issues are more obvious.
roszenweig- claimed therapy might not be effective and success could be down to the relationship between client and therapist. limits cbt as talking to family/friends may be more effective as they understand the, better.
limitations- may not work for the most severe cases. Some patients may be so cognitively affected that they don’t have the attention processing to deal with therapy.
Counter- some cases of depression actually require physical change. Eg suffered anorexia, you can’t get therapy until you fix your eating.

Question 26

What is OCD

Answer 26

an anxiety disorder characterised by persistent, recurrent, unpleasant thoughts and repetitive behaviours in order to stop them. Eg. Contamination OCD, hoarding disorder, trichotillomania

Question 27

Behavioural characteristics of OCD

Answer 27

Compulsions- eg repetitive tapping, tidying, moving objects.

Avoidance from stimuli

Question 28

Emotional characteristics of OCD

Answer 28

Feelings of guilt
Extreme anxiety, especially when ritualistic behaviour is obstructed
Embarrassment
Contradictory annoyance

Question 29

Cognitive characteristics of OCD

Answer 29

Negative and irrational thought process
Cognitive distortions
Recurrent and persistent thoughts obsessive thoughts ( all the time)

Question 30

Biological explanations for OCD, genetics

Answer 30

researchers have identified candidate genes that mean some people have more chance of developing OCD.
Specific genes are implicated with the efficiency of serotonin uptake between the synapse. People with these genes are more likely to develop OCD.
OCD is polygenic, meaning its not down to one specific gene but several. The More of a certain type you have, the more vulnerable you are.

Question 31

Biological explanations for OCD, neural

Answer 31

neurotransmitters like serotonin affect mood regulation. Too much can cause high anxiety and too little can cause very low mood.
brain decision making- some areas of the brain deal with different functions. Frontal lobes deal with logic and reason. If there’s damage to an area ten irrational beliefs could develop.
Areas of the brain that deal with negative thoughts, hippocampus. If too much focu here then will cause ruminations.

Question 32

Biological explanations for OCD, evaluation

Answer 32

twin study- nestadt, found 68% of identical twins shared OCD as opposed to 31% of non-identical. Suggests genetic influence. However could be down to the upbringing being similar and treated the same way instead of the environment.
Reductionist viewpoints of behaviour- ignores external factors. Proved that trauma patients are more likely to suffer OCD , so must be an environmental cause.
Polygenic argument is too loose- each genetic variation only increases the risk of OCD by a fraction. It’s unlikely to ever be very useful as it provides little predictive value. More studies needed.
Tang et al- genetics, dogs with higher counts of particular genes are more prone to OCD. The findings applicability to humans is debatable.
Fallon and Nields-neural, reported that 40% of people contracting Lymes disease would also suffer OCD. It doesn’t account for all types of OCD and we cant be sure it causes OCD.

Question 33

Biological treatments of OCD

Answer 33

drug therapy- treatment involving drugs, function is to have a particular chemical effect on the brain or some part of the body to affect neurotransmitters.
SSRIs- (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) stop serotonin being reabsorbed and broken down after it has crossed the synapse. This regulates mood.
anxiety- too much, overthinking,Nausea,Dizzy

Combination treatment- drugs and CBT used together. Given drugs to reduce emotional symptoms,then once more stable start therapy can engage better and then try to come off drugs.
Alternatives to SSRIs-
Tricyclics-prevent serotonin and noradrenaline being reabsorbed after it has crossed the synapse. Their levels increase.Daydreaming, can’t concentrate, Tiredness, dizzy
Noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors- stop noradrenaline being reabsorbed and broken down after it has crossed the synapse. speeds up the body, increases excitation but doesn’t regulate. dizziness,Sweating ,Headache

Question 34

Biological treatments of OCD, evaluation

Answer 34

strength- effective at tackling symptoms, SSRIs are superior to placebos in treating OCD.
cost effective- compared to psychological treatments, drugs are cheap and non-disruptive
limitation- side effects, eg indigestion and blurred vision. makes it hard to do day to day things.
limitation- once a patient stops taking the drug they are prone to relapse, suggesting psychological treatment may be more effective as a long term solution

Question 35

Behavioural explanations for phobias, evaluation

Answer 35

Seligman- biological preparedness. argued we easily acquire phobias in things that have been a source of danger in our evolutionary past. however rare to develop phobia through evolution.
good explanatory power- explained how phobias are made and maintained.
social implications- understanding how to eradicate phobias and therapy to treat them
too reductionist- does not describe all aspects of fear.
other research- mineka, raised monkeys in a lab with their mother, gave them a toy rabbit and snake. They showed fear to the toy snake but not the rabbit, having never seen these animals before.