psychopathology Flashcards
social norms
a rule held by group of people regarding behaviour of others
what is deviation from social norms
behaviour that is unexpected/ unacceptable by group
what is statistical deviation
stastical deviation is abnormal from the typical statistical average/ mean and is more infrequent
statistical deviation strengths
identifies intellectual disability IQ
-forms clinical assessment for mental disorder
statistical deviation weakness
-abnormal doesn’t mean disorder
deviations from social norms weakness
- cultural relativism (different from country to country)
- unethical labelling abnormaal
deviations from social norms strengths
-can be used in anti-social personality disorder
failure to function adequately
can’t cope on day to day basis/ ordinary demands of life
what is deviation from ideal mental health
- criteria that individual must meet in order to have good mental health
failure to function adequately strengths
can identify when professional help needed
-treatment targeted
APPLICATION
failure to function adequately weakness
labelling abnormal for different life choices eg gap year
-discrimination ETHICS
deviation from ideal mental health strengths
-covers most reasoning behind why people seek help VALIDITY
deviation from ideal mental health weakness
-culture bound
self actualisation may have different interpretations
DSM
diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder
what’s a specific phobia
phobia of object or situation
social anxiety NON SPECIFIC
phobia of social situations
agoraphobia NON SPECIFIC
fear of outside/ public space and worry no help if something goes wrong
behavioural characteristics of phobias
- anxiety
- panic
- avoidance
emotional characteristics of phobias
- unreasonable emotional response
- attention to stimulus
cognitive characteristics of phobias
- irrational beliefs
- cognitive distortions
maintenance of phobia
operant conditioning
how phobia is learnt
classical conditioning
little Albert study
- shown rat- no fear neutral stimulus
- iron bar struck when reached for rat (unconditioned stimulus- caused fear (unconditioned response)
- association made between 2 leading to fear
- conditioned stimulus (rat) -conditioned response (fear)
strengths of behavioural explanation to phobias
-SUPPORTING EVIDENCE
-little Albert showed learning phobia through classical conditioning
increased reliability consistency shown
REAL LIFE APPLICATION
-can be used for guiding phobia therapy
weaknesses of behavioural explanation to phobias
- LACK VALIDITY
- incomplete, doesn’t look into cognitive aspects of phobia eg. irrational beliefs
- some phobias may be evolutionary caused
- avoid things that caused danger in past
what is systematic desensitisation
gradual process carried out over several sessions
-uses classical conditioning to counter-condition the learnt phobia
what are the 3 steps in systematic desensitisation
anxiety hierarchy
relaxation
exposure
what is flooding
intense process where clients are exposed to fear until can relax
-treats phobia very fast
systematic desensitisation advantages
- suit a range of people eg. disabilities that wouldn’t be able to understand cognitive theory or consent to flooding(generalisability)
- less traumatic for patient which leads to less drop outs (ethical)
flooding strengths
cost effective as is faster results (ethical)
effective for simple phobias (application)_
flooding weaknesses
traumatic so clients may drop out (ethics)
not effective for complex phobias eg. social phobias(application)
what does DSM stand for
diagnostic and statistical manual of disorders
what is a behavioural feature
how people act/ behave
what is a cognitive feature
how people think/ believe
what is an emotional feature
how people feel/ their mood
what is classical conditioning
-learning through association
what is DSM used for
classifying symptoms for different mental disorders
what is operant conditioning
learning through positive/ negative reinforcement
what is the two way process model of phobias
learnt through classical and maintained through operant
what is OCD
a disorder where people experience obsessions and compulsions
what is an obsession
recurring intrusive thoughts
what is a compulsion
behaviour a person feels they must carry out
behavioural characteristics of OCD
compulsive behaviour eg. repetition reduced anxiety (after carry out behaviour)
emotional characteristics of OCD
anxiety and distress
depression
guilt/ disgust (eg.over dirt)
cognitive characterises of OCD
obsessive thoughts cognitive strategies(coping) insight into excessive anxiety
what is the biological explanation of OCD(genetic)
-genetic vulnerability in families
-candidate genes create vulnerability
diathesis stress model suggests that people with genetic vulnerability can be triggered by an event/ stress
what is the biological explanation of OCD(neural)
neurotransmitters(chemical messengers)
dopamine levels are too high in people with OCD
Serotonin is used to mood regulate
too little serotonin can lead to low mood
THE WORRY CIRCUIT in brain can cause OCD
what is behavioural approach to treating phobias
- flooding
- systematic desensitisation
what is behavioural explanation of phobias
- learnt through classical
- maintained through operant
the worry circuit explained
- involves frontal cortex/ thalamus and basal ganglia
biological explanation of OCD definition
a perspective that emphasises importance go physical processes in body eg. neural and genetic
aetiologically heterogeneous
the origin of OCD has different causes
polygenic OCD
several genes are involved (230)
