Psychopathology Flashcards
What are the definitions of abnormality?
Statistical infrequency
Deviation from social norms
Failure to function adequately
Deviation from ideal mental health
Example of Statistical infrequency
Most people have an IQ in the range of 85 to 115. Only 2% have a score below 70, those are ‘abnormal’
Deviation from social Norms
Concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in society.
Who chooses what is abnormal?
Groups of people choose to define behaviour as abnormal if it offends their sense of what is the norm
What is an example of deviation from social norms?
APD personality is impulsive etc. we make a social judgement they are abnormal bc they don’t conform to our moral standards.
Failure to function adequately
Occurs when someone can no longer cope with the ordinary demands of day to day living.
What did Rosenhan & Selighan propose?
Signs that can be used to determine when someone isn’t coping.
What are the signs to determine if someone isn’t coping?
No longer conforms to standard interpersonal rules
Experiences severe personal distress
Behaviour becomes dangerous to themselves/others,
Deviation from ideal mental health
Occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health.
Statistical infrequency
Occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic
What did Jahoda say shows we are in good mental health?
Are rational
Self actualise
Have realistic views of the world
Cope with stress.
DOA Strength - cultural relativism
Norms vary from one generation/community, means a person from one may label something abnormal while that person doing it may think it’s normal. E.g. Lahore conducted study in India and found hearing voices was mostly pos, but in other western countries it would be seen as a mental abnormality - UK
DOA Limitation - not everyone benefits from a label
Someone living happy fulfilled life, no benefit to label as abnormal. E.g. someone with low IQ but is not distressed would not need a diagnosis of intellectual disability. If labelled it may have a negative effect on the way others view them or themselves.
What is used to explain phobias?
Two process model
Who proposed the two process model?
Mower
What is the two process model based on?
Based on the behavioural approach to phobias, using classical and operant conditioning.
How does classical conditioning cause a phobia?
Classical conditioning involves learning to associate something of which we have no fear, with something that triggers it.
How does operant conditioning link in with phobias?
Reinforcement increases the frequency of a behaviour. Neg= individual avoids a situation that is unpleasant. Pos= this results in a desirable consequence so the phobia is maintained.
Example of two process model being used
Little albert
Who conducted the Little Albert experiment?
Watson and Raynor created a phobia in a 9 month old baby
Who did they cause the phobia?
When the rat was presented, a loud noise was made with an iron bar. This UCS of noise produced an CR of fear.
What happened with this fear later on?
The conditioning then generalised to similar objects.
What are the two ways of treating phobias?
Systematic desensitisation
Flooding
What is systematic desensitisation?
A behavioural therapy designed to gradually reduce the phobic anxiety through classical conditioning
Systematic desensitisation causes what?
Counter conditioning
Reciprocal inhibition
Counter conditioning
A new response to phonic stimulus is learned and paired with relaxation
Reciprocal inhibition
Impossible to be afraid and relaxed at same time, so one prevents other
What are the three processes involved in SD?
Anxiety hierarchy
Relaxation
Exposure
Anxiety hierarchy
A list of situations related to the phobia in order from most to least frightening
Relaxation
May involved breathing exercises or mental imagery techniques.
Exposure
Exposed to the phobia while in a relaxed state
What is flooding?
Exposing phobias patients to their phobic stimulus with immediate exposure to the most frightening situation
What does flooding do?
Stops phobic responses quickly, bc without the option of avoidance the patient learns the stimulus is harmless. This process is extinction.
What is needed before going through with flooding?
Important to give fully informed consent as it is traumatic and unpleasant.
Strength- two process model has good explanatory power
Explained how phobias maintained. Had important implications for therapies bc it explains why patients needs to be exposed to fear. Once prevented from avoidance behaviour, no longer reinforced and so declined.
Strength - SD is effective
Gilroy et al followed up 42 patients been treated for spider phobia in 3 45min sessions. Control group treated by relaxation. 3 and 33 months = SD group less fearful. Strength bc shows SD helpful in reducing anxiety and effects are long lasting.
Limitation - flooding less effective for some phobias
Complex ones like social phobias. May be bc they have cognitive aspects. E.g. a suffered thinks unpleasant thoughts of situation rather than anxiety response. May benefit more from CBT as they tackle irrational thinking.
How do we explain OCD?
Genetic and neural explanations
Genetic explanations
Genes are involved in a vulnerability to OCD.
What did Lewis observe of his patients?
37% had OCD parents and 21% had OCD sibkings
What does the diathesis stress model say?
Certain genes leave some more likely to suffer a mental disorder and stress is needed to trigger it.
What are candidate genes?
Genes which create a vulnerability to OCD. One group of genes may cause OCD in one person, and a different in another.
OCD is….?
Aetiologically heterogenous.
Neural explanations
This is the role of serotonin which is used to help regulate mood. Love levels of serotonin cause normal transmission of mood relevant info to not take place.
How is OCD treated?
Through drug therapy
What does drug therapy do?
Aim to increase or decrease the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain.
What is an example of a drug therapy?
SSRI’s
What are SSRI’s?
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
What do SSRI’s do?
Work on the serotonin system by preventing the reabsorption and breakdown. They increase the levels in the synapse and continue to stimulate the post synaptic neuron.
Why are SSRI’s often combined with CBT?
The drugs reduce the emotions symptoms so they can engage mor effectively with CBT
Limitation- environmental risk factors increasing risk of OCD
Cromer et al found over 1/2 of ocd patients had traumatic past event. More sever after more than 1 trauma, suggests ocd isn’t entirely genetics. May be more productive to focus on the enviro risk factors as something can be done about them.
Strength- supporting evidence for role of neural mechanisms
Some antidepressants work purely on serotonin system, increasing levels of neurotransmitters. Effective in reducing ocd symptoms which suggests serotonin system involved in ocd.
Strength - drug theory effecting at tackling symptoms
And improving quality of life. Soomro et al looked at studies of SSRI’s compared to placebos and SSRI’s show better results. Effectiveness greatest when combined with CBT. Symptoms decline significantly for around 70% taking SSRI’s
