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A Level Psychology > Psychopathology > Flashcards

Psychopathology Flashcards

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1
Q

What are 4 types of abnormality?

A
  • Statistical infrequency
  • Deviation from social norms
  • Failure to function adequately
  • Deviation from ideal mental health
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2
Q

Define statistical infrequency?

A

Statistically rare behaviour would be seen as ‘abnormality’

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3
Q

Define deviation from social norms?

A

Deviation from society’s moral standards

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4
Q

What is the failure to function adequately?

A

Inability to cope with day-to-day life caused by psychological distress.

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5
Q

What is deviation from ideal mental health?

A

Deviation from what clinicians assume to be to neurotypical mental health

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6
Q

What do clinicians consider neurotypical mental health?

A 
PRAISE
P - personal growth
R - reality perception 
A - autonomy
I - Integration 
S - Self-attitudes 
E - Environmental mastery
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7
Q

Evaluation of statistical infrequency?

A

Positive:

  • Obvious and quick to define abnormality
  • Real-life application: easy to determine abnormality using psychometric tests

Negative:

  • Desirability of behaviour (e.g. high IQ)
  • Statistically frequent but still abnormal behaviour (e.g. depression)
  • Cultural relativism (statistically acceptable in one culture e.g. marijuana smoking is statistically frequent in Jamaica).
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8
Q

Evaluation of deviation from social norms

A

Positive:
- Real life application: diagnosis for antisocial personality disorder

Negative:

  • Historical issues (temporal validity): pregnant unmarried women were put into mental institutions.
  • Cultural issues: Japan - considered insane if you didn’t want to work
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9
Q

Evaluation for failure to function adequately?

A

Positive:
Patients perspective - attempts to include the subjective experience of the individual

Negative:
- some people engage in behaviours considered harmful - e.g. base jumpers has a high mortality rate.

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10
Q

Evaluation for deviation from ideal mental health

A

Positive:
- comprehensive: covers a broad range of criteria

Negative:
Cultural relativism - autonomy valued in western cultures, but less so in no-western cultures.

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11
Q

What are emotional characteristics of depression?

A
  • Lowered mood
  • Anger
  • Lowered self esteem
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12
Q

What are behavioural characteristics of depression?

A
  • Activity level changes
  • Disruption to sleep and eating behaviour
  • Aggression and self harm
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13
Q

What are cognitive characteristics of depression?

A
  • Poor concentration
  • Attending to and dwelling on the negative
  • Absolutist thinking (black or white thinking)
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14
Q

What did Beck suggest about cognitive approach to depression?

A

3 parts:

  1. Faulty information processing - errors in logic and concentrate on the negative.
  2. Negative self schemas - negative personal self schemas
  3. Negative triad - negative view of self, the world and the future.
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15
Q

Evaluation for Beck (cognitive approach towards depression)

A

Positive:

  • Supporting evidence: woman who were cognitively vulnerable were more likely to suffer post-natal depression.
  • practical application - used in CBT

Negative:
- Explanation doesn’t cover all aspects of depression e.g. delusion you are a zombie.

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16
Q

What did Ellis suggest about cognitive depression?

A

ABC model
A- Activating event
B - Beliefs
C - Consequence

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17
Q

Evaluation for Ellis?

A

Positive:

  • Practical application - CBT
  • Cognitive primacy - supports idea that cognition causes emotion

Negative:
- Doesn’t explain all aspects of depression - e.g. hallucinations

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18
Q

What is the implications of depression on the economy?

A
  • Increased number of sick days

- Reduced productivity

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19
Q

What approach is taken towards phobias?

A

Behavioural approach

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20
Q

What is a phobia?

A

Anxiety disorder that interferes with daily life - may include an irrational fear.

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21
Q

What is the emotional consequences of phobias?

A
  • Anxiety from fear of the phobias

- Unreasonable emotional response

22
Q

What is the behavioural consequences of phobias?

A

Panic - crying, screaming and running away
Avoidance - of fear
Endurance - High levels of anxiety of remain in scenario.

23
Q

What is the cognitive consequences of phobias?

A

Selective attention - hard to look away from stimulus
Irrational beliefs - social phobia (don’t want to appear weak)
Cognitive distortion - perceptions of the stimulus are distorted.

24
Q

What is the two process model?

A

This suggests that phobias are acquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning.

25
Q

How does operant conditioning take place in the two process model?

A

Avoiding a phobia reinforces avoidance behaviour, maintaining the phobia.

26
Q

Evaluation for two process model

A

Positive:
Good explanatory power - major step forward

Negative:

  • Not all avoidance behaviour is caused to reduce stress, but just as a feeling of safety.
  • Incomplete explanation of phobias - may have evolutionary factors
27
Q

What are two types of behaviour therapy for phobias

A

Systemic desensitisation

Flooding

28
Q

What is systemic desensitisation?

A
  • Gradually reducing phobic anxiety through classical conditioning.
  • Creates a new response called “counter conditioning”
29
Q

What are the positive evaluations for desensitisation?

A
  • Effective - reduced aragnagphobia in 42 patients.
  • Suitable for diverse range of phobias
  • Not as traumatic as flooding
30
Q

What is flooding?

A
  • Immediate exposure to a frightening experience.
  • No option of avoidance, therefore patient quickly learns that phobic stimulus is harmless.

A patient may also become tired of being frightened therefore leading to relaxation - this is called extinction.

31
Q

Evaluation for flooding

A

Positive:
- Cost effective - and much quicker

Negative:

  • Less effective
  • Highly traumatic
  • Symptom substitution - said that another phobia replaces it.
32
Q

What is OCD? and explain the definition.

A

Obsessive compulsive disorder

Obsession: persistent thought, idea, impulse, or image that feels intrusive and causes anxiety.

Compulsion: A repetitive mental act that a person feels driven to perform to reduce anxiety.

33
Q

What are emotional consequences of OCD?

A
  • May feel negative emotions.

- Guilt or disgust.

34
Q

What are behavioural consequences of OCD?

A
  • Repetitive actions carried out.

- Avoidance of situation that can trigger anxiety

35
Q

What are the cognitive consequences of OCD?

A
  • Plagued with obsessive thoughts.

- Anxiety

36
Q

Describe the OCD cycle.

A

Obsessive thought
Anxiety
Compulsive behaviour
Temporary relief

37
Q

What approach is for OCD?

A

Biological

38
Q

What is the biological approach for OCD?

A
  • Suggests that genetics may be partly involved in the explanation of OCD.
39
Q

What is a candidate gene in OCD?

A

A gene that could play a role in the developed of OCD.

40
Q

What candidate genes could be involved in the development of OCD?

A

SERT - a neurotransmitter which involves regulating SEROTONIN.
COMT - regulates the production of dopamine.
(dopamine effects motivations and drive)

41
Q

What is the diathesis model?

A

Suggestion that people gain a vulnerability towards OCD through genes, but an environmental stressor is also required. e.g. a stressful event such as a bereavement.

42
Q

Explain “OCD is thought to be polygenic”

A

This means that OCD’s development is determined by many genes (around 230), and not a single gene.

43
Q

Define aetiologically heterogenous

A

a number of different combinations of genes can lead to the illness.

44
Q

Evaluation of genetic explanations for OCD

A

Positive:
- Twin studies support this theory

Negative:
- Too many genes involved (as many as 230 genes)

45
Q

Evaluation for the diathesis model

A

Positive:
- Considers environmental factors

Negative:
- Difficult to untangle environmental and genetic factors

46
Q

What are neutral explanations for OCD?

A
  • Abnormal levels of neurotransmitters
  • Basal ganglia could be involved (involved in cleaning and safety etc…)
  • Orbital Frontal Cortex - increased anxiety
  • Thalamus - increased motivation to clean etc…
47
Q

Evaluation for neurotransmitters as a cause of OCD.

A

Positive:
- Allows medication to help sufferers.

Negative:

  • Drugs aren’t completely effective.
  • Time delay between taking drugs and any improvements made anyways.
48
Q

Evaluation for areas of the brain as a cause for OCD

A

Positive:

  • Advances in technology confirm that OFC may be involved (of overly active)
  • Cleaning are “hard-wired” in the thalamus.

Negative:
- Inconsistencies in research in OCD.

49
Q

What are biological treatments for OCD?

A

SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)
- prevents reabsorption of serotonin.

can be used alongside CBT (cognitive-behavioural therapy) - drugs may reduces anxiety or depression, making CBT more effective.

SNRIs and NASSAs can also be used alternatively.

50
Q

Evaluation for drug therapy to treat OCD.

A

Positive:

  • Effective
  • Cost effective and non disruptive

Negative:

  • Side effects e.g. weight gain, loss of memory.
  • Unreliable evidence - not all research published
  • Some OCD cases follow trauma.

A Level Psychology (6 decks)

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