Psychopathology Flashcards
What are the definitions of abnormality?
1) Statistical Infrequency
2) Deviation from social norms
3) Failure to function adequately
4) Deviation from ideal mental health
What is statistical infrequency?
- Abnormality in terms of statistics.
- Rarely seen behaviour/characteristics are abnormal.
e.g IQ below 70 or above 130
Evaluate statistical infrequency
1) Unusual characteristics can be positive.
2) Not everyone benefits from a label.
3) Real world application: most assessment of mental disorders is compared with statistics, intellectual disability disorder.
What is deviation from social norms?
- Behaving differently than expected based on societal context.
- Relatively few behaviours are universally abnormal.
e.g Anti-Social Personality Disorder
Evaluate deviation from social norms
1) Social norms culturally relative e.g hearing voices.
2) Real world application: diagnoses of APD and schizotypal personality disorder.
What is Deviation from ideal mental health
- What makes us normal
- A list of 8 qualities from Jahoda
List the 8 qualities from Jahoda
1) No symptoms/distress.
2) Rational
3) Self-actualise
4) Cope with stress
5) Realistic view of the world
6) Good self-esteem
7) Independent
8) Successfully work
Evaluate Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
1) Culturally relative.
2) Unrealistically high standards.
What is Failure to Function adequately?
-Inability to cope with everyday living
Criteria for Failure to Function adequately
- No longer conform to interpersonal rules.
- Experience personal distress.
- Irrational or dangerous behaviour..
Evaluate Failure to Function adequately
1) Hard to explicitly see sometimes.
2) It provides a threshold of who requires urgent professional help.
3) Failure to function can be normal, grieving a lost one.
Give 2 behavioural characteristics of Phobias
1) Panic
2) Avoidance or Endurance
Give 2 emotional characteristics of Phobias
1) Fear to Anxiety - one leads to the other.
2) Unreasonable responses - e.g. crying to tiny spider
Give 2 cognitive characteristic of Phobias
1) Selective attention.
2) Irrational beliefs.
Give 2 behavioural characteristic of depression
1) Activity levels
2) Disruption to sleep and eating
Give 2 emotional characteristic of depression
1) Anger
2) Low mood
Give 2 cognitive characteristic of depression
1) Poor concentration
2) Absolutist thinking
Give 2 behavioural characteristic of OCD
1) Compulsions
2) Avoidance
Give 2 emotional characteristic of OCD
1) Anxiety and distress
2) Guilt or disgust
Give 2 cognitive characteristic of OCD
1) Obsessive thoughts
2) Insight into excessive anxiety
Outline the behavioural approach to explaining phobias
Two-process model:
- Learned via Classical
-Maintained via Operant
Explain the process of acquiring a phobia (little Albert)
1) UCS (loud noise) –> UCR (fear)
2) NS (white bunny) –> No response
3) UCS (loud noise) + NS (white bunny) –> UCR (fear)
4) CS (white bunny) –> CR (fear)
What type of reinforcement maintains the phobia?
Negative reinforcement.
- Avoiding the phobic stimulus creates relief, conditioned to avoid stimulus.
What’s an evaluative strength of the two-process model?
Real world application:
- Phobias maintained by avoidance important for therapy.
- If they can’t avoid, phobic behaviour declines.
Give 2 evaluative limitations of the two-process model?
1) Incomplete explanation:
-De Jongh et al. 73% of dental phobics had past trauma. Control group only 21% experienced dental trauma.
2) What about cognitive aspects?
Describe SD
Systematic Desensitisation
-Counter-conditioning; phobia (CS) paired with relaxation (becomes new CR).
- Reciprocal inhibition theory.
Formation of anxiety hierarchy.
Relaxation practiced at each level of hierarchy.
What is reciprocal inhibition?
The inability to feel two emotions at the same time.
Give 2 positive evaluations for Systematic Desensitisation
1) Effective:
- Gilroy et al. followed up 42 patients who had SD for arachnophobia: less fearful than control groups after 33 months.
2) Suitable for all
What is flooding?
- Immediate exposure.
- Extinction: fear is exhausted without option of avoidance removing phobia.
-Ethical safeguards.
Give one positive and one negative evaluation of flooding
1) VERY cost effective
2) Traumatic for patients
What is Beck’s cognitive theory of depression?
- Faulty information processing. Absolutist thinking.
- Depressed people have negative self-schemas.
-Negative view of:
1) Self
2) Future
3) World
Give 2 evaluative strengths of Beck’s cognitive theory of depression
1) Good supporting evidence:
Cohen et al. 473 adolescents, early cognitive vulnerability predicted depression. Association.
2) Real world application:
- Screening for depression. Understanding cognitive vulnerability is applied to CBT.
Give 1 evaluative limitation of Beck’s cognitive theory of depression
1) Doesn’t explain all aspects:
- Jarrett (2013) some suffer delusions, hallucinations or even Cotard Syndrome: belief that one is a zombie.
Describe Ellis’ ABC model
A - activating event
B- beliefs (irrational): if you believe you must always succeed, failure is catastrophic.
C - consequences: emotional and behavioural.
Give 2 evaluations of Ellis’ cognitive theory of depression
1) Partial explanation:
- Only useful in explaining reactive depression.
2) Real world application:
- ABC is used in REBT to help relieve depression.
Explain CBT
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Cognitive: challenge negative or irrational thoughts.
Behaviour: change behaviour so it is more effective.
- Challenge negative thoughts about the self, world and future.
- “Client as scientist” tests reality of beliefs through homework.
Explain REBT
Rational Emotional Behaviour Therapy
ABCDE model.
D - dispute irrational beliefs.
E - effect.
Challenge irrational thoughts.
Behavioural activation.
Therapist’s goal of BA?
Behavioural activation: therapist encourages/ rewards effort e.g exercise or going outside is rewarded.
How would Ellis challenge irrational beliefs?
1) Empirical argument: is there evidence to support irrational belief?
2) Logical argument: does the negative thought follow from fact?
Describe evidence that indicates CBT is effective?
March et al. (2007) compared effects of (1) CBT (2) Anti-depressants (3) combination of both.
- After 36 weeks.
1) 81%
2) 81%
3) 86%
Since improvement is similar, suggests CBT is first port of call.
Give 2 limitations of CBT
1) May not work for all cases
- However, Lewis and Lewis CBT works for severe cases. Taylor et al. can be effective with learning dissabilty.
2) Relapse rate:
Ali et al. relapse rate was 42% after CBT treatment six months later.
Outline the Genetic explanation for OCD?
- Candidate genes
- OCD is polygenic
- Aetiologically heterogenous
What is supporting evidence for genetic explanations of OCD?
Research support:
- Nestadt et al. Twin studies. Identical (MZ) twins 68% share OCD. 31% in DZ twins. Family who have relative with OCD 4x likely to develop it.
Give 3 evaluative limitations of genetic explanations of OCD.
1) Too many genes identified:
2) Environmental risk factors involved:
- Cromer et al. Found that over 1/2 of the patients in their sample had suffered a traumatic event in their past. OCD more severe with trauma
3) Animal studies:
- Show specific genes associated with repetitive behaviours in mice etc. Human brains more complex, more neurons in cerebral cortex.
Outline the Neural explanation of OCD
- Low levels of serotonin lower mood
- Decision making in frontal lobes impaired
- Dysfunctional left Parahippocampal gyrus
2 evaluations for neural explanations of OCD?
1) Supporting evidence:
- Antidepressants reduce OCD by increasing serotonin. Neural mechanisms are involved.
2) No unique neural system:
- Co-morbidity with depression as it is this that disrupts serotonin.
Give an evaluative negative of the neural explanation for OCD
Serotonin possibly not relevant:
- Many who suffer OCD are also depressed; co-morbidity.
Could be that the serotonin system is disrupted because OCD sufferers are depressed. Thus serotonin no relevant to OCD symptoms.
Outline the biological approach to treating OCD
- Changing levels of neurotransmitters
- SSRIs
- Typical dosage (20 mg)
- SSRIs + CBT
- Tricyclics and SNRIs
Give 2 evaluative strengths of the biological treatment for OCD
1) Drug therapy is effective:
- Soomro et al. found significantly better results when comparing SSRIs to placebos in 17 studies. 70% had reduced symptoms.
- CBT + drugs = most effective.
2) Drugs cost-effective and non-disruptive:
- Cheap compared to psychological treatments, which is good for the NHS.
No need to take time out for therapy.
Negatively evaluate the Biological approach to treating OCD
1) Serious side-effects
2) Unreliable evidence
