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Psychology Paper 1 > Psychopathology > Flashcards

Psychopathology Flashcards

1
Q

What are the 4 definitions of abnormality

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

What is statistical infrequency?

A

When an individual has an unusual characteristic that deviates from the average

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3
Q

Give one strength and one limitation of statistical infrequency

A

Real world application = Diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder (IQ of below 70)

Unusual characteristic can be positive = High IQ is not abnormal but praised

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4
Q

What is deviation from social norms?

A

-Norms specific to the culture and generation we are in
e.g. homosexuality

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5
Q

Give one strength and one limitation of deviation from social norms

A

Real world application = Those with anti social personality disorder (one DSM-5 symptom is absence of prosocial standards)

Cultural and situational relativism = social norms differ in these contexts

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6
Q

What is failure to function adequately

A

-Unable to maintain basic standards of day to day living

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7
Q

Give one strength and one limitation of failure to function adequately

A

Real world application = Indicator of when someone would need help

Difficult to distinguish = Non standard lifestyle choices labelled as abnormal e.g. living off the grid (not having a job)

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8
Q

What is deviation from ideal mental health

A

Jahoda:
-No symptoms or distress
-rational
-we self actualise
-can cope with stress

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9
Q

Give on strength and one limitation of deviation from ideal mental health

A

Highly comprehensive = Provides a checklist against which we can access ourselves.

Culture bias = Jahoda’s list e.g. self actualisation (individualistic cultures)

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10
Q

What are the DSM-5 categories of phobia

A

Specific phobia - Phobia of an object or situation

Social phobia - phobia of a social situation

Agoraphobia - phobia of being outside

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11
Q

What are the 3 behavioural characteristics of phobias

A

Panic - e.g. crying

Avoidance - prevent coming in contact with the phobia

Endurance - choose to stay close to the phobia to keep a wary eye on it

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12
Q

What are the 3 emotional characteristics of phobias

A

Anxiety - an unpleasant state of high arousal

Fear - intense and quicker than anxiety

Unreasonable - the anxiety or fear is irrational

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13
Q

What are the 3 cognitive characteristics of phobias

A

Selective attention to the phobia

Irrational beliefs

Cognitive distortions - perceptions of the person with the phobia are warped.

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14
Q

What are the DSM-5 categories of depression

A

Major depressive disorder - severe but short term

Persistent depressive disorder - long term or recurring

Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder - Child temper tantrums

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder - disruption to mood prior or during menstruation

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15
Q

What are the behavioural characteristics of depression

A

Activity levels - low levels or in other cases agitation

Disruption to sleep and eating behaviour

Aggression and self harm

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16
Q

What are the emotional characteristics of depression

A

Lowered mood- emptiness, sadness

Anger- directed at self or others

Lowered self esteem- e.g. self loathing

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17
Q

What are the cognitive characteristics of depression

A

Poor concentration

Attending to and dwelling on the negative

Absolutist thinking - seeing things in black or white

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18
Q

What are the DSM-5 categories of OCD

A

OCD - obsessions and/ or compulsions

Trichotillomania - compulsive hair pulling

Hoarding disorder - gathering of possessions and inability to part with anything

Excoriation disorder - compulsive skin picking

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19
Q

What are the behavioural characteristics of OCD

A

Compulsions are repetitive - e.g. hand washing

Compulsions reduce anxiety - e.g. hand washing for anxiety of germs

Avoidance -keep away from situations that trigger anxiety e.g. someone who washes compulsively stays away from germs

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20
Q

What are the emotional characteristics of OCD

A

Anxiety and distress

Accompanying depression

Guilt and disgust- external such as germs or internal

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21
Q

What are the cognitive characteristics of OCD

A

Obsessive thoughts

Cognitive coping strategies - e.g. a religious person tormented by obsessive guilt may respond by praying or mediating

insight into excessive anxiety -ppl with OCD are aware they’re being irrational

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22
Q

What is the behavioural approach to explaining phobias

A

The two process model
Phobias are acquired by classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning

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23
Q

What is Classical conditioning in the two process model

A

Watson and Rayner created a phobia in a 9 month baby called “little albert”

Noise - Unconditioned stimulus
Fear - unconditioned stimulus
Rat - Neutral stimulus
Noise + Rat = fear (during conditioning)
Rat = conditioned stimulus
Fear = conditioned response

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24
Q

What is operant conditioning in the two process model

A

Negative reinforcement - Avoiding a phobic stimulus means successfully escaping the fear and anxiety that would be experienced if remained there.

-Such behaviour results in a desirable consequence, reinforcing it.

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25
Give one strength of the two process model
Real world application to exposure therapies such as systematic desensitisation
26
Give two limitations of the two process model
Cognition, Doesn't account for cognitive aspects of phobias such as irrational thinking Ethical issues- researchers failed to decondition Albert to the stimuli he was afraid of.
27
What is the idea of systematic desensitisation
-if a person can learn to relax in the presence of the phobia they will be cured Counterconditioning = Phobic stimulus is paired with relaxation instead of anxiety
28
What are the three processes of systematic desensitisation
1. The anxiety hierarchy - A list of situations related to the phobia arranged from least to most scary. 2. Relaxation - therapist teaches client to relax as its impossible to feel relaxed and scared at the same time e.g. breathing, or imagining relaxing situations, mediation 3. Exposure - Exposed to the phobic stimulus whilst in a relaxed state -Takes place over multiple sessions, starting at the bottom of the hierarchy
29
Give one strength of systematic desensitisation
more ethical and effective than flooding as it caters to patient and their own process.
30
Give on limitation of systematic desensitisation
Ineffective in treating evolutionary phobias that aren't from the process of experience (classical conditioning) e,g. fear of heights
31
What is the idea of flooding in the behavioural approach to treating phobias
Immediate exposure to the phobic stimulus without a gradual build up (anxiety hierarchy)
32
What is the process of flooding
A learned response is extinguished when the conditioned stimulus is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus
33
Give one strength of flooding
Cost effective (for NHS) = Can work in as little as one session compared to SD at which is effective over the course of many. -And more people can be treated
34
Give one limitation of flooding
Traumatic = it is a highly unpleasant experience and can cause more damage . -Dropout rates are very high meaning therapists may avoid using this treatment
35
What is the idea of becks negative triad
Faulty information processing- Depressed people tend to the negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives. Negative self schema - Interpret all information of themselves in a negative way
36
What are the 3 aspects of becks negative triad
Beck suggested a person develops a dysfunctional view of themselves due 3 types of negative thinking. 1. Negative view of the world 2. Negative view of the future 3. Negative view of the self
37
What are 3 aspects of becks theory
Beck - cognitive explanation to why some people are more vulnerable to depression 1. Faulty information processing 2. Negative self schema 3. Negative triad
38
Give one strength of becks negative triad
Treatment - Understanding cognitive vulnerability can be applied to CBT (becks cognitive therapy)
39
Give one limitation of becks negative triad
A link between negative thinking and depression does not mean that one has necessarily caused the other -it may in fact be the case that depression causes negative thinking and not the other way around
40
What is the idea of Ellis's ABC model
Ellis- suggested good mental health is the result of rational thinking. -Defines irrational thoughts not as illogical but as any thoughts that interfere with happiness. -Uses the ABC model to explain how irrational thoughts affect our behaviour and emotional state.
41
Outline the 3 aspects of Ellis's ABC model
A- Activating event B- belief's C- Consequences
42
What is the A in Ellis's ABC model
Activating event - Situation's in which irrational thoughts are triggered -negative events and these trigger irrational belief's
43
What is the B in Ellis's ABC model
Belief's - the event causes someone to have a belief, either rational or irrational
44
What is the C in Ellis's ABC model
Consequence's- When an activating event triggers irrational belief's there are emotional and behavioural consequence's e.g. person believes they must succeed and when they fail this triggers depression
45
What is a strength of Ellis's ABC model
Treatment - Becks rational emotive behaviour therapy
46
What is a limitation of Ellis's ABC model
Doesn't explain endogenous depression - not traceable to life events and is not obvious what lead to the depression.
47
What is Becks cognitive therapy
-Identify thoughts about the world, self and future (negative triad) -These thoughts will then be challenged and the the rationality of them will be tested
48
What is Ellis's rational emotive behaviour therapy?
ABCDE model D is for dispute and E is for effect -The central technique of REBT is to identify and dispute (challenge) irrational thoughts -Effect = change the irrational belief and break the link between negative events and depression
49
What methods did Ellis use to dispute irrational thoughts in REBT
Empirical argument - disputing whether there is actual evidence supporting the belief Logical argument -disputing whether the negative thought logically follows the facts
50
Give 1 limitation of CBT in treating depression
Relapse rates = doesn't tend to have long- term effectiveness
51
Give 2 limitation's of CBT treating depression
requires motivation = Patients with severe depression may not engage with CBT, or even attend the sessions and therefore this treatment will be ineffective. -Alternate treatments, for example antidepressants, do not require the same level of motivation Ellis's REBT = Doesn't explain endogenous depression - not traceable to life events and is not obvious what lead to the depression.
52
explain genetic explanations for OCD in the biological approach
Genes are involved in the vunrability of OCD Lewis = Observed OCD patients and found; - 37% had parents with OCD - 21% had siblings with OCD diathesis- stress model = A stressor is necessary to trigger the condition.
53
What are the candidate genes in the biological approach to explaining OCD
Dopamine and serotonin neurotransmitters have the most involvement in OCD e.g SERT gene (impaired transport of serotonin)
54
How is OCD polygenic?
Taylor = found that there are 230 genes involved in OCD
55
How is OCD aetiologically heterogenous
One group of genes may cause OCD in one person but a different group of genes may cause it in another
56
What is the role of neurons in the biological explanations for OCD
Serotonin = A mood regulator -If a person has low levels of serotonin then the may experience low moods.
57
Describe decision making in neural explanations for OCD
Frontal lobe = responsible for logical thinking and decision making OCD may be associated with an impaired frontal lobe.
58
Give one strength of Genetic explanations for OCD
Nestadt= found that 68% of identical twins and 31% of non-identical twins experience OCD, which suggests a very strong genetic component.
59
Give 1 strength and 1 limitation of neural explanations for OCD
Anti-depressants = work by increasing levels of serotonin. These drugs are effective in reducing the symptoms. Serotonin is not a unique link to OCD = people with OCD's serotonin levels may be disrupted because they are depressed as well -Meaning serotonin may not be relevant to OCD symptoms
60
Give one limitation of biological explanations for OCD
reductionist = does not take into account cognitions or experience
61
What are SSRI's in drug therapy for OCD
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor = antidepressant prevents serotonin being reabsorbed by the presynaptic neuron and broken down -Increasing levels of serotonin and continuing to stimulate the postsynaptic neuron
62
What is the dosage for SSRI's
20mg of Fluoxetine although may be increased. -It takes 3 to 4 months of daily use to see impact on symptoms
63
What other forms of treatment are SSRI's usually paired with
CBT The drugs reduce feelings of depression and anxiety allowing them to take part in CBT more effectively
64
What does SSRI stand for
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
65
Name 2 alternatives of drug therapy for people who don't respond to SSRI's
Tricyclics = An older type, Clomipramine, also acts on serotonin but has more side effects. SNRI's = Serotonin non- adrenaline reuptake inhibitors. -Increase serotonin as well as another neurotransmitter noradrenaline
66
Give 1 strength of drug therapy for OCD
Cost - effective = thousands of tablets can be manufactured in the time it takes to conduct one therapy session.
67
Give 1 limitation of drug therapy for OCD
Side effects = although it effects a small amount of people who takes SSRI's it has caused -Indigestion -Blurred vision -Loss of sex drive
68
Give one limitation of the biological approach for treating OCD
Biologically reductionist
69
Who are the 6 researchers for psychopathology
Watson & Rayner Ellis Beck Jahoda Taylor Lewis

Psychology Paper 1 (4 decks)

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