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AQA A-Level Psychology > Psychopathology > Flashcards

Psychopathology Flashcards

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1
Q

Define deviation from social norms

A

Concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society

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2
Q

What is a strength of deviation from social norms

A
  • allows psychologists to identify those people who might need help because their behaviour goes against the normal behaviour in society.
  • real life application in the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder
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3
Q

What is a weakness of deviation from social norms

A
  • changes over time - may be a lack of agreement through generations - homosexuality was seen as a mental disability
  • cultural relativism - behaviour in cultures vary significantly from one to the next e.g. hearing voices is normal in some cultures but would be seen as a mental health condition in the UK.
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4
Q

Define failure to function adequately

A

when a person can no longer cope with the demands of everyday life. e.g unable to maintain basic standards of nutrition, can’t hold down a job or relationship.

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5
Q

What is a strength of failure to function adequately

A
  • provides evidence of failure to function to a person e.g unable to get out of bed
  • attempts to include subjective experience of the individual
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6
Q

What is a limitation of failure to function adequately

A
  • problem with different perspectives in what counts as failing to function - not all people with mental illnesses fail to function eg. some people with depression can still function normally
  • subjective judgement on failing to function could limit personal freedoms
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7
Q

Define statistical infrequency

A

abnormal behaviour is defined by what or how unusual behaviour is, eg. living in a cave in England would be considered abnormal as it is rare.

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8
Q

What is a strength of statistical infrequency

A
  • useful definition - more objective because you rely on statistics to identify which behaviours are abnormal.
  • the objective measure of what is rare can be applied to every different behaviour equally.
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9
Q

What is a limitation of statistical infrequency

A
  • some rare behaviour is desirable. eg. high intelligence is rare, but it is not abnormal or in need of treatment.
  • several mental health conditions would not be labelled as abnormal and therefore unhealthy, because they are quite common.
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10
Q

Define deviation from ideal mental health

A

set of criteria of what is psychologically healthy - those who do not match these ideals are abnormal.

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11
Q

Identify 6 characteristics of ideal mental health

A
  • positive attitude towards one self
  • self actualisation
  • integration
  • autonomy
  • accurate perception of reality
  • mastery of the environment
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12
Q

Describe a positive attitude towards oneself

A

high self-esteem and self-respect, you feel good about yourself

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13
Q

Describe self-actualisation

A

experiencing personal growth and development - ‘becoming everything one is capable of becoming’.

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14
Q

Describe integration (resisting stress)

A

the ability to cope with highly stressful situations

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15
Q

Describe autonomy

A

being able to live independently and care for yourself

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16
Q

Describe accurate perception of reality

A

seeing the world as it really is without delusions and hallucinations

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17
Q

Describe environmental mastery

A

the ability to love, to work and have interpersonal relationships. having the flexibility to adapt to changing life circumstances.

18
Q

What are strengths of deviation from ideal mental health?

A
  • use of a checklist means that the same checklist can be applied to everyone and that there is less subjectivity.
  • positive outlook, looks at what mental health should be like - desirable and achievable
19
Q

What are limitations of deviation from ideal mental health

A
  • some aspects of this definition are vague - how can someone’s self-esteem be measured?
  • most people do not meet one or more of Jahoda’s characteristics - means majority of people are abnormal.
20
Q

Define phobia

A

an uncontrollable, irrational fear that causes unjustifiable anxiety

21
Q

Define simple phobia

A

fears about specific objects, animals, situations or activities
- eg. arachnophobia, aerophobia, hydrophobia

22
Q

Define agoraphobia

A

the fear of leaving home or a safe place, feeling vulnerable about being in open spaces.

23
Q

Define social phobia

A

fear of social situations (eg. mixing with others, meeting new people)

24
Q

Name 2 behavioural symptoms of phobias

A
  • avoidant/anxiety response: confrontation with feared situations/objects produces high anxiety response - efforts are made to avoid these to reduce chances of such anxiety responses occurring.
  • disruption of functioning: avoidant/anxiety responses are so extreme they severely interfere with the ability to conduct everyday working and social functioning.
25
Q

Name 1 cognitive symptoms of phobias

A
  • recognition of exaggerated anxiety: phobics consciously aware that anxiety levels they experience in relation to feared object/situations are overexaggerated.
26
Q

Name 2 emotional symptoms of phobias

A
  • persistent, excessive fear: phobias produce high levels of anxiety due to presence of or anticipation of fear object/situation
  • fear from exposure to phobic stimulus: phobias produce an immediate fear response (eg. Panic attacks) due to the presentation of phobic object/situation
27
Q

Describe the two-process model to explanation phobias

A
  1. classical conditioning - how the phobia is acquired
  2. operant conditioning - how the phobia is maintained
28
Q

Define depression

A

depression is a mood disorder - persistent feelings of sadness

29
Q

Define unipolar depression

A

only depression:
b: lack of energy, sleep disturbance, poor hygiene
c: suicidal thoughts, delusions, poor memory
e: low mood, low enthusiasm

30
Q

Define bipolar depression

A

depression + mania
b: reckless behaviour, high energy
c: irrational thought processes, delusions
e: lack of guilt, irratibility

31
Q

Define OCD

A

obsessive-compulsive disorder: an anxiety disorder and is characterised by experiencing persistent and intrusive thoughts which occur as obsessions, compulsions or both.

32
Q

Define obsession

A

recurrent, persistent, intrusive, self-generated, inappropriate, consuming thoughts
- e.g. there are germs everywhere and they could harm me

33
Q

Define compulsions

A

actions completed in response to obsessions; repetitive, excessive and often illogical

e.g. I need to wash my hands each time I touch something to avoid the germs and getting ill

34
Q

Describe compulsions as a behavioural characteristic for OCD

A
  • repetitive and time-consuming,
  • can stop the person suffering from OCD from continuing their daily life
  • eg. having to wash your hands 7 times in a row could easily make you late for college or work
  • usually reduce anxiety - repetitive behaviour is performed to reduce the anxiety of the person
35
Q

What are some emotional characteristics of OCD

A
  • extreme anxiety: from extreme levels of anxiety, obsessive thoughts (which are often frightening and overwhelming) and the compulsions that cause the sufferer anxiety and distress
  • guilt: negative emotions against oneself, such as feeling guilt over a situation or being disgusted with oneself
  • depression: suffers may suffer from depression and experience low mood plus a lack of enjoyment of activities, brought on by the compulsions and obsessions
36
Q

What are some cognitive characteristics of OCD

A
  • obsessive thoughts: majority of people suffering from OCD have thoughts that reoccur over and over again and are often intrusive
  • obsessive actions: person suffering from OCD will often have to perform obsessive actions to allow them to continue with their day
  • excessive anxiety: sufferer understands that these thoughts and actions are irrational but they cannot stop them - they may experience catastrophic thoughts about what could happen - worst-case scenarios
37
Q

What is classical conditioning?

A

learning by association

38
Q

What is operant conditioning?

A
  • learning through reinforcement and punishment.
  • rewards increase likelihood of the behaviour reoccurring
  • punishments decrease likelihood of behaviour reoccurring
39
Q

Describe the key study of Watson and Rayner (1920)

A

A - Albert was taught to fear stimuli through CC
P - hammer was struck against a metal bar behind Little Albert when he had a white rat put in front of him.
F - Albert learned to be afraid of the rat and anything similar (anything white/fluffy)

40
Q

Evaluate the Little Albert study

A

ethical concerns: small child was put in a stressful and fear-inducing situation
- does prove that a phobia can be learnt

high internal validity: controlled environment

low ecological validity: unrealistic scenario

AQA A-Level Psychology (2 decks)

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