Psychopathology Flashcards
Outline ‘deviation from social norms’ as a definition of abnormality (4)
= Defines abnormality as straying away from the social norms specific to one culture, as well as culture-specific norms.
EXAMPLE: A person with antisocial personality disorder (APD) is aggressive towards strangers and impulsive. This psychopathic behaviour would be considered abnormal in most cultures. However, we are making the social judgement that psychopaths are abnormal because they don’t conform to our moral standards.
Outline ‘statistical infrequency’ as a definition of abnormality. (4)
= Defines abnormality as statistically rare characteristics and behaviours. A normal distribution curve is used to asses this. The further a characteristic or behaviour is from the mathematical average, the cluster of the curve, the more rare or statistically infrequent it is.
EXAMPLE: The average IQ IS 100 and most people will have an IQ within 1 standard deviation of this. An IQ above 130 or below 70 is statistically infrequent – it occurs in only around 2% of people - and so, according to this definition, would be considered psychologically abnormal.
Outline a limitation of ‘statistical infrequency’ as a definition of abnormality (4)
POINT - It makes the the assumption that any abnormal characteristics are automatically negative.
EXAMPL E -For every person with an IQ below 30 there’s another with an IQ above 130. Yet we would not think of someone as abnormal for having a high IQ, rather being a genius is obviously an admired characteristic.
EXPLAIN - This conveys that being at one end of a psychological spectrum doesn’t necessarily making someone abnormal - it can be a positive norm.
LINK - Therefore, SI doesn’t work for only undesirable characteristics.
Outline a strength of ‘statistical infrequency’ as a definition of abnormality (4)
P - One strength is its usefulness.
E - It’s almost always used in the clinical diagnoses of mental health disorders as well as a way to assess the severity of an individual’s symptoms.
E - For example a diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder requires an IQ of below 70. Also, an example of SI as an assessment tool is Beck’s depression inventory. A score of 30+ is widely interpreted as indicating severe depression.
L - This shows that statistical infrequency has real-world applications and therefore is externally validated.
Outline one limitation of ‘deviation from social norms’ (4)
P - Due to its reliance on subjective social norms, this explanation also suffers from cultural relativism.
E - One such example would be be ‘hallucinations’.
E - Some African and Asian cultures in particular would look upon this symptom positively, viewing it as a sign of strong spirituality, as opposed to a symptom of Schizophrenia.
L - This therefore suggests that the use of this definition of abnormality may lead to some discrepancies in the diagnoses of mental health disorders between cultures.
Outline the biological approach to treating OCD - drug therapy (4)
Drug therapy is used to ‘correct’ the imbalance of neurochemicals, e.g. serotonin, in the brain to reduce the symptoms associated with ODC. The standard treatment are SSRI’s which is an antidepressant drug. This works by preventing the reabsorption and breakdown of serotonin in the brain, effectively increasing the levels of serotonin. Thus continuing to stimulate the postsynaptic neuron.
Define phobia and state the 3 types as categorised by the DSM
An anxiety disorder characterised by extreme and irrational fear towards a stimuli.
- Specific phobia = Phobia of an object or situation
- Social phobia
- Agoraphobia = Phobia of being in a public space.
Outline the behavioural characteristics of phobias
- PANIC such as screaming, crying, running away or freezing (linked to fight or flight response)
- AVOIDANCE
- ENDURANCE
Outline the emotional characteristics of phobias
- ANXIETY = An unpleasant state of high arousal.
- FEAR = The immediate form of anxiety but more intense and for shorter.
Both are much greater than ‘normal’ and disproportionate to any threat posed
Outline the cognitive characteristics of phobias
- SELECTIVE ATTENTION TO THE STIMULUS = May struggle to concentration on other things or could help them react quickly.
- IRRATIONAL BELIEFS
- COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS = The perceptions of the phobia may be inaccurate and unrealistic.
State the behavioural approach to explaining phobias
The behavioural approach analyses phobias based on external observations of environmental stimuli and behavioural responses.
Proposed was the two-process model explains how phobias are developed and maintained through behavioural conditioning:
Phobias are acquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning.
Outline how classical conditioning explains phobias
Based on the work of Pavlov, this is learning through association. This occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together:
- First an UCS (pain) produces a natural UR (fear).
- The natural UR is then associated with a new NS (dog) and an UCS through experience (pain from dog bite).
- The NS eventually produces the same response that was produced by the UCS alone. The CS (dog) therefore produces a CR (fear).
Explain how operant conditioning explains phobias
Learning through reinforcement (reward) which increases the frequency of a behaviour. Or punishment which decreases it.
If a person behaves in a way that produces a pleasurable outcome then that behaviour is POSITVELY REINFORCED.
If a person behaves in a way that reduces an unpleasant feeling, then that behaviour is NEGATIVELY REINFORCED.
For e.g. avoiding a phobic stimulus reduces the fear and anxiety which negatively reinforces that avoidance behaviour. Thus the phobia is maintained.
Outline a strength of the behavioural approach to explaining phobias (little albert)
POINT - The ‘Little Albert Case’ is evidence for a link between bad experiences and phobias.
EVIDENCE - He was given a white rat to play with. Albert did not demonstrate a fear response towards the rat initially, but the researchers then made a loud noise which frightened Albert. This process was repeated several times, after which Albert demonstrated fear behaviour (e.g. crawling away, whimpering) when presented with the rat, even without the loud noise.
EXPLAIN - This conditioning then generalised to similar furry objects such as a non-white rabbit and a fur coat.
LINK - Therefore, this confirms that phobias can be acquired through CC.
COUNTER - Not all phobias appear following a bad experience. In fact some common phobias such as snake phobias occur in populations where very few people have any experience of snakes, let alone traumatic experiences. Also, vice versa. This means that the association isn’t as strong as we’d expect.
Outline a weakness of the behavioural approach to explaining phobias (cognitive)
POINT - Doesn’t account for the cognitive aspects of phobias.
EXPLAIN - Behavioural explanations are geared towards explaining behaviour i.e. avoidance. However, we know that phobias aren’t simply avoidance responses. The cognitive approach explains phobias in terms of thought processes.
EVIDENCW - For example, there’s evidence that phobic people may have an attentional bias (i.e. disproportionate focus of thought) towards the scariest features of the stimuli (e.g. a dog’s teeth or a spider’s venom).
LINK - The two-process model doesn’t offer an adequate explanation for phobic cognitions, therefore it doesn’t completely explain the symptoms of phobias.
