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Psychopathology Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the four definitions of abnormality?

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

What is deviation from social norms?

A

Violating the explicit and implicit rules held by a society.

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3
Q

What are examples of deviating from social norms?

A
  • psychopathy
    -showing inappropriate emotion, such as laughing when someone dies (schizophrenia)
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4
Q

What is a strength of deviation from social norms as a definition of abnormality?

A

It factors in the desirability of behaviour, which other definitions ignore. For example, geniuses are numerically rare but still socially desirable so are not abnormal.

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5
Q

What is a limitation of deviation from social norms as a definition of abnormality? (time)

A

Social norms change with time, for example homosexuality is now accepted but used to be viewed as an identity disorder.

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6
Q

What is a limitation of deviation from social norms as a definition of abnormality? (different)

A

Over reliance on social norms can lead to violations of human rights, as in the past nymphomania (women being sexually attracted to working class men) was a diagnosis clearly used to control, and so this definition could be abusing people’s right to be different, and so could be used unethically.

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7
Q

What is a limitation of deviation from social norms as a definition of abnormality? (culture)

A

Social norms are relative to the culture you live in, for example hearing voices is perfectly accepted in other cultures but not in the UK, suggesting this should be used carefully.

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8
Q

What is statistical infrequency?

A

When someone has a statistically uncommon characteristic, such as being more depressed or more intelligent than the rest of the population.

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9
Q

What is a positive skew?

A

Where a graph is skewed to the right (positive side)

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10
Q

What is a negative skew?

A

Where a graph is skewed to the left (negative side)

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11
Q

When is a person considered statistically abnormal?

A

Approximately when they are in the top or bottom 2.5% of people for that characteristic.

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12
Q

What is a weakness of statistical infrequency as a definition? (desirability)

A

some statistically rare behaviours are desirable, such as high IQ, and some more common traits such as depression are common but not desirable, suggesting this definition should not be used in isolation.

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13
Q

What is a weakness of statistical infrequency as a definition? (happy)

A

If, for example, someone has a very low IQ but is happy, there is no benefit in labelling them as abnormal, which suggests cost-benefit should be considered when using this.

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14
Q

What is a weakness of statistical infrequency as a definition? (culture)

A

In some cultures, behaviour will be more common, such as hearing voices which we would class as schizophrenia, suggesting this shouldn’t be applied outside the culture it was created in.

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15
Q

What is a strength of statistical infrequency as a definition?

A

It has real world applications for clinical testing, which considers the abnormality of behaviour.

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16
Q

Who was Harold Shipman?

A

Serial killer, who murdered around 250 people while acting as their doctor. He did still function normally, and therefore would only be considered abnormal using statistical infrequency and and deviation from social norms.

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17
Q

What is failure to function adequately?

A

Occurs when someone is unable to cope with the ordinary demands of day to day living.

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18
Q

What is a strength of failure to function adequately as a definition?

A

Includes subjective experience of the individual.

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19
Q

What is a weakness of failure to function adequately as a definition? (psychopaths)

A

Psychopaths (e.g. Harold Shipman) can murder people and yet still function normally.

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20
Q

What is a weakness of failure to function adequately as a definition? (culture)

A

some cultures have different expectations of adequate function, such as women not needing jobs, giving this low external validity.

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21
Q

What is a weakness of failure to function adequately as a definition? (subjective)

A

As defining ‘distress’ is subjective, people who need help may not get it and vice versa.

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22
Q

What are Jahoda’s six categories for ideal mental health?

A
  • self attitude
  • personal growth
  • self actualisation
  • integration
  • autonomy
  • mastery of the environment
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23
Q

What is deviation from ideal mental health?

A

Jahoda proposed 6 major criteria for healthy living, suggesting if you didn’t meet any you were vulnerable to a mental health abnormality.

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24
Q

What is a strength of deviation from ideal mental health as a definition?

A

It is very comprehensive, covering a range of criteria.

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25
Q

What is a weakness of deviation from ideal mental health as a definition?

A

The criteria are difficult to measure.

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26
Q

What is a weakness of deviation from ideal mental health as a definition? (Perceptions)

A

Perceptions of reality change over time, such as having visions once being accepted.

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27
Q

What is a phobia?

A

An irrational fear that interferes with your everyday life

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28
Q

What is a behavioural characteristic?

A

The way we behave in response to a situation

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29
Q

What is a cognitive characteristic?

A

Our mental process in response to a situation

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30
Q

What is an emotional characteristic?

A

A persons feeling or mood

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31
Q

What are examples of emotional characteristics of phobias?

A
  • anxiety
  • unreasonable emotional responses
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32
Q

What are examples of behavioural characteristics?

A
  • panic
  • avoidance
  • endurance
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33
Q

What are examples of cognitive characteristics for phobias?

A
  • cognitive distortions
  • Irrational beliefs
  • selective attention to the source of the phobia.
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34
Q

What is the behaviourist two part model of phobias?

A

The phobia is acquired by classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning.

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35
Q

What is one trial learning of a phobia?

A

Where a phobia learnt through only one pairing of the NS and the UCS.

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36
Q

What is generalisation?

A

Where the phobia generalises to similar objects.

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37
Q

What was Watson and Rayner’s 1920 study on the two process model? (little albert)

A

Little Albert showed no fear to a rat, but after seeing it while hearing a startling noise at the same time, he cried when near it and generalised it to Santa white beards.

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38
Q

What was De Gallo’s 1996 study?

A

reported that 20% of people after a car crash had a phobia of car rides, which was maintained through negative reinforcement.

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39
Q

What supporting evidence is there for the behavioural approach to phobias?

A

De Gallo and Watson and Rayner.

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40
Q

What is a strength of the behavioural approach to phobias?

A

Explains why it works to expose patients to their phobia, and it breaks the cycle of operant conditioning.

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41
Q

What is a weakness of the behavioural approach to phobias?

A

people develop phobias with no memory of a bad association e.g. snakes, which would likely be due to social learning or evolution.

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42
Q

What is flooding?

A

Exposing someone to their phobia in large amounts with no leaving until anxiety calms.

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43
Q

What is the process of flooding?

A
  • patient is taught relaxation techniques.
  • exposed to extreme form of phobia
  • anxiety levels gradually decrease and a new association is formed.
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44
Q

What is reciprocal inhibition?

A
  • The idea that you cannot be afraid and relaxed at the same time, so one will prevent the other.
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45
Q

What is counterconditioning?

A

learning a new response to the phobia (e.g. relaxation instead of anxiety.)

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46
Q

What is a weakness of the effectiveness of flooding?

A

When one phobia disappears another may take its place (symptom substitution). Therefore the underlying problem is not being treated.

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47
Q

What are SSRIs?

A

They increase serotonin levels by blocking the reuptake of it into the presynaptic neurone. This should alleviate the symptoms of OCD.

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48
Q

What is a strength of the effectiveness SSRIs?

A

Symptoms decline for about 70% of patients taking them.

49
Q

What is a weakness of the appropriateness of SSRIs?

A

Some patients can have side effects such as blurred vision, weight gain and nausea.

50
Q

Outline CBT therapy.

A
  • identifies and challenges irrational thoughts.
  • Homework
  • Behavioural activation e.g. a sport.
51
Q

What is the definition of depression?

A

A mental disorder characterised by low mood and energy levels.

52
Q

What is the definition of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)?

A

A condition characterised by obsessions and/or compulsions.

53
Q

What is the difference between a definition of abnormality and an approach to explaining abnormality?

A

A definition of abnormality is how psychologists decide whether someone is mentally healthy or not, an explanation is why they become mentally ill.

54
Q

What are the behavioural characteristics of depression?

A
  • Activity levels drop (unable to leave bed)
  • Disruption to sleep and eating (insomnia)
  • Aggression and self-harm (irritable, physically aggressive)
55
Q

What are the cognitive characteristics of depression?

A
  • Poor concentration
    (hard to stay on task)
  • Attending to and dwelling on the negative (biased to recall unhappy thoughts)
  • Absolutist thinking (black and white thinking)
56
Q

What are the emotional characteristics of depression?

A
  • lowered mood (feeling worthless and empty)
  • anger (at self or others)
  • lowered self-esteem (can escalate to self-loathing)
57
Q

What are the behavioural characteristics of OCD?

A
  • repetitive compulsions (e.g. handwashing)
  • compulsions reduce anxiety (e.g. handwashing in response to anxiety about germs)
  • avoidance (avoiding triggering situations)
58
Q

What are the cognitive characteristics of OCD?

A
  • Obsessive thoughts (thinking u have left your door unlocked)
  • Insights to excessive anxiety (aware thoughts are not rational)
59
Q

What are the emotional characteristics of OCD?

A
  • Anxiety and distress (frightening thoughts)
  • accompanying depression
  • Guilt and disgust (focused on self or others)
60
Q

What is the behavioural approach?

A

Explaining behaviour through learning and what is observable

61
Q

What is classical conditioning?

A

Learning by association, repeated pairing of two stimuli (NS + UCS) lead to UCR. Neutral stimulus eventually elicits the same response that was produced by the UCS.

62
Q

What is operant conditioning?

A

Behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences (reinforcement/punishment)

63
Q

What is systematic desensitisation?

A

Gradually exposes the patient to the stimulus using the anxiety hierarchy

64
Q

What is the anxiety hierarchy?

A

List of situations relating to target behaviour to which you react with varying degrees of anxiety.

65
Q

How do phobias develop (two-process model)

A

1) a phobia (conditioned response) is formed through the association of a neutral stimulus with a UCS (that already causes fear).
2) Whenever we avoid the phobic stimulus we therefore avoid the fear and anxiety that it would have caused (negative reinforcement) which reinforces avoidance behaviour. This makes the phobia very resistant to extinction.

66
Q

What is a weakness of the two-process model explanation?

A

Some phobias have no related bad experience e.g. fear of snakes, and could be due to social learning or evolution.

67
Q

What is the supporting evidence (proc+findings) for the two-process model? (Rats)

A

Watson and Rayner:
- Lab experiment studying little Albert. Given various stimuli including white rat, showed no fear. Metal bar then struck each time he reached for the rat (fear reaction).
- Found that after this, Albert would cry in response to the rat, which also generalised to other white furry objects e.g. Santa Claus beard.

68
Q

What is another study supporting the two-process model? (both parts of the model)

A

Di Gallo - found that 20% of people who experienced traumatic car accidents then had a phobia of travelling cars, and would then practise avoidance, making the phobia resistant to extinction.

69
Q

What is a strength of the two-process model?

A

Contributes to therapy, as explains why patients need to be exposed to the stimulus. As therapies such as flooding and systematic desensitisation have been found to be effective, this supports the internal validity of the study.

70
Q

How can systematic desensitisation be used to treat phobias?

A

1) The anxiety hierarchy - client and therapist create a list of situations involving the phobic stimulus from most to least frightening.
2) Relaxation - techniques taught to relax (due to reciprocal inhibition, where you cannot be relaxed and afraid at the same time), such as breathing exercises.
3) Exposure - client exposed to phobic stimulus while in relaxed state (starting from bottom of hierarchy)

71
Q

What is the theory behind systematic desensitisation?

A
  • classical conditioning
  • counterconditioning (phobic stimulus associated with relaxation instead of anxiety)
  • reciprocal inhibition (cannot be stressed and relaxed at the same time!)
72
Q

Why can flooding treat phobias? (theory)

A
  • option of avoidance behaviour is removed.
  • extinction occurs when it is realised that the phobia is harmless.
  • learned response is extinguished, so conditioned stimulus no longer produced conditioned response.
73
Q

What is a strength of the effectiveness of flooding? (Speed - economy)

A

Flooding has been found to be as effective but quicker than alternative therapy methods. This means patients will have cheaper treatment and be able to return to work sooner, positively impacting the economy.

74
Q

What is a weakness of the appropriateness of flooding?(trauma)

A

Highly traumatic, so much so that some cannot see it through to the end, wasting time and money. Once they withdraw, this can make the phobia even worse!

75
Q

What is a strength of the appropriateness of the systematic desensitisation?

A

Preferred by patients because it does not cause the same degree of trauma as flooding, so may be more appropriate long-term.

76
Q

What is a weakness of the effectiveness of systematic desensitisation? (SS)

A

Same as flooding - as one phobia disappears another may take its place - symptom substitution. Therefore does not treat the root unconscious problem.

77
Q

What is a strength of the appropriateness of systematic desensitisation? (patient)

A

flooding is inappropriate for those with learning difficulties because they cannot understand what is happening or engage with cognitive therapies, so systematic desensitisation works for a more diverse range of people.

78
Q

What is the cognitive approach to depression?

A

Explains depression in terms of faulty or irrational thought processes and perceptions.

79
Q

What is the negative triad?

A

Negative views of the world the future, and the self. Beck’s proposal for what makes people depressed as it leads them to interpret their experiences in a negative way.

80
Q

What are negative views of the self?

A

Individuals view themselves as inadequate and worthless, low self-esteem.

81
Q

What are negative views of the world?

A

Obstacles perceived in ones environment that they cannot deal with, creating a sense of no hope.

82
Q

What are negative views of the future?

A

View that personal worthlessness blocks future improvements.

83
Q

What is the ABC model?

A

Activating event (a negative event e.g. being fired) -> Beliefs (rational OR irrational such as mustabatory thinking (that we must always succeed)) -> consequences (emotional response, that can be healthy e.g. acceptance or unhealthy e.g. depression)

84
Q

What is CBT?

A

A therapy aiming to identify irrational thoughts and challenge them in order to change the irrational thinking.

85
Q

What is Beck’s cognitive theory of depression?

A

Faulty information processing (focusing on the negative and black and white thinking) -> Negative self-schemas (mental framework which interprets everything about ourselves in a negative way) -> The negative triad (self, world, future, creates dysfunctional view of themselves)

86
Q

What is a weakness of both Ellis and Beck’s models? (symptoms)

A

Both cannot explain all symptoms of depression, as some suffer hallucinations or are deeply angry, which cannot be explained by Beck and Ellis’s models.

87
Q

What is a weakness of both Ellis and Beck’s models? (cognitive)

A

Both rely on the idea that it is cognitions which cause depressions, which does not consider the influence of emotions. It could be that the emotions actually cause the cognitions.

88
Q

What is a real-world application of both Ellis and Beck’s models?

A

Lead to the development of CBT - Beck’s forms the basis for it, as the negative triad can be challenged in CBT, and Ellis’s ideas that by challenging the negative depression also contributed.

89
Q

What are the key elements of CBT?

A
  1. Identifying irrational thoughts
  2. challenging these thoughts through disputing (either empirical or logical)
  3. effect: rational thoughts lead to feeling better.
  4. Behavioural activation
  5. Homework
90
Q

What are the cognitive and behavioural elements of CBT?

A

Cognitive - identifying and challenging the irrational thoughts.
Behavioural - coping strategies

91
Q

What is the difference between empirical and logical disputing?

A

Empirical - Asking for the evidence of the irrational belief and then presenting contrasting evidence.
Logical - Using info to show the irrationality of the thoughts ‘does it make sense your friends don’t like you if they invite you to hang out?’

92
Q

How does CBT follow from the ABC model? What do these additions mean?

A

Ellis added D and E to the ABC model.
D - disputing the irrational thoughts (empirical or logical)
E - Effect (having more rational beliefs and no depression)

93
Q

What is homework in CBT?

A

Testing irrational thoughts to put rational ones in place e.g. asking your friends if they like you.

94
Q

What is behavioural activation in CBT?

A

Becoming active and engaging in pleasurable activities e.g. exercise to counteract the depression further contradicting the irrational thoughts.

95
Q

What is a weakness of the appropriateness of CBT?

A

Depression can sometimes be too severe for patients to be able to attend CBT, or they can be not focusing in sessions. It may be meds are needed prior to CBT.

96
Q

What is a weakness of the effectiveness and appropriateness of CBT?

A

Basic principle of focusing on present and future - however some clients may have unresolved childhood trauma that they want to talk about, and find this frustrating. Therefore if depression has psychodynamic roots, this therapy be not be effective.

97
Q

What is a weakness of the effectiveness of CBT?

A

Therapy focuses on the mind, so may overlook the client’s circumstances such as poverty or abuse, which they need to change but CBT does not address. If patients environments are not fixed, the CBT cannot be effective.

98
Q

What is the biological approach?

A

Emphasises the importance of physical processes in the body such as genes and neural function.

99
Q

What are genetic explanations?

A

Suggests that things are inherited by offspring from parent through genes, which make up their DNA.

100
Q

What are neural explanations?

A

Suggests physical and psychological characteristics are determined by the nervous system (particularly the brain)

101
Q

What is drug therapy?

A

Treatment involving drugs which have a particular effect on bodily functions. Often impacts neurotransmitter levels if psychological treatment.

102
Q

How does OCD develop according to the genetic explanation?

A

hereditary influences through genetic transmission (inheritance)

103
Q

How does OCD develop according the neural explanation?

A

abnormal functioning of the neural (brain) mechanisms and neurotransmitters.

104
Q

What a specific neural explanation of OCD?

A

Abnormal neurotransmitter levels:
- Dopamine levels are thought to be abnormally high in people with OCD, associated with compulsive behaviours.
- Lower levels of serotonin activity (communicated mood info) are associated with obsessive thoughts.

105
Q

What is a specific genetic explanation of OCD?

A

The COMT gene -> regulates production of the neurotransmitter dopamine. One form of the gene, which produces lower activity of COMT gene and higher dopamine levels, has been found to be more common in OCD patients than those without.
The SERT gene -> creates lower levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is implicated in OCD. A low-activity mutation of this gene was found in two families were 6/7 had OCD.

106
Q

What is undermining evidence for both neural and genetic explanations of OCD? (trauma)

A

Environmental factors also play a role. For example, it has been found that over half of OCD patients experienced trauma. Suggests origins are not entirely biological.

107
Q

What is supporting evidence for the neural explanation of OCD?

A

Antidepressants, which only alter serotonin levels, have been effective in reducing symptoms. Suggests that serotonin is involved.

108
Q

What is supporting -> undermining evidence for neural explanations of OCD?

A

There is research supporting that neurotransmitters and brain systems do not function normally in those with OCD. However, these could just be the result instead of the cause, so we cannot see cause and effect.

109
Q

What is a strength/weakness of genetic explanations of OCD?

A

Psychologists have been unable to pin down specific genes involved, as so many are involved. Does suggest that genes play a role, but has very little predictive value.

110
Q

What is supporting evidence for genetic explanations of OCD? (Twin studies)

A

Evidence: review of twin studies found 68% of MZ twins shared OCD compared to 31% of DZ twins, suggests there is a genetic influence, but also that the environment must play some role.

111
Q

How can drug therapy be used to treat OCD (biological role included)?

A

Increases/decreases neurotransmitter levels in the brain to manipulate their activity. Often used for serotonin (as neural explanation suggests low levels cause OCD)

112
Q

What is a weakness of the effectiveness of SSRIs? (Bias)

A

Biased because research into it has been sponsored by the drug companies, so results may be skewed for their profit, suggesting the drugs may be less effective than research suggests.

113
Q

What forms can SSRIs be taken in? How long do they take to have an impact?

A
  • liquid or capsule
  • 3-4 months of daily use
114
Q

What will happen if SSRIs are not effective?

A
  • SNRIs can be taken, which also increase levels of non-adrenaline.
115
Q

How do SSRI’s work? (synaptic transmission)

A

SSRI’s will prevent the reabsorption of and breakdown of serotonin, leaving them to continue to stimulate the post synaptic neuron. Alleviates symptoms.

116
Q

What is a strength of the appropriateness of SSRI’s?

A

Cheap and less disruptive than other psychological treatments, so good value for the NHS.

117
Q

What is a weakness of the effectiveness of SSRI’s? (Duration)

A

Not a lasting cure, as patients often relapse after stopping the drug, do not impact cognitions or behaviours.

118
Q

What is a weakness of the appropriateness of SSRI’s?

A

A minority of users get no benefits from doing so, and some get side effects such as nausea and headaches, or more serious effects such as erection issues. This suggests it may do more harm than good for some.

Psychology (10 decks)

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