Psychopathology

Question 1

Definitions of abnormality

Answer 1

Statistical infrequency, deviation from social norms, failure to function adequately, deviation from ideal mental health.

Question 2

Statistical infrequency

Answer 2

When an individual has a less common characteristic. Normal distribution.
IQ test could be used to represent statistical infrequency.

Question 3

Deviation from social norms

Answer 3

Different from accepted standards. For example, antisocial personality disorder

Question 4

Eval on statistical infrequency

Answer 4

Real world application - used in diagnostic approaches.
Unusual characteristics can be positive - being unusual doesn’t necessarily make someone abnormal.

Question 5

Eval on deviation from social norms

Answer 5

Real world application - antisocial personality disorder.
Cultural and situational relativism - variability between norms in one culture compared to another.

Question 6

Failure to function adequately

Answer 6

When a person is unable to cope with the ordinary demands of every day life
When a person experiences severe personal distress or becomes dangerous towards themselves or others

Question 7

Deviation from ideal mental health

Answer 7

When someone does not meet a set criteria for good mental health.
In 1958, Jahoda suggested that in order to have good mental health we need to be rational, have good self esteem and be able to self actualize.

Question 8

Eval for failure to function adequately

Answer 8

Represents a threshold for help - treatment can be targeted for those who need it most.
Discrimination and social control - easy to label non standard living choices as abnormal.

Question 9

Eval for deviation from ideal mental health

Answer 9

A comprehensive definition - provides a checklist in which we can check ourselves to see when necessary to find help.
May be culture bound - self actualization could be seen as self indulgent in many cultures.

Question 9

DSM-5 categories of phobia

Answer 9

Specific phobia - phobia of an object.
Social Anxiety - phobia of a social situation.
Agoraphobia - phobia of being outside or in a public space.

Question 10

Behavioural characteristics of phobias

Answer 10

Panic - in response to phobic stimulus
Avoidance - prevent coming into contact with the phobic stimulus.
Endurance - person decides to remain in the presence of the phobic stimulus.

Question 11

Emotional characteristics of phobias

Answer 11

Anxiety - an unpleasant state of high arousal .
Fear - immediate and extremely unpleasant response.
Emotional response is unreasonable -

Question 12

Cognitive characteristics of phobias

Answer 12

Selective attention to phobic stimulus - hard to look away from the stimulus.
Irrational beliefs - unfounded thoughts in relation to phobic stimuli.
Cognitive distortions - perceptions may be inaccurate and unrealistic.

Question 13

Depression

Answer 13

low mood and low energy levels

Question 14

Behavioral characteristics of depression

Answer 14

Activity levels - reduced levels of energy, likely to withdraw from from work or education.
Disruption to eating or sleeping - insomnia/hypersomnia or increased/decreased appetite.
Aggression or self harm - often irritable leading to verbal or physical aggression.

Question 15

Emotional characteristics of depression

Answer 15

Lowered mood - lethargic or empty.
Anger - directed at self or others.
Lowered self-esteem - reduced due to the depression.

Question 16

Cognitive characteristics of depression

Answer 16

Poor concentration - unable to stick to a task.
Dwelling on the negative - recalling unhappy events.
Absolutist thinking - all good or all bad thinking style.

Question 17

OCD

Answer 17

Obsessions and/or compulsive behavior.

Question 18

Behavioral characteristics of OCD

Answer 18

Compulsions are repetitive - hand-washing or counting.
Compulsions reduce anxiety - sense of irrational anxiety.
Avoidance - attempt to reduce anxiety by avoiding situations.

Question 19

Emotional characteristics of OCD

Answer 19

Anxiety and distress - emotional experience due to the stress.
Accompanying depression - anxiety is accompanied by low mood.
Guilt and disgust - over the minor moral issues or external factors such as actual dirt.

Question 20

Cognitive characteristics of OCD

Answer 20

Obsessive thoughts - always unpleasant.
Cognitive coping strategies - meditation or praying ?
Insight to excessive anxiety - aware that obsessive thoughts are not rational however experience catastrophic thoughts such as the worst case scenario.

Question 21

The two-process model

Answer 21

Proposed by Mowrer based on behavioral approach to phobias. It states that phobias are acquired by classical conditioning and are then continued due to operant conditioning.

Question 22

Acquisition by classical conditioning

Answer 22

Watson and Rayner created in 9 month old ‘Little Albert’. He showed no anxiety at beginning. Then, whenever Albert was presented with a rat a large, frightening noise was made in his ear. Albert then began displaying a phobia of the rat.

Question 23

Maintenance by operant conditioning

Answer 23

Responses acquired by classical conditioning tended to decrease over time. However phobias are usually long lasting. Mowrer suggested that whenever we avoid a phobic stimulus we successfully escape the fear. This reinforces the avoidant behavior so the phobia is maintained.

Question 24

Eval on two-process model

Answer 24

Strength -
-real world application with exposure therapies. Phobias are maintained by avoiding the phobic stimulus.
- link between bad experiences and phobias eg The Little Albert study.
Limitation-
-Cognitive aspects of phobias aren’t counted as explanation only explains behavior. We know that there are significant cognitive aspects.

Question 25

Systematic desensitisation

Answer 25

behavioral therapy designed to reduce phobia through classical conditioning.

Question 26

Three processes involved in systematic desensitization

Answer 26

The anxiety hierarchy - rank situations related to the phobic stimulus and how likely they are to cause distress.
Relaxation - therapist teaches client to be as relaxed as possible.
Exposure - client is exposed to the phobic stimulus whilst in a relaxed state.
Takes place over several sessions.

Question 27

Flooding

Answer 27

involves exposing clients to phobia without gradual build-up.

Question 28

Eval of SD

Answer 28

Evidence of effectiveness - study found that SD is effective for people with specific phobias.
People with learning disabilities - struggle with cognitive therapies which require a high level of thought.

Question 29

Eval of flooding

Answer 29

Cost-effective - can work in as little as one session.
Traumatic - provokes tremendous anxiety.

Question 30

Becks negative triad

Answer 30

cognitive approach into explaining why some are more prone to anxiety than others.

Question 31

3 parts to Becks negative triad

Answer 31

Faulty information processing - attend to negative aspects of a situation. Black and white thinking.
Negative self-schema - interpret information about themselves in a negative way.
Negative view of world, self and future.

Question 32

Ellis’s ABC model

Answer 32

Shows how irrational thoughts affect our behavior and emotional state.
A (ACTIVATING EVENT) - external events that may have triggered irrational beliefs.
B (BELIEFS) - irrational beliefs when things don’t go smoothly.
C (CONSEQUENCES) - emotional and behavioral consequences.

Question 33

Eval of Becks negative triad

Answer 33

Research support - study tracked development of 473 adolescents and found that increased cognitive vulnerability can lead to depression.
Real-world application - applications in screening and treatment for depression and can be used in CBT.

Question 34

Eval of Ellis’s ABC model

Answer 34

Real-world application - rational emotional behavioral therapy. Evidence to support the idea that REBT can change negative beliefs and therefore has real-world value.
-Only explains reactive and endogenous depression

Question 35

CBT

Answer 35

Cognitive elements - identify where there may be negative or irrational thoughts.
Behavioral element - working to change negative and irrational thoughts and put more effective behaviors into place.

Question 36

Becks cognitive therapy

Answer 36

Identify automatic thoughts about the world, the self and the future. Once identified these thoughts can be challenged.

Question 37

Ellis’ rational emotive behavior therapy

Answer 37

REBT extends the ABC model to ABCDE
D stands for dispute and E stands for effect. The central technique for REBT is to identitify and dispute irrational thoughts.

Question 38

Behavioral activation

Answer 38

As individuals become depressed they tend to avoid difficult situations and become isolated .
The goal of behavioral activation is to gradually decrease their isolation which has been shown to improve mood.

Question 39

Eval of cog approach for depression

Answer 39

+evidence for effectiveness - compared CBT to antidepressant drugs and a combination on 327 adolescents. There was more of a difference when they were using both
-suitability for diverse clients - lack of effectiveness for severe cases and patients with learning disabilities. CBT is only suitable for a certain range of people.
-relapse rates -