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Psychology > Psychopathology > Flashcards

Psychopathology Flashcards

1
Q

what is statistical infrequency as a definition for abnormality?

A

behaviour that is statistically uncommon is abnormal

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2
Q

positives and negatives of statistical infrequency

A

+
sometimes appropriate to use eg if someone has intellectual disability-easy to tell
-
cut off points arbitrary
ignores desirability
some disorders are frequent but still abnormal
cultural relativism

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3
Q

what are the 4 definitions of abnormality?

A

statistical infrequency
deviation from social norms
deviation from ideal mental health
failure to function adequately

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4
Q

what is the main problem with cultural relativism?

A

there is no universal standard for abnormality

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5
Q

what is deviation from social norms as a definition for abnormality?

A

behaviour that deviates from a society’s standards of acceptable behaviour is abnormal
some rules are implicit some policed by laws

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6
Q

positives and negatives of deviation from social norms

A

+
can spot people who may be struggling/ dangerous
distinguishes between desirable and undesirable
-
social norms change
have to consider context
marginalises people who dont fit
DSM-5 symptoms based on white middle class males

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7
Q

what is failure to function adequately as a definition for abnormality?

A

not being able to cope with everyday living and this causing DISTRESS to themselves OR OTHERS

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8
Q

what are rosenhan and seligmans proposed signs of someone not coping?

A

no longer conforms to standard interpersonal rules
experiences severe personal distress
behaviour becomes irrational/ dangerous to themselves/ others

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9
Q

what are rosenhan and seligmans 7 criteria which if met could be indicative of someone not functioning well?

A

unpredictable, maladaptive behaviour, personal distress, irrationality, observer discomfort, violation of moral standards, unconventionality

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10
Q

positives and negatives of failure to function adequately

A

+
recognises subjective experience of individual, sees from patients pov
relatively easy and objective to judge (criteria)
-
someone has to judge if distress is caused
is it failure to function or just deviation from social norms
cultural relativism
may appear to function but are still ill
may be normal response to trauma- inappropriate to label so limits usefulness

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11
Q

what is deviation from ideal mental health as a definition of abnormality?

A

assumes that absence of normality indicates abnormality just like diagnosing physical health problems

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12
Q

What is Jahodas list of 6 factors indicating psychological health and wellbeing?

A

self attitudes- high self esteem and sense of identity
personal growth and self actualisation- reaching full potential
integration- being able to cope with stressful situations
autonomy- independant and self regulating
accurate perception of reality
mastery of environment- ability to love, functiton,adjust to new situations, solve problems

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13
Q

positives and negatives of deviation from ideal mental health

A

+
focuses on positives- positive psychology movement
objective-criteria
-
unrealistic criteria- how many need to be lacking?
suggests mental health is same as physical- diff causes so hard to diagnose in same way
cultural relativism

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14
Q

what is cultural relativism?

A

what is or isnt considered psychologically normal is mediated by cultural norms/ values

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15
Q

subculture

A

social groups within society-dominant seen as normal, subcultures abnormal
freq of disorders in subcultures varies eg schizophrenia is more common in lower socioeconomic groups
culture bound syndromes- mental disorders only found in certain cultures eg anorexia- western

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16
Q

difference between fear and phobia

A

phobia is an anxiety disorder that negatively impacts on someones day to day life

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17
Q

behavioural characteristics of phobias

A

avoidance, fight/flight

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18
Q

emotional characteristics of phobias

A

intense fear, anxiety, panic out of proportion to actual danger

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19
Q

cognitive characteristics of phobias

A

irrational thoughts, struggle to focus is stimuli present, recognise its excessive

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20
Q

what is a behavioural characteristic?

A

how someone acts

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21
Q

what is an emotional characteristic?

A

how someone feels

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22
Q

what is a cognitive characteristic?

A

how someone thinks

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23
Q

what are the 3 types of phobia?

A

specific- specific object/ situation
social- fear of humiliation in public, afraid someone will see them panic and think bad of them
agoraphobia- fear of public places. starts w panic attack, feelings of impending doom as a result, afraid of panic attacks in public where no one can help- scared for safety not embarrassment

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24
Q

behaviourist explanation for phobias
what is the 2 process model?

A

phobias are learnt behaviours
two process model: (Orval Hobart Mowrer 1947)
1) classical- initiation, phobia acquired through association e.g. little albert
2) operant- maintenance, negative reinforcement

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25
Q

evaluate behaviourist explanation for phobias

A

+
research support- little albert, sue et al (people often recall a specific incident where their phobia appeared)

practical applications- treatments

_
reductionist- some havent come into contact w fear but ost said it probably did happen and was just forgotten

not everyone in same situation develops the fear- diathesis stress (DiNardo- not everyone bitten by dog develops fear of dogs)

26
Q

behavioural treatment for phobias

A

behaviour is learnt so can be unlearnt
classical conditioning removes phobias via counter conditioning where you learn a new response

27
Q

systematic desensitisation

A

Joseph Wolpe 1958
counterconditioning and reciprocal inhibition (cant be scared and relaxed at same time)
1) relaxation techniques
2) anxiety hierarchy
3) gradual exposure until calm at top of hierarchy and no longer associate stimulus with fear

28
Q

flooding

A

1 long session where exposed to phobia at its worst whilst practicing relaxation techniques
without avoidance, person quickly learns phobic stimulus is harmless
fear response has time limit- adrenaline levels naturally decrease and new stimulus- response link learned

29
Q

what is it called when a phobia is no longer present?

A

extinct

30
Q

evaluate behavioural treatments for phobias

A

+
effective- mcgrath (75% with specific phobias improved w sd), Gilroy (followed up 42 patients who had been treated for spider phobia in 3 45 min sessions of sd. Control group just learnt relaxation not exposure. At 3 months and 33 months, sd group less fearful)

prac aps- cure people, economic benefits

_

Dont get to root cause- others may still be there/ replaced (supresses symptoms)

ohman et al- sd not as effective for treating phobias with underlying evolutionary survival components

31
Q

what is depression?

A

mood disorder
prolonged and fundamental disturbance of mood and emotion
most common psychopathological disorder- 5% of adults

32
Q

diagnosis of clinical depression

A

5 of following and persistent low mood for 2 weeks:
increased or decreased appetite
increased or decreased sleep
less energy
body slows/ speeds
less interest in usual activities
feeling guilty
cant concentrate
thoughts of death

33
Q

behavioural characteristics of depression

A

shift in activity level, affected sleep, affected appetite, aggression/ SH

34
Q

emotional characteristics of depression

A

low mood, low self esteem, loss of interest, anger at others and self

35
Q

cognitive characteristics of depression

A

negative thoughts, negative view of the world, poor concentration, dwell on negatives, absolutist feelings

36
Q

Aaron beck’s negative triad (1967)

A

negative schema from childhood so adopt - view of the world
three parts to cognitive vulnerability to depression
1) faulty info processing
2) - self schema
3) negative triad
focus on - and get trapped in cycle, self fulfilling prophecy
- view of world > - view of future > - view of self >

37
Q

Ellis’ ABC model 1962

A

not what happens to someone but how they deal with it
Activating event
Belief (rational/ irrational)
Consequence (rational= positive consequence vice versa)

38
Q

eliss’ mustabatory thinking

A

thinking certain things must be true to be happy
e.g. i must do well
leads to disappointment/ depression

39
Q

evaluate cognitive explanations for depression

A

+ Bates et al (depressed patients who were given negative automatic thought statements became more and more depressed supporting that negative thinking leads to depression.)
+ practical applications- CBT
_ problem with causality- do negative thoughts cause depression or does depression cause negative thoughts?
_ reductionist – ABC doesn’t explain when there’s not activating event

40
Q

how does CBT work?

A

changes thinking by challenging irrational/ maladaptive thoughts
leads to change in behaviour

41
Q

Ellis’ rational emotional behavioural therapy

A

Ellis is one of first psychologists to develop form of CBT
beliefs people hold lead to self defeating consequences so REBT replaces irrational thoughts with rational ones

42
Q

Ellis’ ABCDEF model

A

D- disrupting irrational thoughts/beliefs
E- effects of disputing and effective attitude to life
F- feelings produced

43
Q

Steps of CBT

A

1) challenging irrational thoughts- replacing w + to lead to + consequences
2)HW assignments- challenge beliefs between sessions and prove wrong
3) behavioural activation- encouraged to do things they enjoy e.g sport naturally lifts mood
4) unconditional positive regard- convince client of own self worth and oppose thoughts, tell them they’re worthy

44
Q

evaluate cognitive treatments for depression

A

+ Research e.g. Ellis (claimed 90% success rate for REBT taking an avg of 27 sessions to complete treatment), Cuijpers et al (reviewed 75 studies and found CBT was superior to having no treatment), behavioural activation- exercise, drugs, drugs and exercise- exercise gave lowest relapse rates)
+ improve people’s mood and gets them back to work/ what they enjoy
_ take lots of effort- hard if depressed Ellis (recognised it’s not always effective and some clients didn’t put revised beliefs into action)
_ realistic stressors that CBT cant help (maybe swap for some need immediate help and this takes time/ waiting lists)

45
Q

what is OCD?

A

anxiety disorder where a person experiences intrusive obsessions followed by compulsions

46
Q

what is the internal component of OCD?

A

obsessions
persistent and uncontrollable thoughts/images/worries/doubts. intrusive and unwanted. often realise theyre irrational but can only get rid of them by performing compulsions

47
Q

what is the external component of OCD?

A

compulsions
repetitive physical behaviours/ metal rituals performed over and over to relieve the anxiety of obsessions. temporary and reinforces obsessions so cycle worsens

48
Q

what is the cycle of OCD?

A

obsessive thought
anxiety
compulsive behaviour
temporary relief

49
Q

cognitive characteristics of OCD

A

obsessions
eg ideas, doubts, impulses, images
uncontrollable and anxiety provoking
may know that theyre irrational

50
Q

behavioural characteristics of OCD

A

compulsions
eg handwashing, checking, counting
attempt to decrease anxiety
avoidance of the thing that triggers anxiety

51
Q

emotional characteristics of OCD

A

anxiety, embarrassment, shame, low mood (OCD often has depression alongside), guilt, disgust

52
Q

what is a candidate gene? 2 examples for OCD

A

gene believed to be related to a particular trait
not certain you will have disorder but predisposed
COMT, SERT

53
Q

how does a mutated COMT gene lead to OCD?

A

COMT gene instructs body to produce COMT enzyme which clears synapses of neurotransmitters that havent been uptaken
Tuken et al 2013 found mutated COMT leads to less activity so less enzymes so dopamine levels increase
dopanine has been associated with compulsions in OCD and affects preforntal cortex so harder to control actions

54
Q

how does a mutated SERT gene lead to OCD?

A

mutated SERT results in more transporter proteins on the presynaptic neuron so serotonin is reuptaken faster leading to lower levels of serotonin
high levels of SERT are found in patients with OCD

55
Q

neural explanations for OCD?

A

1) abnormal levels of neurotransmitters (not about genes)
2) caudate nucleus (in basal ganglia), orbitofrontal cortex and thalamus are involved with worry circuit. OFC goes on high alert if something is worrying and sends signal to thalamus. minor worries should be intercepted by caudate nucleus which prevents thalamus from being over excited. if caudate nucleus damaged (by abnormal neurotransmitter levels), cant surpress minor signals so worry circuit.

56
Q

evaluate biological explanations for OCD

A

+ research e.g. Nesdadt et al (people w first degree relatives w OCD had 5x greater risk of having it) , Billet et al (MZ twins 2x more likely to develop disorder if twin had it than DZ twins)
+ practical applications e.g. lead to discovery of drug treatments etc- economic
_ diathesis stress- not 100% concordance rates, drugs not always effective
_ opposing ideas e.g. CBT is effective for OCD

57
Q

how do SSRIs work?
side effects?

A

blocks transporter proteins to prevent reuptake of serotonin so levels increase
most common drug for OCD

nausea, headaches, insomnia

58
Q

how do tricyclics work? (depression but used for ocd too)
side effects?

A

block serotonin AND noradrenaline transporter proteins so less reuptaken so levels increase

more side effects so prescribed if other dont work
cardiovascular problems and heart attack, increased heart rate, hallucinations

59
Q

how do benzodiazepines work? (OCD)
side effects?

A

slow down CNS by enhancing activity of neurotransmitter GABBA which binds to channel proteins so increases flow of cl- into neuron. when taking BZ, it also binds to GABBA receptor sites resulting in channel protein opening more frequently so more cl- go into neuron so - charge and harder for neuron to be stimulated so less activity and individuals feel more relaxed

aggression, long term impairment of memory, addiction

60
Q

evaluate biological treatments for OCD

A

+ research e.g. Soomro et al (reviewed 17 studies of use of SSRIs with OCD patients and found them more effective than placebos in reducing symptoms of OCD up to 3 months after treatment. But only tested short term) and partial decrease in symptoms for 40-60% of people
+ less effort and immediate effect
_ side effects
_ masks symptoms but doesn’t get to root cause, relapse, CBT better

Psychology (14 decks)

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