Psychopathology Flashcards
1
Q
Strengths of Deviation From Social Norms
A
- Social dimension of this definition can help the individual branded as abnormal and the wider society
- Social norms are flexible to account for the individual and situation
2
Q
Weaknesses of Deviation From Social Norms
A
- Social norms are subjective rules created by other people.
They do not objectively identify which behaviours are healthy. - Social norms change overtime.
What is considered a mental disorder today may not be in the future.
E.g homosexuality. - Social norms vary between cultures.
- A person deviating from social norms may simply be eccentric rather than psychologically abnormal.
3
Q
Strengths of Failure to Function Adequately
A
- GAF provides a practical and measurable way of quantifying abnormality
- Majority of people seeking psychological help for a disorder do so because they believe the disorder is affecting their ability to function normally
4
Q
Weaknesses of Failure to Function Adequately
A
- Not everyone with a mental disorder is unable to function in society.
- Not everyone who is unable to function is suffering from a mental disorder. In some contexts, psychologically healthy people may (temporarily) be unable to function adequately.
For example, a person who has just lost a close friend or relative may be unable to go to work or have fun with friends due to the grief they are feeling. - What is considered failure to function adequately may differ between cultures.
5
Q
Strengths of Statistical Infrequency
A
- Statistical infrequency provides a clear and objective way of determining whether something is abnormal or not.
It can be measured and quantified. - Statistical infrequency does not imply any value judgements, i.e. whether something is good or bad.
- It is a good measure for many psychological disorders.
For example, intellectual disability has historically been defined as having an IQ lower than 70 (2 standard deviations below the mean).
6
Q
Weaknesses of Statistical Infrequency
A
- Infrequency does not always mean abnormality or mental disorder.
- Abnormality also does not necessarily mean infrequency.
Abnormal mental conditions are actually statistically very common e.g anxiety or depression. - Some psychological disorders are difficult to measure objectively and thus difficult to quantify as statistically infrequent.
For example, how do you quantify how depressed or anxious someone is in order to determine whether they are statistically infrequent?
7
Q
Strengths of Deviation From Ideal Mental Health
A
- Holistic description of ideal mental health focuses on the entire person rather than just some elements.
This is more effective and long lasting in treating mental disorders.
Addressing the overall deviation from mental health might be a more effective treatment avenue than focusing on specific symptoms in isolation. - Deviation from an ideal mental health definition provides a positive goal to strive towards.
It focuses on what is optimal and desirable rather than what is not.
8
Q
Weaknesses of Deviation From Ideal Mental Health
A
- Too idelaistic.
Very few people meet all of Jahoda’s 6 criteria all the time. - Jahoda’s criteria are subjective and hard to measure.
- What is understood as ideal mental health may differ between cultures.
9
Q
Strengths of Behaviourist Approach to Phobias
A
- King et al
Described several case studies of children who acquired phobias after a traumatic experience
10
Q
Weaknesses of Behaviourist Approach to Phobias
A
- Rather than focussing on behaviours, the cognitive approach explains phobias in terms of thought processes.
E.g people with phobias have attentional bias which is a disproportionate focus towards the scariest features of the stimuli - Not everyone who has had an unpleasant experience at the same time as a neutral stimulus develops a phobia.
This weakens the behaviourist claim that phobias are acquired via classical conditioning.
11
Q
Strengths of Behaviourist Treatment of Phobias
A
- Case study for flooding
Girl with phobia of cars is driven around in a car for 4 hours
She eventually calms down and her phobia disappears - Case study for systematic desensitization
2 year old boy with phobia of white rabbits
Phobia was removed over several sessions increasing exposure to a white rabbit
12
Q
Weaknesses of Behaviourist Treatment of Phobias
A
- Behavioural treatment works better for some phobias than others.
Simple phobias such as of dogs or spiders are more amenable to behavioural treatments than social phobias
This suggests that not all phobias can be explained or tr - Flooding may raise ethical concerns.
13
Q
Strengths of Cognitive Approach to Depression
A
- Experiment in which ppts were shown positive, negative and neutral words on a screen
Then they were asked to say where the words appeared on the screen
Depressed participants focused on the negative words more - Boury et al
Depressed ppts constantly misinterpreted facts and experiences in a negative way
This supports the cognitive explanation that depression is caused by biased and irrational through processes
14
Q
Weaknesses of Cognitive Approach to Depression
A
- Study found that adopted children with depression were 8 times more likely to have biological parents with depression
Suggests there is a strong biological explanation to depression - Lewinsohn
Argued that successive negative life experiences cause depression
Suggests depression is learned from the environment
Negative thoughts are simply an effect of depression rather than the cause
15
Q
Strengths of CBT
A
- Many clinical studies show that CBT is effective in treating depression.
E.g meta analysis by Beltman et al (2010).
