Psychopathology Flashcards
What are the four definitions of abnormality
Failure to function adequately, deviation from social norms, deviation from ideal mental health, statistical infrequency.
What is statistical infrequency
Statistical infrequency is a definition of abnormality where numerical averages are used to find out if a person is abnormal.
How does statistical infrequency work
Using a bell curve where the peak of the bell curve is the average person. Then using standard deviation, psychologists can determine abnormality. The further they are from the yip of the bell curve the more abnormal they are.
What are the strengths of statistical infrequency
Easy to read and interpret
Real life application- can measure how abnormal a person is and how likely they need help
What are the limitations of statistical infrequency
Cultural and historical relativism- what is statistically frequent in one country or era is not the same for others
Desirable qualities- a high IQ is considered desirable but according to statistical infrequency
Having a cut off point is arbitrary because one person with an IQ of 70 is considered normal but one point below is abnormal.
What is failure to function adequately
It is a definition of abnormality describing an individuals lack of personal wellbeing and overall contribution.
Who developed the 7 criteria of failure to function
Rosenham and Seligman (1989)
What are the 7 criteria of failure to function
Suffering, maladaptiveness, bizarness/vividness, unexpected behavior, irrationality, observer discomfort, breaking moral/ideal standards.
What is deviation from ideal mental health
A person is defined as abnormal this way by not matching the criteria for good or stable mental health
What criteria was developed for deviation from ideal mental health
● no symptoms or distress
● rational and can perceive themselves accurately
●self- actualisation
● cope well with stress
● realistic view of the world
● good self esteem and lack guilt
● independent of other people
● successfully work, love and enjoy our leisure
Who developed the criteria for deviation from ideal mental health
Marie Jahoda (1958)
What are the strengths of Jahoda’s criteria
It is highly comprehensive and has a range of criteria which covers a broad range of reasons why a person may deviate from ideal mental health
What are the limitations of Jahoda’s criteria
It is difficult for a person to achieve all of the criteria at once and have perfect mental health and may be seen by a person as impossible.
The idea may be culture bound as it is not easily applicable to other cultures. Individual cultures will have fluctuations in how much they believe in certain criteria. For example in Germany high independence is typically normal whereas in Italy it would be considered abnormal to be very independent.
What are the strengths of failure to function
It is a sensible threshold for when people need professional help- people who are failing to function are the ones who need it most and so help is targeted at them
What are the limitations of failure to function
It makes non-standard lifestyles easy to label as a normal. For example people who seek high risk activities or spiritual practices may be seen as irrational and perhaps a danger according to failure to function.
It is circumstantial as a person who is grieving may act unusual but it does not mean that they are failing to function.
What is the definition of a phobia
An irrational fear of an object or situation
What are the DSM-5 categories of phobia
Specific phobia- phobia of an object, animal, person or situation
Social anxiety/phobia- phobia of social situations
Agorophobia- fear of being outside or in a public place
What are the behavioral characteristics of phobias
Panic- crying, screaming, running away, freezing
Avoidance- making a conscious effort to stay away from the phobic stimulus. Can affect daily life.
Endurance- alternative response to avoidance by staying in the area of it to keep an eye on it
What are the emotional characteristics of phobias
Anxiety- an unpleasant state of high arousal. Potentially long term
Fear- immediate response to seeing a phobic stimulus. More intense than anxiety but short term.
Unreasonable emotional response- the response given is disproportionate to the stituation
What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias
Selective attention to the phobic stimulus- keeping an eye of the stimulus so that a reaction to a threat is quick but it does not help with irrational phobias as a person will struggle to concentrate.
Irrational beliefs- the phobia cannot be easily explained and has no basis in reality because the person with the phobia has irrational thoughts
Cognitive distortions- the perceptions may be inaccurate and unrealistic to reality.
What is the behavioral approach to explaining phobias
The two process model
What is the two process model
It is the idea that a phobia is acquired through classical conditioning (Little Albert, Watson and Rayner,1920) and maintained by operant conditioning by reinforcing the irrational beliefs.
Who developed the two-process model
Henry Mowrer (1960)
How is the Little Albert case evidence of classical conditioning in developing phobias behaviourally
John Watson and Rosalie Rayner performed an experiment in 1920 where they used a 9 month old baby called Little Albert and conditioned him into a phobia of white rats and other fluffy items. They did this by associating a white rat (neutral stimulus) with a loud noise (unconditioned stumulus) which upset Albert (unconditioned response). Because he associated the horrible noise to the rat he had an upsetting response (conditioned response). He was then shown other furry objects such as a fur coat and a non white rabbit and he was still distressed at the sight of them. This shows that classical conditioning plays a part in developing phobias.
What are the strengths of the two process model
It has real world application in exposure therapy where they use the idea ,from the two process model, where avoidance is key to maintaining the phobia and so expose the person to their phobic stimulus as a way of curing it.
The little Albert case shows that there is a link between bad experiences and phobias. The distress and trauma from the event develops the phobia.
What are the limitations of the two process model
It does not account for the cognitive aspects of the phobias. It is geared towards explaining the behavioral side of phobias but not the cognitive. Phobias are not simply avoidant- there is an important cognitive aspect behind it.
Not all phobias appear following a bad experience. It is more commonly because a person has very few experiences and/or limited knowledge of the phobic stimulus e.g. snakes
What are the two approaches to treating phobias
Systematic desensitisation and Flooding
What is Systematic desensitisation
It is a behavioral therapy used to gradually reduce the anxiety levels around a phobic stimulus.
What are the three processes of systematic desensitisation
Anxiety hierarchy- it is a list of situations linked to the phobic stimulus in levels of anxiety from the least anxious to the most .
Relaxation- the therapist teaches the patient to relax as much as possible around the stimulus. It is impossible to be relaxed and anxious at the same time so one emotion prevents the other. Breathing exercises and mental imagery is most commonly used.
Exposure- the client is gradually exposed to the stimulus working up the anxiety hierarchy. The client learns to fully relax before moving up in the hierarchy. It spans across several sessions.
What is flooding
A treatment of phobias where it is done in a small number of sessions and has a high anxiety amount of exposure
What is the process of flooding
A client is given a full debrief before the process begins. They are warned the process is traumatic and will be tough. The client is then exposed to their phobic stimulus and is not given the option to avoid the stimulus. This normally is done in one session that takes three hours.
What are the strengths of systematic desensitisation
Less traumatic than flooding
What are the limitations of systematic desensitisation
Lengthy process
Cost inefficient
VR usage may be less effective
What are the strengths of flooding
Cost effective as it takes less time
What are the limitations of flooding
Unpleasant and traumatic experience- ethical issues
Provokes a lot of anxiety
Does not tackle the underlying problems of phobias
What are the behavioral characteristics of depression
Reduced energy levels
Disruption in sleep (insomnia)
Aggression
Self harm
What are the emotional characteristics of depression
Low mood
Anger
Low self-esteem
What are the cognitive characteristics of depression
Different ways of processing information
Poor concentration
Dwell on the negatives and ignore positives
Black and white thinking
Who developed the negative triad
Aaron Beck (1967)
What is the negative triad
Negative views of the self, the future, the world
What are the components of Becks Cognitive Theory
Negative Triad
Negative self- schema
Faulty information processing
Who developed the ABC model
Albert Ellis (1962)
What is the ABC model
Activating event
Beliefs which are irrational
Consequences which are emotional
What are the strengths of Becks theory
Strong supportive evidence from Grazioli and Terry.
Practical application in CBT.
What are the limitations of Becks theory
Doesn’t explain all aspects of depression- hallucinations and delusions
What are the strengths of Ellis ABC theory
Practical application in CBT
What are the limitations of Ellis ABC theory
Only provides a partial explanation- reactive depression arises without activating event
Doesn’t explain all aspects of depression- hallucinations and delusions
What are the two different types of CBT to treat depression
Becks Cognitive Therapy
Ellis Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy
What is the process of CBT
- Begins with an assessment where the issue is identified
- Together the therapist and patient identify goals and create a treatment plan
- Identify where negative or irrational thoughts can be challenged
- Change the negative thoughts and encourage effective behaviors
- Therapists use Becks or Ellis theories
What is Becks Cognitive Theory based on
Challenging negative thoughts about the future, the self and the world. They may be given homework which can be used as evidence in future sessions
What is Ellis’ REB therapy and what does it aim to do
It’s is a type of CBT that he calls Rational Emotive Behavioour therapy. It is an extension of his ABC model (ABCDE model) where the D means dispute and E means effect. The aim is to challenge the negative and/or irrational thoughts by having logical and empirical arguments to dispute the beliefs and show the patient that the thoughts are irrational.
What are the strengths of CBT
Large amounts of evidence for the effectiveness of CBT ( John March et.al 2007 tested 327 depressed adolescents and gave them either anti-depressants, CBT or both)
What are the limitations of CBT
Lack of effectiveness in people with severe depression (motivation) and people with learning disablilites (too complex)
High relapse rates because there is lack of research done on how long the effects of CBT last for
Define OCD
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder which is a condition characterised by obsessions and/or compulsive behaviour
What are the DSM-5’s categories of OCD
Trichotillomania-compulsive hair pulling
Hoarding disorder- compulsive gathering of possessions and the inability to part with anything regardless of its value
Excoriation disorder- compulsive skin picking
What are the behavioural characteristics of OCD
Repetitive compulsions
Avoidance- staying away from things that trigger OCD behaviour
Anxiety reducing compulsions- compulsions happen as a response and a coping method to irrational anxiety
What are the emotional characteristics of OCD
Anxiety and distress- the thoughts are unpleasant and frightening
Accompanying depression- low mood and lack of enjoyment in activities
Guilt and disgust- of both external factors and internal factors
What are the cognitive characteristics of OCD
Obsessive thoughts- recurring and horrible
Cognitive coping strategies- developed in order to cope with the anxiety
Insight into excessive anxiety- People with OCD are aware that their obsessions and compulsions are irrational but cannot do anything to stop them.
What are the genetic explanations for OCD
Candidate genes- genes that are responsible for the regulation of neurotransmitters such as serotonin which makes a person more vulnerable to developing OCD.
Aubrey Lewis (1936) observed OCD patients- 37% had parents with OCD and 21% had siblings with OCD
OCD is polygenic- numerous genes can cause vulnerability to OCD
Aetiologically Heterogeneous- one group of genes that’s causes OCD in one person, may not for another
What are the neural explanations for OCD
The role of serotonin-if a person has lower serotonin then the normal transmission of mood relevant information does not take place.
The abnormal functioning of the brain- OCD affects parts of the brain such as the frontal lobes (responsible for logical thinking and making decisions) and the parahippocampel gyrus (processes unpleasant emotions). If these function abnormally then a person shows behavioural, emotional and cognitive signs of OCD.
What are the strengths for genetic explanations of OCD
Strong evidence base- Nestadt et.al and the twin study showing a connection between OCD and genetics.
What are the limitations of genetic explanations of OCD
Environmental risk factors- OCD does not seem entirely genetic in origin. For example a traumatic event could trigger OCD
What are the strengths of neural explanations of OCD
Supporting evidence- antidepressants prove to work on people with OCD because of serotonin levels affecting people with depression as well.
What are the limitations of neural explanations for OCD
Serotonin OCD may not be unique to OCD- common co morbidity with depression means that the serotonin level may be affected by the depression not the OCD
What is the biological approach to treating OCD
SSRIs- also known as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors. They prevent the reabsorption of serotonin into the presynaptic nerve and forcing it into the post synaptic receptors. it is often combined with CBT to help a person with OCD concentrate properly in the therapy.
What are the alternative drugs in treating OCD
Tricyclics
SNRIs
What are the strengths of drug therapy for treating OCD
Good evidence for effectiveness- Soomro et.al (2009) compared SSRIs to placebos in treating OCD and found symptoms reduced for around 70% of ppts.
Cost-effective and non disruptive- very easy to take meaning that people will actually stick to them. Therapy takes up a lot of time and is expensive so people don’t find it as effective or easy.
What are the limitations of drug therapy as a treatment for OCD
The drugs can have serious side effects- loss of libido, erectile dysfunction, bruises easily, headaches, confusion. Can make people stop taking the medicine.
Drug treatments are not the most effective- Skapinakis et.Al (2016) found that cognitive and behavioural therapy is more effective than drugs
