Psychopathology

Question 1

Abnormality (4)

Answer 1

Deviation from social norms
Deviation from statistical norms/statistical infrequency
Failure to function adequately
Any usual behaviour is normal and any different behaviour is abnormal

Question 2

2 strengths and weaknesses of statistical infrequency

Answer 2

Quick and easy way to define abnormality
Statistical infrequency is obvious

Doesn’t take into account the desirability of behaviour (high IQ is desirable but abnormal)
Theres no definite cut off point where normal behaviour becomes abnormal

Question 3

Limitations of defining abnormality as deviation from social norms

Answer 3

Could be used to justify removal of ‘unwanted’ people from a society

What is considered acceptable or abnormal can change over time. eg homosexuality was classified in the DSM as a disorder but the diagnosis was dropped

Question 4

Statistical infrequency/Deviation from statistical norms

Answer 4

-A statistically rare behaviour would be seen as ‘abnormal’. Any ‘usual behaviour’ is ‘normal’ and any behaviour that is different is abnormal
-a very unusual behaviour or trait will be more than 2 standard deviations from the mean. I.e. over 130 or under 70 IQ score

Question 5

Deviation from social norms

Answer 5

Social Norms are rules set up for behaviour based on a set of moral standards. Any deviation is seen as abnormal

Question 6

Strengths of deviation from social norms as a definition of abnormality

Answer 6

Real life application in terms of diagnosis, for example, antisocial personality disorder.

Question 7

Limitations of deviation of social norms as a definition of abnormality

Answer 7

Sometimes people behave uncharacteristically or inadequately, but this does not make them abnormal.

Question 8

Failure to function adequately

Answer 8

Inability to cope with day-to-day life caused by psychological distress or discomfort which may lead to harm of self or others.

Question 9

Strengths of failure to function adequately as a definition of abnormality

Answer 9

Patients perspective attempts to include the subjective experience of the individual, this at least acknowledges the experience of the patient as important.

Question 10

Limitations of failure to function adequately as a definition of abnormality

Answer 10

What is distressing and who is distressed is subjective, some patients who claim to be distressed may be judged as not suffering

Question 11

Phobia

Answer 11

An irrational fear that produces a conscious avoidance of the feared object or situation. anxiety disorders which interferes with daily living.

Question 12

Emotional aspects of a phobia

Answer 12

Anxiety from fear of the phobic stimulus. Emotional response that is negative.

Unreasonable emotional response, disproportionate to the danger posed.

Question 13

Behavioural aspects of a phobia

Answer 13

Panic- crying, screaming, running away.

Avoidance- take a lot of effort to avoid stimulus which affects daily life.

Endurance- if you remain in the presence of stimulus experiencing high anxiety.

Question 14

Cognitive aspects of a phobia

Answer 14

Selective attention- hard to look away from the stimulus

Irrational beliefs- social phobia- ‘if I blush I am weak’ increases pressure on person to perform in social situations

Cognitive distortions- perceptions of the stimulus are distorted

Question 15

The Two Process Model

Answer 15

The behavioural approach emphasises the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour.
-this states that phobias are acquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning

Question 16

Maintenance of a phobia through operant conditioning

Answer 16

When we avoid the phobic stimulus, we avoid the fear and anxiety associated with it, reinforcing avoidance and the phobia is maintained.

Question 17

Systematic desensitisation (behavioural therapy)

Answer 17

-designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through the principle of classical conditioning
-if the sufferer can learn to relax in the presence of the phobic stimulus they will be cured
-a new response is learnt- this is called counterconditioning

Question 18

Flooding (behavioural therapy)

Answer 18

A behavioural therapy designed to rapidly stop a phobic response. It involves immediate exposure to a frightening experience. There is no option of aviodance and the patient quickly learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless. This is called extinction.

Question 19

Evaluation of Behavioural Approach to phobias

Answer 19

The Two process model was influential in the 1960s

Explains how phobias can be maintained over time and this has important implications for therapies

Once a patient is prevented from practicing their avoidance behaviour, the behaviour is no longer reinforced and thus declines.

Question 20

Phobias that don’t follow trauma (Evaluation of Behavioural Approach to phobias)

Answer 20

Some people do not know why they fear something
A fear might not be the result of conditioning

Question 21

Depression

Plus the 4 DSM-V categories

Answer 21

Changes to mood

DSM-V has the following categories:

Major depressive disorder - severe but short term.

Persistent depressive disorder - long term or recurring depression including sustained major depression.

Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder - childhood temper tantrums.

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder - disruption to mood prior to and/or during menstruation.

Question 22

Neuroses disorders

Answer 22

Unipolar disorder: an episode of depression that can occur suddenly
-can be reactive (for example to the death of a loved one)
-can be endogenous (neurological factors)

Bipolar disorder: manic and depressive
-change of mood in regular cycles
-Mania: over-activity, rapid speech and feeling happy or agitated

Question 23

Emotional characteristics of depression

LAL

Answer 23

Lowered mood: defining emotional element of depression, feeling worthless and empty.

Anger: sufferers can experience extreme anger that may be at self or others.

Lowered self-esteem: sufferers tend to report lowered self-esteem, describing a sense of self-loathing.

Question 24

Behavioural characteristics of depression

Answer 24

Anxiety levels: reduced levels of energy (lethargic). Leads to withdrawal from work, education and social life. Psychomotor agitation: inability to relax and end up pacing.

Disruption to sleep and eating behaviour: can lead to insomnia and hypersomnia. Appetites increases or decreases leading to weight gain or loss.

Aggression and self harm: can be irritable, leading to verbal or physical aggression.

Anhedonia: decreased ability to feel pleasure and loss of interest.

Question 25

Cognitive characteristics of depression

DAP

Answer 25

Dwelling on the negative: focuses on more negative aspects than positive, a bias towards recalling unhappy events rather than happy ones

Absolutist thinking: all good or all bad or black and white thinking. Situations seen as complete disasters.

Poor concentration: difficulty concentrating on a problem and may ruminate, poor decision making.

Question 26

Assumptions of the cognitive approach to depression

Answer 26

-Individuals who suffer from mental disorders have distorted and irrational thinking- which may cause maladaptive behaviour.
-It is the way you think about the problem rather than the problem itself which causes the mental disorder.
-Individuals can overcome mental disorders by learning to use more appropriate cognition. If people think in more positive ways, they can be helped to feel better.

Question 27

Aaron Beck 1967

Answer 27

Beck suggested that there is a cognitive explanation as to why some people are more vulnerable to depression than others

He suggested three parts to this cognitive vulnerability:
-faulty information processing
-negative self-schemas
-the negative triad

Question 28

Faulty information processing (Beck)

Answer 28

People who are depressed make fundamental errors in logic.

Proposed that people who have depression tend to selectively attend to the negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positive aspects.

Tendancy to blow small problems out of proportions

Question 29

Negative self schema (Beck)

Answer 29

People who have depression have developed negative self-schemas and therefore they interpret all the information about themselves in a negative way.

Question 30

The negative triad

Answer 30

People with depression become trapped in a cycle of negative thoughts. They have a tendency to view themselves, the world and the future in pessimistic ways- the triad of impairments.

Question 31

Albert Ellis

Answer 31

Ellis proposed that good mental health is the result of rational thinking

Argued that there are common irrational beliefs that underlie much depression and sufferers have based their lives on these beliefs.

Question 32

Ellis’ ABC Theory

Answer 32

-Activating event A: We get depressed when we experience negative events and these trigger irrational beliefs
-Beliefs B: Ellis identified a range of irrational beliefs: we must always succeed or achieve perfection ‘musturbation’, perceiving whatever doesn’t go smoothly as a disaster, utopianism (life is always meant to be fair)
-Consequence C: When an activating even triggers irrational beliefs, there are emotional and behavioural consequences.

Question 33

Weissman and Beck 1978 (method, result and conclusion)

Answer 33

Thought processes were measured using the dysfunction attitude scale (DAS). Participants filled in a questionnaire by ticking wether they agreed or disagreed with statements.

They found that participants with depression made more negative assessments than those who weren’t depressed. When given therapy to counter their negative schemas there was an improvement in their self-ratings

Depression involves the use of negative schemas.

Question 34

Supporting evidence for Beck (evaluations for the cognitive approach to depression)

Answer 34

Grazioli and Terry 2000 assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression before and after birth
Those high in cognitive vulnerability were more likely to suffer post-natal depression

Question 35

CBT

Answer 35

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy is a method for treating mental disorders based on both behavioural and cognitive techniques.
-The therapist aims to make the client aware of the relationship between thought, emotion and actions.
-CBT can help people to change how they think (‘cognitive’) and what they do (‘behaviour’). These changes can help them to feel better.

CBT aims to get the person to a point where they can fix their problems independently

Question 36

CBT 1 (Beck’s CBT)

Answer 36

Challenges the negative triad of the client to make the client think and act more positively

A baseline test will be done to monitor progress

Question 37

CBT 2 (Ellis’ Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy)

Answer 37

REBT extends the ABC model to an ABCDE model
-D= Dispute (challenge the thoughts)
-E= Effect (see a more beneficial effect on thought and behaviour)
Therefore the central technique of REBT is to identify and dispute the patient’s irrational thoughts

Ellis argued that irrational thoughts are the main cause of all types of emotional distress and behaviour disorders. REBT is based on the premise that whenever we become upset, it is not the events taking place that upset us, but the beliefs that we hold.
REBT challenges the client to prove their negative statements and replace them with a more reasonable realistic view.

Question 38

Implications of depression/treatments of depression for the economy

Answer 38

Effective treatment would reduce the number of days people have off work sick so improving productivity.

Question 39

Supporting Evidence for Beck

Answer 39

-Grazioli and Terry 2000 assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression before and after birth, finding that those high in vulnerability were more likely to suffer post-natal depression

Question 40

(Evaluation of Beck’s CBT) practical application

Answer 40

Beck’s cognitive explanation forms the basis of cognitive behavioural therapy.

All cognitive aspects of depression can be challenged in CBT.

Question 41

Obsession

Answer 41

A persistent thought, idea, impulse or image that is experienced repeatedly, feels intrusive and causes anxiety.

Question 42

Compulsion

Answer 42

A repetitive and rigid behaviour or mental act that a person feels driven to perform in order to prevent or reduce anxiety.

Question 43

Categories of OCD (4) and what they all have in common

RTHE

Answer 43

-Regular OCD: characterised by obsessions and/or compulsions
-Trichotillomania: compulsive hair pulling
-Hoarding Disorder: the compulsive gathering of possessions and the inability to part with anything regardless of its value
-Excoriation Disorder: compulsive skin picking
These are alike in their repetitive behaviour accompanied by obsessive thinking.

Question 44

The DSM describes the main symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder as:

Answer 44

-recurrent obsessions and compulsions that disrupt daily life

Question 45

Emotional Characteristics of OCD

Answer 45

Depressed

Guilt and disgust.

Question 46

Behavioural characteristics of OCD

Answer 46

Compulsive and obsessive actions

Avoidance

Question 47

Cognitive characteristics of OCD

Answer 47

Obsessive thoughts

Anxiety

Question 48

Biological Explanation for OCD

Answer 48

Genetics: genes can predispose individuals to the illness

Question 49

Mckeon and Murray 1987

Answer 49

patients with OCD are more likely to have first degree relatives who suffer from anxiety disorders