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Psychology A Level AQA > Psychopathology > Flashcards

Psychopathology Flashcards

1
Q

Abnormality (4)

A

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

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2
Q

2 strengths and weaknesses of statistical infrequency

A

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

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3
Q

Limitations of defining abnormality as deviation from social norms

A

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

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4
Q

Statistical infrequency/Deviation from statistical norms

A

-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

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5
Q

Deviation from social norms

A

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

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6
Q

Strengths of deviation from social norms as a definition of abnormality

A

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

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7
Q

Limitations of deviation of social norms as a definition of abnormality

A

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

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8
Q

Failure to function adequately

A

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

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9
Q

Strengths of failure to function adequately as a definition of abnormality

A

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

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10
Q

Limitations of failure to function adequately as a definition of abnormality

A

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

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11
Q

Phobia

A

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

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12
Q

Emotional aspects of a phobia

A

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

Unreasonable emotional response, disproportionate to the danger posed.

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13
Q

Behavioural aspects of a phobia

A

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.

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14
Q

Cognitive aspects of a phobia

A

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

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15
Q

The Two Process Model

A

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

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16
Q

Maintenance of a phobia through operant conditioning

A

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

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17
Q

Systematic desensitisation (behavioural therapy)

A

-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

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18
Q

Flooding (behavioural therapy)

A

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.

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19
Q

Evaluation of Behavioural Approach to phobias

A

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.

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20
Q

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

A

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

21
Q

Depression

Plus the 4 DSM-V categories

A

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.

22
Q

Neuroses disorders

A

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

23
Q

Emotional characteristics of depression

LAL

A

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.

24
Q

Behavioural characteristics of depression

A

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.

25
Cognitive characteristics of depression ## Footnote DAP
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.
26
Assumptions of the cognitive approach to depression
-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.
27
Aaron Beck 1967
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
28
Faulty information processing (Beck)
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
29
Negative self schema (Beck)
People who have depression have developed negative self-schemas and therefore they interpret all the information about themselves in a negative way.
30
The negative triad
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.
31
Albert Ellis
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.
32
Ellis’ ABC Theory
-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.
33
Weissman and Beck 1978 (method, result and conclusion)
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.
34
Supporting evidence for Beck (evaluations for the cognitive approach to depression)
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
35
CBT
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
36
CBT 1 (Beck’s CBT)
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
37
CBT 2 (Ellis’ Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy)
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.
38
Implications of depression/treatments of depression for the economy
Effective treatment would reduce the number of days people have off work sick so improving productivity.
39
Supporting Evidence for Beck
-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
40
(Evaluation of Beck’s CBT) practical application
Beck’s cognitive explanation forms the basis of cognitive behavioural therapy. All cognitive aspects of depression can be challenged in CBT.
41
Obsession
A persistent thought, idea, impulse or image that is experienced repeatedly, feels intrusive and causes anxiety.
42
Compulsion
A repetitive and rigid behaviour or mental act that a person feels driven to perform in order to prevent or reduce anxiety.
43
Categories of OCD (4) and what they all have in common ## Footnote RTHE
-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.
44
The DSM describes the main symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder as:
-recurrent obsessions and compulsions that disrupt daily life
45
Emotional Characteristics of OCD
Depressed Guilt and disgust.
46
Behavioural characteristics of OCD
Compulsive and obsessive actions Avoidance
47
Cognitive characteristics of OCD
Obsessive thoughts Anxiety
48
Biological Explanation for OCD
Genetics: genes can predispose individuals to the illness
49
Mckeon and Murray 1987
patients with OCD are more likely to have first degree relatives who suffer from anxiety disorders

Psychology A Level AQA (8 decks)

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