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a level psychology > psychopathology > Flashcards

psychopathology Flashcards

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1
Q

what is the definition of statistical infrequency

A

human behaviour considered abnormal due to it falling outside of hte range that is typical for most

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2
Q

what is an example of statisitical infrequency

A

the norm Iq is 100 but some have an IQ of 70 some have an IQ of 110

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3
Q

evaluate stat. infrequency as a definition of abnormality

A

+ appropriate for quantitative cases
- cut off points are arbitrary (what is the one point of difference)
- ignores desirable behaviour
- cultural relativism lacking- in some cultures arranged marriages are frequent in other they are rare

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4
Q

define deviation from social norms

A

behaviour that deviated from the normal behaviours and standards of society

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5
Q

what is an example of deviating from social norms

A

having tatoos all over your face

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6
Q

evaluate deviation from social norms as a definition of abnormality

A

+ doesnt exclude desirable behaviour
+ context is taken into account e.g age
- not inclusive as some cultures dont fit in all countries
- marginilises groups of people that dont fit it

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7
Q

explain failure to function adequately

A

not being able to cope with everyday living and causing distress to yourself or others

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8
Q

what are the 7 criteria for failing to function adequately

A
  1. unpredictability
  2. maladaptive behaviour
  3. personal distress
  4. irrationality
  5. observer discomfort
  6. violation of moral standards
  7. unconventionality
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9
Q

evalaute failure to function adequetely as a definiton of abnormaility

A

+ relatively easy to judge
+ recognise the subjective experience of the individual
- people who have alternative lifestyles or do extreme sports could be seen as maladaptive behaviour in our country
- some people appear to function normally despite being seriously ill/disturbed

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10
Q

define deviation from ideal mental health

A

the lack of ideal mental health in a person

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11
Q

what are jahodas 6 elements

A
  1. self attitude
  2. personal growth and self actualisation
  3. integration
  4. autonomy
  5. accurate perception of reality
  6. mastery of the environment
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12
Q

evaluate deviation from ideal mental health as a definition of abnormaility

A

+ positive approach and offers an alternative perspective
- unrealistic criteria
- lacking in cultural relativism e.g seeing ghosts is good in Native American culture but bad in western culture

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13
Q

what are phobias

A

anxiety disorder when a fear negatively impacts on a persons everyday life

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14
Q

what is a social phobia

A

fear of humiliation in public places

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15
Q

what are specific phobias

A

fear of a specific object or situation

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16
Q

what is agoraphobia

A

fear of public places

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17
Q

what is depression

A

a mood affective disorder that involves a prolonged and fundemental disturbance of mood and emotion

18
Q

what are the 6 symptoms a person must be suffering from to be depressed

A

change in appetite
change in sleep
change in acitvity levels
loss of interest in hobbies
inability to concentrate
reccurent thoughts of death/suicide

19
Q

what is OCD

A

an anxiety disorder with frequent intrusive thoughts and unwelcome obsessional thoughts often followed by compulsions

20
Q

what are obsessions

A

persistent and uncontrollable thoughts that are often intrusuve and significantly interfere with the ability to function on a day to day basis

21
Q

what are compulsions

A

repetitive physical behaviours that are performed repeatedly in attempt to relieve anxiety caused by the obsessional thoughts

22
Q

explain the two process model behaviour explanation

A

Orval Hobart Mowrer (1947)
- phobias are learned
- phobia is aquired through classical conditioning and association
- phobia is maintained through operant conditioning and negative reinforcement

23
Q

evaluate the two process model

A
  • not everyone who is bitten by a dog develops a fear of dogs
  • Sue et al suggest that different phobias may be the result of different processes. For example agoraphobic less likely to recall an exact incident but specific phobias can.
  • the two process model ignored congnitive factors like the irational fears
  • biological preparedness can be used to explain fears as well as there are some evolutionary fears that are very common like snakes
24
Q

what is the behavioural treatment to phobias

A

systematic desensitisation and flooding

25
Q

explain the process of systematic desensitisation

A
  1. relaxation techniques are taught
  2. anxiety heirachy is made
  3. gradual exposure to fear and counterconditioning
26
Q

what is reciprocal inhibition

A

it is impossible to be afraid and relaxed at the same time so one emotion prevent the other

27
Q

evaluate the method of systematic desensitisation

A
  • doesnt work with people with a lack of insight into their motivations or emotionas e.g children with learning difficulties
  • individualised therapy and so can be expensive adn time consuming
    + not appropriate for all phobias
    + most patients tend to prefer it to flooding as its less traumatic
    + Mcgrath found that 75% of pateints with specific fears improved
    + Gilroy (2003) followed up 42 patients who were treated for spider phobias by systematic desensitisation and a control group who were treated by relaxation and not exposure and found the SD group were lesss fearful
28
Q

explain the process of flooding

A
  • one long session where the patient experiences their phobia at its worst until the patient is completely relaxed due to the adrenaline levels naturally decreasing and this is known as extinction
29
Q

evaluate the treatment on flooding

A
  • is an extreme form of therapy and therefore rather ethically dubiosu
    + good effectiveness Choy et al reported that both SD and flooding were effective but flooding was more effective. Craske et al concluded that SD and flooding were as effective as each other.
    + more cost effective than SD
  • flooding isnt for everyone and can tbe used on children under
30
Q

explain becks negative triad

A
  • depressed people have aquired a negative schema during childhood which leads to a triad

negative view of self –> negative view of world –> negative view of future

31
Q

what does beck suggest makes us vunerable to depression

A
  1. faulty information processing
  2. negative self schema
  3. the negative triad
32
Q

explain the ABC model by Ellis

A

ellis focuses on irrational beliefs as the source of depression
a= activating event
b= belief irrational or rational
c= consequence

33
Q

explain Ellis mustabatory thinking

A

the source of irrational beliefs lies in mustabatory thinking which is that certain iseas must be true in order to be happy

Ellis identified 3: i must be approved, i must do well and the world must give me happiness

34
Q

evaluate the cognitive explanations of depression

A

+ Hammen and kranzt found depressed people made more errors in logic when asled to interpret material than non depressed
+ Bates et al found that depressed people who were given negative statements become more and more depressed supporting negative thinking leads to depression
- blames client rather than the situational factors
+ practical applications in therapy as both theroies have been applied to CBT which is consistently the best treatment for depression
- alternative explanations like biological approach and neurotransmitters

35
Q

what is the cognitive treatment for depression and explain the 3 processes

A

CBT is when you dispute the irrational beliefs

in CBT clients are set homework tasks which may involve putting themselves into situations they would have avoided

they will take part in behavioural activiation which is when the client is encouraged to become more active

finally unconditional positive regard which is when the therapist is convinving the client of their own self worth

36
Q

evaluate CBT

A

+ research support Ellis claimed a 90% success rate for CBT taking an average of 27 sessions to complete
- individual differences as its less suitable for people who have high levels of irrational beleifs and is less suitable for real stressors like losing a job
+ support for behavioural activation Babyak et al studied 156 adults all with major depression and were randomly assigned to a 4 month course of either exercise, drugs or a combo of two. All 3 groups showed a significaant improvement 6 months after the end of the stufy those in the exercise group had significantly lower relapse
- alternative treatments like antidepressants

37
Q

explain the gene biological explanations of OCD

A

the COMT gene is involved in the production of the COMT enzyme which is responsible for clearing synapses or neurotransmitters. Tukel et al found that lower levels of the COMT gene leads to higher levels of dopamine and higher levels of dopamine are linked to steroetyped mocements which manifest as compulsions

the SERT gene effects the tranport of serotonin creating lower levels of serotonin. This mutation of the SERT gene results in an increase of hte trasnporter proteins on the presynaptic neuron so serotonin get reabsorbed at a faster rate then usual leaving less in the synapse. one study found that 6 out of 7 family members had OCD.

38
Q

explain the neurotransmitters biological explanations of OCD

A

dopamine levels are often high in OCd and based on animal studies where drugs induce high levels of dopamine there were steroetypes movements resembling compulsive behaviours
drugs that increase serotonin activity reduced the symtoms of OCD

39
Q

explain the brain circuit explanation on OCD

A

the caudate nucleus normally supresses signals from the orbitofrontal cortex and in turn the OFC sends signals to the thalamus to stop worrying

if the caudate nucleus is faulty the worry circuit will continue and that is where the irrational thoughts come in

40
Q

evaluate the biological explanations of OCD

A

+ leads to real world applications like using antidepressants for OCD
+ Billet et al found that then studying Mz twins and Dz twins, Mz twins were twice as likely to develop OCD if thier twin had the disorder than was the case for Dz twins. However concordance rate was never 100%
+ Nestadt et al identified 80 patients with OCD and 343 of their first degree relatives and sompared them with 73 control patients adn 300 of their first degree relatives. They found that people with teh 1st degree relatives with OCD had 5 times greater risk of having the illness themselves
- alternative explanations like behaviourisms

41
Q

explain the biological treatments of OCD

A

three types of drugs:
SSRI’s- inhibit the reabsoption of serotonin by blocking transporter proteins

Bz’s: enhance activity of the neurotransmitter GABA it reacts with GABA receptors and opens chennels that increase the slow of chloride ions into the nuetron causing a person to feel more relaxed

tricyclics: inhibit reabsorption of serotonin by blocking transporter proteins

42
Q
A

a level psychology (9 decks)

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