Psychopathology Flashcards
1
Q
what is abnormality?
A
a psychologically or behavioural state leading to impairment of interpersonal functioning and/or distress to others
2
Q
what are the 3 points of view to explaining abnormality?
A
resulting from flawed biology due to ‘incorrect’ learning or defective thought processes
mental disorders originate from problems of the mind and personality
Rosenhan & Seligman, 1995 - believe normality is merely an absecence of normality
3
Q
what are the for definitions of abnormality?
A
definition from social norms
failure to function adequately
deviation from ideal mental health
statistical infrequency
4
Q
what is deviation from social norms?
A
each society has social norms (unwritten rules of behaviour)
any behaviour that varies is abnormal
5
Q
what does deviation from social norms allow?
A
allows interference into their lives in order to help them
e.g., putting them in a mental hospital
6
Q
how can deviation from social norms vary?
A
across cultures, situations, ages and gender
7
Q
what are the strengths of deviation from social norms?
A
helps people - individuals that need help may not be able to get it themselves
distinguishes between normal/abnormal - gives clear indication of what is and isn’t seen as normal behaviour
protects society - seeks to protect society from the effects an individual’s abnormal behaviour can have on others
8
Q
what are the limitations of deviation of social norms?
A
subjective - based on opinions of ruling elites rather than majority. e.g., Szasz (1960) sees the term ‘mental illness’ as a form of social control. those labelled as abnormal are discriminated agaisnt
9
Q
what is the failure to function adequately?
A
sees individuals as abnormal when their behaviour suggests tha they cannot cope with everyday life - causes distress leading to an inability to function properly
10
Q
whats an example of failing to function adequately?
A
not being able to work and/ or not being able to conduct satisfying interpersonal relationships
not being able to experience usual range of emotions or behaviours
11
Q
what does the failure to function adequately focus on?
A
individual suffering which draws attention to the personal experience associated with mental disorders
12
Q
who suggested the 7 features of personal dysfunction?
A
Rosenhan & Seligman, 1989
13
Q
what are the 7 features of personal dysfunction?
A
personal distress - includes depression and anxiety
maladaptive behaviour
unpredictability - loss of control, e.g. suicide
irrationality - bahaviour that cant be explained radically
observer discomfort
violation of moral standards
unconventional behaviours
14
Q
what is maladaptive behaviours?
A
behaviour stopping individuals from attaining life goals, socially and ocupationally
15
Q
what is violation of moral standards?
A
behaviours violating society’s moral standards
16
Q
what do clinicians use to assess how well indiviuals cope with everyday life?
A
Global Assessment of Functioning scale (GAF)
17
Q
what does the GAF scale rate?
A
levels of social, occupational and psychological functioning
18
Q
what are the strengths of failure to function adequately?
A
matches sufferes’ perceptions - most people seeking help believe they are suffering which interferes with their ability to function
assess degree of abnormality - GAF is scored on a continuous scale
observable behaviour - allows judgement by others
personal perspective - recognises the personal experience of sufferers and thus allows mental disorders to be regarded from the perception of the individuals suffering them
19
Q
what are the limitations of failure to function adequately?
A
abnormality is not always accompanied by dysfuntion - psychopaths appear normal
subjective nature to the features of dysfunction, dosent consider behaviour from an indiviuals perspective
there arre times when it is normal to suffer distress, e.g., grieving is psychologically healthy to overcome loss
cultural differences - ‘normal functioning’ varies
20
Q
what is deviation from ideal mental health?
A
failure to meet the criteria for perfect psychological wellbeing
21
Q
how does deviation from ideal mental health percieve abnormaility?
A
similar to how physical health is assessed
looking for signs of an absence of wellbeing
22
Q
who provided to characteristics of ideal mental health?
A
Marie Jahoda, 1958
23
Q
what are the six characteristics of ideal mental health?
A
positive attitude towards oneself
self-actualisation
autonomy
resisting stress - having effective coping strategies and being able to cope with everyday anxiety-provoking situations
accurate perception of reality - having anobjective and realistic view of the world
environmental mastery
24
Q
what does self-actualisation mean?
A
a state in which people are motivated to achieve their full potential
experiencing personal growth and development
25
what is autonomy?
being independent, self-reliant and able to make personal decisions
26
what is environmental mastery?
being competent in all aspects of life and able to meet demands of any situation
having the flexibility to adapt to changing life circumstances
27
what does deviation of ideal mental health focus on?
behaviours and characteristics seen as desirable rather than what is undesireable
28
what are the strengths of ideal mental health?
positivity - emphasises positive achievements rather than failures and distress
targets areas of dysfunction - targets areas that need improvement
holistic - considers an individual as a whole person rather than focusing on individual areas of their behaviour
goal setting - permits identification of exactly what is needed to achieve normality, creation of personal goals. facilitating self-growth
29
what are the limitations of deviation of ideal mental health?
over-demanding criteria - most people dont meet all ideal. might actually be ideals rather than actualities
subjective criteria - vague and difficult to measure and relies on self-report
contextual effects
changes over time - perceptions of reality change. seeing visions used to be a positive in religion, now its a sign of schizophrenia
cultural variation - culturally relative, should not be used to judge other cultures
30
what is statistical infrequency?
behaviours that are statistically rare should be seen as abnor,mal
31
what does statistical infrequency depend on?
normal distribution
32
what is a normal distribution curve ?
drawn to show what proportions of people share the characteristics or behaviour
33
where will most people be on a normal distribution curve?
on or near the mean with declining amounts of people away from the mean
34
what percent of people usually fall outside the normal distibution?
5%
35
what is the average approximate IQ?
100
36
what percent of the population have an IQ between 70-130?
95%
37
what percent of the population have an IQ under 70?
2.5%
38
what percent of the population have an IQ above 130?
2.5%
39
how many people statistically have schizophrenia?
1 in 300, 0.33%
40
what are the strengths of statistical infrequency?
objective - a 'cut-off point' has been agreed
evidence fro assistance - can be used to justify requests for psychiatric assistance
based on real data - relies on real, unbiased data
41
what are the limitations of statistical infrequency?
not clear how far behaviour should deviate from the norm to be seen as abnormal, eg depression caries greatly between individuals in terms of severity
not all infrequent behaviours are abnormal (i.e high IQ or extreme happiness)
cultural factors - dosent consider culture
42
what is a phobia?
an anxiety disorder characterised by extreme irrational fears
it is a natural response to a potentially dangerous stimuli
43
what are phobias characterised by?
uncontrollable, extreme, irrational and enduring fears and involve anxiety levels that are out of proportion to any actual risk
44
why is it difficult to estimate the occurance rate of phobias?
because sufferers attempt to deal with their phobias themselves
45
what percent of people will suffer from a phobia at some point?
10%
females are 2 times more likely
46
where do most phobias originate?
childhood
47
why do people typically have an insight into their phobias?
because they realise their fear reactions are irrational, but cannot consciously control them
48
what are the behavioural symptoms of phobias?
avoidant/anxiety response - efforts ar emade to avoid the feared objects and situations
disruption of dunctioning - anciety and avoidance responses are so extreme that they severly interfere with the ability to conduct everyday working and social functioning
49
what are the emotional symptoms of phobias?
persistent, excessive fear - high levels of anxiety
fear from exposure to phobic stimulus - phobias produce an immediate fear response, even panic attacks, due to the presentation of the phobic object or situation
50
what is the cognitive symptom of phobias?
recognition of exaggerated enxiety - phobics are conciously aware that the anciety levels they experience in relation to their feared object or situation are overstated
51
what are the 3 sub-divisions of phobias?
simple phobias
social phobias
agoraphobia
52
what is a simple phobia?
fears of specific things and environments
53
whats an example of a simple phobia?
astraphobia, the fear of thunderstorms
54
what are the 4 sub-divisions of simple phobias?
animal phobia - arachnophobia (spiders)
injury phobias - haematophobia (blood)
situational phobias - aerophobia (planes)
natural environmental phobias - hydrophobias (water)
55
what are social phobias?
involve being over-anxious in social situations
56
whats an example of social phobias?
talking in public
57
what do people with social phobias find difficult?
conducting meaningful relationships
58
what are the 3 sub-divisions of social phobias?
performance phobias - e.g. eating in public
interaction phobias - e.g. having an interview
generalised phobias - e.g. a crowd at a football match
59
what is agoraphobia?
fear of leaing home or a safe place
60
what is also present alongside agoraphobia?
panic attacks
61
what can bring on agoraphobia?
phobias such as fear of contamination or social embarrassment
62
what do people with agoraphobia do to avoid it?
find and stay in a safe place
63
what type of phobia tends to have the earliest onset?
animal phobias
64
how are phobias learnt?
from experience or gentics
65
what is depression?
an affective mood disorder involving a lengthy disturbance of emotions
66
how many people will suffer with some form of depression?
20% - women twice as much
67
when are females more vulnerable to depression?
mid to late adolescence because ots when they will experience body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem and resistance to achieving
68
how can depression occur?
cycles, symptoms coming and going over time
69
how long does a depressive episode typically last?
between 2-6 months
70
what percent of severly depressed people commit suicide?
10%
71
what percent of all suicides are related to mood disorders?
60%
72
when can depression begin?
from adolescence onwards
average age 20
72
what must you experience to be diagnosed with depression?
at least 5 symptoms must be apparent for 2 weeks every day with an impairment in general functioning also evident that is not accountable for by any other medical conditions or events
73
what must you experience to be diagnosed with major depression?
one of the 5 symptoms must be a constant depressed mood or lessened interest in dailt activies
74
what is dysthymic depression?
chronic depression
75
what is the difference between major and dysthymic depression?
duration
type
number of symptoms
76
what criteria must you meet to be diagnosed with dysthymic depression?
3 symptoms every day for 2+ months
77
what are the 2 main types of depression?
unipolar depression
bipolar/manic depression
78
what is endogenous depression related to?
internal biochemical and hormonal factors
79
what is exogenous depression related to?
stressful experiences
79
what percent of women suffer with unipolar depression?
25%
80
what percent of men suffer with unipolar depression?
12%
81
what needs to happen to have a more severe version of unipolar depression?
delusions - patients genrally experience more social impairment
depressive episodes more frequently
81
what are the behavioural symptoms of depression?
loss of energy - fatigue, lethargy and high levels of inactivity
social impairment - reduced levels of social interaction with friends and family
dramatic changes in weight
poor personal hygiene
change in sleep pattern - insomnia/oversleeping
81
what are the emotional symptoms of depression?
loss of enthusiasm - lack of pleasure in hobbies
constant depressed mood - ever present feeling of sadness
worthlessness - constant feelings of reduced worth and/or inappropriate feelings of guilt
81
what are the cognitive symptoms of depression?
delusions - generally concerning guilt, punishment, personal inadequacy or disease
reduced concentration - difficulty in paying attention and/ or slowed thinking and indecisiveness
thoughts of death - constant
poor memory
82
what percent of people suffer with bipolar?
2%
82
when does bipolar typically appear?
in a persons 20s - before 50s
82
what is apart of bipolar?
mixed episodes of mania and depression
83
what are the behavioural symptoms of bipolar?
high energy levels
reckless behaviour
talkative
84
what are the emotional symptoms of bipolar?
elevated mood states
irritability
lack of guilt after concerning behaviour
84
what are the cognitive symptoms of biopolar?
delusions
irrational thought processes
84
what is OCD?
anxiety disorder
85
what do sufferers of OCD experience?
persistent and intrusive thoughts occuring as obssesions, compulsions or a combination of both
85
what are obssesions?
forbidden or inappropriate ideas and visual images that aren't based in reality
86
whats an example of an obssesion?
being convinced that germs are everywhere
87
what do obssesions lead to?
extreme anxiety and compulsions
87
what are compulsions?
intense, uncontrollable urges to repetitively perform tasks and behaviours
87
whats an example of compulsions?
repetitively washing your hands to get rid of germs
87
whats the purpose of compulsions?
an attempt to reduce distress or prevent feared events
88
what further increases anxiety in people with OCD?
they realise they have obssesive ideas and that theyre compulsions are excessive but they cannot control them
89
what are 2 conditions that OCD overlaps with?
tourette's and autism
89
what percent of people suffer with OCD?
2%
90
what are common OCD types in females?
contamination and cleaning
90
what are common OCD types in males?
religion and sex
91
who tends to have earlier onset and more severe symptoms?
males
92
what are the behavioural symptoms of obssesions?
hinder everyday functioning through anxiety
social impairment - cannot conduct meaningful interpersonal relationships
93
what are the emotional symptoms of obssesions?
extreme anxiety
94
what are the cognitive symptoms of obssesions?
recurrent and persistent thoughts - intrisive nature
95
what are some examples of common obssesions?
contamination
fear of losing control - impulses to hurt others
perfectionism - fear of not being the best
religion - fear of being immoral
96
what are the behavioural symptoms of compulsions?
repetitive
hinder everyday functioning
social impairment
97
what are the emotional symptoms of compulsions?
distress
98
what are the cognitive symptoms of compulsions?
uncontrollable urges
realisation of inappropriateness
99
what are some examples of common compulsions?
excessive washing and cleaning
excessive checking (doors are locked)
repetition (movements)
mental compulsions (praying in order to prevent harm)
hoarding (magazines)
100
what is the behavioural explanation behind phobias?
that they aren't learnt through experience via the process of association
101
how is a phobia learnt through classical conditioning (CC)?
a stimulus is associated with a fear response
102
how is a phobia learnt through operant conditiong (OC)?
learning a behaviour due to the consequences of that behaviour (avoiding a fear-provoking stimulus leaves you with no anxiety)
103
how is a phobia learnt through the social learning theory (SLT)?
through observation and imitation of another
104
what model is used regarding learning a phobia?
the 2 process model
105
what is the two-process model?
phobias ar elearnt through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning
106
who developed the two-process model?
mowrer (1960)
107
who developed classical conditioning?
Pavlov (1903)
108
what did Pavlov, 1903, do?
taught dogs to salivate in anticipation of being fed rather than when actually being fed
109
how did pavlov teach the dogs to salivate at the aound of the bell?
over a period of time, he would introduce a bell just before the dog was fed
eventually when he removed the food source, the dog would salivate at the sound of the bell
110
whats an example of classical conditioning in learning behaviour?
being mugged in the dark would make you scared of the dark
111
how are phobias maintained through operant conditioning?
a person would avoid the phobic stimulus and feel no anxiety - negative reinforcement
112
what did Ost & Hugdahl, 1981, report?
case of a boy who witnessed his grandfather vomit while dying and subsequently developed a persistent vomitting phobia and even complemented suicide when feeling nauseous
113
who held the little albert experiment?
John Watson & Rosalie Rayner
114
when was the little albert experiment?
1920
115
what was the aim of the little albert experiment?
to provide empirical evidence that human emotional responses could be learned through classical conditioning
116
what is the procedure of the little albert experiment?
lab experiment
11 month old boy who lived in the hospital - mother was a nurse
presented with various stimuli - white rat, rabbit, cotton wool
responses filmed - no fear reaction intially
fear reaction introduced by striking a steel bar with a hammer behind his head
startled albert
albert then given white rat, and as he reached for it, the steel bar was struck again
repeated 3 times and continued for 3 months
was intended to be de-conditioned but his mother removed him from the hospital before it had happened
117
what were the findings of the little albert experiment?
when shown the rat, albert would cry, roll over and crawl away
developed a fear
when shown similar animals or objects, he would react with the same intensity
118
what are the conclusions of the little albert experiment?
conditioned emotional responses, including love, fear and phobias , are acquired as a direct result of environmental experiences which can transfer and persist unless removed by counter-conditioning
119
what are the strengths of the little albert experiment?
easily replicable - although unethical
carefully documented
evidence that shows that classical conditioning can occur in humans
high levels of control
120
what are the limitations of the little albert experiment?
unethical - causes psychological harm to albert
done in a lab so cannot be easily generalised to real life setting
never de-conditioned albert so we dont know if it is reversable
121
what did bagby, 1922, report?
case study of a women who had a phobia of running water that originated from her feet getting stuck in some rocks near a waterfall
she became increasingly panic-stricken
eventually de-conditioned
122
what did king et al, 1988, report?
case studies that showed that children tended to acquire strong phobias through a traumatic experience - supports idea of phobias being acquired through CC
123
what did di gallo, 1996, report?
20% of people experiencing traumatic car accidents developed a phobia of travelling in cars
tended to make avoidance responses involving staying at home rather than making car journeys to see friends - explained by OC
negatively reinforcing
124
what are the strengths of the behavioural explanation of phobias?
supporting evidence of the role of CC with little albert
resulted in effective treatments of phobias
125
what are the limitations of the behavioural explanation of phobias?
unable to explain why some phobias are more common then others (i.e spiders)
two-process model fails to take cognitive factors into account
126
what are the 2 ways phobias are treated?
systematic desensitisation (SD)
flooding
127
what is systematic desensitisation?
when the sufferer learns relaxation techniques and then faces a progressive hierarchy of exposure to the phobic stimluli
128
who developed systemative desensitisation?
Wolpe, 1958
129
how long does SD take?
about a month
130
how is the hierarchy in SD constructed?
before treatment commences
from least to most fearful types of contact with phobic stimulus
patients are taught relaxation techniques for each stage
normally achieved by imagining scenarios
involves actual contact later on
131
what is convert desensitisation?
imagining scenarios
132
what is in vivo desensitisation?
actual contact with phobic stimulus
133
what is flooding?
having direct contact with phobic stimulus
patients are not allowed to make their usual avoidance responses
134
what did mark brosnan and sue thorpe, 2006, do?
treated technophobia through systematic desensitisation
135
what was the aim of brosnan and thorpe, 2006?
to see whether a fear of computers could be successfully treated by SD
136
what is the procedure of brosnan and thorpe, 2006?
first study = sample of 16 participants - 8 computer-anxious participants, 8 non-anxious participants. 10 week SD programme was delivered to computer-anxious participants
second study = 30 computer-anxious participants assigned to a treatment group or non-treatment group. non-anxious control group of 59 participants
137
what were the findings of brosnan and thorpe, 2006?
first study = computer anxiety and coping strategies were significantly improved in computer-anxious group
second study = testing established over the period of an academic year that the reduction in anxiety was 3 times greater in treated group - non-treated group were significantly more anxious
138
what are the conclusions of brosnan and thorpe, 2006?
behavioural therapy of SD is effective in reducing technophobia
139
what is the strength of brosnan and thorpe, 2006?
suggest major benefit in solving technophobia
140
what is the limitation of brosnan and thorpe, 2006?
not known if it's a long term solution
141
what did Jones, 1924, do?
used SD to eradicate 'Little Perter's' phobia od white fluffy animals and objects
rabbit was presented at closer distances each time, his anxiety levels subsided to permit movement into the next stage and peter was rewarded with food to develop a positive association towards the rabbit
eventually he developed affection for the rabbit - generalised onto similar animals and objects
142
what did Wolpe, 1960, do?
used flooding to remove a girl's phobia of being in cars
girl forced into a car and was driven around for four hours until her hysteria was eradicated
143
what did Barlow, 2002, report?
flooding is just as effective as SD, SD is preferred
144
what are the strengths of SD?
suitable for many patients, i.e those with learning disabilities
more acceptable in people
145
what are the limitations of SD?
no guarantee it will work
unethical - can cause psychological harm
146
what are the strengths of flooding?
cost-effective - only needs one session
real-life scenarios - ecologically valid
147
what are the limitations of flooding?
unethical - highly traumatic to patients
some wont be able to handle it
removes symptoms but not the underlying cause
148
what are the cognitive explanations of depression?
faulty and irrational thought processes and perceptions
Beck's negative triad
Ellis' ABC model
149
when did beck develop his negative triad?
1987
150
what is becks negative triad?
a model of cognitive biases which are characteristic features of depression
151
what are the 3 elements of becks negative triad?
pessimistic thought pattern about the self, the world and the future
152
when does the negative triad develop?
childhood
153
how does the negative triad develop?
when authority figures place unreal demands on individuals and are highly critical of them
154
what are the 3 types of negative schemas?
ineptness schemas
self-blame schemas
negative self-evaluation schemas
155
what is ineptness schemas?
expection to fail
155
what are self-blame schemas?
feeling responsible for all misfortunes
156
what are negative self-evaluation schemas?
constantly remind depressives of worthlessness
157
what are the 4 cognitive biases in the negative triad?
arbiturary interference
selective abstraction
overgeneralisation
magnification and minimisation
158
what is arbituary interference?
conclusions drawn in the absence from sufficient evidence
159
whats an example of arbiturary interference?
a man concluding his worthlessness because it rains the day he hosts an outdoor party
160
what is selective abstraction?
conclusions drawn from just one part of a situation
161
what is an example of selective abstraction?
a worker feeling worthless when a product dosent work, even though several people made it
162
what is overgeneralisation?
sweeping conclusions drawn on the basis of a single event
162
what is an example of overgeneralisation?
student regarding poor performance on one test as proof of worthlessness
163
what is magnificantion and minimisation?
exaggerations in evaluation of performance
163
what is an example of magnification?
a man believing he's ruined his car due to small scratch
164
what is an example of minimisation?
a woman believing herself worthless despite many praises
164
what does ellis believe depressives do?
mistakenly blame external events for their unhappiness
165
what did ellis develop?
ABC model
166
what does the ABC model stand for?
activating event
beliefs
consequence
167
what is the activating event?
something happens in the environment aorund you
167
what is the beliefs?
you hold a belief about the event or situation
168
what is the consequence?
you have an emotional response to your relief
169
what does the activating event trigger and what is the consequence ?
an emotion that is seen as true
consequence is that the individual becomes depressed because they have a negative view about themself and no confidence in their ability
169
what did ellis form from the ABC model?
rational emotive behaviour therapy REBT
170
what research relates to depression relates to cognitive functions?
beevers, clasen, stice & schnyer (2010)
171
what are the aims of beevers, clasen, stice & schnyer (2010) ?
assess whether brain areas associated with cognitive control are affected by emotional stimuli in individuals with mild depressive symptoms
171
what is the procedure of beevers, clasen, stice & schnyer (2010) ?
27 females - 18-27
voluteers - ads
depression measured by the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CESD)
13 participants in low depressin symptoms group (LDG)
14 participants in high depression symptoms group (HDG)
stimuli of 3 faces - happy, sad and neutral - and control simuli of geometric shapes
432 trials
button to indicate which stimuli they saw
brains simultaneously scanned w fMRI
172
what were the findings of beevers, clasen, stice & schnyer (2010) ?
difference in brain activation in LDG and HDG for happy and sad faces
no difference in brain activation between geometiric shapes and sad faces
172
what are the conslusions of beevers, clasen, stice & schnyer (2010) ?
mild to moderate levels of depression have difficulty in activating brain areas associated with cognitive control of emotional information
poor cognitive control of emotional information may indicate levels of vulnerability to more severe forms of depression
172
what is the strength of beevers, clasen, stice & schnyer (2010) ?
Centre of Epidemiologic Studies for Depression scale reliable
172
what are the limitations of beevers, clasen, stice & schnyer (2010) ?
no males
narrow age range
menstrual cycles are not assessed - extraneous variables
172
what did McIntosh & Fischer (2000) do?
tested negative cognitive triad
173
what did McIntish & Fischer (2000) find?
no clear seperation of negative thoughts, but instead a single one-dimensional negative perception of the self, suggesting retention of all 3 areas of the triad is unecessary
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