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A Level Psychology > Psychopathology > Flashcards

Psychopathology Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a phobia?

A

An intense, persistent or irrational fear of an object, event or situation. Response is disproportionate and leads to avoidance of a phobic object, event or situation.

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2
Q

What does behavioural mean?

A

Ways in which people act?

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3
Q

What does emotional mean?

A

Ways in which people feel

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4
Q

What does cognitive mean?

A

Refers to the process of thinking - knowing, perceiving, believing

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5
Q

What is the DSM?

A

A system for classifying and diagnosing mental health problems

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6
Q

What is a specific phobia?

A

A phobia of an object, such as an animal or body part, or a situation

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7
Q

What is social anxiety?

A

A phobia of a social situation such as public speaking or using a public toilet, parties, meeting new people

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8
Q

What is agoraphobia?

A

A phobia of being outside or in a public place, leaving the safety of home

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9
Q

What are the 3 behavioural characteristics of phobias?

A
  • Panic
  • Avoidance
  • Endurance
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10
Q

What are the 3 emotional characteristics of phobias?

A
  • Anxiety

- Emotional responses are unreasonable

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11
Q

What are the 3 cognitive characteristics of phobias?

A
  • Selective attention to the phobic stimulus
  • Irrational beliefs
  • Cognitive distortions
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12
Q

What is statistical infrequency?

A

Occurs when an individual had a less common characteristic, for example being more depressed or less intelligent than most of the population, making them ‘abnormal’ rather than ‘normal’

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13
Q

Name 2 strengths of statistical infrequency.

A
  • It is clearly appropriate for many mental illnesses where statistical criteria is available
  • A very real-life application in the diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder.
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14
Q

Name 2 limitations of statistical infrequency.

A
  • Not all frequent behaviours are abnormal, in fact some rare behaviours and characteristics are desirable
  • Not all abnormal behaviours are infrequent as some statistically ‘frequent’ behaviours are ‘abnormal’
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15
Q

What does ‘deviation from social norms’ mean?

A

Concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community of society.

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16
Q

Name 1 strength of the deviation from social norms.

A

It allows the consideration of the social dimensions of a behaviour. This means it allows for our understanding may be normal in one situation but not another.

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17
Q

Name 2 limitations of the deviation from social norms.

A
  • Many individuals regularly break social norms but they are defined as ‘eccentric’ rather than mentally ill
  • Norms change over time, for example until 1980 homosexuality was classified as a mental illness and sufferers were often subjected to barbaric treatments as a result.
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18
Q

What does ‘failure to function adequately’ mean?

A

Occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day-to-day living.

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19
Q

Name 2 strengths of the failure to function adequately.

A
  • Takes into consideration the experiences of the patient allowing an assessment to be made from the point of view of the person experiencing it.
  • It is relatively easy to judge objectively through an assessment of criterion
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20
Q

Name 2 limitations of the failure to function adequately.

A
  • Some people can appear to function completely normally yet still be a psychopath
  • There is a problem over deciding who has the right to define a behaviour as dysfunctional
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21
Q

What does ‘deviation from ideal mental health’ mean?

A

Occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health

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22
Q

Name 5 criterion needed for a good mental health

A
  • We have no symptoms of distress
  • We self-actualise
  • We are rational and can perceive ourselves accurately
  • We can cope with stress
  • We have good self-esteem and lack guilt
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23
Q

Name 2 strengths of the ‘deviation from ideal mental health’.

A
  • It takes a positive approach to mental problems

- The focus is on what is desirable rather than what is undesirable

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24
Q

Name 2 limitations of the ‘deviation from ideal mental health’.

A
  • This definition has been accused of having over demanding criteria
  • The criteria is difficult to measure
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25
Q

What is depression?

A

A mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels

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26
Q

What are the DSM-5 categories of depression?

A
  • Major depressive disorder
  • Persistent depressive disorder
  • Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder
  • Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
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27
Q

What is major depressive disorder?

A

Severe but often short-term depression

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28
Q

What is persistent depressive disorder?

A

Long-term recurring depression, including sustained major depression and what used to be called dysthymia

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29
Q

What is disruptive mood dysregulation disorder?

A

Childhood temper tantrums

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30
Q

What is premenstrual dysphoric disorder?

A

Disruption to mood prior to and/or during menstruation

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31
Q

What are the behavioural characteristics of depression?

A
  • Reduced activity/energy levels
  • Disruption to sleep and eating behaviour
  • Aggression and self-harm
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32
Q

What is psychomotor agitation?

A

Agitated individuals struggle to relax and end up pacing up and down a room

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33
Q

What are the emotional characteristics of depression?

A
  • Lowered mood
  • Anger
  • Lowered self-esteem
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34
Q

What are the cognitive characteristics of depression?

A
  • Poor concentration
  • Attending to and dwelling on the negative
  • Absolutist thinking
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35
Q

What is OCD?

A

A conditioned characterised by obsessions and/or compulsive behaviour

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36
Q

What is a compulsion?

A

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

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37
Q

What are the DSM-5 categories of OCD?

A
  • OCD
  • Trichotillomania
  • Hoarding disorder
  • Excoriation disorder
38
Q

What is trichotollomania?

A

Compulsive hair pulling

39
Q

What is excoriation disorder?

A

Compulsive skin picking

40
Q

What are the behavioural characteristics of OCD?

A
  • Compulsions

- Avoidance

41
Q

What are the emotional characteristics of OCD?

A
  • Anxiety and distress
  • Accompanying depression
  • Guilt and disgust
42
Q

What are the cognitive characteristics of OCD?

A
  • Obsessive thoughts
  • Cognitive strategies to deal with obsessions
  • Insight into excessive anxiety
43
Q

What is a behavioural approach?

A

A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning

44
Q

What is classical conditioning?

A

Learning by association, occurring when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together

45
Q

What is operant conditioning?

A

A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by it’s consequences, it’s reinforcements.

46
Q

What is the two-process model?

A

It states that phobias are acquired by classical conditioning and then continue because of operant conditioning.

47
Q

How does classical conditioning work?

A

An unconditioned stimulus creates an unconditioned response. When the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus are encountered close together, in time the neutral stimulus becomes the unconditioned stimulus. Then the conditioned stimulus produces a conditioned response

48
Q

How does operant conditioning work?

A

Behaviour is reinforced or punished.

49
Q

What is systematic desensitisation?

A

A behavioural therapy designed to reduce an unwanted response, such as anxiety, to a stimulus gradually using the principles of classical conditioning

50
Q

What is reciprocal inhibition?

A

It is impossible to be afraid and relaxed at the same time, so one emotions prevents the other.

51
Q

What are the 3 steps of systematic desensitisation?

A
  • The anxiety hierarchy
  • Relaxation
  • Exposure
52
Q

What is the anxiety hierarchy?

A

A list of situations related to the phobic stimulus that provoke anxiety arranged in order from most to least frightening

53
Q

What is flooding?

A

A behavioural therapy in which a phobic patient is exposed to an extreme form of a phobic stimulus in order to reduce anxiety triggered by that stimulus.

54
Q

Which behavioural therapy treat phobias has longer sessions; flooding or systematic desensitisation?

A

Flooding

55
Q

Outline the process of flooding.

A

Without the option of avoidance behaviour, the patient quickly learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless. In classical conditioning terms, this process is called extinction.

56
Q

What is a cognitive approach?

A

The term ‘cognitive’ has come to mean ‘mental processes’, so this approach is focused on how are mental processes affect behaviour

57
Q

What is the negative triad?

A

A negative view of the self, the world and the future

58
Q

Who proposed the idea of the negative triad?

A

Beck

59
Q

What is the ABC model?

A

Depression occurs when an activating event (A) triggers an irrational belief (B) which in turn produces a consequence (C) i.e. an emotional response like depression.

60
Q

Who proposed the ABC model?

A

Ellis

61
Q

What are the 3 parts to Beck’s cognitive approach to explaining depression?

A
  • Faulty information processing
  • Negative self-schemas
  • The negative triad
62
Q

What is faulty information processing?

A
  • A fundamental error in logic
  • Blowing small problems out of proportion
  • Focus on the negative aspects
63
Q

What is a negative self-schema?

A

A self-schema is a ‘package’ of ideas we have about ourselves. If this is negative, then we have a negative view of ourselves.

64
Q

What is the activating event?

A

According to Ellis we get depressed when we experience negative events which trigger irrational beliefs.

65
Q

What is cognitive behaviour therapy?

A

A method for treating mental disorders based on both cognitive and behavioural techniques. From the cognitive viewpoint the therapy aims to deal with thinking, such as challenging negative thoughts.

66
Q

What are irrational thoughts?

A

Thoughts that are likely to interfere with a person’s happiness.

67
Q

How does cognitive behaviour therapy work?

A
  • Assessment
  • Making goals
  • Making a plan to achieve them
68
Q

What is cognitive behaviour therapy commonly used to treat?

A

Depression

69
Q

What is behavioural activation?

A

Alongside the purely cognitive aspects of CBT the therapist may also work to encourage a depressed patient to be more active and engage in enjoyable activities.

70
Q

What is Ellis’ Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT)?

A

REBT extends the ABC Model to an ABCDE Model. D stands for dispute and E stands for effect. The central technique of REBT is to identify and dispute irrational thoughts.

71
Q

What does Ellis argue is the main cause of all types of emotional distress and behavioural disorders?

A

Irrational thoughts

72
Q

What is a biological approach?

A

A perspective that emphasises the importance of physical processes in the body such as genetic inheritance and neural function.

73
Q

What is the neural explanation?

A

The view that physical and psychological characteristics are determined by the behaviour of the nervous system, in particular the brain as well as individual neurons.

74
Q

What is the genetic explanation?

A

Genes make up chromosomes and consist of DNA which codes the physical features of an organism and psychological features such as mental disorder or intelligence.

75
Q

What did Lewis observe?

A

37% of his OCD patients had parents with OCD and 21% had siblings with OCD. This suggests that OCD runs in families, although what is probably passed on from one generation to the next is genetic vulnerability not the certainty of OCD.

76
Q

What does the diathesis-stress model propose?

A

People are born with a vulnerability to a certain mental illness, and environmental stressors influence whether they will end up getting that disease or not.

77
Q

What are candidate genes?

A

Genes which create vulnerability for OCD, some of which are involved in regulating the development of the serotonin system

78
Q

What is meant by ‘OCD is polygenic’?

A

OCD is not caused by one single gene but that several genes are involved.

79
Q

How many different genes were found to be involved in OCD by Taylor in 2013?

A

230

80
Q

What is meant by ‘aetiologically heterogeneous’?

A

The origin (aetiology) of OCD has different causes (heterogeneous) meaning that one group of genes may cause OCD in one person but a different group of genes may cause the disorder in another person.

81
Q

What is serotonin?

A

A neurotransmitter which controls mood regulation, typically associated with a good mood

82
Q

Is OCD associated with high or low levels of serotonin?

A

Low

83
Q

How can OCD be treated?

A

Drug therapy

84
Q

What drugs are used to treat OCD?

A

SSRIs

85
Q

How do SSRIs work?

A
  • Prevent the reabsorption and breakdown of serotonin in the brain
  • This increases it’s levels in the synapse
  • Therefore, serotonin continues to stimulate the postsynaptic neuron
86
Q

What is the typical dosage of fluoxetine (SSRIs)?

A
  • 20mg

- Taken for 3-4 months daily

87
Q

Why are SSRIs combined with CBT to treat OCD?

A

The drugs reduce the patients emotional symptoms meaning that the patient can engage more effectively with CBT

88
Q

What is an alternative to SSRIs?

A

Tricyclics - an older form of anti-depressant

89
Q

What can be used if SSRIs do not work?

A

SNRIs - only for patients who do not respond to SSRIs

90
Q

What does the neural explanation of OCD suggest?

A
  • Low levels of serotonin cause OCD

- Impaired frontal lobes

A Level Psychology (11 decks)

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