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A-Level Psychology (ALEX) > Psychopathology (AO1) > Flashcards

Psychopathology (AO1) Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the 2 main forms of depression?

A
  • Major Depressive Disorder: Severe but often short-term depression
  • Persistent Depressive Disorder: Long-term or recurring depression, including sustained amor depression. What used to be called dysthymia/neurotic depression
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2
Q

How does depression affect activity levels?

A

Typically causes a decrease in these due to decrease in energy levels, leading to withdrawal from work/education and social life. Sometimes so bad sufferers can’t leave bed!

BUT can also cause psychomotor agitation. With this, one can never relax, often makes sufferers pace up and down a room

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3
Q

How does depression affect easting and sleeping behaviour?

A
  • Both are disrupted by depression
  • Sufferers may develop insomnia or the complete opposite with hypersomnia
  • Similarly, appetite can also heavily increase or decreased. Causes change in weight
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4
Q

How does depression affect aggression?

A
  • Sufferers are also often irritable and can become physical and verbal aggressive
  • It can also lead to physical aggression to oneself. This includes self-harm, often cutting or suicide attempts
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5
Q

What does lowered mood have to do in depression?

A
  • A major symptom of depression, it is more pronounced then in daily kind of emotions of feeling lethargic + sad
  • Sufferers often describe themselves as worthless and empty
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6
Q

What is self-esteem?

How is it affected by depression?

A
  • Self-esteem: Emotional experience of how we view and like ourselves
  • Sufferers usually tend to report less self-esteem and see themselves more negatively and can be extreme as self-loathing
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7
Q

How is concentration impacted by depression?

What is the effect on sufferers?

A
  • Depression is associated w/low levels of concentration which interfere w/a sufferer’s day-to-day life and decision making
  • Sufferers may find themselves unable to stick w/usual tasks or might find it harder to make decisions, be it difficult or simple one
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8
Q

How does depression impact one’s outlook?

A
  • Typically becomes very negative and easily dragged down. Even to the extent of ignoring positive sides
  • Sufferers may have a negative cognitive bias to seeing events in unhappy light despite what actually happened, opposite to those who don’t have depression
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9
Q

What is another in which a depression’s sufferer thinking can be described?

A

Absolutist, all-or-nothing

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10
Q

How is OCD characterised?

A

Characterised by either obsessions (recurring thoughts, images etc) and/or compulsions (hand washing etc). Most people have both.

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11
Q

What are the broad Behavioural Characteristics of OCD?

A

Compulsions and Avoidance

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12
Q

Explain compulsions within OCD

A

They are either:
- Compulsive: Behaviour are the result of compulsive thoughts and sufferers feel compelled to repeat behaviours, such as hand washing or praying

  • Reduce anxiety: Behaviours are not compulsive but are done to reduce anxiety of obsessive thoughts. For example, someone repeatedly locks doors in fear the house is not secure.
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13
Q

Explain avoidance within OCD

A
  • Sufferers tend to avoid activities/situations that would be seriously triggering. Seriously problematic as sufferers tend to over manage everyday situations
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14
Q

What are the broad Emotional Characteristics of OCD?

A
  • Anxiety + distress
  • Accompanying depression
  • Guilt + digust
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15
Q

Explain anxiety + distress within OCD

A
  • Obsessive thoughts cause powerful anxiety and therefore distress
  • This can be very overwhelming and the urge to repeat behaviour (compulsion) creates anxiety also
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16
Q

Explain Accompanying Depression within OCD

A
  • OCD is often accompanied by depression because it can cause low mood and lack of enjoyment in activities
  • Compulsive behaviour tends to bring relief, but only very temporary
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17
Q

Explain Guilt + Disgust within OCD

A

OCD usually involves irrational guilt over minor moral issues, and whether it is at oneself or the object at hand varies

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18
Q

What are the broad Cognitive Characteristics of OCD?

A
  • Obsessive thoughts
  • Cognitive Strategies to Deal with Obsessions
  • Excessive Anxiety
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19
Q

Explain in obsessive thoughts within OCD

A
  • For 90% of sufferers the major cognitive feature is obsessive thoughts. These vary for people but are always unpleasant, constant fear that the house is unprotected/unsafe
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20
Q

Explain in Cognitive Strategies to Deal with Obsessions in OCD?

A
  • Can respond to obsessions with cognitive coping methods. For example, religious people could pray or meditate to deal with excessive guilt
  • But these can still interfere with everyday life just as much and be a distraction. Therefore coping mechanisms also become compulsive behaviour
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21
Q

Elaborate on the Insight into Excessive Anxiety within OCD?

A
  • Another important factor is that people with OCD are aware of their behaviours/thoughts and that they are not rational or natural. If they thought they were rational or natural then would be a different mental disorder
  • However, despite being aware sufferers still experience catastrophic outcomes that might happen if their anxieties were justified. Also tend to be hyper vigilant, staying aware at all times
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22
Q

How are phobias characterised?

A

Excessive fear and anxiety triggered by a situation or object. The fear and panic created are disproportionate to the situation at hand

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23
Q

What are the broad behavioural characteristics of phobias?

A

Panic and Avoidance

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24
Q

Explain panic within phobias

A

A reaction to phobic stimulation.

E.g; Crying, screaming, running away

25
Q

Explain avoidance within phobias

A

Effort is made to avoid coming into phobic stimulus. Impacts everyday life if significant or stimulus is hard to avoid

26
Q

What are the broad emotional characteristics of phobias?

A
  • Anxiety + Fear

- Unreasonable reactions

27
Q

Explain Anxiety + Fear within phobias

A

Fear is the immediate reaction to a phobic encounter. Fear leads to anxiety

28
Q

Explain Unreasonable reactions within phobias

A

Response to phobic stimulus is widely disproportionate.

E.g; Crying when a spider is seen

29
Q

What are the broad cognitive characteristics of phobias?

A

Selective attention and Irrational beliefs

30
Q

Explain selective attention within phobias

A

Phobics often find it hard to focus on anything but the stimulus if they’re in the same environment

31
Q

Explain irrational beliefs within phobias

A

More likely to be held by phobics. Always related to phobia and fuels it

E.g; Someone with a social phobia feels they must always sound smart

32
Q

Broadly outline the 2 process model

A
  • Proposed by Mowrer and explains the behavioural aspects of having a phobia
  • Phobias are acquired by CC and maintained by OC
33
Q

How does CC cause phobias?

A

We learn phobic reactions through association between a neutral stimulus and unconditioned response.

  • USC triggers a URC - fear.
  • NS becomes associated with the URC
  • Therefore, NS becomes CS and UCR is now CR
34
Q

Outline the Little Albert study (Watson + Ryder, 1920)

A
  • Were able to cause Albert to develop phobia of white rats
  • As Albert began to play with white rat, a loud noise would be made causing him to jump. Repeated a few times until Albert would have phobic reaction as soon as rat alone was viewed
  • Therefore, rat = CS, fear = CR
35
Q

How does OC impact phobias?

A
  • Typically, responses developed by CC dwindle over time, yet phobias are able to be reinforced and maintained OC
  • Done through negative reinforcement
36
Q

Explain the role of negative reinforcement within phobias

Example?

A
  • Phobias are maintained through OC and negative reinforcement.
  • Phobics tend to avoid phobic stimuli and situations possibly involving them. This avoidance is negatively reinforced by the relief felt by doing so as well as the reduction in negative emotions
37
Q

What are the 2 treatments for phobias?

A

Systematic Desensitisation and Flooding

38
Q

What are the aims of Systematic Desensitisation?

Why? What does it claim?

A
  • Aims to gradually reduce patients’ phobic anxiety through CC - the same way phobias are developed.
  • If patients can learn to stay relaxed in phobic scenarios, then they can remove phobias too.
39
Q

What are the Three Processes of S.D?

A
  1. Hierarchy of anxiety
  2. Relaxation
  3. Exposure
40
Q

Outline hierarchy of anxiety within systematic desensitisation

A

Put together by patient and therapist. A list in order of scariness which contains different scenarios involving the phobic stimulus

41
Q

Outline relaxation within systematic desensitisation

A

Therapist teaches patient patient to relax as deeply as possible. Might involve breathing exercise for mental imagery. Might include meditation or imagining relaxing situations

42
Q

Outline exposure within systematic desensitisation

A

Finally patient is exposed to phobic stimulus once in relaxed state. Takes place across multiple sessions, starting at bottom Anxiety Hierarchy and they move on once they are relaxed. Treatment is successful once this occurs on every level of Hierarchy.

43
Q

What is flooding?

A
  • Also involves exposure to stimuli but without the gradual build-up and involves making the patient realise the harmfulness of their fear
  • Sessions are longer than S.D sessions (up to 3hrs) and may only actually need one session
44
Q

How Does Flooding Work?

A
  • Stops phobic responses very quickly, because there is no option to exhibit avoidance behaviour so it is quickly learnt that phobia is harmless
  • Learned response is extinguished and may even become relaxed by the presence of stimulus because they are exhausted by the anxiety
45
Q

Outline Ethical Safeguards within flooding

A

Flooding is not unethical but could potentially be very unpleasant for some, so patients have to give fully informed consent. Therefore, patients are often given a choice between flooding and S.D

46
Q

Broad outline of Beck’s Cognitive Theory of Depression

A
  • Beck suggested a cognitive approach to explaining why some people were more vulnerable to depression than others
  • It is a person’s cognitions that create this vulnerability and there are 3 parts
47
Q

Considering Beck’s Cognitive Theory of Depression, what does fault information processing have to do with it?

A
  • When depressed, people tend to focus only/mostly on negative aspects of life.
  • Problems are often blown out of proportion and things are thought in a very ‘black or white’ way
48
Q

Explain negative self-schemas within Beck’s Cognitive Theory of Depression

A
  • Schema: ‘Package’ of ideas/info which develop through experiences and act as a metal framework or interpretation of sensory information
  • If one has a negative schema about themselves, the information they interpret that involves this will be much more negative
49
Q

Explain negative triad within Beck’s Cognitive Theory of Depression

A
  • A person develops a dysfunctional view of themselves because of three types of automatic thinking, regardless of current scenario

Known as Negative Triad:
- View of the World: Creates impression that there is hope no where. E.g; ‘the world is cold hard place’

  • View of the Future: Such thoughts reduce hopefulness and enhance depression. E.g; ’It is unlikely that the economy will improve’
  • View of the Self: Such thoughts enhance depression because they confirm exciting notions of low self-esteem. E.g; ‘I am such a failure’
50
Q

What is the A part of Ellis’ ABC model?

A
  • We get depressed when we experience negative events that trigger irrational beliefs.
  • Examples of events include;, facing an important test or the end of a relationship
51
Q

What is the B part of Ellis’ ABC model?

A

Negative beliefs occur from events as explained in A:

  • The belief that we must always succeed/achieve perfection is dubbed by Ellis as ‘musturbation’.
  • If something does not occur in the right way, it is viewed as disastrous
  • Similarly, Utopianism is idea that life should always be fair.
52
Q

What is the C part of Ellis’ ABC model?

A
  • When beliefs are triggered there are physical and emotional consequences

E.g; If you believe that you must score top marks in every exam you take then don’t achieve this, the consequences may be depression

53
Q

Broadly outline CBT - what is it?

A
  • Most common form of treatment for depression and other mental health problems
  • In general, it aims to change irrational thoughts/feelings and replace with helpful behaviour
54
Q

What is the first part of CBT?

A

CBT usually starts with patient and therapist assessing the patient’s irrational and problematic thought processes and behaviours

55
Q

Finish the statement:

‘CBT works to change …… and replace them with …’

A

CBT works to change irrational thought processes and replace them with helpful behaviours

56
Q

What is involved within in CBT using Beck?

A
  • Central aspect of therapy is to seek and identify patient’s negative triad, then challenge reality of these thoughts
  • ‘Patient as Scientist’ is another often used techniques and involves patients being tasked with recording evidence that contradicts NT.
  • For example, people being nice to them
57
Q

What is CBT using Ellis called?

A

Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT)

58
Q

What is involved within in CBT using Ellis?

A
  • Extends ABC model to ABCDE. D = Dispute, E = Effect
  • For example: Patient makes irrational statement. Therapist identifies this as utopianism and vigorously debates such ideals with patient and with the hope that this should change irrational beliefs
  • This is dubbed a hallmark in REBT

A-Level Psychology (ALEX) (21 decks)

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