Psychopathology Evaluation

Question 1

Weakness 1 of deviation from social norms (CR)

Answer 1

I: culturally relative

E: different norms of different cultures e.g. normal to be topless in tribal but not western society

C: ignores cultural differences so is not generalisable

Question 2

Weakness 2 of deviation from social norms (ED)

Answer 2

I: era dependent

E: societal norms change overtime with attitude changed etc e.g. same sex couple illegal until 1960s.

C: lacks temp validity- only relevant to one time period

Question 3

Weakness 3 of deviation from social norms (CD)

Answer 3

I:context dependent

E: doesn’t define expressions of individuality and needs to take into account context e.g. excessive facial tattoos could be viewed as eccentric not abnormal

C: can’t be generalised to all contexts

Question 4

weakness 1 of failure to function adequately (subjective)

Answer 4

I:based on subjective judgement

E: differences in opinions of that FTF is- e.g tics cause observer discomfort for some but are amusing to others

C: based on subjective judgment and who is making it

Question 5

weakness 2 of failure to function adequately (CR)

Answer 5

I:Culturally relative

E: Definition varies across cultures due to different beliefs e.g. hallucinations seen as schizophrenic in western culture but spiritual in others

C: ignored cultural attitudes and differences

Question 6

weakness 3 of failure to function adequately (NDF)

Answer 6

I: Not a defining feature of abnormality

E:Can be abnormal and still function adequately
E.g. Ted Bundy killed 30 women whilst in long-term relationship and completing law degree

C: doesn’t define all cases of abnormalities

Question 7

Strength 1 of deviation from ideal mental health (positive)

Answer 7

I: Takes a positive approach

E: Identifies desirable behaviours that can be used in therapy to set goals to achieve ideal mental health

C: More optimistic

Question 8

Weakness 1 of deviation from Ideal mental health (subjective)

Answer 8

I: Based on subjective judgement

E: Criteria is vague and unclear how much needs to be missing to be classed as abnormal

C: Hard to decide whether someone fulfils criteria or not

Question 9

Weakness to our deviation from ideal mental health (unrealistic)

Answer 9

I: criteria is unrealistic

E: Practically impossible to meet all of criteria and only 1 to 2% of population self actualise according to Maslow

C: Would define most of population as abnormal

Question 10

Strength of statistical infrequency

Answer 10

I: More objective

E: Clear guidelines to be classified as abnormal scored quantitively using top and bottom 2% of pop- less based on options

C: More reliable

Question 11

Weakness 1 of statistical infrequency (NDF)

Answer 11

I: Not a defining feature of abnormality

E: Some statistically at rare behaviour is not seen as abnormal Like high IQ of over 130

C: ignores desirability

Question 12

Weakness 2 of statistical infrequency (ED)

Answer 12

I: era dependent

E: some behaviours that were once rare are now more normal e.g 10 times more ppl suffer major depression now compared to 75yrs ago

C: Only applies to one time period

Question 13

Strength of behaviourist explanation of phobias (sup evi)

Answer 13

I: sup evi for learning through classical conditioning

E:Watson and Rayner found little Albert associated noise with neutral stimulus of white rat and became fearful also generalising to other objects

C:Add validity to 1st part of two process theory

Question 14

Weakness 1 of behaviourist explanation of phobias (cont evi)

Answer 14

I: Contradictory evidence of 2 process theory

E: Not all phobias attributed to Association e.g. 2% of children with water phobia hadn’t had frightening experience

C:Reduces the validity and suggest or the explanations of inheritance may be true

Question 15

Weakness 2 of behaviourist explanation of phobias (bio)

Answer 15

I: Ignores alternative explanations of biological preparedness for initiation

E:Humans may be genetically programmed to learn association between life threatening situation and fear- evolutionary

C: May be a degree of genetic vulnerability to some phobias

Question 16

Weakness 3 of behaviourist explanation for phobia is (reductionist)

Answer 16

I:Reductionist

E:Reduces down to basic stimulus response and ignores biological and cognitive explanations such as imbalance of neurotransmitters and irrational thought

C: Incomplete explanation

Question 17

Strength 1 of Systematic desensitisation (fast/easy)

Answer 17

I: Relatively fast and easy to administer

E: Requires little training and less import from patients meaning it’s easier in children or those with learning difficulties

C: Patients free of symptoms as soon as possible and cheaper

Question 18

Strength 2 of Systematic desensitisation (ethical)

Answer 18

I:More ethical than flooding

E: Doesn’t involve same levels of distress and therefore has Lower refusal rights and more persistence from patients

C: More likely to complete SD therapy

Question 19

Weakness of Systematic desensitisation (limited)

Answer 19

I: not effective and appropriate for all phobias

E: Not affective for phobias that’s our innate or haven’t developed from personal experience such as fear of snakes

C: Alternative therapies such as cognitive treatments may be required in some cases

Question 20

Strength of flooding (effective)

Answer 20

I: More effective and quicker than SD

E: Higher rates of success for patients with snake phobias using in vivo flooding also only requires one session so is cost-effective

C: successful, Cheaper and more practical

Question 21

Weakness of flooding (Trauma)

Answer 21

I:Highly traumatic procedure

E:Many patients unprepared for distress levels and therefore drop out and don’t complete therapy

C:Alternative therapist like SD are more ethical and may need to be used

Question 22

Weakness of flooding and SD (SS)

Answer 22

I:Likely to produce symptom substitution

E:Don’t address actual cause of disorder only at the symptoms therefore another phobia is likely to appear

C:Other therapies treat cause and are more effective long-term

Question 23

Strength of cognitive explanation of depression (supporting evidence)

Answer 23

I: Evidence that supports explanations

E: Lewhinson- Group of teens with negative irrational thoughts more likely to have depression 12 months later than those without

C: Adds validity

Question 24

Weakness 1 of cognitive explanation for depression (causation)

Answer 24

I: Negative thoughts not necessarily cause of depression

E: Could be depression that causes negative irrational thoughts therefore other explanations might show the actual cause

C:Not a valid explanation

Question 25

Weakness 2 of cognitive explanation for depression (reductionist)

Answer 25

I:Reductionist

E:Ignores role of biological factors such as genes and neurotransmitters, for example: low levels of serotonin in patients with depression

C: Oversimplified an incomplete

Question 26

Weakness 3 of cognitive explanation of depression (irrational?)

Answer 26

I:Irrational beliefs may in reality not be that irrational

E: what is classed as irrational is subjective and based on opinion
Research shows depressed people better estimate likelihood of disasters than those without

C: Not reliable given findings are inconsistent

Question 27

Strength of REBT (PA)

Answer 27

I:Practical application

E: More widely used in the NHS because they are short term and economic in comparison to psychoanalysis therapies

C:More accessible

Question 28

Strength 2 of REBT (effective)

Answer 28

I: Found to be effective

E:Butler and beck- 14 Meta analyses- 80% benefited from REBT And it was more successful than drug therapy with a lower relapse rate

C:More successful

Question 29

Weakness 2 of REBT (not suitable for all)

Answer 29

I:Not effective and suitable for everyone

E:Requires Patient to talk about thought processes clearly so not God for ones who lack insight into her own thoughts and requires a lot more motivation than drugs

C:Not successful for patients with severe depression

Question 30

Weakness 3 of REBT (cont evi for success)

Answer 30

I:Contradictory evidence against high success rate

E:luborsky- All methods of therapy are equally effective with small differences in success rates
Most important factor is a relationship between client and therapist

C:Not any more effective than other types of therapy

Question 31

Strength 1 of biological explanation of OCD (sup evi)

Answer 31

I:Supporting evidence for genetic & neural explanations

E:nestadt-People with first-degree relative five times more likely to have OCD than general population
Billett-Meta analysis of 14 twin studies showed concordance rate for OCD were twice as high for identical twins

C:Valid

Question 32

Strength 2 of the biological explanation of OCD (PA)

Answer 32

I:Practical application

E:Findings that OCD patients have abnormalities in brain can lead to detection of risk and more effective treatments from early on:
E.g. Screening fertilised eggs to abort ones with the gene

C: Valuable in improving lives in the real world but may be considered unethical

Question 33

Weakness 1 of biological explanation of OCD (method)

Answer 33

I:Methodological issues

E:Concordance rates never 100% so despite OCD running in families symptoms may not

C:Incomplete as it doesn’t account for environmental factors

Question 34

Weakness 2 of biological explanation of OCD (reductionist)

Answer 34

I:Reductionist

E:Reduces down to basic level of abnormal genes and neurotransmitters overlooking psychological explanations such as stimulus response Association
Also, Evidence from treatments such as SD show high success rate.

C:Oversimplify cause of OCD

Question 35

Strength 1 of drug treatments (sup evi)

Answer 35

I:Supporting evidence

E:soomro eat al - Meta analysis of 17 studies comparing SSRIs to placebo showed they were more effective at reducing symptoms for three months

C:Effective

Question 36

Strength 2 of drug treatments (CE+ND)

Answer 36

I:Cost-effective and non-Disruptive

E:Appeals to many patients as it requires a little effort and time and it’s cheaper than other types of therapy

C:More appropriate treatment

Question 37

Weakness 1 of drug treatments (side-effects)

Answer 37

I:Unpleasant side-effects

E:Tricyclics cause hallucinations and irregular heartbeat so are only prescribed when SSRIs don’t work
SSRIs cause headaches and insomnia
BZs associated with aggression

C:May not always be appropriate or effective

Question 38

Weakness 2 of drug treatments (relapse)

Answer 38

I:High relapse rates

E: Simpson eat al- 45% patience treated with tricyclics relapsed in 12 weeks only 12% for psychological therapy

C:Not effective or lasting cure