Psychopathology: Evaluation Flashcards
Statistical Infrequency AO3
- some behaviour is desirable: can’t distinguish desirable from undesirable abnormal behaviour
- cut off point is subjective: important for deciding who gets treatment
- sometimes appropriate: eg for intellectual diability defined as less than two standard deviations below mean IQ
Deviation From Social Norms AO3
- susceptable to abuse: varies with changing attitudes/morals, can be used to incarcerate those who are nonconformists
- related to context and degree: eg shouting is normal in some places and in moderation
+ strengths: distinguishes between desirable and undesirable behaviours and considers effect on others
Failure to Function Adequately AO3
- who judges: distress may be judged subjectively
- behvaiour may be functional: eg depression may be rewarding fot the individual
+ subjective experience recognised: can be measured objectively
Deviation From Ideal Mental Health AO3
- unrealistic criteria: - may not be useable because too ideal
- equates mental and physical health: whereas mental disorders tend not to have physical causes
+ positive approach: a general part of the humanistic approach
Two Process Model AO3
- classical: people often report specific incident but not always, may only apply to some types of phobia (Sue et al)
- incomplete explanation: not everyone bitten by a dog develops a phobia (di Nardo at al) may depend on having a genetic vunerability for phobias
+ social learning: fear response aquired through observing reaction to a buzzer (Bandura and Rosenthal)
Systematic Desensitisation AO3
+ effectiveness: 75% success (McGrath et al), in vivo techniques may work better or a combination (Comer)
- not for all phobias: works less well for ‘ancient fears’ (Ohman et al)
+ strengths: behavioural therapies are fast and require less effort than CBT, can be self administered
Flooding AO3
+ effectiveness: research suggests it may be more effective than SD and quicker (Choy et al)
- individual differences: traumatic, if patients quite treatment fails
+ strengths: behavioural therapies are fast and require less effort than CBT, can be self administered
ABC Model and Negative Triad AO3
+ support for role of irrational thinking: depressed people make more errors in logic (Hammen and Krantz), however irrational thiking may not cause depression
- blames the client and ignores situational factors: recovery may depend on recognising environmental factors
+ practical applications to CBT: supports the role of irrational thoughts in depression
CBT AO3
+ research support: generally successful, Ellis estimated 90% success over 27 sessions, may depend on therapist competence (Kuyken and Tsivrikos)
- individual differences: CBT not suitable for those with rigid irrational beliefs, those whose stressors can’t be changed and those who don’t want direct advice
- behavioural activation: depressed clients in an exercise group had lower relapse after 6 months (Babyak et al)
Genetic and Neural Explanations AO3
+ family and twin studies: 5 times greater risk of OCD if relative has OCD (Nestadt et al) twice as likely to have OCD if MZ twins (Billet et al) but concordance rates never 100%
- tourettes, anorexia, autism and depression linked: genes not unique to OCD
+ research support for genes and OFC: OCD patients and family members (genetic link) more likely to have reduced grey matterin OFC (Menzies et al)
Drug Therapy AO3
+ effectiveness: SSRIs better than placebo over short term (Soomro et al)
+ drug therapies preferred: less time and effort than CBT and may benefit from interaction with caring doctor
- side effects: not so severe with SSRIs (eg insomnia) more severe with tricyclics (eg hallucinations) and BZs (eg addiction)
