Psychopathology Researchers Flashcards
All the psychologists that are mentioned in this part of the spec
Harold Shipman
Limitation of FFA - many individuals w mental health issues can appear to live perfectly normal lives, and abnormality is not always associated with FFA
doctor - responsible for death of over 200 of his patients over 23 period. In spite of appalling crimes, Shipman functioned adequately - seen to be a respectable doctor. WB: clearly abnormal - did not display features of disfunction + able to evade detection for many years. FFA - inadequate def of abn when used alone - lead to misdiagnosis.
Jahoda
suggested that NORMAL mental health includes:
- Positive attitudes to the self
- Accurate perception of reality
- Personal autonomy
- Environmental mastery
- Resistant to stress
- Self actualisation and personal growth
The more characteristics individuals fail to meet and the further they are away from realising individual characteristics, the more abnormal they are.
Mowrer
Two process model: phobias are acquired by classical conditioning and are maintained by operant conditioning
Watson and Rayner
+ supporting evidence of 2-process model: created phobia in 9 month old baby called ‘Little Albert’. Albert showed no unusual anxiety at the start of the study. When shown white rat - tried to play w it. However, when rat+loud frightening noise (banging an iron bar close to albert’s ear) = association, Albert - frightened when saw rat even without noise.
Ougrin et al:
flooding is comparable in effectiveness in treating phobias to treatments like CBT, suggesting the underlying assumptions of the TPM are valid.
Bounton:
evolutionary factors have important role in phobias too. E,g. we easily aquire phobias of things that have been a source of danger in our evolutionary past, such as fears of snakes.
Seligman:
BIOLOGICAL PREPAREDNESS: the innate predisposition to acquire such fears. Shows that our evolutionary past can be a mediating factor (in addition to experiences) in developing phobias.
Gilroy et al:
followed up 43 who had been treated for spider phobia in three 45 minute systematic desensitisation sessions. A control group was treated by relaxation without exposure. At both 3 and 33 months after treatment - the SD group were significantly less fearful than control group. Shows that SD is an effective and longlasting treatment of phobias - increasing in utility.
What do psychoanalysts claim about the behavioural approach to treating phobias:
symptoms are merely the tip of the iceberg and that the real cause of phobias may be traumatic childhood experiences which are repressed into the unconscious mind
Ougrin:
behavioural therapies significantly quicker than cognitive therapies.
Some cognitive therapies, e.g. CBT require patients to keep diaries and do hw to overcome the disorder. Flooding requires less conscious effort on patient’s part compared to psychotherapies, where patients must play a more active part.
