psychopathy Flashcards
Outline statistical infrequency including an example.
Anything other than common/usual behaviour is seen as abnormal. Statistical frequencies are used on characteristics that can be reliably measured. With any characteristic, the majority of people are clustered around an average with a few distinctly above or below it. This can be shown with a normal distribution graph.
Give an example of how statistical deviation can be used.
IQ is one of the measurable characteristics in which 68% of people have a range between 85-115. An intellectual disorder requires an IQ in the bottom 2% of the population.
Briefly discuss a strength of statistical infrequency.
Real-life application. Application in the diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder. Assessment of patients include measurements of the severity of their symptoms compared to the statistical norms. Means that statistical infrequency is a necessary part of clinical assessment.
Unusual characteristics can be positive”. Briefly discuss why this is a weakness of statistical infrequencies.
People with exceptionally high IQ scores are just as unusual as those with low scores but people with a high IQ aren’t seen as having a undesirable characteristic. Just because only a few people display ‘abnormal’ characteristics doesn’t mean treatment is required to return to normal. This is a weakness of SI because it can never be used alone to make a diagnosis.
Explain why the fact that not everyone benefits from a label is a weakness of SI.
If someone has a low IQ but is living a fulfilled life then there is no benefit for the to be labelled as abnormal regardless of their IQ.
Outline what is meant by deviation from social norms including an example.
Society makes a collective decision as to what is acceptable. Anything different to this is ‘abnormal’ behaviour. Social norms are different from every generation and culture which means there are very few behaviours considered universally acceptable. E.g. Antisocial personality disorder, someone with ASPD has the symptom that is an ‘absence of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful or culturally normative ethical behaviour. Psychopaths are seen as abnormal because they don’t conform to society’s moral standards. This is one of few seen as abnormal in a wide range of cultures.
Discuss weaknesses of the deviation from social norms explanation.
Not always a sole explanation. There is real-life application for the diagnosis of ASPD. Which means it’s is necessary to think about what is normal and abnormal. However other factors need to be considered e.g. the distress to other people resulting from ASPD. Deviation from social norms is never the sole reason for defining abnormality.
Cultural Relativism. Social norms vary from generation, to society a lot. E.g. could lead to people from one society labelling someone as abnormal, and another society labelling them as normal. Creates creates problems for people living in different cultures.
Can lead to human rights abuse. Too much reliance on this could lead to human right abuse. Looking at historical examples, it is clear that this has been used in the past to maintain control over minorities / women. Drapetomania applied to black slaves and a symptom was running away. Nymphomania applied to women and was characterised by a sexual attraction to working class men.
Why is the deviation from social norms explanation better than statistical norms?
One strength of deviation from social norms is that it includes the desirability of behaviour. The statistical deviation idea does not.
Outline failure to function adequately.
Abnormal behaviour obstructs their ability to carry out normal daily behaviours. Decided when someone isn’t able to maintain basic standard levels of nutrition and hygiene. Or able to hold down a job and maintain relationships with people around them. Rosenhan & Seligman (1989) signs that are used to determine if someone isn’t coping. No longer conforms to standard interpersonal rules, eg. maintaining eye contact, and respecting personal space. Experiences of severe personal distress. Behaviour becomes irrational or dangerous to either themselves or others.
E.g. intellectual disability disorder. Diagnosis isn’t only based on very low IQ an individual would also have to be failing to function adequately before a diagnosis is given.
Outline 1 strength of failure to function adequately.
Patients perspective. Attempts to take into account subjective experience of patient. May not be entirely useful since it is difficult to measure stress, but still acknowledges that individual experience is important.
Outline weaknesses of failure to function adequately.
Is it simple deviation from social norms. In practice, it is hard to distinguish between the two. If we label some behaviours as a failure to function adequately, then we could be limiting a person’s personal freedom. Subjective judgments. When deciding if someone is failing to function adequately, someone has to make the decision to say that they are distressing or in distress.
There are methods for making this as objective as possible, such as using the Global assessment of functioning scale.
Outline deviation from ideal mental health.
This looks at what ‘normal’ behaviour is. Once we know what it means to be psychologically healthy then we can identify who deviates from this. Jahoda (1958) set criteria for idea mental health e.g. Self-actualise, cope with stress, independence, good self-esteem, lack of guilt
Outline a strength of deviation from ideal mental health.
Comprehensive definition. Covers a wide range of mental health Many people would seek health advice for any of these reasons. The sheer range of factors means it gives people a lot to think about.
Outline weaknesses of deviation from ideal mental health.
Cultural Relativism. Some of the characteristics set by Jahoda are specific to Western European and North America cultures. E.g. Emphasis on personal achievement in the concept of self-actualisation would be considered self-indulgent in collectivist cultures where the focus is often much more on the family or community.
Unrealistically high expectations of mental health. Few of us achieve all of the criteria, and definitely not all at the same time. Therefore this approach would suggest that most, if not all of us are abnormal to some degree.
Outline the 3 behavioural characteristics of phobias.
Panic. Panic may result in a range of behaviours from crying to running away, children may freeze or have a tantrum.
Avoidance. If a phobia occurs in daily life then daily activities will be disturbed if someone is avoiding going outside for fear of something they would encounter.
Endurance. The opposite of avoidance, we remain in the presence of the stimulus but experiences high levels of anxiety.
Give 2 emotional characteristics of phobias.
Anxiety. Phobias are classed as anxiety disorders and therefore involve emotional responses of anxiety and fear. Makes it hard for sufferer to relax.
Emotional responses are unreasonable. Disproportionate to the danger posed by the stimulus, eg unreasonable fear of spiders.
Give 3 cognitive characteristics of phobias.
Selective attention to the stimulus. Can’t take your eyes off the stimulus.
Irrational beliefs. High expectations increases the pressure the sufferer is under to perform well in social situations.
Cognitive distortions. Seeing a relatively normal object as ‘alien’ or ‘ugly’. A distorted view of the stimulus.
Outline the two-process model.
Acquisition by classical conditioning. US - something that already produces fear. NS - Something that does not produce fear. NS becomes CS when paired with the US. CS produces the CR. Maintenance by operant conditioning. Avoidance behaviour reinforces the behaviour through negative reinforcement.
Evaluate the explanatory power of the two process model.
Goes beyond the original concept of classical condition. Explains how phobias are acquired and how they are maintained over time. Has important implications for therapy → explains why people need to be exposed to the stimulus to deal with the phobia.
Evaluate the role of avoidance behaviour in the two-process model.
Model suggests that the phobias is maintained through avoidance behaviours - avoiding the phobic stimulus. People with complex phobias e.g. agoraphobia, can often face their fear with somebody present. Suggests avoidance behaviour may be more to do with feelings of safety and less to do with avoiding the stimulus.
Why is the two-process model an incomplete model?
Does not account for evolutionary influences (Bounton, 2007). We more easily acquire phobias of things that have been a source of danger in the past e.g. Snakes & Spiders → Biological preparedness. We very rarely develop phobias of things that are much more dangerous e.g. guns → They have not been present for long enough. Shows there is more to phobias than learning.
Why is a the two process model not a full explanation?
Model suggests that phobias are acquired to a traumatic experience. Some people have phobias without having had a negative experience with the stimulus. Suggests that other explanations should be considered e.g. SLT.
What is systematic desensitisation?
A behavioural therapy designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety in response to a stimulus through the principles of classical conditioning.
Patients create an anxiety hierarchy - a set of situations that provoke an increasing amount of anxiety. Therapist then teaches relaxation techniques (breathing, mental imagery, meditation or drugs e.g. valium).
Finally the patient is exposed, in a relaxed state, to the first level in the hierarchy. When the patient can remain relaxed in the presence of this stimulus they move on to the next level. This means a new response is learned to the stimulus → counter-conditioning. It is impossible to be afraid and relaxed at the same time → reciprocal inhibition.
What is flooding and how does it work?
Exposure to the phobic stimulus, without gradual build-up. Longer than sessions of systematic desensitisation (2-3 hours), but sometimes only 1 session is needed.
Without the option of avoidance the patient learns the stimulus is not harmful. This is known as extinction → a learned response is extinguished when the conditioned stimulus is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus.
Give 3 strengths of systematic desensitisation.
Effectiveness. Gilroy et al. (2003) followed 42 patients who had been treated for a spider phobia using SD. Compared to a control group of just relaxation. At both 3 and 33 months the experimental group showed a greater reduction in phobic anxiety.
Suitability. Other therapies are not as suitable for some patients e.g. those with learning difficulties. Learning difficulties can make it hard for people to understand what is happening in flooding or to engage with cognitive therapies. SD is a far more appropriate therapy.
Patients prefer it. SD is less traumatic than flooding. It actually includes some pleasant aspects - like the relaxation techniques. This is reflected in low attrition and low refusal rates.
