Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Psychology > Psycopathology > Flashcards

Psycopathology Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Psychology 101 flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards AP® Psychology flashcards
1
Q

phobia definition

A

-A phobia is a mental disorder that is characterised by 3 types of symptoms:

1)persistent fear of a specific stimulus which is an emotional symptom
2)irrational beliefs about the feared stimulus which is a cognitive symptom
3)avoidance of the feared stimulus which is a behavioural symptom

-all 3 of these symptoms need to be present for someone to be diagnosed with a phobia and they have to be about one specific stimulus

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

types of phobias

A

social phobia-the fear of being in social situations

agoraphobia-the fear of being in a situation where escape would be difficult

specific phobias-the fear of a specific object or animal

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

the two process model suggests

A

-suggests phobias are acquired and maintained by different processes:

1)suggests phobias are acquired through classical conditioning which is when a person develops a phobia of a neutral stimulus if they encounter the NS alongside an unpleasant UCS(unconditional stimulus)

2)suggests phobias are maintained by operant conditioning which is when a person avoids a feared stimulus, the negative feeling of the fear is removed, meaning that this behaviour is reinforced through negative reinforcement. So phobias are maintained by operant conditioning

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Little Albert

A

Watson & Rayner:
-conducted a study of little Albert in 1920 which provided evidence for the first step of the two process model
-they repeatedly presented little Albert with a white rat, followed by a long scary noise
-at first little Albert showed no response to the white rat so it was a NS, but through repeated experience, Albert learned to associate the white rat with the loud noise
-so the rat became a conditioned stimulus
-soon the Albert cried whenever he say the white rat, so he’d acquired a phobia through classical conditioning

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

support for two process

A

Barlow & Durands
-they found that 50% of participants could recall a traumatic event which caused their driving phobia
-and out of the participants who recalled a traumatic event, many had not driven since
-this supports the idea that phobias are aquired through classical conditioning
-this also supports the idea that phobias are maintained by operant conditioning because avoidance of the feared stimulus is negatively reinforced

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

evaluation of the behaviourist explanation of phobias: limitations

A

-not all phobias are caused by a traumatic event and there may be other factors involved, for instance we may have evolved to have phobias of certain stimuli that were threatening to us in past
-so phobias may also be genetically determined

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

treatment for phobias: flooding

A

-flooding involves exposing a patient to their worst fear in one go, then they are encouraged to remain near their feared stimulus until the anxiety has worn off
-flooding works because it prevents patients from avoiding the feared stimulus as when confronted with the feared stimulus, the patient sees that the CS doesn’t lead to the UCS
-so the association between the CS and UCS is extinguished
-as a result, the conditioned stimulus no longer causes a conditioned response

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

treatment for phobias: systematic desensitisation

A
  • SD is a treatment that involves 3 steps:

1)doctor and patient write a list from the least to the most fearful stimulus, this is called a fear hierarchy
2)patients are taught relaxation techniques to manage anxiety such as deep breathing and muscle relaxation
3)patients would then be exposed to the feared stimulus gradually, making sure they are relaxed at each stage

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

outline how Systematic desensitisation works to treat phobias

A

-SD works because it confronts a person with the feared stimulus which prevents avoidance to behaviour
-the patient then learns that the feared stimulus is harmless, so the association between the CS and the UCS is extinguished
-as a result, the CS no longer causes a conditioned response

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

support for flooding

A

Kaplan & Tolin
-they found that 65% of patients still showed no symptoms of a specific phobia 4 years after a single sessions of flooding
- this suggests that flooding was defective for treating specific phobias because it removed symptoms in patients for a long time after treatment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

support for systematic desensitisation:

A

Ost:
-Ost found in that 90% of patients treated with SD were much improvised or completely recovered from their phobia 4 years after treatment
-this supports that SD can be effective for treating specific phobias since symptoms were improved a long time after treatment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

evaluation for therapies: Systematic desensitisation

A

strength:
-unlike flooding, it exposes the patient to the feared stimulus gradually, creating less distress for the patient
-therefore SD could be more ethical than flooding

limitations:
-however, it may be less effective at treating social phobias and agoraphobia where cognitive factors are also important

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

limitations of flooding

A

-doesn’t always work and can actually strengthen the association between the CS and UCS, causing the patient to exhibit a even stronger conditioned fear response
-flooding may be unethical because it can cause lots of distress to patients, because of this it is inappropriate to use flooding for some groups of patients, for whom it may be too traumatic, such as children

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

the cognitive approach to depression states that there is 2 types of depressions: major depression

A

1)major depression is a mental disorder that affects a persons mids and is characterised by 7 main symptoms:

1)low mood
2)loss of pleasure
-these are emotional symptoms
3)irrational negative beliefs
4)difficulty concentrating
-these are cognitive symptoms
5)change in appetite
6)change in sleep patterns
7)social withdrawal
-these are behavioural symptoms

-to be diagnosed with major depression, a person must experience at least 5 symptoms of depression for more than 2 weeks. And at least one of those symptoms must be emotional

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

the cognitive approach to depression states that there is 2 types of depressions: manic depression/bipolar disorder

A

2)manic depression is when a person cycles between depressive episodes which are having low moods for at least one week and manic episodes which are having high mood for at least one week

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

models of depression : ellis ABC model

A

-according to ellis, when people experience negative effects, the experience can be broken down into 3 steps:

1)activating event occurs
2)people form a belief about the causes of the activating event
3)consequences- when the belief influences behaviours, thoughts and feelings

-according to ellis’ ABC, model when a person with depression experiences a negative activating event, they form irrational negative beliefs about the event and as a consequence of the beliefs, they experience the symptoms of depression

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

models of depression: becks cognitive triad

A

-this categories irrational negative beliefs into 3 types which are rather about the self, the world or the future
-negative self schemas cause these irrational negative beliefs, meaning that people form negative expectations about themselves
-beck suggested that people with depression have negative cognitive biases, this means they fixate on negative information which is assimilated into their negative self schema, making the schema even stronger

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

support for the cognitive approach to depression

A

Koster et al:
-offers support for the role of negative cognitive biases in depression
-they investigated the attentional abilities of people with major depression
-participants sat infront of a computer and a positive neutral or negative world would flash up on the screen
-then, a square would appear somewhere on the screen and the participants had to press a button as fast as they could to indicate where the square appeared
-the DV was the reaction time to press a button and the IV was whether the participants had major depression or not
-the results found that, after being presented with a negative word, participants with major depression took longer than the control group to indicate where the square had appeared
-but this affect was not observed with positive or neutral words
-and so, the study supports the idea that people with major depression focus on negatives and have a negative cognitive bias

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

evidence against the cognitive approach to depression

A

Allay & Abramson
-asked participants with and without depression to estimate how much control they had over a flashing light
-they found that participants with major depression estimated more accurately than the control group
-suggesting that not all people with major depression have irrational beliefs

Mcguffin et al:
-suggested that irrational negative beliefs may not be the only cause of depression
-they found that the concordance rate for depression for MZ twins was 46%, and the concordance rate for depression for DZ twins was 20%
-this indicates that genetic factors contribute to the development of major depression

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

CBT

A

-aims to remove the negative beliefs that cause depression and involves 4 steps:

1)identify negative beliefs
2)therapist challenges negative beliefs
3)test their hypothesis
4)therapist and patient evaluate the evidence together

21
Q

support for CBT

A

Cuijpers et al:
-they reviewed all the studies in the US that had compared an experimental group of depressed participants receiving CBT to a control group receiving no treatment for their depression
-across these studies, participants who were treated with CBT experienced a significant improvement in symptoms compared to the control group
-and so, Cuijpers et al concluded that CBT is more effective than no treatment for patients with major depression

22
Q

limitations to CBT

A

-it may not be effective for everyone because there are individual differences in patients experiences of depression, in fact Cuijpers et al found that the effectiveness of CBT varies from individual to individual

-additionally, CBT may not be as affective as other treatments and treatments which are aimed at the biological causes of major depression may be more effective, for instance, low levels of serotonin is a biological cause of depression and so patients with major depression are prescribed with drugs called antidepressants, which target the neurotransmitter serotonin

-SSRI’s have been found to be effective at treating major depression

23
Q

outline the symptoms of OCD

A

1)obsessions which are having disturbing concurrent thoughts(cognitive symptom)

2) these obsessions lead to guilt and anxiety(emotional symptom)

-compulsions which is the repetitive behaviour that people feel an urge to do in order to reduce guilt and anxiety(behavioural symptom)

24
Q

neural explanations of OCD: orbital frontal cortex

A

-focuses on the neural and neurosurgical factors that can cause ocd
-orbital frontal cortex detects a worrying stimulus and selects an appropriate action to deal with the stimulus
-once an action has been selected, the orbital frontal cortex sends signals to parts of the brain that control our movement, such as the motor cortex
-next, the basal ganglia monitors the outcomes of our actions
-and when a worrying stimulus has been dealt with, the basal ganglia sends inhibitory signals back to the orbital frontal cortex to shut down the signals relating to the worrying stimulus

25
Q

what is psychopathology

A

-psychopathology is the study of mental disorders which are conditions in which people display abnormal mood, thoughts and behaviour’s that are long lasting

26
Q

deviation from social norms:

A

-states a person is abnormal if their behaviours doesn’t follow social norms

27
Q

deviation from ideal mental health:

A

-this states that a person is abnormal if they fail to display behaviours that indicate ideal mental health
-the more a person deviates from ideal mental health, the more abnormal they are

28
Q

deviation from ideal mental health: Jahodas 6 criteria (1958)

A

1) positive self attitude
2) autonomy-when a person can behave independently without relying on others
3) self-actualisation- when a person is constantly trying to improve themselves
4) resistance to stress
5) accurate perception of reality
6) environmental mastery- when a person can adjust to new situations easily

  • Jahoda argued the fewer the criteria a person meets, the more abnormal they are
29
Q

failure to function adequately:

A

this states that a person is abnormal if they are unable to cope with every day life

30
Q

statistical infrequency:

A

-states a person is abnormal if they display traits or behaviours that are statistically infrequent
-doctors use normal distributions to determine whether a trait is statistically infrequent

31
Q

deviation from social norms: evaluation

A

strength:
-minimises harm

limitations:
-social norms change over time and across cultures, so diagnosis may lack reliability because they’re not consistent over time
-can lead to misdiagnosis of mental disorder if a person is judged based on another cultures norms

32
Q

deviation from ideal mental health: evaluation

A

strengths:
-enables patients to get clear goals for achieving ideal mental health

limitations:
- Jahodas 6 criteria are overly demanding, so most of us will be defined as abnormal
-difficult to measure Jahodas criteria objectively e.g. self actualisation, environmental mastery

33
Q

failure to function adequately: evaluation

A

strengths:
-involved behaviours that are easy to measure and diagnose

limitations:
-people with mental disorders aren’t always unable to cope with everyday life
-not all maladaptive behaviours are sings of mental disorders

34
Q

statistical infrequency: evaluation

A

strengths:
-practical, so doctors can very quickly and easily determine abnormality
-more objective than the other definitions of abnormality, since it relies on the doctors subjective interpretations of the patient

weaknesses:
-some mental disorders aren’t statistically infrequent, so we would fail to diagnose and treat people with common mental disorders like depression
-some statistically infrequent traits may be desirable, such as high IQ

35
Q

neural explanations of ocd: basal ganglia/what generates teh symptoms of ocd

A

-according to the neural explanation of ocd, people with ocd have impaired communication between the basal ganglia and the orbital frontal cortex
-the signals sent from the basal ganglia to the orbital frontal cortex are much weaker than usual so the orbital frontal cortex is less inhibited than it should be and it becomes hyperactive
-and this generates the symptoms of ocd

36
Q

neural explanations of OCD: serotonin

A

-when the basal ganglia sends signals to the orbital frontal cortex, serotonin is released into the orbital frontal cortex and this inhibits neural activity in the orbital frontal cortex

-but people with OCD have lower levels of serotonin, so there is less inhibition of orbital frontal neurons, causing the neurons in the orbital frontal cortex to become hyperactive

37
Q

support for neural explanation of OCD: case studies

A

Max et al:
-studied a girl who developed OCD after having brain damage
-they conducted an MRI and found that the girl had damage to her basal ganglia
-this case study suggests that structural damage to the basal ganglia can cause OCD
-supporting the idea that disturbed communication between the basal ganglia and the orbital frontal cortex is the cause of OCD

38
Q

brain imaging studies: support for the neural explanation

A

Saxena and Rauch(2000)
-reviewed brain imaging studies which compared the brain activity of adults who have OCD with the brain activity of adults without OCD
-the researchers found increased brain activity in the orbital frontal cortex of the adults with OCD compared to the control group
-this suggests that hyperactivity of the orbital frontal cortex may cause the symptoms of OCD, supporting the neural explanation of OCD

39
Q

limitations of the neural explanations of OCD:

A

-results from brain imaging studies are inconsistent and haven’t always relocated across studies
-for instance:
-Ayleward et al did not observe any difference between the basal ganglia of people with OCD and healthy controls
-this suggests that structural damage to the basal ganglia and hyperactivity in the orbital frontal cortex may not be the only causes of OCD

40
Q

genetic explanation of OCD:

A

-states that we can inherit OCD and there are specific alleles on different genes that can increase a persons risk of developing OCD

41
Q

the SERT gene:

A

-produces reuptake proteins that carry serotonin back into the pre synaptic terminal
-the more protein that is produced, the less serotonin is available at the synapse

42
Q

Alleles of the SERT gene:

A

-there are 2 types of alleles of the SERT gene
-the long allele produces more reuptake proteins than the short allele, causing less serotonin to be available at the synapse and therefore causing less inhibition of neural activity in the post synaptic neurone
-because of this, the long alley is associated with OCD

43
Q

support for the genetic explanation of OCD: Twin studies

A

Billet et al:
-conducted a review of twin studies and found that the concordance rate for OCD was 68% for MZ twins and 31% for DZ twins
-this big difference between concordance rates in the types of twins with OCD indicates that OCD is partially inherited

44
Q

support for the genetic explanation of OCD: family studies

A

Nestadt et al:
-recruited a group of patients with OCD and a control group of healthy pps
-and interviewed the relatives of the pps in both groups to find out how many of these relatives also had OCD
-the researchers found that 12% of pps with OCD had a relative who also had OCD
-but just 3% of pps in the control group had a relative who had OCD
-these findings suggest that OCD is partially inherited

45
Q

support for the genetic explanations of OCD: SERT gene

A

Hu et al:
-supports the idea that carrying the long allele on the SERT gene increases persons likelihood of developing OCD
-they conducted a DNA analysis on a group of people with OCD and a control group of healthy pps
-they found that people with OCD were more likely to carry the long allele on the SERT gene than the pps in the control group

46
Q

limitation of twin studies supporting the genetic explanation of OCD:

A

-they assume that MZ twins and DZ twins have the same amount of shared environment, this might not be true as identical twins are more likely to be treated the same than DZ twins
-so the high concordance rates for OCD in MZ twins might be down to shared environment factors as well as shared genetic factors

47
Q

biological treatment for OCD: SSRI’s

A

-SSRI’s block serotonin reuptake, which means that there is more serotonin available at the synapses in the orbital frontal cortex
-this leads to a more inhibition of neural activity in the orbital frontal cortex, reducing hyperactivity of neurones in this brain region
-this reduces the worrying signal that causes obsessions and compulsions

48
Q

strengths of biological treatments:

A

strength:
-supported by studies:
-Soomro et al found that 70% of the adults with OCD who were treated with SSRI’s experienced an improvement in symptoms
-so, the researchers concluded that SSRI’s were significantly more effective at reducing symptoms of OCD than no treatments

-cost effective for health care services to provide

49
Q

limitations of biological treatments:

A

-however, biological treatments like SSRI’s can cause side effects as they block serotonin reuptake in the whole brain
-for instance Soomro et al found that patients treated with SSRI’s experienced side effects like nausea, headaches and insomnia

-if patients stop taking SSRI’s, they may relapse, so patients have to keep taking the drugs and cope with the side effects to prevent relapse

-they may not be effective at treating the underlying cause of OCD on their own
-there may be other factors such as cognitive factors that contribute to OCD and also need to be treated
-and so, we may need to combine drug treatments with cognitive treatments such as CBT
for instance O’connor et al found that combining both biological and cognitive treatments for OCD could be more effective
-the researcher found that patients who were treated with both CBT and SSRI’s showed the biggest improvements in symptoms

Psychology (16 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions