Psycopathology Predicted Questions

Question 1

Outline and evaluate the behavioral approach to treating phobias (16 marks) - AO1

Answer 1

• There are two behavioural therapies that can be used to treat phobias; systematic desensitisation and flooding.
• Systematic desensitisation works in the principle of classical conditioning and that if a phobia can be learnt it can also be unlearnt.
• This is done through a process of counterconditioning and involves three main stages. - The first stage involves the client being taught relaxation techniques such as deep breathing. In the second stage the client creates a hierarchy of fear.
• At the bottom of the hierarchy there is a situation with the phobia that will provoke the least anxiety and then each step up the amount of fear is increased until at the top there is a situation that will be the most frightening.
• The final stage is to work through level of their fear hierarchy from the bottom, whilst using the relaxation techniques that they have been taught. - Only when the client can achieve the step and not feel anxious do they move up to the next one.
• By doing this they learn a different physiological response to the phobia (counter-conditioning).
• Flooding also exposes people to their phobia but it is an immediate exposure rather than a graduated one.
• Again, the client is taught relaxation techniques but then they are exposed to their fear for a long period time and in it’s most fearful form.
• As adrenaline naturally decreases, a new stimulus-response link can be learned between the stimuli and relaxation. This can happen in only one session for some clients.

Question 2

Outline and evaluate the behavioral approach to treating phobias (16 marks) - AO3

Answer 2

• A strength of behavioural therapies is that there are studies demonstrating its effectiveness in treating phobias. For instance, McGarth (1990) found that systematic desensitisation is 75% effective when treating phobias. Choy et al (2007) reported that flooding and systematic desensitisation were effective but that flooding was the more effective of the two in treating phobias. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that someone with a phobia will find one of the other therapy effective in treating their fear.
• However, a criticism of flooding as a therapy is that it could be deemed unethical. The immediate exposure can be highly distressing for the individual and one could argue that their right to withdraw is denied to them during the exposure. Despite this, clients do have to give informed consent before starting the treatment to demonstrate they understand what is involved and they would usually get to choose between flooding and systematic desensitisation.
• A strength of flooding is that it can be deemed to be cost effective. As flooding can work quickly, unlike systematic desensitisation, it means the cost of administering the treatment is low.
  However, systematic desensitisation could be argued to be cost effective in that it is a process that an individual could self-administer. Either way, both therapies would enable a fairly cheap and cost effective way for the NHS to provide treatment to those with phobias.

Question 3

Discuss the cognitive approach to explaining depression (16 marks) - AO1

Answer 3

• Beck explained depression through the cognitive approach, which suggests our cognitions are responsible for depression.
• Depressed people tend to only focus on the negative and ignore the positive, as well as think in black and white terms.
• This is known as faulty information processing.
• They also have negative self-schemas which are packages of information they use to interpret the world and themselves based on experience.
• This means they interpret everything about themselves in a negative way.
• There are three types of negative thinking a depressed person has, which Beck called the negative triad.
• These are a negative view of the world, a negative view of the future and a negative view of the self.
• Ellis’ also explained depression through the cognitive approach and his ABC model.
• He explained that depression is called by irrational thinking patterns.
• There is initially an activating event (A) which is an external event that triggers irrational beliefs.
• There are a range of beliefs (B) including the belief we must always succeed ‘musturbation’ and ‘I-can’t-stand-it-it is’, where we feel that everything is a disaster if it goes wrong.
• Finally the consequences (C) of this is that irrational beliefs can cause unhealthy emotions and could develop into further depression.

Question 4

Discuss the cognitive approach to explaining depression (16 marks) - AO3

Answer 4

• A positive the cognitive explanations of depression is that they have led to effective psychological treatments. Beck’s theories have led to the development screening tools which can allow us to see who is vulnerable to developing depression. This then means we can offer these individuals cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) to help change their negative thinking processes into ones that make them more resilient to future negative events. Ellis’ ABC model led him to develop a cognitive therapy called rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT. REBT is used to challenge a depressed persons irrational beliefs and research has shown that it can be effective in relieving the symptoms of depression (Davidet al., 2018). Therefore, both Beck and Ellis’ theories have good real world application.
• A strength of Beck’s theory is that there has been research to support it. Boury et al (2001) monitored students’ negative thoughts with Becks Depression Inventory and found that depressives misinterpret facts and experiences in a negative fashion and feel helpless aboutthe future. This supports the idea that depressed people use negative schema to interpret the world around them and adds validity to Beck’s ideas.
• However, a weakness of the cognitive approaches is that it can raise ethical issues. By suggesting that the individual has negative or irrational beliefs, it points towards the person themselves being to blame for their illness. This could result in a lack of empathy towards those suffering depression. This is particularly true when research has suggested that there could be a biological element to depression, for example abnormal serotonin levels, which would be beyond the depressed persons’ control. Therefore, the cognitive approach could be seen to be reductionist in that it only considers thinking patterns as a cause of depression and so this could lead to victim blaming

Question 5

Outline and evaluate the biological approach to treating OCD (16 marks) - AO1

Answer 5

• The main biological approach to treating OCD is drug therapy.
• SSRI’s (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are most commonly used for OCD.
• Drugs such Zoloft, Praxil and Prozac increase levels of serotonin in the synapse which reduces symptoms.
• Normally, the pre-synaptic neuron would release the neurotransmitter serotonin into the synapse, where some will travel to the receptor sites on the post-synaptic neuron and some will be reabsorbed back into the pre-synaptic neuron.
• Research suggests that those with OCD have low levels of serotonin which is what causes OCD symptoms.
• SSRIs work by slowing the serotonin being reabsorbed back into the pre-synaptic neuron and so are able to stimulate the post-synaptic neuron for longer and relieve symptoms of OCD.
• If SSRIs are not effective after 3-4 months other drugs may be tried such as Tricyclics, which have the same effect on serotonin as SSRIs but have more severe side effects or SNRIs which increase serotonin and noradrenaline.
• However, most commonly, patients will be prescribed a combination of drug therapy and CBT to help tackle emotional symptoms.

Question 6

Outline and evaluate the biological approach to treating OCD (16 marks) - AO3

Answer 6

• A strength of drug therapy is that there is research to support its effectiveness. Soomro (2008) reviewed 17 studies where SSRIs had been used to treat OCD and found in some cases the SSRI was more effective than a placebo in reducing the symptoms of OCD. It helped relieve symptoms in 70% of cases and the remaining 30% could be helped with a combination of drugs and CBT. Therefore, this suggests that drugs are useful in treating most people with OCD, either entirely or partly. However, much research into drug therapy is conducted by researchers that the drug companies are funding and so may only publish research that shows positive results file drawer problem). Therefore, the validity of these types of study could be questioned.
• However, a criticism of drug therapy is that there can be side effects for the patient. SSRIs can cause headaches, nausea and insomnia which can mean that people stop taking the medication.
  The side effects of Tricyclics are more severe, including hallucinations and irregular heart beat and weight gain. If they stop taking the medication then their symptoms will quickly return. Therefore, drug therapy can cause a lower quality of life if they are used or the alternative is that they don’t take them at all and their symptoms return.
• Despite this, a positive of drug therapy is that they are one of the most cost effective treatments.
  Drug therapies are relatively cheap when compared to psychological therapies. They also do not require much motivation from the patient to take them unlike cognitive therapies. However, they do only treat the symptoms of OCD not the root cause. If the patient stops taking them then the symptoms usually return. So, drugs could be prescribed to tackle severe symptoms quickly but a more long term solution like CBT is advised in order to tackle the root cause of the illness.