Schizo; Individual differences; cognitive approach EVALUATION

Question 1

Supporting Research

Answer 1

• The cognitive models and theories proposed by researchers like Beck and Frith have led to a tremendous amount of scientific research being conducted
• for example, Deanna Barch et al (1999) compared performance on a stroop test of people with schizophrenia and people without schizophrenia.
• They found that those with schizophrenia were slower and made more mistakes on the stroop test.
• They concluded that this was evidence that those with schizophrenia couldn’t filter the information as effectively.
• This supports Frith’s idea that the attentional filters of individuals with schizophrenia are defective.

Question 2

A reductionist account

Answer 2

• Unlike some cognitive psychologists, Frith has offered a causal explanation for the deficits associated with schizophrenia.
• he has proposed that the faulty operation of cognitive mechanisms is due to a disconnection of the functions within the frontal cortex of the brain (decision making action) and more posterior areas of the brain (perception)
• He has even produced some supportive evidence by detecting changes in cerebral bloodflow in the brains of people with schizophrenia when completing cognitive tasks.
• However, some critics suggest that Frith is being reductionist because this explanation reduces a complex experience to the functioning of brain circuits.

Question 3

Not a comprehensive theory.

Answer 3

• Some researchers criticise the cognitive explanations as only being able to explain cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia, such as issues with movement, are not explained well by cognitive explanations.
• In addition, cognitive explanations are criticised for only being describing the cognitive deficits thought to underlie symptoms of schizophrenia but do not always explain the origin of these deficits.
• In other words, cognitive theories can explain the proximal causes of schizophrenia (i.e. what causes current symptoms) but not the distal causes (i.e. the origins of the condition).
• This suggests that we should perhaps be cautious about the claims made by the cognitive approach as a single explanation for the disorder of schizophrenia.

Question 4

An integrated model of schizophrenia.

Answer 4

• The cognitive component is clearly important, but psychologists are now starting to appreciate that schizophrenia needs to be considered in a more holistic way- which can include cognitive factors.
• Oliver Howes and Robin Murray (2014) have described an integrated model of schizophrenia which proposes that genes or certain factors in early life (eg birth complications) combine with life events or social stressors (eg poverty) and this provokes the dopamine system into releasing dopamine.
• This increase in dopamine secretion causes problems with cognitive processing , specifically delusions and hallucinations.
• the individual with schizophrenia then gets caught in a vicious circle as the stress induced by experiencing these symptoms prompts the release of more dopamine.
• This sort of model suggests that the cognitive explanation alone is insufficient but it can contribute to a wider theory.