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Psychology Unit 3 > Schizophrenia > Flashcards

Schizophrenia Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the 2 types of symptoms of schizophrenia?

A

Positive symptoms
Negative symptoms

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2
Q

What is a positive symptom? (defintion)

A

Symptoms or behaviours that a person exhibits in addition to ‘normal’ behaviours.

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3
Q

What are the positive symptoms? (examples)

A

Hallucinations, delusions, disordered thinking.

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4
Q

What is a negative symptom? (definition)

A

Symptoms or behaviours that are stopping individuals with schizophrenia from exhibiting ‘normal’ behaviours.

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5
Q

What are the negative symptoms? (examples)

A

Alogia, avolition, anhedonia, flatness of affect, catatonic behaviour.

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6
Q

What are hallucinations? (+)

A

Perceptions that are unreal. Many report having auditory hallucinations such as hearing sounds and voices but hallucination van present themselves in any sensory modality.

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7
Q

What are delusions? (+)

A

Beliefs that are unreal. Usually experienced with no evidence to offer in support of the delusion.

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8
Q

What is disordered thinking? (+)

A

Often evident through examining the speech of individuals with schizophrenia. Persons thoughts and discourse seem to jump from one topic to another for no reason and show no logical flow. Comments from individual may be difficult to follow and speech may appear to be muddled and incoherent.

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9
Q

What is alogia? (-)

A

Poverty of speech. Reduction in total amount of speech produced, which may lack meaning. Even short answers can be a problem.

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10
Q

What is avolition? (-)

A

People seem to be indifferent or unconcerned with their surroundings. Show neither will or desire to take part in activities in work or activities which they used to enjoy. Distinct lack or goal-orientated behaviour which can be perceived as disinterest.

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11
Q

What is anhedonia? (-)

A

Individual doesn’t react appropriately to pleasurable experiences.

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12
Q

What is flatness of effect? (-)

A

Individual appears to have no emotion. May converse with no emotional intonation and show little to no facial expressions. Can be interpreted as apathetic. Speech often monotone.

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13
Q

What is catatonic behaviour? (-)

A

Issues range widely from fast, repetitive, useless movements to little to no movement at all. May move for no purpose and make unexpected gestures and loud utterances.

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14
Q

What are the biological explanations of schizophrenia?

A

Dopamine hypothesis
Structural abnormalities

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15
Q

What are the individual differences explanations for schizophrenia?

A

Psychodynamic approach
Cognitive approach

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16
Q

What are the social psychological explanations for schizophrenia?

A

Dysfunctional families
Sociocultural factors

17
Q

What are the methods of modifying behaviour for schizophrenia?

A

Anti-psychotic drugs
Cognitive behavioural therapy

18
Q

What was the initial dopamine hypothesis?

A

Individuals with schizophrenia simply had too much neurotransmitter dopamine and therefore demonstrated symptoms related to these high levels. However this was deemed too simple.

19
Q

What research backs up the initial dopamine hypothesis?

A

J.J Griffith et al

20
Q

What was J.J Griffith et al’s study?

A

Induced psychosis in non-schizophrenic volunteers by administering dextro-amphetamine.
Found that volunteers demonstrated an abrupt onset of paranoid delusions and demonstrated a cold and detached emotional response.

21
Q

Why was the initial dopamine hypothesis deemed too simple?

A

Drugs that reduce dopamine levels had little to no effect on individuals suffering with mainly negative symptoms.

22
Q

What are dopamine receptor sites (dopamine hypothesis)

A

D1 - D5
Distributed in the cerebral cortex and subcortically in the limbic system.

23
Q

Which receptor is of particular interest?

A

D2 receptor.
Found primarily in subcortical regions making the limbic system the main focus of the dopamine hypothesis.

24
Q

What is the main area of study for the revised dopamine hypothesis?

A

The limbic system

25
Q

What is the limbic system?

A

A variety of subcortical structures that are engaged in many functions but most notably emotions, memory formation and arousal.

26
Q

What are the 2 main nerve pathways associated with schizophrenia? (dopamine hypothesis)

A

Mesolimbic and mesocortical.

27
Q

What is the mesolimbic pathway?

A

Carries signals from ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens. Too much dopamine from neurons that fire too quickly or too often cause over stimulation and positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

28
Q

What is the mesocortical pathway?

A

Carries signals from ventral tegmental area to the frontal lobe. This pathway is vital for in emotional responses, motivation a cognition. Too little dopamine in this area provide cognitive impairments and negative symptoms.

29
Q

What are the strengths of the dopamine hypothesis?

A
30
Q

What are the weaknesses of the dopamine hypothesis?

A
  • Dopamine imbalances may be caused by genes
  • It isn’t easy to get direct measures of neurotransmitters
  • Dopamine isn’t the only neurotransmitter linked to schizophrenia
  • Cause or effect?
31
Q

Explain the weakness : Dopamine imbalances may be caused by genes

A

Many researchers believe that dopamine imbalances are caused by a genetic predisposition. Studies have shown that as genetic similarity increases so does the probability that both individuals have schizophrenia. However, although there may be a genetic basis for schizophrenia it is very complex, more than just a few abnormal dopamine genes.

32
Q

What is the research support for genetic predisposition fro dopamine imbalances?

A
  • Irving Gottesman et al (1991)
  • Schizophrenia Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (2014)
33
Q

What was Irving Gottesman et al’s study?

A

looked at incidence of schizophrenia in family members and found that as genetic similarity increased so did the probability that both individuals have schizophrenia.

34
Q

What was the Schizophrenia Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium’s study?

A

There were 108 genetic loci associated with schizophrenia showing that while there may be a genetic basis for schizophrenia it is more complex that a dopamine imbalance.

35
Q

Explain weakness : Measuring neurotransmitters.

A
36
Q

Explain weakness : Dopamine isn’t only neurotransmitter associated with schizophrenia.

A
37
Q

Explain weakness : Cause or effect?

A

Psychology Unit 3 (9 decks)

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