Schizophrenia Booklet 5: Psychological explanations

Question 1

What is the AO1 for psychological explanations split into?

Answer 1

-Family dysfunction:
1.Expressed emotion
2. Double-Bind Theory
3.Schizophrenogenic mother
-Cognitive explanations:
1.Dysfunctional thought processing
2. Cognitive model

Question 2

Explain family dysfunction…

Answer 2

-Maladaptive relationships and communication patterns in families are a source of stress. These can be linked to the development of sz
-2 factors to explain how family dysfunction can be related to the development of sz: Expressed emotion, Double-bind theory

Question 3

Explain expressed emotion…

Answer 3

-This is the extent to which a family engages in expressed emotion, this involves persistent criticism, and hostility
-Individuals who suffered SZ and live in families with high expressed emotion are nearly four times as likely to relapse compared to those living in families with low EE (Kavanagh)

Question 4

Expressed emotion is basically the level of emotion expressed by a parent/carer towards children. this can include:

Answer 4

-Verbal criticism (maybe violence)
-Hostility towards the patient including anger and rejection

Question 5

What is the main study into Expressed Emotion?

Answer 5

Kavanagh carried out a review of 26 studies on expressed emotion, the results were:
Returned to live with high EE families: average relapse rate 48%
Returned to live with low EE families: average relapse rate 21%

Question 6

What is the double-bind theory?

Answer 6

These are abnormal and inadequate patterns of communication within families of schizophrenic patients

Question 7

Who proposed the double-bind theory?

Answer 7

Bateson

Question 8

How did Bateson describe the double-bind theory?

Answer 8

The members of families of schizophrenics communicate in a destructively ambiguous fashion, a mother may tell her child that she loves him, but in a tone of voice that doesn’t indicate it

Question 9

What are the effects of double-bind theory?

Answer 9

-Children who get mixed-messages from parents more likely to develop sz

Question 10

What did Bateson find about the double bind theory?

Answer 10

Reported a case study where a recovering schizophrenic patient was visited by his mother, he gave her a hug and she stiffened up. When he withdrew she said “don’t you love me anymore?”. She said “Dear, you must not be easily embarrassed and afraid of your feeling”. The patient assaulted a worker afterwards

Question 11

What is a schizophrenogenic mother?

Answer 11

Fromm-Reichman suggests that schizophrenic children come from a schizophrenogenic mother. This type of mother is cold, rejecting and controlling and creates a family climate characterised by tension and secrecy

Question 12

What are evaluations of family dysfunction as an explanation of sz?

Answer 12

😀Evidence to support: Butzlaff and Hooley
😥Little evidence to support schizophrenogenic or double bind
😥Can’t explain genetic concordance

Question 13

Why is there little evidence for the schizophrenogenic mother or double bind?

Answer 13

Most studies in this area aren’t long term and involve the participant recalling childhood experiences, this self-report strategy is ineffective

Question 14

What are cognitive explanations for sz?

Answer 14

The cognitive explanation focuses on the role of mental processing of information
Suggesting that people with sz process info differently to standard individuals

Question 15

What are the two types of dysfunctional thought processing?

Answer 15

Frith identified two thought processes, these are:
-Metarepresentation
-Central Control

Question 16

What is metarepresentation?

Answer 16

-The ability to reflect on our own thoughts and behaviour. In other words, understand that the thoughts we have belong to use and we created them

Question 17

Explain how a lack of metarepresentation creates sz symptoms…

Answer 17

If a standard individual thought inside their head of doing something, they would identify that was their own thought. However someone with sz would think it’s a voice in their head, and that it isn’t their own

Question 18

What is an alternative part of meta representation?

Answer 18

The ability to be able to interpret the behaviour of another person. So to be able to look at what someone is doing and guess what they may be thinking and intend to do

Question 19

What is central control?

Answer 19

The ability to be able to supress some thoughts that we have and instead perform differently to protect dignity

Question 20

What is the cognitive model of sz?

Answer 20

It suggests that positive symptoms occur as a result of cognitive biases (thinking irrationally)

Question 21

How does the cognitive model explain positive symptoms?

Answer 21

Suggests hallucinations occur as a result of faulty information processing where they can’t understand that the voices they hear are their inner voice

Question 22

How does the cognitive model explain negative symptoms?

Answer 22

Occurring due to the use of cognitive strategies to control high levels of mental stimulation, in order to cope with high levels of thoughts they remain quiet themselves to prevent anymore, leading to the symptom of Speech poverty

Question 23

What are the evaluations of cognitive explanations of sz?

Answer 23

😀Research evidence to support: Stirling
😀Explains both symptoms
😥Issues with causality
😥Doesn’t actually explain SZ

Question 24

Explain an evaluation that can ALSO be used for ALL psychological explanations…

Answer 24

😥Better model is interactionist approach: Diathesis stress model

Question 25

What was found in research study: Stirling?

Answer 25

Compared 30 patients with sz to 19 control patients with no sz. Used Stroop test, where name ink of words that say a different colour to the ink, need to supress desire to read word and focus on colour seen
Found that people with sz took twice as long as control group doing this task

Question 26

Why are there issues with determining causality for cognitive explanation?

Answer 26

Not clear whether changes to cognitive ability causes sz, or whether a person’s cognitive ability changes as a result of getting disorder. Equally it could be a third variable such as enlarged ventricles

Question 27

Why doesn’t this explanation actually explain sz?

Answer 27

Shows us cognitive dysfunction is linked with sz but doesn’t tell us why those individuals developed problems with cognitive functioning in the first place, therefore lacking explanation as to what occurred to initially create these problems