Schizophrenia Key Terms

Question 1

Schizophrenia

Answer 1

A severe mental illness where contact with reality and insight are impaired

Question 2

Classification of Mental Disorder

Answer 2

The process of organising symptoms into categories based on which symptoms cluster together in sufferers

Question 3

Positive Symptoms

Answer 3

Atypical symptoms experienced in addition to normal experiences. They include hallucinations and delusions

Question 4

Hallucination

Answer 4

A positive symptom. They are sensory experiences of stimuli that either have no basis in reality or are distorted perceptions of things that are there

Question 5

Delusions

Answer 5

A positive symptom. They involve beliefs that have no basis in reality

Question 6

Negative Symptoms

Answer 6

Atypical experiences that represent the loss of a usual experience

Question 7

Speech Poverty

Answer 7

A negative symptom. It involves reduced frequency and quality of speech

Question 8

Avolition

Answer 8

A negative symptom. It involves loss of motivation to carry out tasks and results in lowered activity levels

Question 9

Co-Morbidity

Answer 9

The occurrence of two illness or conditions together, where the two conditions are frequently diagnosed together, it call into question the validity of classifying the disorders separately

Question 10

Symptom Overlap

Answer 10

Occurs when two or more conditions share symptoms. This can call into question the validity of classifying the disorders separately

Question 11

Genetics

Answer 11

Genes consist of DNA strands. DNA produce instructions for general physical features of an organisms, and also specific physical features. These may impact psychological features. Genes are inherited

Question 12

Dopamine

Answer 12

A neurotransmitter that generally has an excitatory effect and is associated with the sensation of pleasure, Unusually high levels are associated with schizophrenia and unusually low levels are associated with Parkinson’s disease

Question 13

Neural Correlates

Answer 13

Patterns of structure or activity in the brain that occurs in conjunction with an experience and may be implicated in the origins of that experience

Question 14

Family Dysfunction

Answer 14

Abnormal processes within a family such as poor communication, cold parenting and high levels of expressed emotion

Question 15

Dysfunctional Thought Processing

Answer 15

A general term meaning information processing that is not functioning normally and produces undesirable consequences

Question 16

Antipsychotics

Answer 16

Drugs used to reduce the intensity of symptoms, in particular the positive symptoms, of psychotic conditions

Question 17

Typical Antipsychotics

Answer 17

The first generation of antipsychotic drugs. They work as dopamine antagonists and include chlorpromazine

Question 18

Atypical Antipsychotics

Answer 18

Drugs for schizophrenia developed after typical antipsychotics. They typically target a range of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin

Question 19

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

Answer 19

A method for treating mental disorders based on both cognitive and behavioural techniques. It aims to deal with challenging negative thoughts

Question 20

Family Therapy

Answer 20

A psychological therapy carried out with all or some members of a family with the aim of improving their communications and reducing the stress of living as a family

Question 21

Token Economy

Answer 21

A form of behavioural therapy where desirable behaviours are encouraged by the use if selective reinforcement

Question 22

The Interactionist Approach

Answer 22

A broad approach to explaining schizophrenia, which acknowledges that a range of factors, including biological and psychological factors, are involved in the development of schizophrenia

Question 23

The Diathesis-Stress Model

Answer 23

An interactionist approach to explaining behaviour. Schizophrenia can be explained as the result of both an underlying vulnerability and a trigger, both which are necessary to cause schizophrenia. Genes and traumas are seen as diatheses, and stress can be psychological or biological in nature