Schizophrenia Key Words

Question 1

Schizophrenia

Answer 1

A severe mental illness where contact with reality and insight are impaired, an example of psychosis

Question 2

Classification of mental disorder

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia

Answer 3

Atypical symptoms experienced in addition to normal experiences, including hallucinations and delusions

Question 4

Hallucinations

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Delusions

Answer 5

A positive symptom of schizophrenia. They involve beliefs that have no basis in reality, for example, that the sufferer is someone else or that they are the victim of conspiracy

Question 6

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia

Answer 6

A typical experiences that represent the loss of usual experience such as clear thinking or ‘normal’ levels of motivation

Question 7

Speech poverty

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Avolition

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Co-morbidity

Answer 9

The occurrence of 2 illnesses of conditions together, for example, a person has both schizophrenia and a personality disorder. Where 2 conditions are frequently diagnosed together it calls into question the validity of classifying the 2 disorders separatley

Question 10

Symptom overlap

Answer 10

Occurs when 2 or more conditions share symptoms. Where conditions share many symptoms this calls into question the validity of classifying the 2 disorders separately.

Question 11

Criterion validity

Answer 11

A means of assessing validity by considering the extent to which people who do well on a test do well on other things that you would expect to be associated with the test

Question 12

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Answer 12

A disabling reaction to stress following a traumatic event. The response doesn’t always appear immediately after an event. The reactions are long-lasting and include reliving the event recurrently in flashbacks and dreams, emotional numbness and general anxiety which may result in lack of concentration

Question 13

Bipolar disorder

Answer 13

A mental disorder which includes both manic and depressive episodes. Mania is characterised by an elevated and expansive mood, rapid speech which may be hard to understand, delusions, over activity and impulsive behaviour

Question 14

Genetics

Answer 14

Genes consist of DNA strands. DNA produces ‘instructions’ for general and specific physical features of an organism. Genes may impact on psychological features and are transmitted from parent to offspring

Question 15

Dopamine

Answer 15

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 16

Neural correlates

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Candidate genes

Answer 17

Studying genetic influence by focusing on one particular gene that is thought to be of interest

Question 18

Genome

Answer 18

Your genotype

Question 19

Hyperdopaminergia in the subcortex

Answer 19

Original versions of the dopamine hypothesis which was based on the high levels of dopamine in the subcortex

Question 20

Hypodopaminergia in the cortex

Answer 20

More recent version of the dopamine hypothesis which is based on low levels of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex

Question 21

Superior temporal gyrus

Answer 21

Contains the primary auditory cortex, which is responsible for processing sounds

Question 22

Anterior cingulate gyrus

Answer 22

Frontal part of the cingulate cortex that resembles a ‘collar’ surrounding the frontal part of the corpus collasum

Question 23

Ventral striatum

Answer 23

Major portion of the basal ganglia and functions as part of the reward system. It includes the nucleus accumbens

Question 24

Mutation

Answer 24

A change which can then be inherited by any offspring

Question 25

Family dysfunction

Answer 25

Abnormal processes within a family such as poor family communication, cold parenting and high levels of expressed emotion. These may be risk factors for both the development and maintenance of Schizophrenia

Question 26

Cognitive explanations

Answer 26

Explanations that focus on mental processes such as thinking, language and attention

Question 27

Dysfunctional though processing

Answer 27

A general term meaning information processing that isn’t functioning normally and produces undesirable consequences

Question 28

Schizophrenogenic mother

Answer 28

A psychological explanation of schizophrenia. A mother who is both cold and rejecting and overprotective and domineering create the potential for schizophrenia in her child

Question 29

Expressed emotion

Answer 29

A measure of the family environment related to the extent that family members express critical, hostile and emotionally over-involved attitudes toward a family member with a disorder

Question 30

Diathesis-stress model

Answer 30

An interactionist approach to explaining behaviour

Question 31

Antipsychotics

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Typical antipsychotics

Answer 32

The first generation of antipsychotic drugs, having been used since the 1950s. They work as dopamine antagonists and include Chlorpromazine

Question 33

Atypical antipsychotics

Answer 33

Drugs for Schizophrenia (a psychotic disorder) developed after typical antipsychotics. they typically target a range of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin. Examples include Clozapine and Risperidone

Question 34

Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)

Answer 34

A method for treating mental disorders based on both cognitive and behavioural techniques. From the cognitive viewpoint the therapy aims deal with thinking, such as challenging negative thoughts. The therapy also includes behavioural techniques

Question 35

Family therapy

Answer 35

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

Question 36

Token economies

Answer 36

A form of behavioural therapy, where desirable behaviours are encouraged by the use of selective reinforcement. For example, patients are given rewards as secondary reinforcers when they engage in correct/socially desirable behaviours. The tokens can then be exchanged for primary reinforcers - favourite foods or priviledges

Question 37

The interactionist approach

Answer 37

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 38

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system (HPAS)

Answer 38

This controls how the body responds to a chronic stressor. The hypothalamus triggers the pituitary gland to release the hormone ACTH which, in turn, stimulates the release of cortisol