schizophrenia paper 3 Flashcards
what are the three biological explanations of schizophrenia
genetics, dopamine hypothesis, neural correlates
how many gene variations are associated with schizophrenia
108
what does polygenetic mean
it means that there are multiple genes which can cause schizophrenia
briefly explain Grottesman’s research
he found that having 2 schizophrenic parents you have a 46% chance of having schizophrenia if you have one schizophrenic parent you have a 13% chance of having schizophrenia and if you have schizophrenic siblings you have a 9% chance of having schizophrenia
evaluation of the genetic explanation of schizophrenia
- STRENGTH: biological determinism - you wouldn’t choose to have a mental illness
- LIMITATION: socially sensitive research - puts blame on the parents
- LIMITATION: idiographic research - schizophrenia only affects 1% of the population
- STRENGTH: adoption studies - 164 adoptees who had biologically schizophrenic mothers was 6.7% whereas 197 adoptees with non-schizophrenic mothers was only 2%
what type of neurotransmitter is dopamine
an excitation neurotransmitter
what is an excitation neurotransmitters
it gives a positive charge within the body
what feeling does dopamine stimulate
feelings of happiness
what does hypERdopaminergia mean
that there are high levels of dopamine resulting in disorganised speech which leads to speech poverty
what does hypOdopaminergia mean
that there a low levels of dopamine resulting in poor decision making which leads patients to have delusions
what are the family dysfunction explanations of schizophrenia
schizophrenogenic mothers, double-bind theory and expressed emotion (EE)
what is a schizophrenogenic mother
they are mothers who are cold and rejecting, they often create a tense family climate
how do schizophrenogenic mothers cause schizophrenia
they create distrust which leads to the creation of paranoid delusions
what is the double-bind theory
where children receive conflicting messages from their parents about what is wrong and right
how does double-bind theory lead to causing schizophrenia
it results in the patient having disorganised thoughts which leads to them having hallucinations and delusions
what is expressed emotion
negative expressed emotion towards a patient in the form of verbal criticism, hostility and over-involvement in their life
how do expressed emotions cause schizophrenia
it causes stress in patients ultimately resulting in relapse
what are the three cognitive explanations of schizophrenia
dysfunctional thought processing, metarepresentation and dysfunction of central control
what is dysfunctional thought processing
lower levels of information processing in some areas of the brain suggest cognition is impaired
what is metarepresentation
the cognitive ability to reflect on thoughts and behavior. This dysfunction disrupts our ability to recognise our thoughts as our own
what is a central control
central control is the ability to suppress automatic responses while performing deliberate actions.
how does metarepresentation cause schizophrenia
leads to the sensation of hearing voices (hallucinations) and having thoughts placed in the mind by others (delusions)
evaluation of the psychological explanations of schizophrenia
- STRENGTH: Stirling et al - compared 30 schizophrenic patients with 18 non-patients on a cognitive task (stroop test), those with schizophrenia took twice as long to process compared to the control group
- LIMITATION: socially sensitive research - sensitive to put blame on mothers for causing schizophrenia
- LIMITATION: cultural variations - auditory hallucinations seen as normal in some cultures
- STRENGTH: read at al - 69% of 46 studies showed that women who had experienced child abuse had also been diagnosed with schizophrenia
what are the three types of psychological treatments of schizophrenia
CBT therapy, family therapy and token economy
