schizophrenia- psychological explanations

Question 1

explain the schizophrenogenic mother

Answer 1

a particular type of parent that is cold cold, rejecting and controlling -> family climate characterised by tension and secrecy

Question 2

what is the impact of the schizophrenogenic mother

Answer 2

distrust that later develops into paranoid delusions -> schizophrenia

Question 3

explain double bind theory

Answer 3

suggests that children who frequently receive contradictory messages from their parents are more likely to develop schizophrenia

Question 4

what is an example of double bind theory

Answer 4

parents who say they care whilst appearing critical or who express love whilst appearing angry

Question 5

a high degree of expressed emotion is what ?

Answer 5

a negative emotional climate

Question 6

what is expressed emotion ?

Answer 6

a family communication styles that involves verbal criticism

hostility towards the person including anger and rejection

emotional over involvement

Question 7

what has been concluded about expressed emotion ?

Answer 7

more important in maintaining
schizophrenia than causing it in the first place
-> cause for relapses in schizophrenia

Question 8

what kind of processing can schizophrenia be characterised by ?

Answer 8

disruption to normal thought processing

Question 9

what are the two types of dysfunctional thought processing ?

Answer 9

meta representation

central control

Question 10

explain meta representation?

Answer 10

the cognitive ability on thoughts and behaviour

Question 11

what does dysfunction in meta representation lead to ?

Answer 11

disrupt ability to recognise our own actions and thoughts carried out by ourselves rather than someone else
-> explains hallucinations of voices and delusions like thought processing

Question 12

explain central control ?

Answer 12

cognitive ability to suppress automatic responses while we perform deliberate actions instead

Question 13

dysfunction in central control can lead to what ?

Answer 13

disorganised speech and thought disorder -> inability to suppress automatic thoughts and speech triggered by other thoughts

derailment of thoughts and processes + spoken sentences -> each word triggers association

Question 14

what is a strength of family dysfunction explanation

supporting evidence

Answer 14

support for family dysfunction as a risk factor

read et al - reviewed 46 studies of child abuse and schizophrenia

69% of adult women in patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia -> history of physical or sexual abuse in childhood 59%

difficult family relationships in childhood are associated with increased risk of schizophrenia in adulthood

Question 15

what is a limitation of the family dysfunction theory (validty problems)

Answer 15

serious problem with validity

info about childhood experiences gathered after development of symptoms.
schizophrenia -> could have distorted patients recall of childhood experiences

this shows that the evidence linking family dysfunction to schizophrenia may not be accurate and valid

Question 16

what is another limitation of family dysfunction theory

ethical issues

Answer 16

There are serious ethical concerns in blaming the family

Gender bias -> issue as the mother tends to be blamed the most, which means such research is highly socially sensitive.

This suggests that the research therefore does not protect individuals from harm.

Question 17

what is a strength of dysfunctional thought processing (research to support)

Answer 17

striling et al compared 30 people with diagnosis of schizophrenia with 18 controls n range cognitive tasks including stroop test.

results showed people with schizophrenia took twice as long to name the ink colours as control group

information influenced differently in schizophrenia.
-> does not tell origins of cognition or schizophrenia