Schizophrenia- Psychological Explanations Flashcards
What is family dysfunction?
Idea that an individual develops Sz as they’ve been raised in a dysfunctional family environment.
Family’s dysfunctional in the way they communicate with each other, have high levels of tension and arguments.
Results in creating risk factors for development and maintenance of Sz.
What’s a Schizophrenogenic mother?
Idea Sz’s caused by patient’s early experience with Sz mother.
Mother is cold, controlling, emotionally unresponsive, builds family climate characterised by tension and secrecy.
Leads to distrust later develops into paranoid delusions (positive symptom of Sz).
In families with a Schizophrenogenic mother, what is the father like?
Often passive.
What’s a double bind communication?
Bateson et al argues Sz’s due to faulty communication patterns that exist within families.
Communication type is double bind: occurs when parent communicates a verbal message not matched with non-verbal message, child receives mixed messages.
Conflicting, confusing forms of communication can contribute to/ cause Sz.
Child feels they can’t do the right thing and becomes increasingly anxious, leading to them avoiding/ withdrawing from mixed social contact- signs of avolition (negative symptom) and mixed messages result in disorganised thinking and paranoid delusions.
What’s the father like in a double bind communication?
Father may be verbally loving but emotionally rejecting, e.g. becoming rigid when child tries to show affection.
AO3: Family Dysfunction: Research to Support Schizphrenogenic Mother
P: Mednick et al.
E: Researched 207 children raised in dysfunctional families where mothers where Schizophrenogenic and had high chance of developing Sz.
E: Found that 10 years later, 17 children in high-risk group diagnosed with Sz (8% compared to 1% of general population).
L: Supports theory that family dysfunction can lead to Sz.
AO3: Family Dysfunction: Research to Support: Double Bind Communication
P: Berger.
E: Asked about interactions with parents in childhood, found that Schizophrenics could remember more instances of double-bind communication than non-schizophrenics.
E: Provides clear support for mixed communications in Sz’s childhood- supports family dysfunction as explanation of Sz.
L: However, research is based on retrospective data, think back to childhood, inaccuracies in recall, reduces internal val.
AO3: Family Dysfunction: Alternative Explanation
P: Biological explanation.
E: Suggests Sz’s due to hyperdopaminergia associated with Sz symptoms.
E: e.g. auditory hallucinations associated with high levels of dopamine around Broca’s area rather than dysfunction within family communications e.g. having Sz mother.
L: Weakens family dysfunction as explanation of Sz, not sole explanation that should be considered.
What does the Cognitive explanation of Sz focus on?
The role of internal mental processes.
Sz characterised by disruption to normal thought processing.
Frith et al identified two kinds of dysfunctional thought processing that could trigger some symptoms.
Type of Dysfunctional Thought Processing: Metarepresentation
The cognitive ability to reflect on thoughts and behaviour.
Dysfunction in metarepresentation disrupts our ability to understand our actions and thoughts and actions of others.
Could explain auditory hallucinations (positive symptom) as an individual may not understand that voices in their head is their own voice and not somebody else’s, causing distress in individual.
e.g. believing voice telling you your friends hate you is a different person rather than yourself.
Type of Dysfunctional Thought Processing: Central Control
The cognitive ability to suppress automatic responses whilst performing a deliberate action instead.
Dysfunction in central control could explain speech poverty as individual’s speech is triggered by other thoughts/ words spoken.
Those with Sz can experience disrupted spoken sentences (derailment), where individual’s speech is disrupted as spoken words trigger other associations and person cannot suppress action.
AO3: Dysfunctional Thought Processing: Research to Support
P: Conducted by Stirling et al.
E: Compared patients with Sz with control group on range of cognitive tasks e.g. the Stroop Test, where ppts had to accurately name ink colour of colour word printed.
E: Patients with Sz took twice as long to complete the task than the control group, as they couldn’t suppress automatic response of saying word rather than the colour.
L: Supports Frith’s theory of central control dysfunction as explanation of Sz.
AO3: Dysfunctional Thought Processing: Alternative Explanation
P: Biological explanation.
E: Suggests Sz’s due to hyperdopaminergia associated with Sz symptoms.
E: e.g. auditory hallucinations associated with high levels of dopamine around Broca’s area rather than dysfunction within family communications e.g. having Sz mother.
L: Weakens cognitive explanation of Sz, not sole explanation that should be considered.
AO3: Dysfunctional Thought Processing: Practical Applications
P: Has practical applications.
E: Principles of theory (Sz caused by delusional thoughts) led to treatment of cognitive behavioural therapy.
E: Effective in treating Sz, patients are helped to identify and challenge delusional thoughts, reducing positive symptoms of Sz e.g. delusions of control.
L: Important part of applied psychology, helps treat people in real world.
