Schizophrenia- Psychological explanations for schizophrenia Flashcards
Family dysfunction -
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.
Cognitive explanations -
Explanations that focus on mental processes such as thinking, language and attention.
Dysfunctional thought processing -
A general term meaning information processing that is not functioning normally and produces undesirable consequences.
What is the schizophrenogenic mother theory?
The schizophrenogenic mother theory, proposed by Frieda Fromm-Reichmann (1948), suggests that a cold, rejecting, and controlling mother creates a family climate of tension and secrecy, leading to distrust, paranoid delusions, and ultimately schizophrenia.
What is the double-bind theory in relation to schizophrenia?
The double-bind theory, proposed by Gregory Bateson et al. (1972), suggests that a child in a dysfunctional family receives mixed messages and feels unable to comment on or seek clarification about these conflicting communications. When the child “gets it wrong,” they are punished by withdrawal of love, leading to a view of the world as confusing and dangerous, which may result in symptoms like disorganised thinking and paranoid delusions.
What is expressed emotion (EE) in the context of schizophrenia?
Expressed emotion (EE) refers to the level of negative emotion, such as verbal criticism, hostility, and emotional over-involvement, expressed by carers towards a person with schizophrenia. High levels of EE are a source of stress and can contribute to relapse or even trigger the onset of schizophrenia in vulnerable individuals.
What are cognitive explanations for schizophrenia?
Cognitive explanations focus on abnormal information processing in schizophrenia, such as disruptions in thought processing. These include dysfunction in metarepresentation (the ability to reflect on thoughts and behaviour) and central control (the ability to suppress automatic responses), which can explain symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, and disorganised speech.
What is metarepresentation, and how does its dysfunction relate to schizophrenia?
Metarepresentation is the cognitive ability to reflect on thoughts and behaviour, allowing insight into one’s intentions and the actions of others. Dysfunction in metarepresentation can lead to hallucinations and delusions, such as thought insertion, where individuals believe their thoughts are being projected by others.
What is central control, and how does its dysfunction relate to schizophrenia?
Central control is the cognitive ability to suppress automatic responses while performing deliberate actions. Dysfunction in central control can lead to disorganised speech and thought disorder, as individuals cannot suppress automatic thoughts triggered by associations.
What evidence supports family dysfunction as a risk factor for schizophrenia?
Studies, such as Read et al. (2005), show that childhood abuse and insecure attachments are associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia in adulthood. However, much of this evidence is retrospective, which may affect its validity due to potential distortions in patients’ recall of childhood experiences.
What are the weaknesses of family-based explanations for schizophrenia?
Family-based explanations, such as the schizophrenogenic mother and double-bind theories, lack strong empirical support and have been criticized for parent-blaming. These theories are based on clinical observations and have led to historical trauma for parents who were blamed for their child’s condition.
What evidence supports dysfunctional information processing in schizophrenia?
Studies, such as Stirling et al. (2006), show that individuals with schizophrenia perform differently on cognitive tasks, such as the Stroop Test, supporting the idea of central control dysfunction. However, cognitive explanations do not address the origins of these cognitive dysfunctions or the distal causes of schizophrenia.
What is the limitation of cognitive explanations for schizophrenia?
Cognitive explanations can describe the proximal causes of schizophrenia (current symptoms) but do not explain the distal causes (origins of the condition). They also do not account for the biological factors that may contribute to the disorder.
How do psychological and biological explanations for schizophrenia interact?
Psychological and biological explanations can be reconciled through the diathesis-stress model, where the diathesis (predisposition) may be biological or psychological, and stress (environmental factors) triggers the onset of schizophrenia. However, the direction of causality between cognitive and biological factors remains unclear.
What is the issue with the direction of causality in schizophrenia explanations?
It is unclear whether cognitive factors cause the neural and neurotransmitter abnormalities seen in schizophrenia or if these biological abnormalities cause the cognitive dysfunctions. This uncertainty affects the validity of both psychological and biological explanations for the disorder.
