Sz Flashcards
What are the Characteristics of sz :)
Positive-
-hallucinations—> can be visual, auditory. These involve unusual, sensory experiences of things that do not exist. e.g.hearing voices.
-delusions—> strong ideas, held in false belief
E.g. delusion of persecution is paranoid, delusions and the belief people are plotting against you
The delusion of grandiosity is the belief that you are an important historical feature
-disorganised thinking, this is abnormal thought processes, the patient would have trouble organising their processes, this manifest in speech, this can be speaking, gibberish or switching quickly between topics
Negative symptoms
-avoliation- lack of motivation, may find it hard to start or carry out tasks, lack of energy
-Alogia- reduction in the amount and quality of speech
-flat effect- reduction in the range and expression of language
-catatonic behaviour- can range from fast repetitive movements to no movement at all
Explain the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia (10)
-biological explanation
-the dopamine hypothesis believes that the characteristics of sz originates from abnormal levels of dopamine in the brain.
-this hypothesis started as patients with Parkinson’s disease took medication which increased the levels of dopamine in there brain given them some characteristics of schizophrenia patients.
-from this a study was conducted by falkai, using autopsies and found that people with Sz have larger, dopamine receptors and an excessive dopamine in the left amygdala, concluding dopamine production is abnormal in ps with sz.
-How are the different dopamine pathways are relevant to sz:
-an overactivity of the mesolimbic pathway, leads to too much dopamine running from the nucleus accumbens, to the The ventral tegmental area, causing overstimulation and hyperdopamenergia, leading into the positive symptoms of sz eg. Hallucinations.
-however, an underactivity of the mesocortical, leads to, two little dopamine running from the ventral tegmental areal, to the frontal lobe. This pathway is responsible for emotional response and motivation, and two little dopamine in this pathway (D1 receptors) lead to the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, such as avolition, as two little dopamine would lead to the lack of motivation.
5 mark- how do anti- psychotics, help modify the dopamine hypothesis
-if we know that high or low levels of dopamine in different brain regions are responsible for the symptoms of schizophrenia, then drugs can be targeted to these different pathways (D1 and D2 receptors)
-antipsychotics have been developed to target the release of neurotransmitters at the synapses.
-typical antipsychotics are based on the dopamine hypothesis and work by blocking the transmission of dopamine on the postsyncaptic neuron, this least a reduction in neutral activity, therefore lead to a reduction in the positive symptoms
Evaluate the strengths of the dopamine hypothesis-
Sz
Bio explanation
P-one strength—> supporting evidence
E- falkai- used autopsies and found that people with sz have large dopamine receptors in the brain, compared to control patients. He also found that there was an excess of dopamine in the left amygdala of sz patients.
C- however, this study does use post-mortems, which may not be accurate representation of the brain structure of an alive person with sz
L- Even though there is supporting evidence to show the link between dopamine levels and the symptoms of sz, the study can be criticised due to its lack of validity.
P-one strength—> applications
E- for example, typical antipsychotics were developed to target the overproduction of dopamine in the mesolimbic pathway, by blocking post-synaptic neurons, to prevent dopamine bonding. This reduces positive positive symptoms of sz.
E- also later on second generation antipsychotics were developed to reduce any negative symptoms.
L- this is the strength, as the dopamine hypothesis has lead to the development of antipsychotic drugs. Used to target both positive and negative symptoms of Sz patients, and potentially improving their quality of life
Evaluate the weaknesses of the dopamine hypothesis-
Sz
Bio explanation
-one weakness—> reductionist
-The dopamine hypothesis reduces the characteristics of sz down to low levels of dopamine in mesocortical path way (negative symptoms of sz) and high levels of dopamine in the mesolimbic path way (positive symptoms of sz). this is too simple when there may be other causes for characteristics of sz eg. Environmental factors.
C- however, a reductionist viewpoint may be a strength as it allows for dopamine levels to be studied, scientifically and in great depth
L- therefore, although a reduction is viewpoint, can be argued to be too simple as reduces behaviour down to single component, it may also be a benefit as it allows us to understand the potential course from a scientific viewpoint
Explain the genetic explanation of sz (5mark)
Bio
-The genetic explanation of sz, believes that the characteristics of sz are genetically passed down through families, and looks into the concordance rate of sz between two related people.
-an example of this would be adoption studies. For example, Hetson, compared 47 children with sz mothers (who were adopted into non sz families before the age of 1 month) with a control group of 47 children (with no biological sz mother, who were also adopted by non sz families).
-it was found at 10% of the children with biological sz mothers developed the characteristics themselves, whereas no children from the control group did
Evaluate the strengths of the genetic explanation of sz.
Bio
-strength—> supporting research
-For example, Hetson, compared 47 children with sz mothers (who were adopted into non sz families before the age of 1 month) with a control group of 47 children (with no biological sz mother, who were also adopted by non sz families).
-it was found at 10% of the children with biological sz mothers developed the characteristics themselves, whereas no children from the control group did.
L- this is a strength as it supports the idea of Sz being genetically passed down as only the children biologically related to a mother with Sz developed it themselves.
Evaluate the weaknesses of the genetic explanation of sz.
Bio
P- one weakness—> only considers the influence of nature.
E- for example, the family studies used in genetic research of sz, shows how the family all share the same environment. Especially the studies looking into concordance rates of sz between twins, as the twins would be raised in the same environment.
E-this shows how the characteristics of sz maybe down to the environment the family lives in (nurture) not that it is genetically passed down(nature).
L-this is a weakness as it would make the genetic explanation unreliable as it hasn’t established a specific cause an effect.
-one weakness—> contradicting research
-for example, 63% of people diagnosed with sz do not have any family history in first or second-degree relatives of family members with sz
-this shows how the genetic influence on the development of sz is not that strong if most people with
Sz do not have a close relative with the illness, showing how there must be another cause
L this leads us to question the reliability of the genetic explanation of Sz, as there must be another cause other than genetics
Explain the psychodynamic explanation of Sz
(5 mark)
-Individual differences
-The psychodynamic explanation is based on the idea that: during the oral stages of the psychosexual stages, the libido receives satisfaction from the stimulation of the lips, however, if an infant receives too much or too little of the oral stimulation during this phase, and they may become fixated within this phase, meaning that the ego is never fully developed.
-then when the child is an adult they are most likely to deal with high levels of stress and regress back to the oral stage. however, as they never fully developed their ego in the oral stage, they may regress back to a point where the ego doesn’t exist. This means that there is nothing to stop the Id and its desires, come out in the form of hallucinations and delusions, meaning the person loses touch of Reality.
Evaluate the weaknesses of the psychodynamic explanation of Sz.
Individual differences.
-One weakness—> dosent explain all characteristics of sz
-for example, regressing back to the point where our id takes over, only explains the positive symptoms of sz eg.hallucinations and delusions, as this is how our ids desires show according to the psychodynamic explanation,
-however, this doesn’t explain the onset of the negative symptoms of Sz, e.g. allogia or disorganised thinking.
L- therefore, this shows how the psychodynamic approach may not be appropriate as it fails to give a complete explanation for the development of sz as it is only plausible for the psychotic symptoms, so can be seen as incomplete.
P- weakness—> no effective treatment can be developed
E-for example, if sz it’s caused by fixation in the oral stage and then regressing back to a point where ego doesn’t exist, then there would be no way of stopping this. For example, medication or treatment could not be developed as there is no way of fixing somebody’s ID, as well as this, there is no way of scientifically looking into the concept of an ID, so there is no way treatment could be developed anyway
L- if an effective treatment cannot be developed from this, then it can lead us to question the validity of the explanation and the point in the explanation in the first place.
P-weakness —> un falsifiable
E-for example, the psychodynamic approach, believes that regressing back to the point where the ego doesn’t exist, and the IDs desires are dominant leads to the symptoms SZ. -However, you cannot scientifically test the concept of an ID as it isn’t a physical thing and it’s only a concept.
-therefore, if you cannot demonstrate the concept scientifically, this can lead to the lack of trust in the explanation to explain something complex like SZ.
Explain the cognitive explanation of Sz
(10)
Individual differences
-People with schizophrenia have defects and biases in the way they process information (attention, perception, memory language)
-an example of this would be that they have an unusual attention bias. This leads to stimulate in the environment being interpreted as threatening or dangerous when it may not be. This can lead paranoid delusions as it may be caused by an individual misinterpreting an event as threatening due to excessive amounts of processing. Attention bias can also lead people with Sz not being able to establish between in an inner voice and an auditory hallucination. For example, the thought of” I need to wash the pots” would be, there is a voice in my head, telling me I need to go and wash the pots.
-also people with SZ struggle, to focus their attention selectively. People with sz attempt to process too much irrelevant information and have an inability to filter the information , leading symptoms, such as disorganised thinking.
-negative symptoms of schizophrenia can be explained through the cognitive triad. For example, negative views on the world can lead to an individual experiencing the symptoms of flat effect, as if they have negative views of the world they would like motivation.
-Also another part of the cognitive trial is having negative views on the future this would lead to the symptoms of avolition, as if you have negative views on the future, then you’ll have a lack of motivation towards future goals. -Also, the final part of the cognitive trial is having negative views of yourself, this would lead the negative symptom of adhonia It’s having negative symptoms about yourself, would lead to you struggling to have happiness or pleasure about things.
Evaluate the strengths of the cognitive explanation of Sz
-individual differences
-strength—> supporting evidence
-for example, borch use two groups of participants, one group had SZ participants, the other group did not have SZ participants. All of the participants were asked to do the Stroop test.
-it was found that the participant with SZ was slower and made more mistakes than the control group
L-this supports the cognitive explanation as it shows how the people with SZ couldn’t selectively pay attention to the colour of the word, showing how they couldn’t selectively, focus their attention.
-strength—> successful therapy
-CBT has been developed and aims challenge negative thought. CBT helps those with sz as it would help to challenge the faulty thinking process as well as a delusions.
-evidence from NICE, recommended that CBT is used for individuals with an onset of sz or sz symptoms, to challenge there thinking patterns.
-shows how the explanation is led to a development of a potential method of modifying to reduce Sz symptoms
Evaluate the weaknesses of the cognitive explanation of Sz
-individual differences
-Weakness—> incomplete explanation
-alone, the cognitive explanation struggles to explain Sz completely. For example the explanation can explain the onset of positive and negative symptoms, but fails to identify the origin of the disorder
-however, if the explanation was compared with the bio explanation, then it could provide more of a complete explanation, eg. Genes/dopamine could be the origin, which leads to the cognitive defects lead into the symptoms of sz.
L- therefore, even though the cognitive explanation alone can’t provide a full explanation, when it is compared with the biological explanation, a more integrated model could provide more of a holistic view for the symptoms of schizophrenia
How is the cognitive explanation of SZ applied to method of modifying
5 marks
-if schizophrenia is caused by cognitive factors, like attention biases, selective attention and negative self schemas then we can treat schizophrenia through CBTp.
-CBTp aim to treat the man adaptive for patterns of people with schizophrenia, to help reduce symptoms and help them to organise their thoughts in a more rational way
-for example, CBT uses the ABC model to help rationalise thoughts. Activating events leased to irrational beliefs that then create undesirable consequences.
Explain the explanation of socio- cultural factors
- social psychological
(10 mark)
-this explanation believes that there are four main social cultural factors which leads to the onset of schizophrenia (life, events, urbanicity, social isolation and ethnicity and discrimination).
-Life events can lead to the onset of schizophrenia, as stressful or traumatic life events are suggested to be a trigger. A a study by brown and Birley found that approximately 50% of people experienced a major life event, three weeks prior to an SZ episode and 12% of people had a traumatic event within nine weeks. Life events are also only a predisposition to the symptoms, however, not a cause.
-urbanity can lead to the symptoms of sz as urban living doesn’t suit evolutionary traits of humans. This may explain the higher rates of MH disorders in urban areas compared to rural. High rates of Sz in urban areas are likely to be down to environmental factors such as: exposure to toxins, overcrowding, pollution, etc, these can order to social stress and trigger an onset of schizophrenia.
-social isolation can lead to the symptoms of Sz As unusual behaviour would go unnoticed and unchallenged as there is no one around to give thoughts or feedback on someone’s behaviour, this would allow for “ strange” behaviour to progress and flourish into Sz symptoms. Eg . Strong delusions would go unchallenged, allowing them to progress.
- discrimination can lead to sz symptoms as there are higher rates of Sz in Afro- Caribbean people, but not in the Caribbean islands. This shows how sz is not genetic, but maybe down to the stress faced from discrimination.
