Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

A-level Psychology Edexcel > Topic 6: Clinical Psychology > Flashcards

Topic 6: Clinical Psychology Flashcards

1
Q

Define ‘symptoms’

A

things that characterise the disorder with regard to how they think/feel/behave

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

define ‘features’

A

statistics/aspects about a disorder eg how it develops or how other factors such as age link

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What can affect the reliability of diagnosis?

A

Patient factors, clinician factors, and classification systems.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

How can patient factors affect the reliability of diagnosis?

A

Different information given by patients to different clinicians.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

How can clinician factors affect the reliability of diagnosis?

A

Clinician’s opinion on what disorder the patient may have is unreliable.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

How can classification systems affect the reliability of diagnosis?

A

Classification systems may not be objective.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What increases the reliability of diagnosis?

A

DSM 5 has a clear set of criteria.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What can affect the validity of diagnosis?

A

Patient factors, clinician factors, and classification systems.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What are the 4 D’s of diagnosis?

A

Deviance, Distress, Dysfunction, Danger

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What does ‘deviance’ refer to?

A

Behaviours or emotions that are unusual in society.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What does ‘distress’ mean?

A

The extent to which the individual finds their behaviour and/or emotions upsetting.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is ‘dysfunction’?

A

The extent to which behaviour interferes with the person’s day-to-day life.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What does ‘danger’ refer to?

A

Behaviour which could harm others or the individual themselves.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Describe the ICD 10

A
  • Used for diagnosing physical and mental conditions.
  • Each disorder has a description of characteristics.
  • Assessment involves several procedures such as clinical interviews, observations and medical records.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What does DSM 5 assess?

A

Individuals in terms of the type of disorder, general mental conditions, contextual factors, and disability.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

How does DSM 5 assess patients?

A

Along a spectrum.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

How can patient factors affect the validity of diagnosis?

A

Patients may not disclose all relevant information.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

How can clinician factors affect the validity of diagnosis?

A

Clinicians may be biased. Implicit bias

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

How can classification systems affect the validity of diagnosis?

A

They may impact international validity.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What was the aim of Rosenhan’s study?

A

To determine if the sane can be distinguished from the insane.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What was the procedure used by Rosenhan’s pseudopatients?

A

All pseudopatients were admitted to the hospital using the same entry criteria but acted normally as soon as they entered.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What was the results in Rosenhan 1?

A

Patients were ignored 71% of the time.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What was the aim of Rosenhan 2?

A

To see if hospitals who knew they had pseudopatients could tell the sane from the insane.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What were the conclusions of Rosenhan 2?

A

They were unable to distinguish the sane from the insane.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

What was the aim of Rosenhan 3?

A

To investigate patient/staff contact.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

What was the procedure in Rosenhan 3?

A

Pseudopatients approached staff and asked for ground privileges.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

What conclusion was drawn about patients in the mental ward in Rosenhan 3?

A

Patients are powerless while on the mental ward and the lack of eye contact depersonalises the patients.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

What was the conclusion of Rosenhan 1?

A

The diagnostic label changed the perception of the person.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

What are the symptoms of schizophrenia?

A

Delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking/speech.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

What are delusions?

A

False beliefs.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

What are hallucinations?

A

Perception of something not actually there.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

What is disorganized thinking/speech?

A

Jumbled thoughts/speaking.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

What is the onset of schizophrenia?

A

Episodes develop gradually over time.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

What is the prognosis of schizophrenia?

A

25% recover completely and 25% experience continuous symptoms.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

What are some explanations for schizophrenia?

A

Excess dopamine, dopamine deficiency, genetics, social causation.

36
Q

What is excess dopamine?

A

A build-up of dopamine in the synapses. Hypersensitivity of dopamine receptors.

37
Q

Describe dopamine deficiency as an explanation for schizophrenia.

A

Low levels of dopamine in the mesocortical pathway.
Irregular serotonin activity as serotonin regulates dopamine levels.

38
Q

Describe genetics as an explanation for schizophrenia.

A

The COMT gene - regulates dopamine levels (depletion causes excess dopamine)
DISC1 gene - abnormality leads to schizophrenia as it is unable to regulate GABA

39
Q

Describe Social Causation Hypothesis as an explain of schizophrenia.

A

Urbanicity - living in the city.
Social isolation - people don’t get feedback if behaviours are appropriate
Family dysfunction - childhood trauma

40
Q

What are common treatments for schizophrenia?

A

Drug treatment and CBT.

41
Q

How do anti-psychotic drugs work?

A

They block receptor sites for dopamine so the effects of dopamine aren’t picked up by the brain.

42
Q

How does CBT help manage symptoms of schizophrenia?

A

CBT reduces stress felt by the patient to help them manage their symptoms through belief modification, focusing and reattribution, and normalising their experiences.

43
Q

What was Carlson’s aim in his research?

A

To provide evidence for/against the dopamine hypothesis.

44
Q

What type of study did Carlsson conduct?

A

A literature review on the methods and findings of studies to do with neurotransmitters in schizophrenia.

45
Q

What conclusion did Carlsson reach regarding glutamate?

A

Glutamate deficiency may explain increased dopamine responsiveness.
Increased serotonin activity is found in people with schizophrenia.

46
Q

What are the symptoms of OCD?

A

Obsessions.
Compulsions

47
Q

What are obsessions in OCD?

A

Persistent thoughts

48
Q

What are compulsions?

A

Tasks people do to relieve themselves of the obsessions.

49
Q

What is the prognosis for OCD?

A

70% of people experience chronic and lifelong OCD; 5% have episodic symptoms.

50
Q

What brain structure is associated with OCD?

A

An overactive thalamus leads to the orbitofrontal cortex becoming overactive. Cleaning and checking behaviours and anxiety provoking.

51
Q

What is the cognitive explanation for OCD?

A

People with OCD misinterpret their thoughts due to false beliefs and memory problems. OCD sufferers may be hypervigilant

52
Q

Describe drug treatment for OCD

A

Anti-depressants act on the levels of serotonin in the synapse to increase serotonin levels. Anti-anxiety drugs increase the effectiveness of GABA in regulating anxiety.

53
Q

Describe CBT as a treatment for OCD

A

The patient is encouraged to test the beliefs that activate their anxiety until they no longer generate anxiety. Informing the client about exposure and response prevention, exposure hierarchy, repeated exposure to situations that might cause anxiety, and getting the client to refrain from performing the compulsive behaviour.

54
Q

What was the aim of the POTS study?

A

To compare CBT, SSRI, and a combination of treatments.

55
Q

What was the procedure in the POTS study?

A

Participants were interviewed and measured using the CY-BOCS. Patients attended weekly sessions where they had CBT or SSRI.

56
Q

What were the results of the POTS study?

A

39% of CBT participants entered remission, while 21% of drug treatment participants entered remission.

57
Q

What was the conclusion regarding treatments for POTS?

A

The greatest drop in symptoms was shown in a combination of treatments.

58
Q

What is the clinical key question regarding mental health?

A

How do attitudes towards mental health disorders vary cross-culturally?

59
Q

stigma of mental health disorders cross-culturally

A

Cheon - stigma may arise from cultural differences in automatic reactions to mental illness, there is greater stigma in Asia and Asian-America than in white Europeans and Americans

60
Q

causes of mental health disorders cross-culturally

A

African countries believe that psychological disorders may be caused by possession of supernatural spirits

61
Q

symptoms of mental health disorders cross-culturally

A

Luhrmann - patients in the USA were more likely to report violent commands than those in India and Ghana who were more likely to report rich relationships with voices in their head

62
Q

treatment of mental health disorders cross-culturally

A

Carpenter-Song - African Americans and Latinos emphasise non-biomedical interpretation so therefore they would be less likely to accept medication as a treatment of mental illness

63
Q

What is the prognosis of mental health disorders cross-culturally?

A

Twesigye - prognosis will be poor as people recieve little treatment
there is more positive prognosis for schizophrenia in developing countries compared to Western countries

64
Q

What is the aim of the clinical practical investigation regarding mental health?

A

To investigate whether news articles in online newspapers portray schizophrenia in positive, negative, or neutral terms.

65
Q

What is the hypothesis of the clinical practical investigation?

A

Schizophrenia will be portrayed differently in a tabloid newspaper compared to a broadsheet newspaper.

66
Q

What method is used in the clinical practical investigation?

A

Content analysis using codes: schizophrenia linked to crime, scientific information, and aim to raise awareness. A tally chart was used to represent how many times each category was shown in each type of online newspaper.

67
Q

What is the results of Clinical Practical?

A

Tabloid newspapers associate schizophrenia with crime the most. Broadsheet newspapers mainly aim to raise awareness of schizophrenia.

68
Q

What is the conclusion of the Clinical Practical?

A

The portrayal of schizophrenia in tabloid newspapers is more negative compared to broadsheet newspapers.

69
Q

What are the strengths of the clinical practical investigation?

A
  • Quick and easy to gather data
  • Quantitative data collected - objective.
70
Q

What are the weaknesses of the clinical practical investigation?

A
  • Reductionist - doesn’t explain why the media portrays mental illness in such a way
  • Categories may be subjective as there weren’t clear instructions on how to categorize the data.
71
Q

What is a longitudinal study?

A

A study that observes the same participants on many occasions over a long period of time.

72
Q

What is a cross-sectional study?

A

Researchers take a snapshot of behavior in a given population in a set period of time.

73
Q

What is meta-analysis?

A

Using the findings of different studies conducted by different researchers.

74
Q

What was the aim of Bradshaw’s study?

A

To investigate how CBT can be used to treat a woman (Carol) with schizophrenia.

75
Q

What was the procedure in Bradshaw’s study?

A

Carol’s symptoms were measured using RFS, GAS hospitalisation, and GPI. A rapport was developed, and Carol was educated about CBT. Treatment consisted of managing stress and anxiety.

76
Q

What were the results of Bradshaw’s study?

A

Carol showed improvement in psychological functioning and the reduction of symptoms.

77
Q

What was the conclusion of Bradshaw’s study?

A

CBT is successful in treating schizophrenia.

78
Q

What is peer review?

A

The evaluation of articles before they are published.

79
Q

What are the strengths of peer reviews?

A
  • Ensures that published psychological knowledge is unbiased.
  • Helps to maintain standards in psychology.
80
Q

What are the weaknesses of peer reviews?

A
  • Costly to make amendments to already published research.
  • Some peer reviews may use anonymity to publish their ideas.
81
Q

What was the aim of Vallentine’s study?

A

To study the usefulness of psycho-education within group work for offender patients in a forensic hospital setting.

82
Q

What was the procedure used in Vallentine’s study?

A

Participants were interviewed to understand their experience and to look at improvements. Content analysis was used to pick out themes in their responses.

83
Q

What were the results of Vallentine’s study?

A

Patients valued knowing their illness.

84
Q

What were the conclusions of Vallentine’s study?

A

Positive and negative changes in the various measures taken after the psycho-education group took place.

85
Q

What are the HCPC guidelines?

A
  • Character
  • Health
  • Standards of proficiency
  • Standards of conduct
  • Standards of personal development
  • Standards of educational training
  • Standards of prescribing.

A-level Psychology Edexcel (7 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions