AO3 for explanations

• Dysfunctional Thought Processing (Cognitive) - meta-representation STRENGTH

  • Allen - brain scans for auditory hallucination sufferers while identifying speech as others' or their own showed lower activation in superior temporal gyrus (including Wernicke's) and anterior cingulate gyrus (involved in expressing emotion)
  • individuals may misinterpret their internal voice for an external one explaining auditory hallucinations
• Dysfunctional Thought Processing (Cognitive) - Central Control STRENGTH

  • Stirling and the Stroop test
  • SZ sufferers took twice as long to name the colour of the word
  • suggests they can't filter out irrelevant sensory information due to dysfunctional central control system
  • validating explanation
• Dysfunctional Thought Processing (Cognitive) WEAKNESS

  • doesn't offer an explanation for their origination
  • therefore incomplete explanation
  • needs further research from cognitive neuroscience for the explanation to be fully useful
• The Schizophrenogenic mother STRENGTH

  Tienari

  • 19,000 children adopted from Finnish mothers with SZ
  • adoptive parents with high conflict and criticism and low empathy are implicated with the development of SZ
  • but only those with increased genetic risk (interactionist approach?)
• Double Bind STRENGTH

  Read

  • reviwed 46 studies
  • 69% adult females with SZ had experienced physical or sexual violence (or both)
  • 59% for males
  • suggests that with SZ you are more likely to have an insecure attachment with your primary caregiver
  • aligns with characteristics of insecure attachment figure
• Expressed Emotion STRENGTH

  Kavanagh

  • Reviewed 26 studies
  • SZ individuals relapsed:
  • high expressed emotion family - 48%
  • low expressedd emotion family - 21%
  • we can predict relapse
• Family Dysfunction WEAKNESSES

  • Data that supports theories was gathered retrospectively
  • SZG mother and double bind evidence is only based on clinical observations and family studies
  • subjective and potential social desirability bias
  • lacks empirical evidence - reduces validity
  • Correlation is not causation
  • living with a child with potential SZ symptoms may be an effect of the conflict and hostility in the family
  • not a cause - reduces validity
• Family Dysfunction STRENGTH

  • Good practical application - effective treatment
  • family intervention therapy helps families reduce levels of hostility and/or expressed emotion, improving family support
  • so SZ individuals are less likely to relapse, less strain on NHS, less strain on economy, SZ individuals can continue to work
• Genetic Factors STRENGTHS

  • Gottesman meta-analysis of twin studies
  • 48% concordance MZ twins
  • 21% concordance DZ twins
  • Tienari's adoption studies
  • 6.7% Finnish adoptees with biological SZ mothers also got SZ
  • supports genetic basis
• Genetic Factors WEAKNESS

  • MZ concordance rates are never 100% despite sharing 100% DNA
  • suggests biological approach is reductionist
  • a genetic predisposition is more likely
• Neural Correlates STRENGTH

  • Torrey found that SZ sufferers had 15% larger ventricles compared to average person
  • associated with damage to subcortical areas and prefrontal cortex
• The Dopamine Hypothesis STRENGTHS

  • Practical application of developing anti-psychotics
  • reducing dopamine activity in the brain is especially effective in reducing positive symptoms - improves well-being
  • Falkai - post-mortems
  • increased dopamine concentration in left-amygdala
  • aligns with hyperdopaminergia in subcortex
• The Dopamine Hypothesis WEAKNESSES

  • Causation
  • we cannot tell if the enlarged ventricles and abnormal dopamine levels are caused by the SZ or an effect of SZ
  • research is retrospective so there is no comparison to before SZ
  • less useful