Psychopathology Flashcards - A Level Psychology AQA

• Definitions of abnormality


  - statistical infrequency

  - deviation from social norms

  - failure to function adequately

  - deviation from ideal mental health
• Statistical infrequency


  abnormality defined by what fails out statistical average

  -> 68% people have IQ between 85-115

  -> 2% score below 70 diagnosed with intellectual disability (mental retardation)

  
  

  EVALUATION:

  
  

  - doesn't distinguish positive traits -> some uncommon traits are desirable -> IQ over 130 is equally uncommon as IQ below 70, but considered high IQ desirable -> limitation as just because behaviour uncommon, doesn't make it normal

  
  

  - not all disorders are uncommon -> 12 month prevalence of depression 10% -> lifetime prevalence of depression 20% -> limitation as those with statistically common psychological disorders are need of treatment
• Deviation from social norms

  society set rules for behaviours that's normal

  -> abnormality goes against standards set by society

  
  

  EVALUATION:

  
  

  - cultural bias -> issue social norms vary across time and cultures -> hearing voices is highly abnormal in Western society, but for Maori people of New Zealand it is normal

  
  

  - doesn't account for harm to others -> uncommon isn't abnormal -> people engage in behaviours which aren't in line with social norms, but not abnormal like tattoos
• Failure to function adequately


  no longer cope with demands of everyday life

  -> like socialising, going work, sleeping, health, hygiene

  -> RONSENHAN + SELIGMAN found signs someone failing to function adequately: don't conform to standard interpersonal rules, severe distress, irrational behaviour, and threat safety of themselves/others

  
  

  EVALUATION:

  
  

  + takes patient welfare into account -> takes account subjective experiences of patient -> concerned with emotional + physical wellbeing of patient around them

  
  

  - harmful behaviours aren't abnormal -> drinking or smoking -> judges people as abnormal
• Deviation from ideal mental health

  rather then defining abnormality, should focus on defining ideal mental health

  -> JAHODA made criteria: no distress, self-actualisation, lack of inappropriate guilt, and independence

  
  

  EVALUATION:

  
  

  - cultural bias -> based on individualist ideal, they may not apply in collectivist cultures -> like independence and self actualisation

  
  

  - unrealistic standards -> very few people can meet all standards of ideal mental health Jahoda lies out all times -> ultimately means everyone is abnormal, making definition meaningless
• Phobias


  is an anxiety disorder characterised by fear and excessive anxiety in response
• Phobias - behavioural characteristics


  - panic (crying)

  - avoidance (run away)

  - endurance (staying near)
• Phobias - emotional characteristics


  anxiety and fear
• Phobias - cognitive characteristics

  - irrational exaggeration

  - selective attention to phobia
• Depression - behavioural characteristics

  - insomnia/hypersomnia

  - change in weight

  - agitation
• Depression - emotional characteristics

  - worthlessness/guilt

  - depressed mood

  - loss of interest/pleasure
• Depression - cognitive characteristics


  - impaired concentration

  - thoughts of death
• OCD - behavioural characteristics


  compulsions (repetitive, ritual, deal with obsession)
• OCD - emotional characteristics

  - guilt

  - anxiety

  - frustration
• OCD - cognitive characteristics

  - obsessions

  - aware obsessions irrational
• Behaviourist Approach Explaining Phobias

  TWO-PROCESS MODEL(MOWNER)

  -> classical conditioning

  -> phobia is acquired when associate neutral stimulus (no response/ fear) with something scary (unconditioned stimulus)

  -> NS becomes conditioned stimulus which produces conditioned response of fear, even by itself

  -> operant conditioning

  -> positive reinforcement = adding something to increase behaviour

  -> negative reinforcement = subtracting something to increase behaviour

  -> when avoid object of phobia experience negative reinforcement as anxiety of fear reduced -> this way they learn to avoid phobia object so phobia is maintained

  
  

  EVALUATION:

  
  

  + lead to development of 2 successful treatments -> systematic desensitisation + flooding -> types of exposure therapy, when client exposed to phobia stimulus with aim counter-conditioning -> if treatments based on behavioural explanation are effective then suggests must be valid

  
  

  - not all phobias caused by trauma ->MENZIES + CLARKEexamined 50 children with eater phobia -> only 1/50 parents could recall traumatic experience involving water + 28 claim child has always been afraid water even first time -> therefore limits as phobia wasn't acquired through an experience which caused traumatic fear

  
  

  - fails to account for biological factors ->SELIGMANin past humans naturally afraid of venomous creatures more likely to survive and pass genetic fear on -> modern humans still have genetic fear of creatures which is why they're common phobias -> therefore behavioural approach is incomplete explanation
• Behavioural Approach Treating Phobias

  SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION

  -> Step 1 - relaxation techniques + client taught meditation + breathing techniques + based on idea ofRECIPROCAL INHIBITION(can't be frightened and relaxed at same time)

  -> Step 2 - anxiety hierarchy + client an therapist work together to create hierarchy from last to most fearful situation

  -> Step 3 - gradual exposure + with therapist present client works way up hierarchy while relaxed, only moves once they can confront situation without feeling anxious

  
  

  FLOODING

  -> Step 1 - relaxation techniques + client taught meditation + breathing techniques + based on idea ofRECIPROCAL INHIBITION(can't be frightened and relaxed at same time)

  -> Step 2 - immediate exposure + throws client straight in deep end + fear is time-limited response + client will realise feared stimulus isn't harmful and no longer produce conditioned fear response

  
  

  EVALUATION:

  
  

  + high success rate SD ->attrition rateis rate which people drop out of therapy before completed -> refusal rate is rate which people refuse to start therapy -> because SD done client's pace it has low attrition + refusal rates

  
  

  + case study flooding being effective ->WOLFEdrove girl with phobias of cars for 4 hours -> initially she was hysterical, she eventually calmed down and phobia disappeared -> support fear being time-limited response and once realised car isn't harmful, she no longer produced conditioned fear response

  
  

  - doesn't work for all phobias both SD and F -> less effective for treatment of complex phobias like social phobias -> social phobias have cognitive element, while behavioural makes no attempt to address way client thinks -> therefore social phobias better treated by cognitive therapies which aim to challenge irrational thoughts
• Cognitive Approach Explaining Depression

  suggests depression may be result of faulty thinking

  
  

  BECK'S NEGATIVE TRIAD

  -> 3 types depressed person negatively thinks: negative view of self, world, and future

  -> if constantly experiencing negative thoughts = depression

  
  

  NEGATIVE SCHEMA

  -> negative triad result of negative schema -> negative info have formed due to childhood trauma

  -> in adulthoods these schema may triggered due to stress - to negative processing of events in out lives

  
  

  BECK FAULTY INFROMATION PROCESSING

  -> *over-generalisation = making irrational generalisations

  ->absolutist thinking= if something isn't perfect, then it must all be bad

  
  

  EVALUATION:

  
  

  + research evidence ->GRAZIOLI + TERRY65 pregnant woman assessed for dysfunctional attitudes -> after given birth, woman assessed for depressive symptoms -> found having dysfunctional attitudes while pregnant predicted depression as result of stress -> supports link between faulty thinking and depression , increasing validity of theory

  
  

  + real-world applications -> cognitive explanations of depression given rise to effective Cognitive Behavioural Therapy -> as cognitive explanations emphasise irrational thinking role in depression , cognitive treatments aim to challenge these thoughts

  
  

  - doesn't explain all form of depression -> other form depression = bipolar disorder -> characterised by altering between depressed mood + intense mania periods -> cognitive explanations may able explain depressed mood but struggle to explain manic episodes so incomplete
• Cognitive Treatments Depression


  COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY

  
  

  ->IDENTIFY IRRATIONAL THOUGHTS

  - client + therapist work together to identify nature of irrational thoughts the client is having

  
  

  ->DISPUTING IRRATIONAL THOUGHTS

  - logical argument based on client inferences

  - empirical argument based on actual evidence

  
  

  ->PATIENT AS SCIENTIST + ROLE OF HOMEWORK

  - client required to objectively assess validity of their irrational beliefs like a scientist

  - set homework for client

  
  

  ->BEHAVIOURAL ACTIVATION

  - client encouraged to continue going out + doing things usually enjoy

  - the more they go out , these can be used as evidence against irrational thoughts

  
  

  EVALUATION:

  
  

  + comparing CBT to antidepressants -> MARCH ET AL assessed treatment response after 36 weeks in 387 adolescent -> CBT = 81% improved, A = 81%, but CBT + A = 86% improve -> evidence that CBT is affective treating depression as A

  
  

  + why CBT preferred to antidepressants? -> A can create dependency + has side effects -> like weight gain, nausea, and sleep disturbance -> CBT targets problem, antidepressants masks symptoms

  
  

  - success due to patient-therapist relationship -> LUBORSKY ET AL found very little difference in effectiveness between different psychotherapy forms -> so relationship between may be most important -> people want to talk opening to someone -> means CBT effectiveness has nothing to do with actual techniques used, people just want to feel listened to
• Biological Approach + Genetic Explanation for Explaining OCD

  ABNORMALITIES IN NEUROTRANSMITTERS

  -> main neurotransmitter associated with OCD is serotonin (mood regulation)

  -> OCD associated with low levels of serotonin

  -> low serotonin = less able regulate anxiety related to obsessions

  
  

  CANDIDATE GENES

  -> specific gene thought to be involved in development of OCD

  -> SERT gene = serotonin transporter

  -> more SERT = less serotonin activity = OCD

  
  

  EVALUATION:

  
  

  + develop drug treatments which target relevant neurotransmitter -> Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) type of antidepressant works to increase activity of serotonin in brain -> SSRIs able to relieve OCD symptoms supports idea that serotonin plays role in OCD

  
  

  + supporting twin evidence -> we compare concordance rate of monozygotic twins (100%) with dizygotic twins (50%) ->NESTADT ET ALfound MZ = 68% and DZ = 31% -> since MZ have higher concordance rate, suggests there is biological component to particular trait (OCD)

  
  

  - BUT MZ = 100% -> just because individual had particular candidate gene doesn't mean they are going to develop OCD -> must be environmental factor to cause OCD
• Biological Treatment OCD


  SELECTIVE SEROTONIN REUPTAKE INHIBITORS (SSRIs)

  -> block the SERT protein so serotonin cannot be reabsorbed into pre-synaptic neuron

  -> therefore more serotonin binds to receptors on post-synaptic neuron

  -> this compensates for low level of serotonin found in OCD patients

  
  

  TRICYCLICS

  -> oldest type of antidepressant medication

  -> worst side effects than SSRIs

  
  

  EVALUATION:

  
  

  + SSRIs are effective ->SOOMRO ET ALanalysed 17 clinical trails in meta-analysis and found that SSRIs are consistently more effective then placebos -> supports treatment for OCD as shows biological factors involved in OCD not only cognitive

  
  

  - side effects -> like blurred vision, acne, weight gain, and nausea -> we care for patient-wellbeing + increases attrition rates (drop put rates)

  
  

  - alternative treatment ->EXPOSURE + RESPONSE PREVENTION (ERP)-> similar to systematic desensitisation -> client engages with fears from low level to high level -> FOA ET AL found ERP more effective than SSRIs as OCD treatment
• ELLIS' ABC MODEL - AO1

  • A - Activating Event-> e.g. you pass your friend in corridor and they ignore youB - Beliefs-> can be either rational or irrationalrational e.g. friend is very busy and stressed so didn't hear youirrational e.g. friend hates you and never wants to talk to you againC - Consequences-> rational beliefs lead to healthy emotional outcomes-> e.g. talk to my friend later and ask if they are okay-> irrational beliefs lead to unhealthy emotional outcomes = depression-> e.g. i will ignore them and delete their number from my phone
• ELLIS' ABC MODEL - AO3


  + real life applications -> CBT development -> helps identify and challenge irrational thoughts + successful to treat depression

  • doesn't explain origin of irrational thoughts -> most research is correlational -> cause and effect? -> unaware if irrational thoughts cause depression OR depression leads to negative mindset -> therefore cause and effect relationship can't be established