Psychological problems

• social rank theory of depression


  evolutionary adaption which reduces conflict by stopping loser in a conflict from trying to compete again. Allowing society to maintain a stable balance without conflict. Depression has evolved so we can adapt and survive. If we lose something, depression helps us come to terms with it. Prevents us from aspiring to achieve higher status,.
• criticism of social rank theory

  often no reason for depression to occur. sometimes people are depressed when a life event happens, not before to prepare them. doesn't look at the psychological side, considered reductionist. also reductionist because ignores individual differences - someone may lose something and just work harder.
• the abc model of depression basics

  cognitive explanation. believes depression is a result of disturbance in thinking.
• what does a stand for

  activating event - a situation which triggers an individual to potentially have an irrational thought.
• what does b stand for

  beliefs - how the event is interpreted. rational beliefs: perceiving situations how they are, and generally with a positive outlook. irrational belies: perceiving situations to mean different things than they do, generally with a negative outlook.
• what does c stand for

  consequences - if a belief is irrational it may lead to negative consequences which may lead to depression getting worse.
• criticisms of abc

  It assumes individual becomes depressed due to an irrational thought, but a rational thought could also lead to depression

  reductionist- fails to take into account neurotransmitters. Its hard to conclude cause and effect.
• tandoc et al (facebook) sample

  736 students from a large midwestern uni

  68% female

  average age 19
• tandoc et al procedure


  self report using an online survey. collected participants responses to questions and coded them into numerical form for statistical analysis.
• tandoc et al hypothesis

  1. heavy facebook users would report feeling higher levels of envy than light users.

  2. users with a large network of friends would also have more facebook envy.

  3. those who reported feeling higher levels of envy would also report more symptoms of depression.
• tandoc et al method and design


  online survey asked to:

  report average hours a day spent on facebook.

  rate using a five point scale how often they did certain activities on facebook.

  envy assessment.

  depression: participants completed the CES-D, which consists of 20 items asking them to respond about symptoms associated with depression.
• tandoc et al results

  hypothesis 1. supported.

  hypothesis 2. not supported. size of friends did not relate to envy.

  hypothesis 3. supported. facebook envy was a significant positive predictor of depression in college students.

  facebook surveillance is not a predictor of depression but can indirectly lead to depression by causing envy.
• tandoc et al conclusions


  use of facebook doesn't directly lead to depression.

  facebook envy can lead to depression.

  social rank theory offers a useful basis on which to understand how depression can occur in college aged students.
• tandoc et al criticisms


  study has cultural bias - only based on students in uni in usa. might all have similar upbringing which affects the way they use facebook. results can't be generalised to different countries.

  study has age bias - only college aged students. results not generalisable to other ages.

  participants may have given socially desirable answers which would have affected reliability of the study - used self report measures. may not have been honest about envy.
• schizophrenia symptoms

  delusions, hallucinations, disorganised speech, negative symptoms, catatonic behaviour, thought broadcasting.
• schizophrenia facts and stats

  asians less likely to be affected.

  1% population diagnosed with schizophrenia.

  adult disorder, usually diagnosed before 40.

  men and women equally affected.
• schizophrenia biological theory


  schizophrenia caused by high levels of dopamine.

  1. the transmitting neurone contains dopamine.

  2. it is released into the synapse.

  3. absorbed into the receiving neurone via dopamine receptors.

  4. an enzyme is released to break down the dopamine left in the synapse.

  5. some dopamine is left which is re-absorbed by the transmitting neurone.

  too much dopamine causes: hallucinations, erratic movements, delusions and paranoia.

  
• schizophrenia biological theory - what can too much dopamine be caused by?

  faulty enzyme, not enough enzyme produced, dopamine receptors not working how they should.
• criticisms of biological theory of schizophrenia

  reductionist - only focuses on nature, not nurture.

  brain dysfunction could be an effect, not a cause (hard to establish cause and effect)

  too deterministic.
• social drift theory of schizophrenia


  people with schizophrenia will more often have a lower social status. working class people are 5 times more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia than higher social class groups. could be because they disengage from society as they have no motivation to keep their job or education, so they fall into lower classes, which causes rejection from society.
• social drift theory criticisms


  problems establishing cause and effect.

  may be a bias in diagnosis.

  reductionist - ignores biological factors.
• changes in the hippocampus with schizophrenia

  it has a role in formation of memories and emotions that for with them, is smaller in volume for people with schizophrenia. research shows the more severe, the more deflated the hippocampus is.

  
• changes in temporal lobes with schizophrenia

  lower in volume, mainly due to lack of grey matter (neurotransmitters) in the temporal lobes.

  
• changes in prefrontal cortex with schizophrenia


  appears to be defective in schizophrenia. it acts as a control centre for the brain. may also explain why schizophrenics lose control over psychological functioning eg. planning ahead, being organised, making judgements.

  
• daniel et al background


  previous studies had shown low activity levels in the prefrontal cortex for people with schizophrenia. this has been linked to the activity of dopamine in the brain.
• daniel et al sample


  10 in-patients from washington, usa.

  4 female, 6 male.

  2 black, 8 white.

  20-45 years old, from 2-33 years since first hospitalisation.
• daniel et al hypothesis


  if dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex was related to problems in dopamine controlled synaptic transmission, then a known substance that stimulated dopamine activity should increase activity in that area during a cognitive task.
• daniel et al variables

  IV - whether participants were given amphetamine or not.

  DV - performance on the wisconsin card sort test (WCST)
• daniel et al method and design

  the agonist they chose was amphetamine, a chemical that increases alertness and energy and improves mood. they used SPECT to scan the participant's brains during the tasks.
• daniel et al procedure

  5 participants did the BAR task first, and 5 did the WCST first (counterbalancing).

  BAR task: a test of simple sensori-motor control, where the participants match bars on the screen based on their orientation.

  WCST: the prefrontal activation test.

  on these 2 test days, each participant received either a dose of amphetamine or a placebo. both tasks carried out on a computer and required similar motor response.
• daniel et al results

  amphetamine had minimal effect on cerebral blood flow during the BAR task and WCST. had a small but significant effect on 2 patient's performances on WCST. no such effect when placebo was used.
• daniel et al conclusions

  amphetamine significantly increased prefrontal cortex activity during tasks, despite less blood flow to the brain.

  implying some problems associated with schizophrenia and prefrontal cortex are, in part, reversible through drug treatment.
• daniel et al criticisms

  sample size not representative - too small to draw reliable conclusions.

  potential cultural bias - only usa and mostly white people.

  could become outdated - methods for diagnosing schizophrenia change.
• Schizophrenia

  a psychotic disorder where people lose their sense of self and reality. Most common positive symptoms are hallucinations (seeing and hearing things that are not there) and delusions. 1% of the population have SZ. Effects women and men equally – women diagnosed in their 30’s men diagnosed in their 20’s. British people or African and Caribbean heritage are more likely to be diagnosed with SZ. 25% fully recover, 25% improve, 25% need support, 15% hospitalised, and 10% die through suicide.