Psychopathology

• What are the four definitions of abnormality?

  • Deviation from social norms
  • Failure to function adequately
  • statistical infrequency
  • Deviation from ideal mental health
• What is statistical infrequency?

  a person’s trait, thinking, or behavior is classified as abnormal if it is rare or statistically unusual
• Strengths and limitations of statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality?

  + Objective way

  + No value judgments are made

  -Fails to distinguish between desirable and undesirable behaviour
• What is a weakness of deviation from social norms as a definition of abnormality?

  • Social norms vary from culture to culture
  • Norms change from time to time
• What is failure to function adequately?

  Failure to function adequately (FFA) refers to an abnormality that prevents the person from carrying out the range of behaviors that society would expect, such as getting out of bed each day,
• What is deviation from ideal mental health?

  Jahoda suggested six criteria necessary for ideal mental health. An absence of any of these characteristics indicates individuals as being abnormal, in other words displaying deviation from ideal mental health.
• What were the checklist in Jahoda's inventory?

  • Resistance to stress
  • Self actualization
  • self esteem
  • autonomy
  • accurate perception of reality
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive and uncontrollable thoughts (i.e., obsessions) coupled with a need to perform specific acts repeatedly 
• Cognitive (What do you THINK?): Obsessions dominate ones thinking and are persistent and recurrent thoughts, images, or beliefs entering the mind uninvited and which cannot be removed. At some point during the course of the disorder, the person has recognized that the obsessions or compulsions are excessive or unreasonable.

  Emotional (How do you FEEL?): Obsessive thoughts often lead to anxiety, worry, and distress.

  Behavioral (How do you BEHAVE?): Compulsions are the repetitive behavioral responses intended to neutralize these obsessions, often involving rigidly applied rules.
• Strengths of biologal approach to OCD?

  • Testability via neuroscience research
  • Evidence for genetic and neurotransmitter involvement
• Genetic explanation for OCD?

  The SERT gene (Serotonin Transporter) appears mutated in individuals with OCD. The mutation causes an increase in transporter proteins at a neuron’s membrane. This leads to an increase in the reuptake of serotonin in the neuron, which decreases the level of serotonin in the synapse.
• Ao3 evidence for biological approach to OCD?

  Carey and Gottesman (1981) found that identical twins showed a concordance rate of 87% for obsessive symptoms and features compared to 47% in fraternal twins. This difference suggests that genetic factors are moderately important.
• What might OCD patients experience neurally?

  • Overstimulation of PFC
  • Reduced serotonin and excessive dopamine
• What treatments can be used in the biological approach to OCD?

  • Serotonin reuptake inhibitors
  • Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
• Behavioral (How do you BEHAVE when you’re depressed?): Neglect of personal appearance, loss of appetite, disturbed sleep patterns (insomnia), loss of energy (tiredness), withdrawal from others.

  Emotional (How do you FEEL when you’re depressed?): Intense sadness, irritability, apathy (loss of interest or enjoyment), feelings of worthlessness, and anger.

  Cognitive (How do you THINK when you’re depressed?): Negative thoughts, lack of concentration, low self-esteem, poor memory, recurrent thoughts of death, and low confidence.
• Which two cognitive psychologists researched into depression?

  • Ellis
  • Beck
• What are the three components of Becks negative triad?

  • Negative thoughts about self
  • The world
  • The future
• What are packages of information that could be distorted leading to depression?

  Schemas
• According to Ellis, depression does not occur as a direct result of a negative event but rather is produced by irrational thoughts (i.e., beliefs) triggered by negative events.
• The precise role of cognitive processes is yet to be determined. It is not clear whether faulty cognitions are a cause of psychopathology or a consequence of it.
• How would you treat the cognitive approach to depression?

  Cognitive behavioral therapy aims to change the way a client thinks by challenging irrational and maladaptive thought processes, and this will lead to a change in behavior as a response to new thinking patterns
• Strengths of CBT?

  A strength of this therapy is that it has shown to be very effective in treating depression; in fact, it has been shown to produce longer-lasting recovery than antidepressants.
• Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder. Phobias are characterized by a marked and persistent fear that is excessive or unreasonable, cued by the presence or anticipation of a specific object or situation 
• Behavioral The phobic stimulus is either avoided or responded to with great anxiety. For example, someone with a phobia of dogs may cross the road every time they see a dog, therefore receiving negative reinforcement, which will maintain the phobia

  Emotional Exposure to a phobic stimulus nearly always produces a rapid anxiety response.

  Cognitive A person would recognize that the fear is excessive or unreasonable. The person is consciously aware that the anxiety levels they experience in relation to their feared object or situation are overstated.
• What model is used in the development and maintenance of phobias?

  • Two process model
• What evidence supports the behaviourist approach to phobias?

  Watson and Rayner (1920) used classical conditioning to create a phobia in an infant called Little Albert. Albert developed a phobia of a white rat when he learned to associate the rat with a loud noise.
• What are two ways of treating phobias?

  • Systematic desensitisation
  • Floodin g
• Flooding (also known as implosion therapy) works by exposing the patient directly to their worst fears. (S)he is thrown in at the deep end. For example, a claustrophobic will be locked in a closet for 4 hours, or an individual with a fear of flying will be sent up in a light aircraft.