Psychology paper 1

• STATISTICAL INFREQUENCY


  abnormality is defined as those behaviours that are extremely rare, i.e. any behaviour that is found in very few people is regarded as abnormal.

  
  

  e.g. IQ - statistically unusual if below 70. diagnosed w/ intellectual disability disorder

  
• DEVIATION FROM SOCIAL NORMS

  behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society

  
  

  abnormality based on social context

  
  

  example: antisocial personality disorder (formerly psychopathy) - failure to conform to lawful and culturally normal behaviour. psychopaths are abnormal because they deviate from social norms/standards.
• STRENGTH OF STATISTICAL INFREQUENCY: REAL LIFE APPLICATION


  all assessment of patients w/ mental disorders includes comparison to statistical norms.

  
  

  thus a useful part of clinical assessment.
• LIMITATION OF STATISTICAL INFREQUENCY: UNUSUAL ≠ BAD


  IQ scores of >130 are also statistically abnormal, but people with this are not diagnosed w/ a disorder like those who have IQ<70.

  
  

  limitation because this means it should never be used alone to make a diagnosis
• LIMITATION OF STATISTICAL INFREQUENCY: NOT EVERYONE BENEFITS FROM A LABEL


  if someone is happy and fulfilled, there is no benefit from being labelled as abnormal - could cause a negative view of self and others.
• LIMITATION OF DEVIATION FROM SOCIAL NORMS: CULTURALLY RELATIVE


  different cultures label people differently - creates problems for people from one culture living w/i another culture

  
  

  creates cultural bias in assessment
• LIMITATION OF DEVIATION FROM SOCIAL NORMS: HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES


  too much reliance on this method of assessment and lead to systematic abuse of human rights, for example diagnosing people with conditions for trying to escape slavery or being attracted to working-class people - diagnoses used for control.
• FAILURE TO FUNCTION ADEQUATELY


  occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day-to-day living.

  
  

  no longer conforming to interpersonal rules, experience personal distress, behave irrationally or dangerously.
• DEVIATION FROM IDEAL MENTAL HEALTH


  occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health. can overlap w/ failure to function adequately
• JAHODA (1958)


  Six conditions of ideal mental health:

  (1) positive self attitude

  (2) self actualisation - realising your potential, being fulfilled.

  (3) resistance to stress

  (4) personal autonomy - making your own decisions, being in control.

  (5) accurate perception of reality

  (6) adaption to the environment.
• STRENGTH OF FAILURE TO FUNCTION ADEQUATELY: RECOGNISES PATIENT'S PERSPECTIVE


  allows patient to discuss how they struggle to cope w/ everyday pressures - captures experience of those who need help
• LIMITATION OF FAILURE TO FUNCTION ADEQUATELY: SAME AS DEVIATION FROM SOCIAL NORMS

  hard to say when someone is really failing to function, or if they just deviate from social norms. e.e people who live alternative lifestyles. treating this as failures of adequate functioning limits freedom.
• LIMITATION OF FAILURE TO FUNCTION ADEQUATELY: SUBJECTIVE

  someone has to judge distress - patients may feel distressed but may not be viewed as suffering.
• STRENGTH OF DEVIATION FROM IDEAL MENTAL HEALTH: COMPREHENSIVE


  broad criteria of mental health covers most reasons why someone may seek help.
• LIMITATION OF DEVIATION FROM IDEAL MENTAL HEALTH: CULTURALLY RELATIVE


  Johoda's classification may be specific to western norms. emphasis on self-actualisation may be seen as self-indulgence on collectivist cultures.
• LIMITATION OF DEVIATION FROM IDEAL MENTAL HEALTH: UNREALISTICALLY HIGH STANDARD


  very few people actually attain all of the criteria at all times ∴ most people would be viewed as abnormal.
• CHARACTERISTICS OF PHOBIAS


  behavioural

  - panic

  - avoidance of phobic stimulus

  
  

  emotional

  - anxiety/fear

  - unreasonable responses

  
  

  cognitive

  - selective attention twd phobic stimulus (difficult to focus elsewhere)

  - irratoinal beliefs
• CHARACTERISTICS OF DEPRESSION


  behavioural

  - low activity levels

  - disruption to sleep/eating

  
  

  emotional

  - low mood

  - anger

  
  

  cognitive

  - poor concentration

  - absolutist thinking
• CHARACTERISTICS OF OCD


  behavioural

  - compulsions

  - avoidance

  
  

  emotional

  - anxiety/distress

  - guilt/disgust

  
  

  cognitive

  - obsessive thoughts

  - insight into excessive anxiety (awareness that thoughts are irrational - hyper-vigilant of obsession)
• TWO-PROCESS MODEL


  a theory that explains the two processes that lead to the development of phobias - they begin through classical conditioning and are maintained through operant conditioning.
• ACQUISITION OF PHOBIA THRO' CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

  e.g. bitten (UCS) → fear (UCR)

  
  

  dog (NS) associated w/ UCS. dog previously elicited no response.

  
  

  NS becomes CS producing fear (now the CR)
• LITTLE ALBERT


  subject in John Watson's experiment, proved classical conditioning principles, especially the generalization of fear.

  
  

  whenever Albert played w/ a white rat (NS), loud bang (UCS) was heard causing fear (UCR). when rat was paired w/ bang several times, it became associated until rat (CS) caused fear (CR).

  
  

  Albert generalised the fear - was scared of other white furry objects.

  
• MAINTENANCE OF PHOBIA THROUGH OPERANT CONDITIONING

  negative reinforcement: phobic avoids phobic stimulus to escape anxiety response. this reduction in fear negatively reinforces avoidance behaviour and phobia is maintained.
• STRENGTH OF TWO-PROCESS MODEL: GOOD EXPLANATIONARY POWER

  important applications for therapy - if patient is prevented from practising avoidance behaviour phobic behaviour decreases.
• LIMITATION OF TWO-PROCESS MODEL: ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS


  in conditions such as agoraphobia, avoidance is linked w/ feelings of safety. this explains why some agoraphobics are able to leave the house with others, just not alone.

  
  

  problem for two-process model → suggests avoidance is motivated by anxiety reduction
• LIMITATION OF TWO-PROCESS MODEL: INCOMPLETE EXPLANATION


  some aspects of phobias require further explanation - easy to acquire phobias of things which were a danger in evolutionary past. this is biological preparedness (innate).

  
  

  shows there is more to acquiring a phobia than conditioning.
• LIMITATION OF TWO-PROCESS MODEL: NOT ALL BAD EXPERIENCES LEAD TO PHOBIAS


  suggests conditioning alone cannot explain phobias. they may develop only where a vulnerability exists - two-process cannot explain this vulnerability.
• LIMITATION OF TWO-PROCESS MODEL: DOESN'T CONSIDER COGNITIVE ASPECT OF PHOBIAS


  behav explanations are oriented twd explaining behav not cognition.

  
  

  however this is a limitation as there are cognitive elements of phobias such as selective attention and irrational beliefs which cannot be explained thro' behaviourism.
• SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION (SD)


  clients are taught to relax as they are gradually exposed to what they fear in a stepwise manner.

  
  

  patient and therapist form anxiety hierarchy - list of fearful stimuli from least to most frightening. relaxation is then practised at each stage of hierarchy. takes place over several sessions.
• FLOODING THERAPY


  the exposure of the client to the actual anxiety stimulus until they can relax fully.

  
  

  w/o option of avoidance, patient learns quickly that phobic stimulus is harmless. this is known as extinction.

  
  

  patients must give informed consent & know fully what to expect.
• STRENGTH OF SD: EFFECTIVE

  Gilroy et al (2003): group of patients who had SD for spider phobia were less fearful than control group after three sessions after 3 and 33 months.

  
  

  shows positive effects are long-lasting.
• STRENGTH OF SD: SUITABLE FOR DIVERSE RANGE OF PATIENTS


  flooding etc. are not suitable for some patients due to problems such as learning difficulties making it difficult for them to understand what is happening.

  
  

  for these patients, and most others, SD is an appropriate treatment as every step is discussed.
• STRENGTH OF SD: ACCEPTABLE TO PATIENTS

  patients prefer it. it doesn't cause same degree of trauma as flooding. reflected in low refusal rates, and low drop-out rates.
• LIMITATION OF FLOODING: LESS EFFECTIVE FOR SOME PHOBIAS


  social phobias cannot be treated this way due to their cognitive nature and so cognitive therapies may be more suitable to tackle irrational thinking.
• LIMITATION OF FLOODING: TRAUMATIC


  not unethical - patients give consent.

  
  

  however patients are unwilling to see it through - ultimately makes treatment ineffective which wastes time and money.
• BECK'S COGNITIVE THEORY OF DEPRESSION

  theory assumes that individuals with a tendency to be depressed think about the world differently than non-depressed persons and that these individuals are more negative and believe that bad things will happen to them due to their own personal shortcomings.

  
  

  tend to have low self esteem and pessimistic perceptions, seem hopeless.

  
  

  due to faulty info processing - attend to negative aspects and ignore positive ones.
• NEGATIVE SELF SCHEMAS


  negative information we hold about ourselves based on negative past experiences that can lead to cognitive biases such as interpreting all info about ourselves in a negative manner
• NEGATIVE TRIAD (BECK)


  negative view of self, future, and world

  
• ELLIS' ABC MODEL


  an explanation that sees depression occurring through an (A)ctivating event such as failing a test, which triggers an irrational (B)elief such as believing that we must always succeed. this leads to a (C)onsequence - in this case depression.

  
• STRENGTH OF BECK: SUPPORTING EVIDENCE

  Grazioli & Terry (2001) assessed pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability to depression before and after birth.

  
  

  women judged to be high-risk were more likely to suffer from PND.

  
  

  these congnitions can be seen before condition develops, suggesting Beck may be right about faulty cognition leading to depression.