Pychology - psychopathy

• 4 definitions of abnormality

  1. statistical infrequency - the more we see something, the more it is likely to be normal. any unusual behaviour is abnormal

  2. deviation from social norms

  3. failure to function adequately - a person finds it difficult to complete the demands of everyday life. Rosenhan and Seligman - three signs: no longer conforming to standard interpersonal rules, severe personal distress, behaviour becomes irrational.

  4. deviation from ideal mental health. Marie Jahoda- criteria: rational and able to perceive oneself accurately, self actualisation, can cope with stress etc.
• charcateristics of phobias


  behavioural

  emotional

  cognitive
• Behavioural characteristics of phobias

  1. Panic

  2. Avoidance

  3. Endurance (stay in the presence of phobic stimulus with high levels of anxiety)
• Emotional characteristics of phobias

  - fear is immediate

  - anxiety (unpleasant state of high arousal, can be long term and hard to experience positive emotions)
• cognitive characteristics of phobias

  1. Selective attention - phobic stimulus is hard to look away from

  2. Irrational beliefs

  3. Cognitive distortions - the suffered perception of the stimuli is distorted
• phobia vs fear


  Fear - feelings of distress and discomfort but there is control over the stimulus and symptoms can be managed

  Phobia - extreme anxiety with no control over the stimulus, would be avoided, may become anxious even when seeing objects similar to the stimulus
• Evaluate statistical infrequency


  - real life application as it is a useful part of clinical assessment when diagnosing disorders +severity

  - unusual characteristics an be positive such as IQ scores at the higher end of the scale

  - labels can be harmful if someone is living happily
• evaluate deviation from social norms

  - ethnocentric and so the definition of abnormal does not consider or apply to all cultures

  - not a sole definition and cannot be used alone when diagnosing abnormality

  - can lead the abuse of human rights as it has been used in the past to maintain control over certain social groups
• Evaluate failure to function adequately

  - acknowledges the experience of the patient and captures the experience of many people who need help suggesting it is useful in assessing abnormality

  - it could just be a deviation from social normal as the person may be different but normal

  - subjective judgement as someone has to make the judgement on whether or not their patient is functioning adequately

  - however, there have been attempts to make judgements more objective eg global assessment of functioning

  - there are also objective measures such as poor attendance at school/work
• Evaluate deviation from ideal mental health


  - it is a comprehensive definition and covers a broad range of criteria that someone would seek mental help for

  - ethnocentric because what may be normal in one culture can be seen as abnormal in another

  - it sets an unrealistically high standard for mental health and so it is unlikely that a large number of people wouldn't fit in all the categories.
• the behaviourist approach for phobias

  - key assumptions

  - emphasises the role of learning the in the acquisition of behaviour

  - panis, avoidance, endurance

  - mowrer's two process model (fear acquisition via classical conditioning, case study of little albert, phobia maintenance via operant conditioning)
• behaviourist approach key assumptions

  - all behaviour is learnt from experience

  - only measurable and observable behaviour should be studied

  - behaviour is the result of stimulus-response

  - psychology should be seen as a science and studied in a scientific manner
• mowrer's two process model

  1. the acquired fear is learned by associating something that we initially have no fear with something that triggers a fear response

  2. negative reinforcement - avoiding the fear stimulus, punishment - anxiety
• evaluating behaviourist explanation of phobia

  - one strength is that there are real life applications, has important implications for therapies and explains why patients need to be exposed to the fear stimulus, preventing avoidance reduces reinforcement so fear declines, can be used to improve a patients' life

  - one limitation is that operant conditioning cannot explain the maintenance of some phobias, evidence to suggest that some avoidance behaviours is motivated by positive feelings of safety e.eg only being able to leave the house with a trusted person, theory cannot be generalised to all phobias, lowers explanatory power of the explanation

  - one limitation is that there is an opposing theory, sometimes phobias do not follow traumatic experiences and are just scared of snakes or spiders, it can be passed down through genes maximising our chance of survival in the world
• behavioral approach to treating phobias

  - systematic desensitisation and flooding
• flooding


  a person is exposed to the most frightening situation immediately unable to avoid the phobia and through continuous exposure, anxiety levels decrease

  2 types:

  invivo - actual exposure

  invitro - imaginary exposure
• systematic desensitisation


  - using counter conditioning to unlearn the maladaptive response by eliciting another response (relaxation)

  1. fear hierarchy - rank phobic situations

  2. relaxation training - reciprocal inhibition

  3. exposure - moving up the hierarchy in a relaxed state
• evaluating the behaviourist treatment for phobia

  - one strength is that there is research evidence to support it, Gilroy et al followed up on 42 patients who had been treated for spider phobia through systematic desensitisation, they were less fearful than the relaxation group who were taught relaxation without exposure, effective in unlearning the maladaptive response through counter-conditioning

  - one strength is that SD is suitable for a diverse range of patients, flooding is not ideal for some patients, some have learning difficulties and may find it hard to relax in extreme situations, SD useful as the process is broken down

  - one limitation is that flooding can be traumatic for patients, patients may give consent but many are unwilling to see it to the end, they are using time effort and money to not get rid of the phobia and could cause psychological harm

  - one limitation is that flooding is less effective for some phobias, for complex phobias like social phobias , there are cognitive aspects which link more to unpleasant thoughts about the situation
• characteristics of OCD


  obsessions -> anxiety -> compulsions -> relief (temporary)

  behavioural, emotional and cognitive
• behavioural characteristics of OCD

  Compulsions - extreme anxiousness or uncomfortable feeling due to an unwelcome stimulus (repetitive and reduce anxiety), Avoidance - attempt to reduce anxiety by staying away from potential triggers
• emotional characteristics of OCD

  Anxiety and distress due to obsessive thoughts

  Accompanying Depression - low mood

  Guilt and disgust - irrational which may be directed towards something external
• Cognitive characteristics of OCD

  Obsessions- reoccurring and unpleasant

  Coping cognitive strategies- developed by sufferers to deal with stress to achieve relief e.g. praying

  Deepen into excessive anxiety - Recognition that OCD is irrational but cannot be controlled
• The biological approach to explaining OCD

  genetic explanations (family studies, candidate genes, Polygenic, different types of ocd)

  neural explanations (role of serotonin, decision making systems)
• Genetic explanations for OCD


  - Family studies - lewis states that 37% of OCD patients has parents and 21% had siblings with ocd, OCD runs in families but it is more about genetic vulnerability not certainty, diathesis stress model shows that some people are more likely to suffer OCD as some environmental stresses are necessary to trigger it

  - candidate genes - creates a vulnerability for oCD, some of these genes are involved in regulating the development of the serotonin systematic. e.g. 5HTI-D beta plays a role in the transport of serotonin across synapses

  - OCD is polygenic - caused by many genes

  - different types of OCD - one group of genes may cause OCD in one person but a different group of genes may cause the disorder in another person - aetiologically heterogeneous
• neural explanation of OCD

  - the role of serotonin - if a person has low levels of serotonin , normal transmission of mood relevant information will not take place, resulting in mental processes being affected.

  - decision making systems - impaired decision making may be associated with abnormal functioning on the lateral of the frontal lobe, the left parahippocampal gyrus (associated with the processing of unpleasant emotions) also functions abnormally in OCD
• the biological approach to treating OCD

  drug therapy - increases or decreases levels of neurotransmitters in the brain, low levels of serotonin are associated with OCD

  - SSRIs - selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor is most commonly used as an antidepressant for OCD, it works by blocking reuptake allowing more serotonin to pass messages between neurons (pre-synaptic neuron -> post-synaptic neuron)

  - alternatives to SSRIs - where an SSRI is not effective after 3-4 months, it can be combined with other drugs such as tricyclics (same effect, more side effects) or SNRIs (increase levels of serotonin and noradrenaline)

  - combining SSRIs with other treatments - Drugs are often with cognitive behavioural therapy to treat OCD, they reduce emotional and behavioural symptoms allowing them to engage more effectively
• evaluating biological explanations of OCD

  - one strength is that there is supporting evidence, Nestadt et al found that 68% of identical twins shared OCD as opposed to 31% non-identical twins, evidence that some people are more vulnerable to OCD due to genetic makeups

  - one weakness is that there are too many candidate genes, psychologists have been much less successful at pinning down all the genes involved, cannot be certain which variations are responsible for OCD

  - one strength is that the treatments can be provided, antidepressants increasing serotonin levels are effective in reducing OCD symptoms, suggest that the serotonin system is involved in OCD, treatments are useful in treating OCD
• evaluating the biological treatment of OCD


  - one strength is that there is research evidence to support it, Soomro et al reviewed studies that compared SSRIs to placebos and all 17 studies showed significantly better results, symptoms declined by around 70%, effective

  - one strength is that it is not expensive, drug treatments are more accessible to the public, provided by NHS in the UK, can be used alternatively to expensive methods like CBT

  - One limitation is that there are severe side effects, research found that those who take clomipramine, more than 1 in 10 suffer tremors and weight gain, more than 1 in 100 become aggressive and suffer disruption to blood pressure and heart rhythm, can cause discomfort that is not beneficial to the patient.
• depression


  A mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels
• 4 types of depression

  Major Depressive Disorder

  Persistent Depressive Disorder

  Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder

  Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
• major depressive disorder


  Severe but often short-term depression
• persistent depressive disorder


  long-term or recurring depression, including sustained major depression
• disruptive mood dysregulation disorder


  childhood temper tantrums
• Premenstrual disphoric disorder


  disruption to mood prior to and/or during menstruation
• Behavioural characteristics of depression

  - activity levels (withdrawn from work/education, reduced energy levels, psychomotor agitation)

  - disruption to sleep and eating (insomnia, hypersomnia, appetite)

  - aggression and self harm
• emotional characteristics of depression

  - lowered mood

  - anger

  - lowered self-esteem
• cognitive characteristics of depression

  - poor concentration (unable to stick to a task/make decisions)

  - attending to and dwelling on the negative

  - absolute thinking (black+white thinking)
• cognitive approach to explaining depression

  - Beck's cognitive theory of depression

  - Ellis's ABC model
• Beck's cognitive theory of depression

  Faulty information processing - focussing on the negative, ignoring the positives, blowing small problems out of proportion

  Negative self schemas - interpreting information about ourselves negatively - schemas

  The negative triad - world, oneself, future
• Ellis's ABC model of depression

  A- activating event (triggered irrational thoughts)

  B- beliefs (musturbation - must always achieve perfection, Utopianism - life is always meant to be fair)

  C- consequences