psychopathology

• Behavioural characteristics of OCD

  AO1 - avoid situations that cause anxiety, compulsions are repetitive and compulsions are performed to reduce anxiety.
• Emotional characteristics of OCD

  AO1- guilt and disgust towards something such as dirt or oneself, depression and anxiety/distress from compulsions.
• Cognitive characteristics of OCD

  AO1 - obsessive thoughts, cognitive coping strategies such as meditation and insight into excessive anxiety.
• Genetic explanations of OCD

  AO1- Lewis (1936) observed that of his OCD patients 37% had parents with OCD and 21% had siblings with OCD. This suggests that OCD can run in families which suggests genetic vulnerability.
• Candidate genes

  AO! - researches have identified genes which create vulnerability for OCD, called candidate genes. Regulate the development of the serotonin system.
• OCD is polygenic

  AO1- this means that OCD is not caused by one singular gene but a combination of genetic variations that increase vulnerability.
• Evaluation of the genetic explanation

  AO3- environmental risk factors = over half of OCD clients have experienced a traumatic event and this made OCD more severe.
• Neural explanations of OCD

  AO1- role of serotonin = some cases of OCD may be explained by a reduction in the functioning of serotonin system in the brain. Low levels of serotonin can account for low mood.
• Evaluation of Neural explanations

  AO3- research support = antidepressants that work on the serotonin system alleviate OCD.
• Drug therapy to treat OCD

  AO1- SSRI's work on the serotonin system in the brain. They increase the levels of serotonin in the synapse and this stimulates the postsynaptic neuron. This compensates for whatever is wrong with the serotonin system in OCD.

  Drug therapies are often used alongside CBT therapy.

  Tricyclics - act on the serotonin system like SSRI's but they have more severe side effects than SSRI's.
• Evaluation of drug therapy

  AO3- cost effective and non-disruptive to peoples lives. However they can produce potentially serious side effects for example : weight gain, blurred vision or aggression in some cases.
• behavioural characteristicsof depression

  AO1- Activity levels, disruption to sleep and eating behaviour, aggression and self harm
• Emotional characteristics of depression

  AO1- lowered mood , anger towards self and others leading to behaviour change and lowered self - esteem.
• Cognitive characteristics of depression

  AO1- poor concentration, dwelling on the negative and absolutist thinking.
• Beck's cognitive approach to depression

  AO1 - explains why some people are more vulnerable to depression than others.

  3 elements:

  Faulty information processing - when depressed people tend to the negative aspect of the situation and ignore the positives.

  Negative self schema - a self schema is the package of information people have about themselves.

  Negative triad - when a person develops a dysfunctional view of themselves due to 3 types of negative thinking.
• The elements of Beck's Negative triad

  AO1 = negative view of the world , negative view of the self and negative view of the future.
• Evaluation of Beck's theory

  AO3 - real world application = identifies cognitive vulnerability to screen those at risk of depression then target vulnerabilities in CBT therapy.
• Ellis' ABC model of depression

  AO1- conditions like anxiety and depression result from irrational thoughts and these irrational thoughts affect our behaviour and emotions.

  Activating event - focused on situations in which irrational thoughts are triggered.

  Beliefs - irrational beliefs about the stimuli

  Consequences - emotional and behavioural consequences
• Evaluation of Ellis' ABC model


  AO3 - the model places responsibility on the depressed person which is called 'victim blaming' and this raises ethical concerns.
• CBT therapy as a treatment for depression

  AO1- cognitive behavioural therapy challenges/changes negative and irrational thoughts and behavioural activation which is encouraging the depressed person to take part in enjoyable activities.
• Evaluation of CBT therapy

  AO3- CBT therapy is as effective as anti depressants. However it may not be suitable for all cases of depression.
• statistical infrequency

  AO1- Occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic, for example being more depressed, than most of the population.

  AO3 - real world application = useful in diagnosis and assessment.
• Deviation from social norms

  AO1 - concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in society.

  AO3- cultural and situational relativism = different standards dependent on the culture they are in.
• Failure to function adequately

  AO1- occurs when someone is unable to cope with the ordinary demands of day- to- day life.

  AO3- discrimination problems. may lead to some people living non-standard lifestyles and being judged as abnormal.
• Deviation from ideal mental health

  AO1 - occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health.

  AO3 - extremely high standards of what good mental health looks like - few people actually meet the standards but it is a useful goal.
• Behavioural characteristics of Phobias

  AO1 = Panic - crying, screaming

  Avoidance - conscious effort to keep away from stimulus

  Endurance - remaining in presence of stimulus while experiencing extreme anxiety
• Emotional characteristics


  AO1 = Anxiety

  Emotional responses are unreasonable

  Fear
• Cognitive characteristics of phobias

  AO1 = Selective attention, irrational beliefs, cognitive distortions
• Describe the two process model

  AO1 - behavioural explanation

  this states that phobias are acquired by classical conditioning and then continue due to operant conditioning.
• Evaluation of the two process model

  AO3 - phobias were successfully treated by preventing avoidance which is shown in the model.
• classical conditioning for phobias

  AO1- Little albert and the study with rats

  Learning by association

  occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly put together ( an unconditioned and neutral stimulus)
• operant conditioning

  AO1 - behaviour is shaped and maintained by consequences. When in contact with the phobia we avoid it. This reduction in fear reinforces the avoidance behaviour and the phobia is maintained.
• Systematic desensitisation as a treatment for phobias

  AO1- behavioural therapy designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through classical conditioning.

  3 processes involved :

  The anxiety hierarchy - list of situations related to the phobia arranged in order from least to most frightening.

  Relaxation - reciprocal inhibition = one emotion prevents another. This relaxation includes breathing exercises or mental imaging techniques.

  Exposure - client is exposed to the phobia while in a relaxed state. This starts at the bottom of the hierarchy and gets worked up.
• Evaluation of Systematic desensitisation

  AO3 - people with learning disabilities are better to use SD rather than flooding. This is because it is less traumatic and requires more complex rational thinking.

  Avoids dangerous situations and is cost-effective, but can lack realism.
• Flooding as a treatment for phobias

  AO1 - this involves immediate exposure to the frightening situation. Extinction = the client quickly learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless. A learned response is distinguished when the conditioned stimulus is encountered with the unconditioned stimulus. The result is that the unconditioned stimulus no longer produces the conditioned response.
• Evaluation of flooding

  AO3 - cost effective and clinically effective , not expensive.

  Traumatic - rated more stressful for participants than SD , lack of informed consent ( ethical issues ) .