psychology - psychopathology

• definitions of abnormality


  1) statistical infrequency

  2) deviation from social norms

  3) failure to function adequately

  4) deviation from ideal mental health
• statistical infrequency


  this occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic compared to the population e.g a low score on an IQ test
• statistical infrequency - evaluation


  + unusual characteristics can be desireable e.g scoring high on an IQ test. using statistical infrequency to define abnormality means that we are unable to distinguish between desirable and undesirable behaviours

  - it's sometimes inappropriate e.g intellectual disability is defined in terms of the normal distribution using the concept of standard deviation to establish a cut off point for abnormality
• deviation from social norms


  concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a society
• deviation from social norms - evaluation


  - suseptible to abuse : what is socially acceptable now may not have been socially acceptable 50 years ago. therefore, if we define abnormality in terms of deviation from social norms, there is a real danger of creating definitions based on prevailing social morals and attitudes

  - cultural relativism : what may be regarded as abnormal to one culture may be considered normal in another culture
• failure to function adequately


  occurs when someone is unable to cope with the ordinary demands of day to day life. this may cause distress to others
• failure to function adequately - evaluation


  - the behaviour may be functional. some dysfunctional behaviour can actually be adaptive and function for the individual. this failure to distinguish between functional and dysfunctional behaviours means hat this definition is incomplete

  - subjective to patient experience so considers their distress even though it is difficult to measure distress
• deviation from ideal mental health


  occurs when an individual does not meet the set criteria for good mental health
• criteria for ideal mental health

  1) self attitudes - high self esteem and strong sense of identity

  2) personal growth - the extent to which an individual develops their full capability

  3) integration - being able to cope with stressful situations

  4) autonomy - being independent

  5) accurate perception - of reality

  6) mastery of the environment - ability to love, function at work and in interpersonal relationships, adjust to new situations
• deviation from ideal mental health - evaluation

  - unrealistic criteria : according to ideal mental health most of us are abnormal meaning that this approach may be an interesting concept but not really useable when it comes to identifying abnormality

  - cultural relativism : jahoda's criteria meet more of a western demand than other cultures
• phobias


  a phobia is an irrational fear of an object
• behavioural characteristics of phobias

  panic - crying, screaming, running away, freezing, fainting

  avoidance - avoid coming into contact with the phobic stimulus

  endurance - the person remains in presence of the phobic stimulus but experiences high levels of anxiety
• emotional characteristics of phobias

  anxiety - unable to relax or feel positive emotions

  fear - immediate response when presented with the phobic stimulus

  most emotional responses are unreasonable and disproportionate to the actual danger presented by the phobic stimulus
• cognitive characteristics of phobias

  selective attention to the phobic stimulus

  irrational beliefs

  resistance to rational arguments
• the behavioural approach to explaining phobias - the two process model


  hobart mowrer (1960) :

  1) classical conditioning

  2) operant conditioning

  3) social learning
• 1) classical conditioning


  acquiring the phobia through association.

  > watson and rayner (1920) created a phobia in a 9 month old baby called little albert. they conditioned him into being scared of a white rat and similar animals by associating the white rat with a loud noise e.g a bang
• 2) operant conditioning


  maintaining the phobia. responses that are obtained from classical conditioning decline over time however phobias are long lasting

  > reinforcement tends to increase the frequency of a behaviour. in the case of negative reinforcement an individual avoids an unpleasant situation

  > this results in a desirable outcome so the behaviour is repeated.
• 3) social learning (NOT part of the two process model)


  is NOT part of the two process model but it is a neo-behaviourist explanation as phobias may be aquired through modelling the behaviours of others
• the behavioural approach to explaining phobias - the two process model - evaluation

  + the importance of classical conditioning : some people with phobias can recall a specific incident where the phobia appeared whereas others cite modelling as the cause

  - diathesis stress model : research has found that not everyone who is bitten by a dog develops a phobia of dogs. this model explains this as it proposes that we inherit a genetic vulnerability for developing mental disorders. however this disorder would only manifest if triggered by a life event

  - the two process model ignores cognitive factors : the cognitive approach proposes that some phobias may develop due to irrational thinking. some phobias are not acquired through trauma so they cannot be a result of conditioning e.g some people may have a fear of snakes even though they have never seen a snake before
• the behavioural approach to treating phobias - systematic desensitisation


  this is a behavioural therapy designed to gradually reduce phobic anxiety through classical conditioning.

  counter conditioning - occurs and this is the learning of a different response to the stimulus e.g relaxation instead of anxiety
• reciprocal inhibition


  is when you can't feel two emotions at once so anxiety and relaxation can't be felt at the same time
• steps to SD


  1) anxiety hierarchy

  2) relaxation

  3) exposure
• 1) the anxiety hierarchy


  this is put together by the patient and therapist. this is a list of situations related to the phobic stimulus in order from least to most frightening
• 2) relaxation


  the patient is taught relaxation through breathing techniques, medication or mental imagery techniques
• 3) exposure


  the patient follows the anxiety hierarchy over multiple sessions until the patient can stay relaxed in high anxiety situations (as the hierarchy increases)
• how does SD work?

  1) patient is taught how to relax their muscles completely. (a relaxed state is incompatible with anxiety)

  2) therapist and patient together construct a desensitisation hierarchy - a series of imagined scenes, each one causing a little more anxiety than the previous one

  3) patient gradually works his/her way through desensitisation hierarchy, visualising each anxiety - evoking event while engaging in the competing relaxation response

  4) once the patient has mastered one step in the hierarchy, they are ready to move onto the next

  5) patient eventually masters the feared situation that caused them to seek help in the first place
• the behavioural approach to treating phobias - flooding


  this involves immediate exposure to a very frightening situation regarding the phobic stimulus. they last for two or three hours but require less sessions.

  flooding works because without the option of avoidance behaviour, the patient can understand that the phobic stimulus is harmless
• how does flooding work?

  1) patient is taught how to relax their muscles completely

  2) patient masters the feared situation that caused them to seek help in the first place. this is accomplished in one long session
• the behavioural approach to treating phobias (systematic desensitisation) - evaluation


  + it is suitable for patients with learning difficulties

  + patients prefer it as it does not cause the same degree of trauma as flooding as it has low refusal and attrition rates

  + it can be self administered so is cheaper

  + gilroy et al followed up 42 patients who had been treated for arachnophobia. this phobia was assessed on several measures like the spider questionnaire and assessing response to a spider. a control group was treated by relaxation without exposure. at 3 and 33 months after treatment the systematic desensitisation group were less fearful than the control group. this shows that the treatment has long-lasting effects.
• the behavioural approach to treating phobias (flooding) - evaluation


  - it isn't suitable for patients with social phobias as they have cognitive aspects such as irrational thinking

  - time and money can be wasted when patients refuse to finish flooding due to the high trauma
• OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)


  OCD is an anxiety disorder where anxiety arises from both obsessions and compulsions
• behavioural characteristics of OCD

  compulsive behaviours are performed to reduce the anxiety created by obsessions. they may be repetitive e.g hand washing

  some patients only experience compulsions and not obsessions

  avoidance
• emotional characteristics of OCD

  anxiety and distress

  guilt

  sufferers are aware that their behaviour is excessive and this causes feelings of embarrassment and shame
• cognitive characteristics of OCD


  obsessive thoughts - these are recurrent and are unpleasant
• the biological approach of explaining OCD - genetic explanations

  1) OCD is a biological explanation

  2) COMT gene

  3) SERT gene
• 1) OCD is a biological explanation


  the diathesis stress model suggests certain genes leave some people more likely to suffer a mental disorder but is not certain - some environmental stress is necessary to trigger the condition
• 2) COMT gene


  regulates the production of the neurotransmitter dopamine that has been implicated in OCD.

  - all genes come in different forms and one form of the COMT gene has been found to be more common in OCD patients than people without the disorder

  - this produces the lower activity of the COMT gene and high levels of dopamine
• 3) SERT gene


  affects the transport of the serotonin, creating lower levels of this neurotransmitter. these lower levels are also implicated in OCD
• the biological approach of explaining OCD - neural explanation


  1) abnormal levels of neurotransmitters

  2) abnormal brain circuits
• 1) abnormal levels of neurotransmitters

  dopamine levels are abnormally high in people with OCD. in contrast with dopamine, it is lower levels of serotonin that are associated with OCD

  - this is based on the fact that antidepressant drugs that increase serotonin activity have been shown to reduce OCD symptoms whereas antidepressants that have less effect on serotonin do not reduce OCD symptoms