Clinical psychology — content, studies and key question

Question 1

What are the four ‘D’s used to define abnormality in mental functioning?

Answer 1

Deviance, dysfunction, distress, and danger

Question 2

Define reliability in the context of clinical psychology.

Answer 2

When something is done again, it gets the same results, including when a diagnosis is repeated

Question 3

Define validity in the context of clinical psychology.

Answer 3

Measuring what is being said to be measured, including in a diagnosis

Question 4

What are the main research methods used in clinical psychology?

Answer 4

Case studies and interviews

Question 5

Define a case study.

Answer 5

A research method where one person or a small group is involved in a detailed study which produces a lot of data

Question 6

Define an interview.

Answer 6

A research method where an interviewer asks questions of an interviewee

Question 7

Define grounded theory.

Answer 7

Gathering qualitative data without a research question driving the data collection, then using coding to uncover themes and ideas in the data to generate theory

Question 8

Define longitudinal design.

Answer 8

A psychological study that involves studying the same participant(s) over a period of time to make comparisons in the data gathered over that time.

Question 9

What is content analysis?

Answer 9

A method of gathering and analysing data by looking in detail at some content (e.g., newspaper articles, studies, films) and analysing that content using particular categories

Question 10

What is summative content analysis?

Answer 10

Looking at some content and counting specific key terms in that content, where the key terms are decided beforehand

Question 11

What is the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)?

Answer 11

The governing body of psychologists in 2008 that keeps a register of psychologists and regulates the profession

Question 12

What is a review in psychology?

Answer 12

A theoretical examination of a research question using what is already known

Question 13

What is a study in psychology?

Answer 13

Where researchers take a research question and then gather data to consider that research question, drawing conclusions accordingly

Question 14

Define clinical psychology.

Answer 14

The study of mental health and mental disorders.

Question 15

What is the DSM?

Answer 15

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is a list of mental health disorders, with their symptoms and features intended to aid diagnosis.

Question 16

Define neuroses.

Answer 16

Mental health issues that fall just outside normal experiences but that may require treatment.

Question 17

What is the single-blind technique?

Answer 17

A technique that does not allow the hypothesis of a piece of research to be known to people other than the researchers, so that it cannot be a cause of bias in judgement/data.

Question 18

What is co-morbidity?

Answer 18

The state of having more than one mental disorder or, more generally, more than one illness or disease

Question 19

What is reductionism?

Answer 19

The idea of breaking down a complex phenomenon into simpler components

Question 20

What are culture-bound syndromes?

Answer 20

Mental health problems (or other illnesses) with a set of symptoms found and recognised as an illness only in one culture.

Question 21

What is the ICD?

Answer 21

The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, a popular diagnostic system used more frequently than the DSM in some parts of the world.

Question 22

Define thought insertion.

Answer 22

When someone thinks someone else is putting thoughts into their head. It is a positive symptom of schizophrenia.

Question 23

Define disordered thinking.

Answer 23

When someone finds it hard to put their thoughts into a logical order to make them make sense. This is a positive symptom of schizophrenia

Question 24

Define a biomarker.

Answer 24

A biological marker that can signal a disease or problem. It is a biological state that can be measured

Question 25

Define empirical data.

Answer 25

Data gathered directly, using touch, sound, smell, taste or sight.

Question 26

In a medical sense, what does ‘hypo’ mean?

Answer 26

Insufficient.

Question 27

In a medical sense, what does ‘hyper’ mean?

Answer 27

Too much

Question 28

Define phenotype.

Answer 28

Our genetic make-up as well as our environmental influences

Question 29

Define positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

Answer 29

Symptoms that can be noted, such as delusions and hallucinations. They are about changes in thinking

Question 30

Define negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

Answer 30

Flatness of emotions (flat affect), social withdrawal, apathy, not looking after self, lack of pleasure in life, not speaking much.

Question 31

Define cognitive symptoms of Schizophrenia

Answer 31

Poor working memory, poor executive functioning (understanding and decision-making), difficulties in concentration, difficulties in paying attention.

Question 32

what is the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia?

Answer 32

Suggests that an excess of dopamine receptors at the synapses in the brain contributes to schizophrenia.

Question 33

What is the glutamate hypothesis of schizophrenia?

Answer 33

Another neurotransmitter, glutamate, is also thought to cause psychotic symptoms if its production is blocked

Question 34

What is the social causation hypothesis for schizophrenia?

Answer 34

A person's social position in life is at least in part an explanation for schizophrenia

Question 35

Name two types of treatments for schizophrenia.

Answer 35

Drug therapy and cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT).

Question 36

What is assertive community treatment (ACT)?

Answer 36

A treatment for schizophrenia focusing on social issues.

Question 37

What are atypical antipsychotics?

Answer 37

A newer type of drug used to treat schizophrenia with fewer side effects

Question 38

What is the aim of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for schizophrenia?

Answer 38

To address the thinking and behaviour involved in schizophrenia

Question 39

What does NICE stand for?

Answer 39

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

Question 40

What are SSRIs?

Answer 40

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, a class of drugs commonly used as antidepressants

Question 41

What was the aim of Gottesman and Shields' (1966) twin study?

Answer 41

To look at how far schizophrenia was genetic and also to try to replicate other studies that had found a genetic link with schizophrenia

Question 42

What type of data did Gottesman and Shields (1966) gather?

Answer 42

Secondary data from one hospital, about twins who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia

Question 43

Over how many years did Gottesman and Shields (1966) gather data?

Answer 43

Starting in 1948, they accessed 16 consecutive years of records to obtain information

Question 44

What tests did Gottesman and Shields (1966) use to determine zygosity?

Answer 44

Blood and visual tests

Question 45

What model did Gottesman and Shields (1966) think best explained their results?

Answer 45

The diathesis-stress model. This model suggests that behaviour comes in part from genetic predisposition and in part from environmental triggers

Question 46

According to Gottesman and Shields (1966), what do particular genes do?

Answer 46

Reduce a person's capacity for stress management, which increases their risk of developing schizophrenia.

Question 47

What overall conclusion did Gottesman and Shields (1966) come to?

Answer 47

In Western societies, the identical twin of someone with schizophrenia is at least 42 times as likely to have schizophrenia as someone from the general population. A fraternal twin of the same sex is at least nine times as likely

Question 48

What did Gottesman and Shields (1966) say about environmental triggers?

Answer 48

Certain genes are necessary for schizophrenia to occur but environmental triggers may also be required. If there is not a 100 per cent concordance rate between identical twins then the characteristic must have some environmental explanations

Question 49

Give a strength of the Gottesman and Shields (1966) study.

Answer 49

The study replicates other studies and the results are backed up by them, which means they are likely to be reliable

Question 50

Give a weakness of the Gottesman and Shields (1966) study.

Answer 50

The researchers felt that a concordance rate simply notes whether if one twin has some abnormality, the other has it too. It would have been useful to have information about the degree of the abnormality.

Question 51

Define 'Concordance Rate'

Answer 51

Concordance rate refers to the rate at which both twins share the same diagnosis

Question 52

What did Goldstein (1988) find regarding the reliability of the DSM-III?

Answer 52

High level of agreement and inter-rater reliability, suggesting that DSM-III is a reliable tool

Question 53

What did Brown et al. (2001) find regarding the reliability of the DSM-IV?

Answer 53

Good-to-excellent reliability for most DSM-IV categories, with disagreements primarily focusing on symptom severity, duration, or whether enough symptoms were present

Question 54

What is co-morbidity?

Answer 54

The state of having more than one mental disorder or, more generally, more than one illness or disease

Question 55

How can cultural issues affect the validity of diagnosis using the DSM?

Answer 55

With regard to its list of symptoms and features, studies have suggested that the DSM-IV-TR is both reliable and valid within the culture where it was devised, but not when used to assess people from other cultures

Question 56

Give a strength of the DSM.

Answer 56

When more than two doctors use the DSM, they should come close to the same diagnosis

Question 57

Give a weakness of the DSM.

Answer 57

"Shopping list" of symptoms and features that suit different mental disorders that does not suit the complexity of individual patients

Question 59

Evidence Supporting the Glutamate Hypothesis

Answer 59

Drug Studies Genetic evidence Animal studies