Psychological explanations for Sz Flashcards
what types of symptoms can be caused by stress as a result of family dysfunction
both positive and negative symptoms
what does the family dysfunction explanation say
that family conflict causes people to feel stress and confusion, which causes them to develop schizophrenia
what is a double bind
- when someone experiences contradictory messages, confusing them on how they should behave
- very stressful experience that can lead to the development of schizophrenia
what is a high degree of expressed emotion
members of a family speak to each other in negative ways, consistently expressing lots of criticism and complaints about what everyone else is doing
what are the key defining features of high expressed emotion within the family dynamic
- complaints and general negativity are highly expressed
- being consistently critical of the other person
- a negative over - involvement in each others lives
Katie lived at home with her parents. From a young age, she would constantly hear them argue about every little thing, every single day.
Her parents had different ideas about how she should be raised, and would tell her different things. Katie’s dad would tell her to stay indoors and avoid being around other people. He worries that she may turn out like his own dad (Katie’s grandad), who was very ‘eccentric’. Katie’s grandad was known to see angels and demons, and was paranoid that the government was trying to assassinate him.
On the other hand, Katie’s Mum would tell her to get out as much as possible, to remain social and physically active by hanging out with the other kids on her street. In either case, one parent would tell Katie off for doing what the other parent wanted her to do.
Question 5. Demonstrate how the family dysfunction explanation of schizophrenia would explain how Katie could develop schizophrenia.
Katie is living in a family that uses a high degree of expressed emotion. Her parents are always arguing around her, being critical of both each other and Katie, and are very involved in how Katie should live her life. Katie is also experiencing a double bind around her social activity. Her parents are telling her contradictory messages about what she should be doing in her spare time, which is likely to cause confusion and distress. Both of these factors are likely to cause a significant amount of stress in Katie’s life, which the family dysfunction explanation states is the cause of schizophrenia development.
Take note that the question is asking about the family dysfunction explanation here. Though there may be evidence in the scenario that the biological explanation could explain, this shouldn’t be in your answer. It is important to focus on what the question is asking for in longer, essay style questions.
Katie lived at home with her parents. From a young age, she would constantly hear them argue about every little thing, every single day.
Her parents had different ideas about how she should be raised, and would tell her different things. Katie’s dad would tell her to stay indoors and avoid being around other people. He worries that she may turn out like his own dad (Katie’s grandad), who was very ‘eccentric’. Katie’s grandad was known to see angels and demons, and was paranoid that the government was trying to assassinate him.
On the other hand, Katie’s Mum would tell her to get out as much as possible, to remain social and physically active by hanging out with the other kids on her street. In either case, one parent would tell Katie off for doing what the other parent wanted her to do.
Question 6. How might the biological explanation of schizophrenia explain how Katie may develop schizophrenia?
The biological explanation focuses on our physical being, and not on our thoughts or social interactions. Schizophrenia has been shown to be an inheritable disorder, and so Katie may have been born with genes that increase her chances of developing schizophrenia. If she does, then she is likely to have abnormal dopamine activity levels in her mesolimbic pathway and frontal cortex, and develop physical brain abnormalities, including enlarged ventricles.
what is the support study for family dysfunction
Berger
- conducted research on the effects of double binds on the development of schizophrenia (interviews about childhood experiences)
- berger found that people with schizophrenia were more able recall more experiences from their childhood, compared to a control group
Name the researcher that investigated double binds, and found that people with schizophrenia recalled more instances of contradictory messages than others
Berger
Describe the method Berger used in his study of double binds.
Berger interviewed two groups of patients. One group were patients who had schizophrenia, and the other group were patients who did not have schizophrenia. Berger asked questions about all of the participants’ relationships with their families, specifically asking of any instances where the patients’ parents gave them contradictory messages.
In the exam make sure you read the questions carefully - this one only asks for the method, so you only need to describe the method and nothing else.
Describe the method Vaughn and Leff used in their study on expressed emotion.
Vaughn and Leff used an observational technique to collect data on the relationships between people schizophrenia and their families. They did this by observing recently discharged patients interacting with their family, and categorising those interactions as either low or high expressed emotion.
Dr. Dean is trying to establish the family history of one of her patients. She suspects that her patient is displaying symptoms of schizophrenia, and predicts that her family dynamic may be partly responsible for this. She asks her patient a series of questions including:
“When your parents talked negatively about you, did that negatively impact your mental state?”
“Was it hard for you when you were told contradictory messages about how you should behave?”
Question 5. What is wrong with Dr. Dean’s questioning of her patient?
Dr. Dean’s questions are specific, fairly simple, and if done in the right way are not emotionally distressing. However, Dr. Dean is using leading questions, by making assumptions about the patient’s childhood experiences in the questions she is asking. Patients have the potential to go along with these assumptions, instead of being truthful, because they feel it is the right thing to say. If Dr. Dean was a researcher, she would be producing investigator effects.
Dr. Dean is trying to establish the family history of one of her patients. She suspects that her patient is displaying symptoms of schizophrenia, and reckons that her family dynamic may be partly responsible for this. She asks her patient a series of questions including…
“When your parents talked negatively about you, did that negatively impact your mental state?”
“Was it hard for you when you were told contradictory messages about how you should behave?”
Question 6. Other than leading questions, what other limitations is the researcher likely to come across when using an interview?
The researcher would be using an interview, and not an experiment, to conduct the study. Because of this, they would be collecting data using self-reports, which are known to lack objectivity, and to be inaccurate when recalling events that happened a long time ago. During the interview process, participants may also be susceptible to demand characteristics (i.e. saying what they think is the right thing based on what they think the researcher is looking for.)
what is the double bind theory (Bateson, 1986)
the child doesnt know how the respond to the conflict between the words and the body language.
If the child cannot resolve the confusion, then she is in a double bin situation.
This causes confusion and leads to a state of internal conflict
prolonged exposure to such interactions present the development of an internally coherent construction of reality
how does double bind lead to the development of schziophrenia
the result is that children lose grip on reality. If double blind messages are presented continually and habitually within the family context then by the time the child is old enough to have identified the double bind situation it has already internalised and the child sis unable to control it.
this solution is then to create an escape from the conflicting logical demands of the double bind into the worst of delusions
