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Psychopathologies Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the 4 definitions of abnormality?

A
  • deviation from social norms
  • deviation from ideal mental health
  • failure to function adequately
  • statistical infrequency
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2
Q

What is deviation from social norms?

A
  • behaviour that doesn’t follow accepted social rules that are unwritten
  • e.g. sitting next to someone on an empty bus
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3
Q

What are the strengths of deviation from social norms?

A
  • distinguishes between desirable and undesirable behaviour
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4
Q

What are the weaknesses of deviation from social norms?

A
  • cultural relativism
  • based on context
  • social change
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5
Q

What is statistical infrequency?

A
  • numerical rare behaviour in a given population
  • e.g. IQ
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6
Q

What are the strengths of statistical infrequency?

A
  • useful when identifying intellectual abilities
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7
Q

What are the weaknesses of statistical infrequency?

A
  • some abnormal behaviour is desirable
  • normal range is subjective
  • cultural relativism
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8
Q

What is deviation from ideal mental health?

A
  • we need to meet Jahoda’s list of characteristics or we are abnormal
  • e.g. not being independent and making own decisions so lacking autonomy
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9
Q

What are strengths of deviation from ideal mental health?

A
  • focuses on positives rather than negatives
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10
Q

What are weaknesses of deviation from ideal mental health?

A
  • unrealistic criteria
  • equates physical and mental health
  • cultural relativism
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11
Q

What is failure to function adequately?

A
  • person is abnormal if they cannot cope on a daily basis
  • e.g. not being able to get up and go to work
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12
Q

What are strengths of failure to function adequately?

A
  • recognises subjective experience of each individual
  • can be judges objectively using a checklist
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13
Q

What are weaknesses of failure to function adequately?

A
  • cultural relativism
  • behaviour that is abnormal may be functional
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14
Q

What is a phobia?

A
  • a mental disorder characterised by high levels of anxiety in response to a feared stimulus that interferes with normal living
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15
Q

What are emotional characteristics of phobias?

A
  • anxiety
  • panic
  • excessive/unreasonable fear
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16
Q

What are behavioural characteristics of phobias?

A
  • avoiding the feared stimulus
  • freezing
  • fainting
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17
Q

What are cognitive characteristics of phobias?

A
  • irrational though processes
  • selective attention to feared stimulus
  • recognising the fear is irrational
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18
Q

What is the two process model?

A
  • behaviourist approach to explaining phobias
  • includes classical and operant conditioning
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19
Q

Who devised the two process model?

A

Mowrer

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20
Q

How does classical conditioning contribute to phobias?

A
  • initiates the phobia
  • e.g. Little Albert
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21
Q

What is the Little Albert Study?

A
  • Little Albert was conditioned to associate a rat with fear
  • the UCS was a loud noise causing fear which was the UCR
  • the rat (NS) was paired consistently with the loud noise causing fear
  • Albert began to associate the rat with the loud noise
  • the rat became the CS causing fear (CR)
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22
Q

How does operant conditioning contribute to phobias?

A
  • maintains the phobia
  • avoiding the phobic stimulus reduces fear (negative reinforcement)
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23
Q

How doe social learning contribute to phobias?

A
  • not part of the two process model
  • phobias can be acquired through role models demonstrating a fear and that being copied
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24
Q

What are the strengths of the two process model?

A
  • good explanatory power as it explain mechanisms for the acquisition and maintenance of phobias
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25
What are the weaknesses of the two process model?
- phobias may develop due to biological preparedness from evolution rather than the environment - ignores cognitive factors such as phobias developing from irrational thinking - it may be incomplete as the NS doesn’t always cause fear
26
What is flooding?
- one session where the person is presented with inescapable exposure to feared stimulus until the fear disappears - they are taught relaxation techniques - the aim is to remove the existing association and create a more positive new one
27
What are strengths of flooding?
- relatively quick and effective
28
What are weaknesses of flooding?
- unethical - not suitable for all e.g. children and people. with learning difficulties
29
What is systematic desensitisation?
- gradual exposure to the feared stimulus - taught relaxation techniques - creates a fear hierarchy - begins at lowest level - reciprocal inhibition means they cannot feel fear and relaxed at the same time so must master each stage
30
What are strengths of systematic desensitisation?
- can be used by everyone
31
What are the weaknesses of systematic desensitisation?
- takes a long time - symptom substitution
32
What is depression?
- a mood disorder where the individual feels sad or lacks interest in usual activity
33
What are emotional characteristics of depression?
- low self esteem - anger - loss of interest in usual activities
34
What are behavioural characteristics of depression?
- changed sleeping patterns - changed activity levels - changed eating patterns
35
What are cognitive characteristics of depression?
- selective attention towards negative events - negative self concept - poor concentration
36
What is Beck’s Negative Triad?
- depression is a result of irrational thoughts - faulty information processing leads to fundamental errors in logic - people selectively attend negative aspects of life - negative elf schemas mean they interpret all information about themselves negatively - these negative schemas cause negative cognitive biases
37
What are the 3 aspects of Beck’s Negative Triad?
- negative view of the world - negative view of the self - negative view of the future
38
What are the strengths of Beck’s Negative Triad?
- research support as psychologists have found evidence to support the role of irrational thinking (Bates et al found depressed participants who were given automatic negative thought statements became more depressed)
39
What are the weaknesses of Beck’s Negative Triad?
- doesn’t consider why a person develops faulty thinking - we cannot establish a causal relationship between irrational thoughts and depression
40
What is Ellis’ ABC Model?
- activating event - causes irrational beliefs - leading to consequences - if beliefs are subject to cognitive biases it causes irrational thoughts that lead to undesirable behaviour
41
What is musturbatory thinking?
- factors that must be true to be happy - I must be accepted - I must do well - The world must give me happiness
42
What are strengths of Ellis’s ABC Model?
- real life applications to treatment such as CBT
43
What are the weaknesses of Ellis’s ABC Model?
- blames the individual - ignores situational factors (reductionist)
44
What is CBT?
- cognitive behavioural therapy - therapist helps client to identify negative thoughts - sets small achievable goals to boost self achievement - keeps a diary to track triggers
45
What is REBT?
- rational behavioural therapy - development of CBT - ABCDEF - disrupting irrational thoughts - effects of disputing - new feelings
46
How are irrational thoughts disputed in REBT?
- logically = questioning whether the thoughts make sense - empirically = are the thoughts consistent with reality and is there proof of it - pragmatically = emphasising lack of usefulness of thoughts
47
What are the strengths of CBT?
- as effective as drugs - in combination with drugs they are very effective - gives the patient control
48
What are the weaknesses of CBT?
- individual differences as some cannot handle the stress or change - fails to acknowledge biological factors
49
What is OCD?
- an anxiety disorder that arises from obsessions and compulsions
50
What are emotional characteristics of OCD?
- anxiety - embarrassment - stress
51
What are behavioural characteristics of OCD?
- repetition - compulsion - avoidance
52
What are cognitive characteristics of OCD?
- obsessions - poor concentrations - acknowledgement the thoughts are irrational
53
What is the genetic explanation of OCD?
- COMT and SERT gene
54
How does the COMT gene effect OCD?
- involved in COMT production that regulates dopamine - a specific allele that leads to lower activity of COMT and therefore high levels of dopamine - has been found to be common in OCD patients
55
How does the SERT gene effect OCD?
- affects serotonin transport - resulting in low serotonin levels - mutations in the gene of 2 unrelated families showed 6/7 experienced OCD
56
What is the diathesis is stress model?
- genetics may not be the only cause - other stressors can have an effect - those who possess the genes may not develop OCD
57
What are the strengths of the genetic explanation for OCD?
- research support from twin studies where MZ twins had higher concordance rates than DZ - evidence for role of genes in OCD from studies of people with other disorders (Leckman et al)
58
What are the weaknesses of the genetic explanation of OCD?
- alternative explanations such as the two process model
59
What are the neural explanations for OCD?
- abnormal neurotransmitter levels - abnormal brain circuits
60
How does abnormal neurotransmitter levels effect OCD?
- high levels of dopamine increase drive and could be the cause of compulsions - antidepressants that increase serotonin levels lessen OCD symptoms
61
How does abnormal brain circuits effect OCD?
- orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) that converts sensory information into thoughts/actions has a higher activity in OCD patients - the caudate nucleus in the basal ganglia normally suppresses these signals but when damaged it doesn’t - so thalamus is activated - causing obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviour
62
What are the strengths of the neural explanation for OCD?
- research support for OFC as it is often found abnormal in patients with OCD
63
What are the weaknesses of the neural explanation for OCD?
- too reductionist as it simplifies abnormal neurotransmitter levels is too basic - ignores environmental factors like trauma
64
What are treatments of OCD?
- antidepressants - anti anxiety drugs
65
How do antidepressants help treat OCD?
- SSRIs increase level of serotonin in synapse so more binds on receiving cells - this improves mood and reduces anxiety
66
How do anti anxiety drugs help treat OCD?
- benzodiazepines (BZs) enhance action of GABA - GABA has a quietening effect on the brain reducing anxiety and obsessive thoughts
67
What are the strengths of drugs to treat OCD?
- biological treatments are more cost effective than psychological treatments - drugs are non disruptive
68
What are the weaknesses of drugs to treat OCD?
- side effects - prone to relapse when they aren’t being taken

Psychology (13 decks)

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