psychopathology

Question 1

outline and evaluate the behavioural approach to explaining phobias ( 6+10 )

Answer 1

6 A01 marks - 1 paragraph

10 A03 marks - 4 paragraphs

Question 2

1. A01 for outline and evaluate the behavioural approach to explaining phobias ( 6+10 )

Answer 2

behaviour learnt from the environment, babies are born as a blank canvas

Question 3

2. outline and evaluate the behavioural approach to explaining phobias ( 6+10 )

Answer 3

In the developmental stage, phobias are learnt via classical conditioning ( needs a written explanation )

Question 4

3. Ao1 for outline and evaluate the behavioural approach to explaining phobias ( 6+10 )

Answer 4

In the maintenance stage, the phobia is maintained via negative reinforcement. If the negative consequence (fear) is avoided then the negative feeling is avoided, so over time the patient will feel as though if they come into contact with their fear again it will be much worse

Question 5

A03 for outline and evaluate the behavioural approach to explaining phobias ( 6+10 )

Biological factors

Answer 5

P: can be criticised as It fails to consider biological factors.

E: For example Seligman: suggested phobias are due to biological preparedness

E: This suggests that there is an advantage to having certain phobias such as a fear of heights or snakes as they increase their survival rate and therefore ability to reproduce

L: criticises as shows the fact that not all behaviour is learnt criticising the theory’s idea that babies are born as a blank canvas highlighting that the theory is not complete as it fails to consider the role of evolution on phobias.

Question 6

A03 for outline and evaluate the behavioural approach to explaining phobias ( 6+10 )

Little Albert

Answer 6

P: The idea of classical conditioning creating phobias is supported by the case study of little Albert

E: Watson and Reyner subjected 9 m/o Albert to a series of stimuli including a fluffy white rat Used Classical conditioning to associate a rat with a fear response of a loud bang. they repeated this until after a while Albert cried at the rat even without the loud bang

E: this shows that Little albert developed a phobia of the rat despite it not affecting him before

L: highlighting that it is possible to learn phobias supporting the role of classical conditioning in learning phobias

Question 7

A03 for outline and evaluate the behavioural approach to explaining phobias ( 6+10 )

Systematic desensitisation

Answer 7

P: Classical conditioning is supported by systematic desensitisation

E: it is a 75% accurate technique based on the principals of classical conditioning where the client creates a hierarchy of needs where they list their most fearful to least fearful situation, they then work through relaxation techniques with their therapist

E: In each stage they associated the phobia with calmness, so the patient was no longer fearful as fear and anxiety cannot be felt at the same time.

L: This effective technique of phobias supports the behavioural approach to phobias due to its use of classical conditionning

Question 8

A03 for outline and evaluate the behavioural approach to explaining phobias ( 6+10 )

Lack of stimuli

Answer 8

P: The behavioural explanation fails to consider that not all phobias are a result of a stimuli

E: Some people who have a phobia have never come into contact with the neutral stimulus of that phobia

L: This criticises the Theory’s suggestion that we need a stimulus to develop a fear

Question 9

Outline and evaluate behavioural treatments for phobias

(6+10)

Answer 9

1*A01 paragraph

2*A03 paragraphs

1*A01 paragraph

2*A03 paragraphs

Question 10

A01: Outline and evaluate behavioural treatments for phobias

(6+10)

SD

Answer 10

• clients create a hierarchy of fears where they rank their most fearful situation to their least fearful situation.
• eg 1) seeing a picture of fear 2) seeing a video of the fear 3) being in the same room as the fear etc
• once the list is written the therapist and client work through relaxation techniques such as counting to 10, or taking deep breaths
• once the client masters these, they work through the situations on the hierarchy of fears, and if the anxiety gets too much they go back to the previous fear
  
  • overall the client associates the fear to calmness as fear and relaxation cannot be felat at the same time

Question 11

Outline and evaluate behavioural treatments for phobias

(6+10)

A03 for SD

Answer 11

P: Systematic desensitisation is said to be highly effective.

E: 75% of patients who use SD are successfully treated, so the majority of patients find the treatment effective

L: This supports the use of classical conditioning as a treatment for phobias

P: however SD is not easily accessible for everybody

E: Sd requires lots of commitment from the patient including weekly sessions and homework over a minimum of three months.

L: This makes the therapy not appropriate for those who have to travel, or those who are not willing to give up that much time

Question 12

A01: Outline and evaluate behavioural treatments for phobias

(6+10)

Flooding

Answer 12

• Client is exposed to the worst of the fear all at once.
• The client is told to practice relaxation techniques, and the client stays with that phobia until the yare fully relaxed, this can take hours
• Can be conducted ion vivo or in vr
• The idea is that eventually the adrenaline response will calm down and the patient will realise that they are not in danger and will no longer be fearful of the stimulus.
  
  • Used as last resort

Question 13

A01: Outline and evaluate behavioural treatments for phobias

(6+10)

Flooding Ao3

Answer 13

Is more easily accesible than SD. Flooding is a one time session of only a few hours, and everyone can spare just a few hours for one time. However as it increases anxiety levels significantly patients could have an adverse reaction to the therapy. This makes the therapy not effective for everybody as it is not recommended for patients with health issues

Question 14

A01: Outline and evaluate behavioural treatments for phobias

(6+10)

both

Answer 14

Neither of these therapies are 100% effective as they do not take into account evolutionary based phobias. For example a fear of heights would not be fully treated by this therapy, and anti- anxiety medication would need to be prescribed to reduce symptoms. This suggests that neither therapy targets all aspects of phobias making them not appropriate for all

Question 15

Outline and evaluate the biological explanation of OCD

(10+6)

Answer 15

A01: 1 paragraph

A03: 4 paragraphs

Question 16

Outline and evaluate the biological explanation of OCD

(10+6)

A01: Neurotransmitters

Answer 16

• low levels of serotonin are commonly associated with OCD
• It is suggested that low serotonin impacts other neurotransmitters, raising dopamine, and reducing GABA
• High levels of dopamine are also associated with OCD
• The SERT gene is involved with the production and transportation of serotonin causing lower levels
• The COMT gene: a variation of this gene causes an individual to produce less COMT that usually regulates dopamine production. Less COMT = more dopamine = possible cause of OCD
  
  • Twin studies and concordance rates can show us genetic heritability rates

Question 17

Outline and evaluate the biological explanation of OCD

(10+6)

A01: Neuroanatomy

Answer 17

The worry circuit

The OFC registers that something is wrong and sends a worry signal to the thalamus. The caudate nucleus is meant to suppress minor worries, but in some cases due to faulty functioning, this doesn’t happen. Once the thalamus receives the message through the loop creating overactive thoughts

Question 18

Outline and evaluate the biological explanation of OCD

(10+6)

A03: specific genes

Answer 18

P: This explanation can be criticised as no specific gene is associated with OCD

E: The Genes COMT and SERT are currently just a suggestion as to what genes affect, or cause OCD

L: This highlights that with our current understanding, the biological explanation of OCD is incomplete

Question 19

Outline and evaluate the biological explanation of OCD

(10+6)

A03: ERP

Answer 19

P: the approach can be criticised as incomplete as it does not take into account environmental, or psychological influences

E: For example, ERP(exposure and prevention therapy) that uses behavioural techniques is 50-60% effective in treating the disorder.

E: This suggests that as the treatment is effective, there must be some behavioural factors in the development of OCD

L: highlghting that the biological explanation of OCD is incomplete

Question 20

Outline and evaluate the biological explanation of OCD

(10+6)

A03: Choy

Answer 20

P: Can be supported by research by Choy et al that shows that serotonin can cause OCD at low levels.

E: Choy tested SSRI’s, a type of drug that blocks the reuptake of serotonin, and found that they were successful in most patients

L: This shows that low levels of serotonin are linked with OCD.

Question 21

Outline and evaluate the biological explanation of OCD

(10+6)

A03: soomro

Answer 21

P: This explanation can also be supported by Evidence for genetic links to OCD

E: Soomro who studied people with OCD and their family members found that if a first-generation relative had OCD, an individual is five times more likely to get it at some point in their lives, than if a relative did not have it.

L:This supports the genetic explanation and suggests that OCD has a genetic link

Question 22

Outline and evaluate biological treatments of OCD

(10+6)

Answer 22

A01: 6 marks 1 paragraph

A03: 10 marks 4 paragraphs

Question 23

Outline and evaluate biological treatments of OCD

(10+6)

A01

Answer 23

Ocd can be treated by SSRT’s Which are anti-depressants that increase levels of serotonin in the brain by preventing the synapses from reabsorbing the neurotransmitter. This uses the idea that this will normalise the worry circuit

It can also be treated with the anti0anxiety drugs BZ’s that work by increasing our natural levels of GABA, a relaxant that calms the anxiety response caused by the worry circuit

Question 24

Outline and evaluate biological treatments of OCD

(10+6)

A03: Commitment

Answer 24

As the treatments are drug-related you don’t have to talk to a therapist about the issue. This makes the treatment appropriate for everybody, even those who do not want to talk about their issues. However as it is a drug treatment it assumes that biology is the only issue, which means that as there is no therapy it is not possible to discover any other underlying reasons

Question 25

Outline and evaluate biological treatments of OCD

(10+6)

A03: side effects

Answer 25

However, one weakness of drug treatments for OCD is the possible side effects of drugs like SSRIs and BZs. Although evidence suggests that SSRIs are effective in treating OCD, some patients experience mild side effects like indigestion, while others might experience more serious side effects like hallucinations and raised blood pressure.

BZs can also be highly addictive and can cause increased aggression and long-term memory impairments. As a result, BZs are usually only prescribed for short-term treatment. these side effect reduce the effectiveness of drug treatments, as patients will often stop taking medication if they experience these side effects.

Question 26

Outline and evaluate the cognitive explanation of depression

(6+10)

Answer 26

A01: 1 paragraph

A03: 4 paragraphs

Question 27

Outline and evaluate the cognitive explanation of depression

(6+10)

A01 main principals

Answer 27

Views brain as computor

inputs cause outputs

Depression due to faulty irrational thinking

Question 28

Outline and evaluate the cognitive explanation of depression

(6+10)

A01: Beck’s negative triad

Answer 28

Depression is due to negative interpretations due to negative schemas

Events in childhood fill the schemas and then in later life we use these schemas to help explain our experiences they can colour our views and perceptions of current events

Negative schemas influence views of the three main factors: negative view of self, negative view of world, negative view of future. These influence our thoughts and actions. If one is affected then in time they all will be

eg: self: I’m a failure, can lead to world:no one likes me, can lead to future: I’m never going to succeed

Question 29

Outline and evaluate the cognitive explanation of depression

(6+10)

A01: Ellis’s ABC model

Answer 29

A- activating event (getting sacked) B- Belief (because they hate me) C- Consequence (unhealthy emotions leading to depression)

irrational thinking is due to mustabatory thinking: things that must happen for a person to be happy

-accepted by others, must do well, world must make them happy

They focus too much on what has happened and make generalisations that everything else they do in the future will also be negative

this is not rational

Question 30

Outline and evaluate the cognitive explanation of depression

(6+10)

A03: irrationality

Answer 30

P: this explanation can be criticised as not all negative thoughts are irrational

E:It is suggested that those without depression tend to have a more rosy outlook on life

E: Alloy (1979) suggested that depressive realists give more accurate estimates of disasters than the ‘normal’ control group

L this highlights that not all depressive thoughts are irrational criticising the cognitive view that all depressive thinking is irrational

Question 31

Outline and evaluate the cognitive explanation of depression

(6+10)

A03: bio factors

Answer 31

P: The cognitive explanation of depression can be criticised as it does not take any biological factors into consideration

E:There is a 40-50% concordance rate for depression found with Mz twins

E: This shows that there is a genetic factor in the development of depression

L:Highlighting that the cognitive explanation is incomplete as it fails to consider these biological factors