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Psychopathology Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the 4 definitions of abnormality?

A

statistical infrequency
deviation from social norms
failure to function adequately
deviation from ideal mental health

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2
Q

What is statistical infrequency?

A

suggests a person’s trait, thinking or behaviour is classified as abnormal if it is rare or statistically unusual
uses normal distribution
2 standard deviations from the mean = abnormal

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3
Q

What is the good thing about statistical infrequency?

A

abnormality is measured objectively = may be an accurate way of defining abnormality

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4
Q

What are the issues with statistical infrequency?

A

labelling - cause stress, assumptions and discrimination
ignores that some abnormality is desirable
the cut-off point for abnormality is unclear - how far from the average does it need to be to be abnormal

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5
Q

What is deviation from social norms?

A

each society has approved and expected ways of behaviour
there are implicit and explicit rules about how one ought to behave
people who break these rules or expectations are considered abnormal
context should be considered

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6
Q

What does explicit mean?

A

clearly stated

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7
Q

What does implicit mean?

A

unwritten rules

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8
Q

What are the good things with deviation from social norms?

A

distinguishes between disirable and undesrible behaviour
some norms need to be broken for social change

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9
Q

What are the issues with deviation from social norms?

A

does not take context into account - may not be accurate
cultural factors are inconsistent - does not offer universal definition of abnormality
social norms change over time so it needs to be updated

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10
Q

What is failure to function adequately?

A

a person is unable to live a normal life or engage in a normal range of behaviours
people are considered abnormal if it causes great distress and prevents them living successfully

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11
Q

What are Rosenhan and Seligman’s 7 features of abnormality?

A

(VIOLUMS)
Violation of moral and ideal standards
Irrationality
Observer discomfort
loss of control and unpredictability
unconventionality and vividness
maladaptive behaviour
suffering

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12
Q

What is violation of moral and ideal standards?

A

breaking laws and rules

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13
Q

What is irrationality?

A

unable to percieve themselves in reality

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14
Q

What is unconventionality and vividness?

A

stands out and is extreme

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15
Q

What is the good thing with failure to function adequately?

A

does attempt to include the subjective experience of the induvidual and can view the mental disorder from their POV

provides a threshod for professional help for those who need it

con use objective measures like poor attendance at shool/work

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16
Q

What are the issues with failure to function adequately?

A

personal distress may be normal as a response to a traumatic event - grieving someone

not clear how extreme the behaviour has to be to be abnormal - some people like unpredictable and irrational behaviour, some maladaptive behaviour is normal

relys on subjective assessment

induvidual differences = some people are able to function normally despite being seriously ill or disturbed

context dependent = hunger strikes by making a protest may be deemed as abnormal by FFA

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17
Q

What is deviation from ideal mental health?

A

defines the normal characteristics people should possess
abnormality is the lacking of these ideals of mental healths

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18
Q

What are Jahoda’s ideal mental health characteristics?

A

(PAPERS)
positive attitude towards self
autonomy (independent and self-regulating)
perception of reality is accurate
evironmental mastery (adapt to new environments)
resistance to stress
self actualisation (capable of personal growth)

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19
Q

What is the good thing with deviation from ideal mental health?

A

very clear, covers a broad range of criteria = useful

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20
Q

What are the issues with deviation from ideal mental health?

A

most people dont meet all these ideals all the time = might not be useful
criteria are subjective so difficult to measure - difficult to apply
reflects western ideals of induvidualism - which would be abnormal and unhealthy in collectivist culture
over-demanding = lots of people lack these ideals

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21
Q

What are the two classification systems used for mental disorders?

A

ICD 11 or DSM 5

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22
Q

What are classification systems for mental disorders?

A

used for classifying and diagnosing mental health problems
provides signs and symptoms that regulary occur together which is a syndrom that is distinctive and can be identified as a disorder

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23
Q

What are the issues with classification systems?

A

reliablity issues = experts conflict each other as they try to make a patient fit the manual, there can be overlaps of symptoms
biologically biased = overemphasis on biological aspects of disorders
labelling = stigmatises people so it is unethical

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24
Q

What is a phobia?

A

an extreme, irrational fear leading to intense anxiety and avoidance of an object or situation
the extent of the fear is disproportionate to any danger presented by the phobic stimulus

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25
What are the 3 types of phobias?
specific - fear of an object or situation social phobia - fear of a social situation agoraphobia - fear of being outside/in a public space
26
What are the emotional characteristics of phobias?
fear - that is marked, persistent, excessive and unreasonable anxiety - an unpleasant state of high arousal, finds it difficult to be positive
27
What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?
avoidance - interferes with the person's normal life panic as a response eg: crying, freezing, running away endurance - opposite to avoidance, stays with the cause of the phobia, might be forced to
28
What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?
irrational beliefs - person is thinking irrational but recognises their fear is excessive and unreasonable selective attention - staring at it, wants to know where it is
29
What is the Two-process model by Mowrer?
the behavioural approach to explaining phobias: they are learned through classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning
30
What is Watson and Raynor's little albert exprt?
struch a metal bar when baby albert would interact with a white rat - produced an association with fur and fear they deliberately created a phobia which was generalised to all animals with fur
31
How are phobias maintained by positive reinforcement?
something pleasent - family and friends give a person attention when they show fear, the fear response is rewarded
32
How are phobias maintained by negative reinforcement?
the removal of something unpleasant they avoid the object/situation so the avoidant behaviour is repeated
33
What are the good things about the two-way model?
plausible explaination and supported by watson and raynor practical applications - has good explanatory power, has important implications for therapies, explains why patients need to be exposed to feared stimulus explains why phobias may be long-lasting
34
What are the issues with the two process model? (2 stuides that go against)
Bouton - evolutionary factors could have an important role = easilt acquire phobias of things that are a danger in our evolutionary past phobias of cars/ guns - not biologically prepared to learn fear response towards them lacks evidence of conditioning in traumatic events - Menzies and Clarke = only 2% of children with water phobia reported a direct conditioning effect does not explain the cognitive effects of phobias = cannot explain development of irrational beliefs
35
What is systematic de-sensitisation?
reduces the association between fear and the phobic stimulus substitubes fear with relaxation based on the principle of reciprocal inhibition
36
What is the principle of reciprocal inhibition?
two opposing physiological (fear and relaxation) cannot occur at the same time
37
What is counter-conditioning?
learning of a different response to a stimulus
38
What are the 3 stages of systematic de-sensitisation?
relaxation techniques anxiety hierachy exposure
39
What happens during the relaxation technique stage of systematic de-sesitisation?
progressive muscle relaxation tech - tense and relax breathing exercises mental imagery meditation drug Valium can be used as a medical alternative
40
What is an anxiety hierachy?
patient will creat a ranking of fear in different phobic situations
41
What are the good things with systematic de-sensitisation?
effective- Gilroy = ps showed less fearful responses with relaxation techs than without them not as traumatic as flooding
42
What are the issues with systematic de-sensitisation?
ignores deeper underlying psychological/emotional issues flooding is more effective
43
What is flooding?
extreme exposure to the phobic situation for lengthy periods of time. the patient is not allowed to escape until anxiety levels have been reduced substantially - until exhaustion session may last for 3hrs the CS will no longer produce the CR
44
What is exhaustion in flooding?
the body cannot sustain a fear response so the physical response reduces and therefore anxiety decreases
45
What are the good things about flooding? and 1 study to support
highly effective and quick - Kaplin found 65% of patients with a specific phobia showed no symptoms 4yrs later works quickly = more cost-effective
46
What are the issues with flooding?
creates high levels of anxiety = traumatic experience and ethical issues less effective for some times of phobias (complex phobias) like social phobias that have cognitive aspects
47
What is depression?
a mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy
48
What are the emotional characteristic of depression?
lowered mood = feel worthless, hopeless, emptiness low-self-esteem = like themselves less than usual, some are self-loathing anger = can be directed at themselves or at others, through self-harm / aggression
49
What are the behavioural characteristics of depression?
reduced energy/ low activity levels = feeling tired affecting work, education or social life disruption to sleep = insomnia/ hypersomnia disruption to eating = increased/ reduced appetite aggression and self-harm = irritable and can become verbally/physically agressive, maladaptive behaviour
50
What are the cognitive characteristic of depression?
negative thoughts/ schemas = negative self-beliefs, focuses on the negatives absolutist thinking = all situations are either good or bad, catasphorizes everything irrationality = thoughts do not reflect reality poor concentration = find it hard to stick to a task and make decisions that are normally easy to do
51
What does the cognitive approach focus on when explaining depression?
focused on how our mental processes affect behaviour involving thoughts, perceptions and attention
52
How is abnormal cognitive functionaing explained in depression?
irrational and faulty cognitions
53
What does Ellis' ABC model suggest causes depression?
good mental health is a result of rational thinking so depression is the result of irrational thinking
54
What does the ABC stand for in Elli's ABC model?
A - activating event B- beliefs C - consequences
55
What is the activating event?
something that happens to you
56
What is the consequence in the ABC model?
you have an emotional response to the belief
57
What is musturbation?
the belief that we must always succeed and acheive perfection
58
What does Beck's cognitive triad suggest about depression?
suggested depression stems from negative or irrational thoughts about oneself, others or the environment which creates a vulnerability towards depression
59
What are the 3 types of thinking in beck's negative triad?
negative views about the world negative views about the future negative views about oneself
60
What are negative schemas?
negative packages of info that leads to cognitive biases in thinking
61
What was the pregnant women study on post-natal depression supporting the cognitive app to depression?
65 pregnant women assessed for cognitive vulnerablity those who had higher cognitive vulnerablity = more likely to develop post-natal depression supports becks idea that negative thinking comes before depression and it is not a consequence of despression
62
What are the practical implications of the cognitive approaches of depression?
CBT is based on these approaches young people can be detected as high risk of depression sooner by screening them for vulnerabilities
63
What are the issues with cognitive approaches in explaining depression?
only applies to some types of depression = doesnt include severe anger, hallucinations and delusions ignores biological factors
64
What was Wender's study on depression and genetics?
adopted children who developed depression were more likely to have a depressive biological parent
65
Why was it important that the kids were adopted in wender's study?
they were not raised by their bio parent so depression was the result of bio factors
66
What is rational behaviour therapy in CBT?
focuses on challenging and disrupting irrational beliefs based on elli's ABC ABCDE
67
what does the D and E stand for in the ABCDE CBT treatment of depression?
D = dispute- dispute irrational beliefs E = effect - new effective rational beliefs
68
What is logical disputing?
patient realises that their self-defeating beliefs do not make sense
69
What is empirical disputing?
patient realises that their self-defeating beliefs are not realistic
70
How does disputing help someone with depression?
allows the person to move from catastrophising to more rational interpretations
71
What is CBT based on beck's negative triad?
the therapist identifies and challenges the automatic thoughts about the world, self and future the therapist gets the patient to do homework
72
What does 'patient as scientist' mean in CBT based on becks?
the patient should investigate the reality of their negative beliefs in the way a scientist would this is used as evidence to challenge their beliefs
73
What study supports CBT treating depression?
hollon et al = relapse rates decreases using CBT
74
What were all the relapse rates from Hollon's study?
40% = 16 weeks of CBT 45% = in drug therapy 80% = placebo
75
What is a good thing about CBT treating depression?
it attempts to deal with the cause = long-term solution
76
What are the issues withh CBT treating depression?
not appropriate for all - need motivation and have to talk about sensitive issues too much emphasis on thought processes and not circumstances = poverty, poor housing takes a long time to complete and can be expensive
77
What is OCD?
an anxiety disorder that is characterised by obessions and compulsions
78
What are obessions?
recurring thoughts or images
79
What are compulsions?
repetitive behaviours
80
What are the emotional characteristics of OCD?
severe anxiety guilt and disgust = they are aware that their behaviour is excessive which can cause feelings of shame depression = lack of enjoyment in activities, feeling worthless
81
What are the behavioural characteristic of OCD?
compulsions = performed to reduce anxiety, repetitive avoidance = avoids situations which may trigger their anxiety
82
What are the cognitive characteristics of OCD?
obsessions = recurrent intrusive thoughts or impulses insight = they know their obessions and compulsions are irrational cognitive coping strategies = developed to cope with the anxiety caued by their obessions
83
What does it mean OCD is polygenic?
it is caused by several genes
84
What did Taylor say on genes causing OCD?
there are 230 genes that are involved
85
What does the diathesis-stress model state on genes causing OCD?
there is a genetic component to OCD which predisposes (increases vulnerablilty) people to the illness disorders are the result of the vulnerability of the disorder and the stress caused by life experiences
86
What are the 2 genes involves with OCD?
SERT gene and COMT gene
87
What is serotonin?
a neurotransmitter that is thought to be involved in regulating anxiety,memory, sleep known as the 'feel good' chemical
88
What does a normal SERT gene do?
regulates the serotonin system
89
How does an abnormal SERT gene cause OCD?
mutation causes an increase in transporter proteins at the pre-synaptic neuron's membrane so more SERT sites are available for reuptake of serotonin serotonin levels decreases - increases anxiety
90
What does a normal COMT gene do?
regulating dopamine levels
91
What is dopamine?
reinforces feelings of pleasure by connecting sensations of pleasure to certain behaviours known as the reward chemical linked to the desire to repeat behaviours
92
What happens if the COMT gene is mutated?
doesn't breakdown dopamine, decreases in COMT activity so higher levels of dopamine and people repeat behaviours = compulsions
93
What was Pauls study supporting genetic explainations of OCD?
up to 10% of first-degree relatives of those with OCD were more likely to develop the disorder there is a 2% prevalence in the general population
94
What was Nestadt's twin study supporting genetic explainations of OCD?
compared concordance rates = the likelihood that both twins had OCD identical twins CR = 68% fraternal twins CR = 31%
95
What are identical twins also known as?
monozygotic twins
96
What are fraternal twins also known as?
dizygotic twins
97
What are the issues with Nestadt and Pauls?
family study = no control of the environments - may have had similar experiences no studies show 100% Concordance rate for MZ twins = other factors may be involves, diathesis-stress model
98
What are the issues withe the genetic explainations of OCD?
difficult to separate the effects or nature and nurture biologically reductionist = ignores other factors
99
What are the 2 neural explainations of OCD?
abnorma levels of neurotransmitters abnormal brain circuit
100
What are neurotransmitters?
chemical messengers in the brain and nervous system that send messages to nerve cells
101
What is evidence that low levels of serotonin causes OCD?
OCD is relieved by using anti-depressants which increase serotonin levels
102
How can OCD be caused by a disruption to serotonin levels and other neurotransmitter levels?
the disruption has a knock-on effect on regulating other neurotransmitters eg= GABA, glutamate, dopamine
103
How is the worry circuit created?
1. orbitofrontal cortext = involved with converting sensory info into thoughts 2. (normal) = OFC sends info to caudate nucleus in the basal ganglia, this filters and supresses info on a subconscious level (abnormal) = damaged basal ganglia = no filtering iin CN 3. the messages passes straight to the thalamus which gets over-excited and sends powerful messages to the OFC - worry circuit created
104
What is the worry circuit?
OFC (senses) ---> thalamus (over-excited) --> OFC (interprets)
105
What study supports abnormal levels of neurotransmitters cause OCD?
Zohar et al = drugs that increase serotonin were beneficial for up to 60% of patients
106
What are the issues with using neurotransmitters (serotonin) as an explaination for OCD?
aetiology fallacy = just because serotonin recuces the symptoms doesnt mean the symptoms were caused by a lack of serotonin low levels of serotonin could be a result of depression not OCD
107
What study supports abnormal brain circuits cause OCD?
MacGuire et al = patients were shown items to tigger obsessions while undergoing PET scans found there was increased activity in the OFC and CN only an association - doesnt show it causes it
108
What is an issue of using abnormal brain circuits to explain OCD?
the relationship between the brain parts and OCD is not clear some people with a damged basal ganglia do not have OCD and vice versa OCD may be more than damaged brain areas
109
What are SSRI's? (name)
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
110
What do SSRI's do?
they block the re-uptake inhibitors for serotonin which enables serotonin to remain active at the synapses to stimulate the post-synaptic neuron and reduces symptoms of compulsions and obessions
111
what shoukd you do if the drugs are not effective after a couple months?
up the dosage use against CBT use a different anti-depressant
112
What does SNRI's stand for?
serotonin-noradrenaline re-uptake inhibitors
113
What do SNRI's do?
they block the reuptake inhibitors that reabsorbs both serotonin and noradrenaline into the presynatic neuron these both remain active at the synapse to stimulate the post-synaptic neuron have more side-effects than SSRI's
114
What is noradrenaline?
neurotransmitter associated with flight or fight repsonses
115
What do benzodiazepines do for treating OCD?
slow down the activity of the central nervous system by enhancing the activity of GABA
116
What is GABA?
neurotransmitter that has a quietening effect on many neurons in the brain
117
How does GABA calm the nervous system?
it opens a channel which allows Cl- ions to flow into the neuron cl- ions make it harder for the neuron to be stimulated by other neurotransmitters so it slows done the activity and makes the person more relaxed
118
What study supports the effectiveness of drug therapy for OCD?
soomro et al = reviewed 17 studies of the use of SSRI's they were found to be more effective than placebos so OCD is biological SSRI's reduced the symptoms of OCD up to 3 months after treatment
119
What % of clients did not benefit from SSRI's from Soomro et al's study?
30-50% large minority didnt benefit
120
What issues with relapse rates did drug therapy face?
90% relapse rates drugs do not provide a permenant 'cure' as the treatment stops, the symptoms return relapse rates were lower when drugs are combined with CBT
121
What are the issues wsith effectiveness of drug therapy?
relapse rates no permenant cure some people with OCD are disruptive so may not be able to consent fully aware side-effects based on biological approach which is deterministic
122
What are the good thing about the appropriateness of using drugs to treat OCD?
drugs reduce anxiety and symptoms = increasing evidence that OCD is associated with abnormalities of serotonin and dopamine
123
What study goes against the appropriateness of using drugs to treat OCD?
Moreno = there's no general agreement on the function of serotonin and other neurotransmitters in the cause of OCD drugs that increase these chemicals should be avoided
124
What did Koran say on therapy and drugs being used to treat OCD?
psychotherapy should be tried first as drugs do not provide permenant 'cure'
125
What is a good thing about using drugs to treat OCD?
they are cheap and manufactured easily = good for the economy and people can afford them
126
What effect on the economy does using drug therapt to treat OCD have?
effective treatments would reduce the number of days off work and improve productivity
127
What did Bounton say on how phobias are acquired through evolutionary factors?
we easily acquire phobias of things which have been a source of danger in our evolutionary past this is adaptive and seem to have an innate predisposition towards developing fears we are not biologically prepared to learn fear towards modern dangers like cars and guns
128
What is generalisation of phobias?
the expansion of a fear response from a specific object or situation to other, similar stimuli
129
What is an example of generalisation of phobias?
Little Albert had a fear of white rats this expanded to a fear of anything with white fur
130
How does depression develop from negative schemas?
schemas are developed from childhood they are triggered whenever individuals are in a situation that is similar to when their negative schemas were learned

Psychology A level (12 decks)

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