psychopathology

Question 1

what is statistical infrequency?

Answer 1

occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic, eg low IQ and intellectual disability disorder

Question 2

what is deviation from social norms?

Answer 2

behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society, can change depending on the culture

Question 3

what is failure to function adequately?

Answer 3

occurs when someone is unable to cope with the demands of day to day living

Question 4

what is deviation from ideal mental health?

Answer 4

occurs when someone is unable to meet the criteria for good mental health

Question 5

what are Jahoda’s criteria for ideal mental health?

Answer 5

have no symptoms or distress, rational and accurately perceive ourselves, self actualise, can cope with stress, have a realistic view of the world, have good self esteem, lack guilt, independent of other people, successfully work, love and enjoy leisure

Question 6

what is a phobia?

Answer 6

an irrational fear of an object or situation

Question 7

what is a specific phobia?

Answer 7

phobia of an object or situation, eg flying or snakes

Question 8

what is social anxiety?

Answer 8

phobia of a social situation such as public speaking

Question 9

what is agoraphobia?

Answer 9

phobia of being outside or in a public place

Question 10

what are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?

Answer 10

panic, avoidance, endurance

Question 11

what are the emotional characteristics of phobias?

Answer 11

anxiety, fear, unreasonable emotional response

Question 12

what are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?

Answer 12

selective attention to phobic stimulus, irrational beliefs, cognitive distortions

Question 13

what is depression?

Answer 13

a mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels

Question 14

what are behavioural characteristics of depression?

Answer 14

changes to activity levels, disruption to sleep and eating behaviours, aggression and self harm

Question 15

what are emotional characteristics of depression?

Answer 15

lowered mood, anger, lowered self esteem

Question 16

what are cognitive characteristics of depression?

Answer 16

poor concentration, dwelling on the negatives, absolutist thinking

Question 17

what is obsessive compulsive disorder?

Answer 17

condition characterised by obsessions and/or compulsive behaviour

Question 18

what are behavioural characteristics of OCD?

Answer 18

repetitive compulsions, compulsions to reduce anxiety, avoidance

Question 19

what are emotional characteristics of OCD?

Answer 19

anxiety and distress, accompanying depression, guilt and disgust

Question 20

what are cognitive characteristics of OCD?

Answer 20

obsessive thoughts, cognitive coping strategies, excessive anxiety

Question 21

who proposed the behavioural approach to treating phobias?

Answer 21

Mowrer

Question 22

what does the behavioural process to treating phobias suggest?

Answer 22

phobias are learned by classical conditioning and then continue due to operant conditioning

Question 23

how are phobias acquired by classical conditioning?

Answer 23

learn to associate something which we initially have no fear of with something that triggers a fear response

Question 24

which researchers were involved in the case study of Little Albert?

Answer 24

Watson and Rayner

Question 25

what happened in the case study of Little Albert?

Answer 25

Albert, a 9 month year old baby, showed no unusual anxiety at the start of the study. tried to play with the little white rat. then exposed to a noise (us) leading to fear(ur), encountered the rat (ns) at the same time as the noise (us) these become associated together and the rat eventually becomes a conditioned stimulus with a conditioned response

Question 26

how are fears maintained by operant conditioning?

Answer 26

Mowrer suggests that when we avoid a phobic stimulus we escape the fear and anxiety that we would have experienced if we remained there- reduction in fear reinforces avoidance behaviour so phobia is maintained

Question 27

what is systematic desensitisation?

Answer 27

behavioural therapy designed to reduce phobic anxiety by classical conditioning known as counterconditioning. anxiety hierarchy put together then the client is taught relaxation techniques- reciprocal inhibition means that people cannot be relaxed and calm at the same time, then exposure means that the client gets exposed to the stimulus in a relaxed state

Question 28

what is flooding?

Answer 28

flooding quickly stops phobic responses as without the option of avoidance, extinction occurs and they learn that the phobic stimulus is harmless

Question 29

what is Beck's cognitive approach to explaining depression?

Answer 29

faulty information processing- depressed people tend to the negatives of a situation negative self schemas-interpret info about themselves in a negative way negative triad- negative view of the world/the future/ themselves

Question 30

what is Ellis' ABC model?

Answer 30

activating event- irrational thoughts are triggered by external events beliefs- irrational beliefs consequences- emotional and behavioural consequences

Question 31

what happens in Beck's cognitive therapy?

Answer 31

identify the negative triad, test reality of negative beliefs- 'client as scientist' when set homework

Question 32

what happens in Ellis' rational emotive behaviour therapy?

Answer 32

d stands for dispute, e stands for effect, identify and challenge irrational thoughts

Question 33

what types of arguments occur in REBT?

Answer 33

empirical argument= dispute whether there is evidence to support the negative belief logical argument= dispute whether the negative thought logically follows from the facts

Question 34

what is behavioural activation?

Answer 34

work with individuals to decrease avoidance and isolation, increase in activities shown to improve mood eg exercising

Question 35

what did Lewis' study of OCD show?

Answer 35

of his patients with OCD, 37% had parents with OCD and 21% had siblings with OCD, suggesting that a genetic vulnerability is passed on- OCD is due to the diatheses stress model

Question 36

what are candidate genes?

Answer 36

researchers have identified genes that create the vulnerability for OCD

Question 37

what does the COMT gene do?

Answer 37

regulates dopamine which is a neurotransmitter, people with OCD have abnormally high levels of dopamine

Question 38

what does the SERT gene do?

Answer 38

affects the transportation of serotonin so impacts its effects, OCD patients have lower levels of serotonin

Question 39

what does OCD being polygenic mean?

Answer 39

OCD is not caused by one gene but a combination of genetic variations that increase vulnerability

Question 40

what does the neural explanation for OCD suggest?

Answer 40

may be due to a reduction in the functioning of the serotonin system of the brain, also suggested to have impaired decision making- associated with abnormal functioning of the frontal lobes and left parahippocampal gyrus

Question 41

what are SSRIs?

Answer 41

antidepressent drug= selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor

Question 42

how does serotonin work?

Answer 42

serotonin is released by the presynaptic neuron and travels across a synapse, neurotransmitter chemically conveys the signal from the presynaptic neuron to the postsynaptic neuron, it is then reabsorbed by the presynaptic neuron where it is broken down and reused

Question 43

how do SSRIs work?

Answer 43

prevent reabsorption and breakdown, increasing levels of serotonin in the synapse and continuing to stimulate the postsynaptic neuron

Question 44

what is a typical dose of SSRI?

Answer 44

fluoxetine, 20mg daily though this may be increased, can be taken as a liquid or capsule, 3 to 4 months of daily use to have an impact

Question 45

how can SSRIs be used with other treatments?

Answer 45

can be used alongside CBT

Question 46

what are the alternatives to SSRIs?

Answer 46

tricyclics- older form of antidepressant, acts on the serotonin system SNRIs- antidepressant drugs, increase levels of serotonin as well as non-adrenaline

Question 47

how many genes does Taylor suggest may be involved with OCD?

Answer 47

230

Question 48

The cognitive approach to explaining depression: A03 | 2 positive, 1 negative

Answer 48

+ practical application - translates well into effective therapy + supporting evidence - Grazdi + Terry assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability more likely to suffer from PND - Beck may be right about cognition causing depression - Reliability - Ellis' model is a partial explanation of depression - only explains reactive depression

Question 49

The cognitive approach to treating depression: A03 | 3 negative

Answer 49

- may not work for most severe cases of depression - lack stability + motivation required CBT - medication needed, CBT can't be used alone - success may be due to therapist-patient relationship - some patients really want to explore their past - 'present focus' of CBT may ignore an important aspect of patients' experience - does the 'activating event' deal with this?