Psychopathology: Essays Flashcards
Deviation From Social Norms AO1
- in any society there are standards of acceptabke behaviour
- anyone who deviates from these socially created norms is classed as abnormal
- some are implicit and some are policed by laws
- the behaviour usually offends other people in the social group
Statistical Infrequency AO1
- we define many aspects of what is normal by referring to typical values
- if we can define what is most common or normal with statistics then we also have an idea of what is not common
- often depends on time, context and culture
- abnormality identified as any value thats two standard deviation points away from mean on a normal distribution
DFSM AO3 Strength: Distinguishes Between Desirable and Undesirable
E: - social deviance model also considers effect behaviour has on others
- deviance defined in terms of transgression of social rules and social rules are established to help people live together
- according to this definition abnormal behaviour damages others
K: - offers practical way of identifying undesirable + potentially damaging behvaiours to alert others to the need to secure help for indiviuduals
DFSM AO3 Weakness: Context
E: - being nude on a nudist beach is normal but being nude in public may be abnormal and possibly an indication of a mental disorder.
- Also, the degree is important, shouting loudly and persistently is deviant behaviour but is only an indication of a mental disorder if it is excessive.
K: - social deviance on its own cannot offer a complete definition of abnormality, because it is inevitably related to both context and degree.
Statistical Infrequency AO3 Strength: Appropriateness
E: - Statistical infrequency is used in clinical practice, both as part of formal diagnosis and as a way to assess the severity of an individual’s symptoms.
- For example, a diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder requires an IQ of below 70 (bottom 2%).
K: - value of the statistical infrequency criterion is useful in diagnostic and assessment processes.
The Two Process Model AO1
- Made by Mowrer in 1947 and suggests that all phobias are learnt from the environment
- Classical and operant conditioning are able to explain the existence of phobias
- Classical conditioning explains the acquisition of phobias and operant explains the maintenance
- Stimulus generalisation often occurs and is when somebody who has a phobia has the same beliefs and responses towards other items which are similar to their feared phobic stimulus. This relates to classical conditioning.
- Negative reinforcement is when someone avoids their phobic stimulus in order to reduce their anxiety which is rewarding. This relates to operant conditioning.
Two Process Model AO3 Strength: Successful Treatments
E: - systematic desensitisation is a behaviural treatment for phobias which gradually introduces patient to phobic stimulus
- over time counter conditioning occurs and fear is replaced with relaxation
- flooding is a successful exposure therapy
- patients are immediately exposed to phobic stimulus whilst avoidance is prevented
- causes adrenaline levels to subside after enough time
K: - the fact that both therapies have research to support suggests behaviourist approach must be correct, in part
Two Process Model AO3 Weakness: Doesn’t Explain All Phobias
E: - Seligman (1970) suggested that humans are more likely to develop phobias to things that would have been dangerous in our evolutionary past.
- For example, fire, predators, heights.
- Bregman (1934) tried to condition a ‘fear response’ in infants to a block of wood.
- He paired the block with a loud bell to try and condition the wood to produce the response the loud bell produces.
- This experiment failed.
K: - the model lacks population validity as it can’t always relate to other people.
Two Process Model AO3 Weakness: Incomplete Explanation
E: - DiNardo (1988) found some who had a traumatic experience developed a phobia of dogs others didn’t.
- Those with the phobia were more likely to believe they would have a similar negative experience in the future.
- This high level of anxiety may lead to catastrophising.
K: - He found that only half of people who had traumatic experiences develop a phobia therefore each person must interpret events differently.
Failure to Function Adequately AO1
- Behaviour is considered abnormal when it causes distress leading to an inability to cope with the demands of everyday life.
- ‘Demands’ refers to day-to-day activities such as getting up in the morning, eating regularly, communicating with others etc.
- The abnormal behaviour being shown is often maladaptive, irrational or dangerous.
- Abnormality is when a lack of proper functioning causes personal distress or distress for others, e.g. disrupting work or personal relations.
Deviation From Ideal Mental Health AO1
- Abnormality is defined as behaviour which fails to meet particular criteria for psychological-wellbeing.
- Mental health is seen the same as physical health.
- Ideal mental health is defined by Jahoda’s 6 criteria.
- The less of this criteria that an individual meets, the more abnormal they are seen to be.
FFA AO3 Strength: Includes Subjective Experience
E: - This means it allows us to view mental disorders from the point of view of the person experiencing it and recognises the importance of the experience of the patient.
- However, this may not be an entirely satisfactory approach as it is difficult to assess distress.
- As a result, WHODAS’ objective criteria makes it relatively easy to judge objectively because we can list behaviours (can dress self, can prepare meals).
K: - captures the experience of many people who need help.
FFA AO3 Weakness: Easy To Use Label of Abnormal
E: - In practice it can be very hard to say when someone is really failing to function and when they have simply chosen to deviate from social norms - consider, for example, the table on the right.
- Not having a job or permanent address might seem like failing to function, and for some people it would be.
- However, people with alternative lifestyles choose to live ‘off-grid’.
- Similarly, those who favour high-risk leisure activities or unusual spiritual practices could be classed, unreasonably, as irrational and perhaps a danger to self.
K: - people who make unusual choices are at risk of being labelled abnormal and their freedom of choice may be restricted.
DIMH AO3 Weakness: Tries to Apply Principles of Physical Health
E: - In general, physical illnesses have physical causes such as a virus or bacterial infection, and as a result this makes them relatively easy to detect and diagnose.
- It is possible that some mental disorders also have physical causes (e.g., brain injury or drug abuse) but many do not.
- They are the consequence of life experiences.
K: - it is unlikely that we could diagnose mental abnormality in the same way that we can diagnose physical abnormality.
Negative Triad AO1
- 3 negative self schemas acquired during childhood: negative view of self, future and world
- states depression is caused by faulty information processing and irrational thinking
- these negative schemas are activated whenever a new situation is encountered
- the schemas lead to systematic negative biases in thinking known as cognitive distortions
ABC Model AO1
- proposed that depression is due to irrational thinking and that the source of this is mustabatory thinking: the thinking that certain ideas or beliefs must be true in order to be happy
- A: activating event, B: beliefs, C: consequences
- irrational beliefs and undesirable emotions and behaviour are most likely to lead to depression
Cognitive Explanation of Depression AO3 Strength: Successful Therapies
E: - For Beck’s therapy, patients identify automatic thoughts about the world, self, and future.
- These thoughts must then be challenged directly with the therapist for homework reality testing is done to allow them to question their negative beliefs.
- Whereas Ellis’s ABC model has led to Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT). This involves the therapist working with the client to dispute and challenge their irrational beliefs.
K: - The fact that there is evidence supporting the effectiveness of CBT suggests that it is applicable and practical.
