Psychopathology: Evaluation

Question 1

Statistical Infrequency AO3

Answer 1

• some behaviour is desirable: can’t distinguish desirable from undesirable abnormal behaviour
• cut off point is subjective: important for deciding who gets treatment
• sometimes appropriate: eg for intellectual diability defined as less than two standard deviations below mean IQ

Question 2

Deviation From Social Norms AO3

Answer 2

• susceptable to abuse: varies with changing attitudes/morals, can be used to incarcerate those who are nonconformists
• related to context and degree: eg shouting is normal in some places and in moderation
• strengths: distinguishes between desirable and undesirable behaviours and considers effect on others

Question 3

Failure to Function Adequately AO3

Answer 3

• who judges: distress may be judged subjectively
• behvaiour may be functional: eg depression may be rewarding fot the individual
• subjective experience recognised: can be measured objectively

Question 4

Deviation From Ideal Mental Health AO3

Answer 4

• unrealistic criteria: - may not be useable because too ideal
• equates mental and physical health: whereas mental disorders tend not to have physical causes
• positive approach: a general part of the humanistic approach

Question 5

Two Process Model AO3

Answer 5

• classical: people often report specific incident but not always, may only apply to some types of phobia (Sue et al)
• incomplete explanation: not everyone bitten by a dog develops a phobia (di Nardo at al) may depend on having a genetic vunerability for phobias
• social learning: fear response aquired through observing reaction to a buzzer (Bandura and Rosenthal)

Question 6

Systematic Desensitisation AO3

Answer 6

• effectiveness: 75% success (McGrath et al), in vivo techniques may work better or a combination (Comer)
• not for all phobias: works less well for ‘ancient fears’ (Ohman et al)
• strengths: behavioural therapies are fast and require less effort than CBT, can be self administered

Question 7

Flooding AO3

Answer 7

• effectiveness: research suggests it may be more effective than SD and quicker (Choy et al)
• individual differences: traumatic, if patients quite treatment fails
• strengths: behavioural therapies are fast and require less effort than CBT, can be self administered

Question 8

ABC Model and Negative Triad AO3

Answer 8

• support for role of irrational thinking: depressed people make more errors in logic (Hammen and Krantz), however irrational thiking may not cause depression
• blames the client and ignores situational factors: recovery may depend on recognising environmental factors
• practical applications to CBT: supports the role of irrational thoughts in depression

Question 9

CBT AO3

Answer 9

• research support: generally successful, Ellis estimated 90% success over 27 sessions, may depend on therapist competence (Kuyken and Tsivrikos)
• individual differences: CBT not suitable for those with rigid irrational beliefs, those whose stressors can’t be changed and those who don’t want direct advice
• behavioural activation: depressed clients in an exercise group had lower relapse after 6 months (Babyak et al)

Question 10

Genetic and Neural Explanations AO3

Answer 10

• family and twin studies: 5 times greater risk of OCD if relative has OCD (Nestadt et al) twice as likely to have OCD if MZ twins (Billet et al) but concordance rates never 100%
• tourettes, anorexia, autism and depression linked: genes not unique to OCD
• research support for genes and OFC: OCD patients and family members (genetic link) more likely to have reduced grey matterin OFC (Menzies et al)

Question 11

Drug Therapy AO3

Answer 11

• effectiveness: SSRIs better than placebo over short term (Soomro et al)
• drug therapies preferred: less time and effort than CBT and may benefit from interaction with caring doctor
• side effects: not so severe with SSRIs (eg insomnia) more severe with tricyclics (eg hallucinations) and BZs (eg addiction)