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A-Level Psychology Year 2 > Schizophrenia- TB > Flashcards

Schizophrenia- TB Flashcards

1
Q

What is schizophrenia?

A

A severe mental disorder involving impaired insight and loss of contact with reality

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2
Q

What are classifications of mental disorders?

A

Used when diagnosing disorders

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3
Q

What are the two classifications and where are they used?

A

1) DSM- USA
2) ICD- Europe

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4
Q

What is the difference between ICD & DSM?

A

ICD classification= 2 negative symptoms to diagnose
DSM classification= 1 positive symptom to diagnose

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5
Q

What are positive symptoms?

A

Symptoms that appear to reflect an excess or distortion of normal functions

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6
Q

What are negative symptoms?

A

Symptoms that appear to reflect a reduction or loss of normal functions- often persist in periods of low/no positive symptoms

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7
Q

What are the 2 main positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

A

1) Hallucinations
2) Delusions

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8
Q

Which symptom are hallucinations and what are they?

A

Positive- Bizarre, unreal perceptions of the environment (mainly auditory, can be visual or olfactory too)

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9
Q

Which symptoms are delusions and what are they?

A

Positive- Bizarre beliefs that seem real to the diagnosed individual but aren’t real e.g. being followed, inflated beliefs of importance etc.

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10
Q

What are 2 other examples of positive symptoms?

A

1) Disorganised speech- can’t organise thoughts
2) Disorganised/catatonic behaviour- inability to initiate/motivate a task

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11
Q

What are the 2 main negative symptoms of Schizophrenia?

A

1) Speech poverty (alogia)
2) Avolition

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12
Q

Which type of symptom is speech poverty and what is it?

A

Negative- Decrease in speech fluency & productivity reflecting slowing or blocked thoughts

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13
Q

Which type of symptom is avolation and what is it?

A

Negative- Loss of interests & desires, inability to initiate & persist with goal directed behaviour

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14
Q

What are 2 other examples of negative symptoms and what are they?

A

1) Affective flattening- decrease in range & intensity of emotional expression
2) Anhedonia- loss of interest or pleasure in all/almost all activities, lack of reactivity to normally pleasurable stimuli

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15
Q

What is co-morbidity?

A

The extent that 2 or more conditions can occur, common among patients with schizophrenia ( e.g. anxiety, depression etc)

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16
Q

Why is co-morbidity a limitation of diagnosis of schizophrenia (validity eval)?

A

Can be a problem as it means schizophrenia may not exist as a distinct condition (people diagnosed with schizophrenia may have other conditions instead)

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17
Q

Explain gender bias in diagnosis as a limitation of diagnosing schizophrenia (validity eval.)

A

Men are diagnosed more than women- possibly as men are more vulnerable due to genetic factors, or that women are underdiagnosed due to closer relationships & therefore more support=better functioning

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18
Q

What can gender bias in diagnosis of schizophrenia lead to?

A

Women may not receive beneficial treatment

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19
Q

When is gender bias in diagnosis less evident?

A

With female psychiatrists (Loring & Powell 1988)

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20
Q

Explain cultural bias as a limitation of schizophrenia diagnosis (validity eval)

A

Some symptoms of schizophrenia have different meanings in different cultures e.g. hearing voices is attributed to communication with ancestors in afro-Caribbean countries, but schizophrenia in UK= 10x more likely to be diagnosed as discrimination by a culturally biased diagnostic system

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21
Q

Explain symptom overlap as a limitation of schizophrenia diagnosis (validity eval)

A

Considerable overlap between symptoms of schizophrenia & symptoms of other conditions e.g. bipolar- delusions, hallucinations & avolition

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22
Q

Why does symptom overlap affect to do with diagnosis?

A

Schizophrenia is hard to distinguish compared to bipolar

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23
Q

Why does symptom overlap affect to do with classification?

A

Could be that bipolar & schizophrenia are variations of one condition

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24
Q

What are 2 limitations that have similar results?

A

Co-morbidity & symptom overlap- schizophrenia may not exist as a distinct condition & even when it does it is hard to distinguish

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25
Q

What are the two biological explanations of schizophrenia?

A

1) Genetics
2) Neural correlates

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26
Q

What are 3 sub-factors of genetics (inherited factors) as a biological explanation of schizophrenia?

A

1) Family studies
2) Candidate genes
3) Mutation

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27
Q

What are 4 limitations (eval points) for diagnosis and classification of schizophrenia?

A

1) Co-morbidity
2) Gender bias in diagnosis
3) Cultural bias
4) Symptom overlap

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28
Q

Explain Gottesman’s research on family studies as a part of the genetic biological explanation for schizophrenia

A

Conducted a large scale study, finding that if you have a:
Aunty with schiz.=2% chance you develop schiz.
Sibling with schiz.=9%
Identical twin=48%

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29
Q

What are candidate genes?

A

Genes that are related to a particular trait

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30
Q

What is schizophrenia considered to be to do with candidate genes?

A

Polygenic= A characteristic that is influenced by two or more genes

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31
Q

Explain Ripke et al’s (2014) research into candidate genes as a part of the genetic biological explanations for schizophrenia

A

Compared genetic make up of 37000 people with schizophrenia to 113000 people without schizophrenia (control group). Ripke found 108 separate genetic variations that can leas to the disorder

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32
Q

Explain mutation as a part of the genetic biological explanation of schizophrenia

A

Can develop individuals who have no family history of the disorder possibly due to gene mutation in DNA of parent (due to radiation or infection)

33
Q

What research supports mutation as part of the genetic biological explanation?

A

Positive correlation found with parental age & schizophrenia
0.7% with fathers <25
2% with fathers >50 (Brown et al 2002) due to increased risk of sperm infection

34
Q

What are neural correlates?

A

A biological explanation of schizophrenia, suggesting a brain structure/function is associated with Sz

35
Q

What are 2 hypotheses of neural correlates as part of the biological explanation of schizophrenia?

A

1) Dopamine hypothesis
2) Revised hypothesis

36
Q

What is the dopamine hypothesis?

A

Theory suggested after antipsychotics used to treat Sz were found to cause symptoms to Parkinson’s, and vice-versa for Parkinson’s patients. Therefore was suggested schizophrenia was caused by high levels of DA that were in ‘L-Dopa’ drug given to Parkinson’s sufferers

37
Q

What does DA stand for?

A

Dopamine

38
Q

Why do high levels of DA cause schizophrenia according to the dopamine hypothesis?

A

It causes more neurons to be fired, causing hallucinations & delusions

39
Q

What is the revised hypothesis?

A

Updated version of the dopamine hypothesis to include hypodopaminergia

40
Q

What does the revised hypothesis suggest?

A

Low DA levels in the prefrontal cortex cause negative symptom of cognitive problems
Suggested that both high DA and low DA in different areas of the brain cause schizophrenia

41
Q

What is hyperdopaminergia?

A

Excess of DA (high DA)- causes positive symptoms

42
Q

What is hypodopaminergia?

A

Shortage of DA (low DA)- causes negative symptoms

43
Q

What is an example of a neural correlate of negative symptoms?

A

Avolition associated with abnormality of the ventral striatum of the brain

44
Q

What is an example of a neural correlate of positive symptoms?

A

Hallucinations associated with low activation levels in the superior temporal gyrus

45
Q

What are the 2 parts of psychological explanations for schizophrenia?

A

1) Family dysfunction
2) Cognitive explanations

46
Q

What are 3 parts of family dysfunction as a psychological explanation for schizophrenia?

A

1) Double bind theory
2) Expressed emotion (EE)
3) Schizophrenogenic mother

47
Q

What is double bind theory a part of?

A

Family dysfunction- psychological explanation for sz

48
Q

What is double bind theory?

A

Bateson (1956)- Contradictory messages reduce a child’s ability to respond as one message invalidates another.
This prevents development of an internal coherent construction of reality, which leads to Sz symptoms

49
Q

What is expressed emotion a part of?

A

Family dysfunction- psychological explanation for sz

50
Q

What is expressed emotion?

A

A negative emotional environment- high EE+ environment full of criticism & hostility (talk more & listen less)
Low EE families can reduce relapse in patients

51
Q

What affect does a high EE family have?

A

Patient 4x more likely to relapse- causes stress beyond patients coping ability

52
Q

What affect does a low EE family have?

A

Can reduce relapse in patients

53
Q

What is schizophrenogenic mother a part of?

A

Family dysfunction- psychological explanation of sz

54
Q

What is schizophrenogenic mother and what is it based on?

A

Psychodynamic explanation- based on accounts patients made of their mothers

55
Q

Who suggested a schizophrenogenic mother?

A

Fromm-Reichmann (1948)

56
Q

What are the characteristics of a schizophrenogenic mother?

A

Cold, rejecting & controlling

57
Q

What impact does a schizophrenogenic mother have?

A

Creates a family dispute characterised by tension & secrecy- leads to distrust, then develops paranoid delusions and eventually schizophrenia

58
Q

What does schizophrenogenic mean?

A

Schizophrenia causing

59
Q

What are the 3 parts of cognitive explanations of schizophrenia as a part of psychological explanation for sz?(2&3 subsections of 1)

A

1) Dysfunctional thought processes
2) Metarepresentation dysfunction
3) Central control dysfunction

60
Q

Who identified metarepresentation dysfunction & central control dysfunction as part of the cognitive explanation?

A

Frith (1992)

61
Q

What is metarepresentation dysfunction a part of?

A

Cognitive explanation- Psychological explanation for sz

61
Q

What is metarepresentation?

A

Cognitive ability to reflect our own thoughts & behaviour, allowing self-insight to goals & intentions, & also interpret behaviour of others

62
Q

What does metarepresentation dysfunction cause?

A

Impairs ability to recognise our own actions & thoughts as belonging to ourselves- explaining hallucinations & delusions as being thought insertion

63
Q

What is central control dysfunction a part of?

A

Cognitive explanation- psychological explanation of sz

64
Q

What does central control dysfunction do?

A

Problems with ability to suppress automatic responses when carrying out deliberate actions

65
Q

What does central control dysfunction cause?

A

Speech poverty & thought disorder- thought derailment= every word triggers an association & an auto response that cannot be supressed

66
Q

What is dysfunctional thought processes as a part of the cognitive explanation of psychological explanations of sz?

A

General overview- focuses on role of mental processes e.g. reduced thought processing in ventral striatum=negative symptoms

67
Q

What are 3 evaluation points for family dysfunction as a psychological explanation for schizophrenia?

A

1) Tienari et al- adopted children study
2) Poor evidence base for explanations
3) Research is highly socially sensitive
4) Distal explanations

68
Q

Explain Tienari et al (1994) research as evaluation for family dysfunction

A

Found adopted children with schizophrenic biological parents ↑ chance to have sz, however difference emerged only in situations where adopted family was “disturbed”- suggests illness manifests itself under appropriate environmental conditions , THEREFORE, genetic vulnerability alone is not sufficient

69
Q

Is Tienari’s research support or criticism of family dysfunction as a psychological explanation for sz?

A

Strength, criticises biological explanations

70
Q

Explain poor evidence for explanations as evaluation for family dysfunction as a psychological explanation for sz

A

No evidence to support the importance of traditional family based theories (schizophrenogenic mother & double bind) which are based on clinical observations of patients & assessment of their mothers THERFORE family explanations haven’t been able to account for the link between childhood trauma & schizophrenia

71
Q

Is poor evidence base for explanations support or criticism of family dysfunction as a psychological explanation for sz?

A

Criticism

72
Q

Explain research being highly socially sensitive as evaluation for family dysfunction as a psychological explanation

A

Research should be stopped, leads to parent-blaming, which is hard if they are already dealing with a child with schizophrenia

73
Q

What are 3 evaluation points of cognitive explanations?

A

1) Stroop test evidence
2) Proximal origins of symptoms
3) Partial explanations

73
Q

Explain stroop test evidence as evaluation of cognitive explanations as a psychological explanation for sz

A

Supports Frith’s central control theory as people with sz took twice as long to say the font colour, as suggested by cct.
THEREFORE their cognitive processes of people with sz are impaired

74
Q

Explain proximal origins of symptoms as evaluation of cognitive explanations as a psychological explanation for sz

A

Proximal origins= what is happening NOW to produce symptoms= a limitation as cog. explanations only explain proximal origins of symptoms

75
Q

Explain distal explanations as an evaluation of family dysfunction as a psychological explanation of sz

A

Distal explanation= Focus on what initially caused the condition

76
Q

Explain providing partial explanations as evaluation for cognitive explanations as a psychological explanation of sz

A

Limitation- Unclear & not well-addressed how genetic variation or childhood trauma might lead to problems with meta-representation or central control

77
Q
A

A-Level Psychology Year 2 (12 decks)

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