Schizophrenia: topic 5 ‘psychological explanations for SZ including cognitive explanations and dysfunctional thought processing’

Question 1

what do cognitive explanations for schizophrenia focus on?

Answer 1

• focuses on the role of thinking rather than the family
• argues that the symptoms are the result of dysfunctional thought processing (sufferers process information differently to those without the disorder)
• specific symptoms may be linked to disruption to specific cognitive processes

Question 2

what is egocentric bias?

Answer 2

• a cognitive bias that causes people to rely too heavily on their own point of view when they examine events in their life or when they try to see things from another persons perspective
• egocentric bias either causes people to underestimate how different other peoples viewpoint is from their own, or to ignore other people’s viewpoint entirely
• suffers interpret external events having personal significance to them or it being their fault and arrive at false conclusions

Question 3

example of egocentric bias? how can this affect SZ sufferers?

Answer 3

• if you do something embarrassing, the egocentric bios can cause you to overestimate the degree to which other people are likely to notice it, because it can cause you to assume that others are as focused on your actions as you are
• For schizophrenia, this can lead to paranoia and delusions, hallucinations can also be caused by this, for example, muffled voices may be interpreted as people criticising them (auditory hallucinations) and flashes of light may be a signal from God (visual hallucinations)

Question 4

what is central control? how does this affect SZ sufferers?

Answer 4

• the ability to suppress or override automatic thoughts, actions in speech in response to stimuli
• this can be faulty in patients with SZ

Question 5

example of faulty central control in SZ patients?

Answer 5

• if you saw a button, you may feel an urgue to press it
• patients with SZ may not be able to suppress this urge and will press the button
• this could cause symptoms such as disorganised speech as each word that is thought of, triggers and association with another which can lead to incoherent sentences and word salad

Question 6

strengths of cognitive explanations for schizophrenia

Answer 6

P - support for the cognitive explanations of SZ from Sarin and Wallin
E/E - they reviewed recent evidence and found support for the idea that delusional patient showed various biases in that information processing, such as jumping to conclusions
L - this is positive as it shows there is wide apart from different studies for the idea that SZ symptoms are rooted in cognitive disruption

P - the explanations have practical applications
E - cognitive explanations have helped in the development of cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp) which has been extremely effective in treating SZ
E - evidence from NICE who reviewed a range of treatments for SZ and found that, compared with antipsychotic drug therapy, CBTp was far more effective in reducing symptoms severity and improving social functioning
L - this is positive as this research has benefited real peoples lives

P - all psychological explanations of SZ (family dysfunction and cognitive) could be said to be less determinist than biological explanations
E/E - an individuals actions are not controlled by factors outside of their control (eg there is some element of control over their own thoughts and behaviour)
L - this is positive because if a sufferer is in control of their experiences of the symptoms they can change their own thoughts and this will empower them to manage their own illness
E - HOWEVER this could be viewed as less humane because it blames the sufferer (or the family) for developing the disorder and causing their own symptoms

Question 7

limitations of cognitive explanations for schizophrenia

Answer 7

P - one problem with all psychological explanations of schizophrenia is that they failed to take into account the role of biological factors
E - for example, there is strong evidence at genetics, neurotransmitters such as dopamine, or even abnormalities in the brain could be associated with the development of schizophrenia
E - therefore these biological factors cannot be ignored and a more holistic approach must be considered
L - this suggest that the interactionist approach which incorporates the role of both biological and psychological factors in the development of SZ may be a more appropriate explanation