A Level Psychology (Latest 2025/ 2026
Update) Questions and 100% Correct
Verified Answers [Grade A] – University of
California, Berkeley
Psychoanalytic Theory of Schizophrenia -correct answer Freud proposed this
psychological cause of schizophrenia. He suggests that an ego is not developed in
schizophrenics and therefore, there is no facilitator for learning through the testing of
reality. Symptoms of schizophrenia are representative of the nature of the id and its
impulses. Freud believed that schizophrenia was untreatable through psychoanalysis
because the patient has no attachment to the outside world.
Existential Theory of Schizophrenia -correct answer A possible cause for
schizophrenia, argued by Laing, that proposes that schizophrenia is a state of
withdrawal in response to the pressures/problems of the world. Schizophrenia is a
social and interpersonal experience. Proponents of this theory sometimes see
schizophrenia as potentially beneficial.
Labelling Theory of Schizophrenia -correct answer A theory about the causes of
schizophrenia, adamantly supported by Scheff and Szasz. This theory states that
schizophrenia is a social role that is internalized and molded into the symptoms that
, A Level Psychology (Latest 2025/ 2026
Update) Questions and 100% Correct
Verified Answers [Grade A] – University of
California, Berkeley
psychiatrists perceive. Scheff (1966) supports this notion and states the prevalence of
self-fulfilling prophecies with schizophrenia diagnoses. Szasz adopts a more radical
version of this theory, for he states that schizophrenia is a societal myth.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) -correct answer Type of psychotherapeutic
treatment that helps patients understand the thoughts and feelings that influence
behaviors. This is commonly used to treat a wide range of disorders including
phobias, addictions, depression and anxiety. Developed through a synthesis of
behavioral therapy (Thorndike) and cognitive therapy (Beck and Ellis).
Cognitive Theory of Schizophrenia -correct answer A complex explanation for the
causes of schizophrenia. Centers around mental and perceptual defects that are
assumed as the causes of symptoms such as thought-insertion and auditory
hallucinations (hearing voices). These defects represent a failure to monitor one's
own cognitive process, and a failure of the brain to integrate sensory information.
, A Level Psychology (Latest 2025/ 2026
Update) Questions and 100% Correct
Verified Answers [Grade A] – University of
California, Berkeley
The defects then lead to undesirable life experiences which compound the symptoms
of the disorder.
Frith (1979) -correct answer Provided support for the cognitive theory of
schizophrenia. Proposed that impairment of an "attentional filter mechanism" (a
mental device for processing sensory information) could cause the thought-
disturbance (crazy thinking) of schizophrenia. Other studies have supported the fact
that schizophrenics possess attentional deficits.
Fromm Reichmann -correct answer A psychoanalyst who proposed in her 1950 book
that schizophrenia is the result of faulty interpersonal relationships in the families of
schizophrenics. She also proposed the idea of the "schizophrenogenic mother" (the
psychoanalytic idea that schizophrenia was caused directly by the influence of the
mother)
, A Level Psychology (Latest 2025/ 2026
Update) Questions and 100% Correct
Verified Answers [Grade A] – University of
California, Berkeley
Bateson -correct answer Proposed that a cause of schizophrenia is the "double bind"
communication between schizophrenic children and their parents.
Double Bind Communication -correct answer An idea first popularized by Gregory
Bateson in the 1950s. It is an emotionally distressing dilemma in communication in
which an individual (or group) receives two or more conflicting messages, in which
one message negates the other. This creates a situation in which a successful
response to one message results in a failed response to the other (and vice versa), so
that the person will be automatically wrong regardless of response. For example, if
your employer tells you to do a job, but doesn't allow enough time for you to do it,
and you are in danger of losing your job if you question the situation, you are
experiencing an example of this.
Lidz and Fleck (1965) -correct answer Proposed a familial explanation for the causes
of schizophrenia. Their ideas centered around the prevalence of what they deemed
marital skew (the dominance of one parent over the other) and marital schism
Update) Questions and 100% Correct
Verified Answers [Grade A] – University of
California, Berkeley
Psychoanalytic Theory of Schizophrenia -correct answer Freud proposed this
psychological cause of schizophrenia. He suggests that an ego is not developed in
schizophrenics and therefore, there is no facilitator for learning through the testing of
reality. Symptoms of schizophrenia are representative of the nature of the id and its
impulses. Freud believed that schizophrenia was untreatable through psychoanalysis
because the patient has no attachment to the outside world.
Existential Theory of Schizophrenia -correct answer A possible cause for
schizophrenia, argued by Laing, that proposes that schizophrenia is a state of
withdrawal in response to the pressures/problems of the world. Schizophrenia is a
social and interpersonal experience. Proponents of this theory sometimes see
schizophrenia as potentially beneficial.
Labelling Theory of Schizophrenia -correct answer A theory about the causes of
schizophrenia, adamantly supported by Scheff and Szasz. This theory states that
schizophrenia is a social role that is internalized and molded into the symptoms that
, A Level Psychology (Latest 2025/ 2026
Update) Questions and 100% Correct
Verified Answers [Grade A] – University of
California, Berkeley
psychiatrists perceive. Scheff (1966) supports this notion and states the prevalence of
self-fulfilling prophecies with schizophrenia diagnoses. Szasz adopts a more radical
version of this theory, for he states that schizophrenia is a societal myth.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) -correct answer Type of psychotherapeutic
treatment that helps patients understand the thoughts and feelings that influence
behaviors. This is commonly used to treat a wide range of disorders including
phobias, addictions, depression and anxiety. Developed through a synthesis of
behavioral therapy (Thorndike) and cognitive therapy (Beck and Ellis).
Cognitive Theory of Schizophrenia -correct answer A complex explanation for the
causes of schizophrenia. Centers around mental and perceptual defects that are
assumed as the causes of symptoms such as thought-insertion and auditory
hallucinations (hearing voices). These defects represent a failure to monitor one's
own cognitive process, and a failure of the brain to integrate sensory information.
, A Level Psychology (Latest 2025/ 2026
Update) Questions and 100% Correct
Verified Answers [Grade A] – University of
California, Berkeley
The defects then lead to undesirable life experiences which compound the symptoms
of the disorder.
Frith (1979) -correct answer Provided support for the cognitive theory of
schizophrenia. Proposed that impairment of an "attentional filter mechanism" (a
mental device for processing sensory information) could cause the thought-
disturbance (crazy thinking) of schizophrenia. Other studies have supported the fact
that schizophrenics possess attentional deficits.
Fromm Reichmann -correct answer A psychoanalyst who proposed in her 1950 book
that schizophrenia is the result of faulty interpersonal relationships in the families of
schizophrenics. She also proposed the idea of the "schizophrenogenic mother" (the
psychoanalytic idea that schizophrenia was caused directly by the influence of the
mother)
, A Level Psychology (Latest 2025/ 2026
Update) Questions and 100% Correct
Verified Answers [Grade A] – University of
California, Berkeley
Bateson -correct answer Proposed that a cause of schizophrenia is the "double bind"
communication between schizophrenic children and their parents.
Double Bind Communication -correct answer An idea first popularized by Gregory
Bateson in the 1950s. It is an emotionally distressing dilemma in communication in
which an individual (or group) receives two or more conflicting messages, in which
one message negates the other. This creates a situation in which a successful
response to one message results in a failed response to the other (and vice versa), so
that the person will be automatically wrong regardless of response. For example, if
your employer tells you to do a job, but doesn't allow enough time for you to do it,
and you are in danger of losing your job if you question the situation, you are
experiencing an example of this.
Lidz and Fleck (1965) -correct answer Proposed a familial explanation for the causes
of schizophrenia. Their ideas centered around the prevalence of what they deemed
marital skew (the dominance of one parent over the other) and marital schism
