A-Level Psychology Psychopathology Questions And Answers 100% Correct

A-level Psychology PSYCHOPATHOLOGY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 100% CORRECTStatistical infrequency Occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic Example of statistical infrequency Lower than average IQ, 70 May be diagnosed with intellectual disability disorder Statistical deviation evaluation Real life application - diagnosis of mental disorders Unusual characteristics may be positive - e.g. higher than average IQ Not everyone benefits from a label - lower than average IQ might be able to live normal life but label could negatively impact self esteem Deviation from social norms Concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society, specific to the culture we live in Example of deviation from social norms Antisocial personality disorder Failure to conform to lawful or culturally normative ethical behaviour Person is abnormal bc they do not conform Deviation from social norms evaluation Real life application - diagnosis of disorders Never the sole reason - antisocial personality disorder also categorised by distress (failure to function) Cultural relativity - social norms depend on culture, can't apply to people from other groups Human rights abuses - defining people as abnormal to control them e.g. slaves who ran away Failure to function adequately When an individual is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day to day living, e.g. intellectual disability disorder Rosenhan and Seligman's signs of not coping Lack of conformity to standard interpersonal rules - maintaining eye contact, respecting personal space Severe personal distres Dangerous and irrational behaviour to self and others Failure to function evaluation Patient's perspective - considers individual's subjective experience, useful criteria May just be deviation from social norms - e.g. extreme sports, religion Subjective judgement - difficult to judge distress Deviation from ideal mental health Occurs when an individual does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health Jahoda's criteria for ideal mental health No symptoms or distress Rational behaviour, accurate self perception Self actualisation (reaching potential) Coping with stress Realistic world view Good self esteem, lack of guilt Independence Successful work, love and leisure Deviation from ideal mental health evaluation Comprehensive - covers wide range of criteria Cultural relativity - self actualisation may not be as normal in other countries Unrealistically high standard for mental health - would see us all as deviant DSM-5 categories of OCD OCD - repetitive obsessions and compulsions Trichotillomania - hair pulling Hoarding - gathering and storage of possessions Excoriation - skin picking Compulsions Behavioural characteristic of OCD - repetitive behaviours motivated by obsession that reduce anxiety Avoidance Behavioural characteristic of OCD - individual actively keeps away from triggering situations Emotional characteristics of OCD Anxiety and distress Depression Guilt and disgust Cognitive characteristics of OCD Obsessive thoughts - recurring unpleasant thoughts Cognitive strategies to cope - meditation, praying Excessive anxiety - hypervigilance Genetic explanations for OCD Genes made up of DNA make up chromosomes and code for the physical and psychological features of an organism. Genes are inherited from parents. Lewis (1936) 37% of OCD patients shared it with their parents, 21% shared it with their siblings Candidate genes Genes identified that create vulnerability for OCD, e.g. 5HT1-D beta involved in transport of serotonin across synapses Polygenic OCD is caused by more than one gene Taylor (2013) identified 230 that could be involved Genetic explanations evaluation Twin studies - Nestadt (2010) 68% of identical twins share OCD as opposed to 31% of non-identical Too many candidate genes - little predictive value, difficult to pin down Environmental faote - Cromer (2007) found over half of patients had past trauma, those w/ multiple traumas had more severe OCD Neural explanations for OCD Physical and psychological characteristics are determined by the nervous system, in particular the brain and surrounding neurons Serotonin + OCD Neurotransmitter serotonin regulates mood Low levels of serotonin = mood-relevant info not transmitted, mood is affected Decision-making systems + OCD Decision-making associated w/ frontal lobe OCD associated w/ impaired frontal lobes Also associated w/ parahippocampal gyrus (processes unpleasant emotions) Neural explanations evaluation Antidepressants reduce OCD - serotonin involved Associated w/ neurological disease Parkinson's No one system always causes it - can't claim neural systems are innvolved Abnormal functioning could be because of the OCD, not a cause of it SSRIs + OCD Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor Prevents re-absorption and breakdown, levels increase therefore post-synaptic neuron is stimulated e.g. Fluoxetine, typical dose 20mg a day Combination treatment + OCD Drugs used alongside CBT Drugs reduce anxiety etc, patient can engage w/ CBT effectively Alternatives to SSRIs Tricyclics - same effect on serotonin system with more severe side effects SNRIs - serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, also increase noradrenaline levels Drug therapy evaluation Effective - Soomro (2009) 17 studies comparing SSRIs and placebos all found that SSRIs improved symptoms Cost-effective and non-disruptive Side-effects - patients stop taking them Unreliable evidence from drug companies OCD can be caused by trauma - not biological DSM-5 categories of phobias Specific phobia Social anxiety Agoraphobia Behavioural characteristics of phobias Panic - crying, screaming Avoidance - conscious effort to keep away from stimulus Endurance - remaining in presence of stimulus while experiencing extreme anxiety Emotional characteristics of phobias Anxiety - inability to relax or feel positive emotion, can be long term Unreasonable emotional responses that are disproportionate to the danger posed Cognitive characteristics of phobias Selective attention - inability to focus on much else apart from stimulus Irrational beliefs - what could happen etc Cognitive distortions - irrational perceptions of stimulus Two-process model Mowrer's (1960) model to explain phobias stating that phobias are acquired by classical conditioning then maintained by operant conditioning Acquisition by classical conditioning e.g. Little Albert US = UR NS = NR NS + US = UR CS = CR Conditioning generalises to similar objects Maintenance by operant conditioning Negative reinforcement - avoidance of situation removes unpleasant anxiety Therefore avoidance likely to be repeated Two-process model evaluation Good explanatory power - cause = treatment Avoidance behaviour - motivated by positive feelings of safety, person sticks with safety factor (e.g. agorophobe may feel less anxiety going outside with someone) Incomplete - disregards biological evolutionary factors e.g. Seligman (1971) biological preparedness where we have phobias associated with innate knowledge of danger (dark, snakes) Phobias may not follow trauma Doesn't explain cognitive aspects Systematic desesitisation Behavioural therapy designed to reduce an unwanted response to a stimulus where a patient is taught to relax in the presence of a phobic stimulus Counterconditioning The learning of a different response to a stimulus Reciprocal inhibition The idea that two opposite emotions cannot be felt at the same time so one cancels out the other Systematic desensitisation processes Anxiety hierarchy - list of phobic situations in order of level of anxiety induced Relaxation - deep breathing, drugs, imagining themselves on a beach etc Exposure - patient exposed to stimulus whilst in relaxed state, moves up anxiety hierarchy until patient remains relaxed in high anxiety situations Systematic desensitisation evaluation Effective - Gilroy (2003) follows up 42 patients who had three 45 minute sessions, at both 3 and 33 months they had less anxiety than control group Suitable for diverse range of patients - can be understood and engaged with by those w/ learning difficulties Acceptable - not traumatic, lower refusal and attrition rates Flooding Behavioural therapy in which a patient is exposed to an extreme form of phobic stimulus in order to reduce the anxiety stimulated by it by process of extinction Patient must give fully informed consent Extinction Learned response is extinguished when conditioned response is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus so the conditioned stimulus no longer produces the conditioned response Flooding evaluation Cost-effective - fewer sessions needed Less effective - complex phobias like social phobia wouldn't apply Traumatic treatment - high refusal and attrition rates, wasted time and money DSM-5 categories of depression Major depressive disorder - severe but short term Persistent depressive disorder - long term or recurring depression Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder Premenstrual dysphoric disorder Behavioural characteristics of depression Activity levels - reduced energy levels leading to withdrawal from work, education and social life Also leads to psychomotor agitation Disruption to sleep + eating - insomnia and hypersomnia, increase or decrease in appetite leading to weight gain/loss Aggression and self harm - irritability, verbal aggression, physical aggression directed at themself Psychomotor agitation Unintentional and purposeless motions associated with high levels of distress e.g. pacing Emotional characteristics of depression Lowered mood - feelings of worthlessness and emptiness Anger - can be extreme, can lead to aggressive behaviour directed at the self or others Lowered self-esteem - dislike of the self, self-loathing Cognitive characteristics of depression Poor concentration - difficulty finishing tasks or making decisions that previously wouldn't have been an issue Attending to/dwelling on the negative - ignoring the positives of a situation, biased recall of unhappy events over happy ones Absolutist thinking - all good/all bad, see bad situations as an absolute disaster Beck's cognitive theory of depression Faulty information processing - focussing on the negative, ignoring the positives, blowing small problems out of proportion Negative self schemas - interpreting information about ourselves negatively The negative triad Beck's negative triad Three kinds of negative thinking that lead to depression 1. negative view of the world - cold, hard place 2. negative view of the future - things will always be this way 3. negative view of the self - failure Beck's theory evaluation Good supporting evidence - Grazioli and Terry Practical application - CBT can challenge components of triad and encourage patient to think about their sensibility Doesn't explain all aspects - Cotard syndrome