Psychopathology

what are the 4 definitions of abnormality

• deviation from social norms

• failure to function adequately

• deviation from ideal mental health

• statistical infrequency

deviation from social norms definition

a persons thinking or behaviour is classified as abnormal if it violates the norms of society

failure to function adequately definition

behaviour is abnormal if it prevents a person from leading a normal everyday and functional life

Rosenhan and Seligman: characteristics to define failure to function

personal distress: suffering with a disorder

maladaptive behaviour: behaviour which prevents people from achieving major life goals

unpredictable behaviour: the behaviour of abnormal people is often very variable

irrational behaviour: others cannot understand why anyone would choose to behave this way

observer discomfort: observers to the behaviour are made uncomfortable by it

deviation from ideal mental health definition

when someone does not meet the set criteria for good mental health

Jahoda’s 6 categories of ideal mental health

• positive attitude towards oneself

• self actualisation

• autonomy

• resisting stress

• accurate perception of reality

• environmental mastery

statistical infrequency definition

when an individual has less common characteristics and is statistically rare

define what a phobia is

• an irrational fear of an object or situation

• a type of anxiety disorder that produces emotional relations to a potentially dangerous stimuli

what are some behavioural symptoms of phobias

• panic

• avoidance

• disruption of functioning

what are some emotional symptoms of phobias

persistent fear of exposure

high levels of anxiety

what are some cognitive symptoms of phobias

selective attention: if the sufferer can see the phobic stimulus it is hard to look away from it

what are the three DSM-5 categories for phobias

• simple phobias: the fear of specific objects or situations

• social phobias: fear of social situations

• agoraphobia: fear of leaving a safe space

Describe the behaviourist explanation of acquisition of phobias


• the phobic stimulus (NS) is paired with the unconditioned stimulus which creates an association between the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus

• the phobic stimulus then creates the fear response that was originally created by the unconditioned stimulus

• this fear response can sometimes be generalised to other stimuli

describe the behaviourist explanation of the maintenance of phobia

• the avoidance of a phobia reduces anxiety

• negative reinforcement

Little Albert: Watson and Rayner- aim

to see if it is possible to induce a fear of a previously neutral stimulus through classical conditioning

Little Albert: Watson and Rayner- procedure

• albert was 11 months old

• alberts reaction to the neutral stimuli without the unconditioned stimulus showed no fear

• classical conditioning was used to see if the unconditioned stimulus (the bang) could achieve the aims of inducing fear

Little Albert: Watson and Rayner- results

• after the unconditioned stimulus was introduced Albert started to show signs of fear towards the neutral stimulus and objects similar to that such as white rabbits

• this meant that stimulus generalisation has occurred

Little Albert: Watson and Rayner- conclusion

• a fear response had been conditioned using classical conditioning

• generalisation of the fear has been made to other similar objects

Bagby 1992: research on phobias

• reported on a case study of a woman who had a phobia of running water that originated from her getting her feet stuck in some rocks near a waterfall

• As time went on she became increasingly panic stricken. Although she was deconditioned, the conditioned stimulus of running water was acquired

King et al 1998: research on phobias

reported that case studies showed that children thended to acquire strong phobias through a traumatic experience, which further supports the idea of phobias being aquired through classical conditioning

Behavioural therapies to treating phobias: systematic desensitisation

stage 1: functional analysis- thereapist works with a client to produce a fear hierarchy

stage 2: relaxation training- clients are taught different techniques for relaxing, e.g breating and muscle tension

stage 3: graduated exposure- over the course of 6-12 sessions, the client is gradually brought into contact with their phobic object or situations by starting at the bottom of the hierarchy and gradually moving up once no anxiety is produced in a situation

what is reciprocal inhibition

you cannot have negative thoughts about something if you are having positive thoughts about it. this is a key principle because it suggests your conditioned response cannot be fear and calm together. Therefore, if you replace the fear with calmness the treatment has worked

behavioural therapies to treating phobias: flooding

• immediate exposure to fear stimulus

• extinction occurs because the person realises that they are in no danger

• need informed consent due to high distress

what is the difference between invitro and invivo

invitro is when you imagine exposure

invivo is when you are actually exposed

define what depression is

a mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels

what are the DSM-5 criteria for depression

• persistent depressive disorder: long term depression

• disruptive mood dysregulation: childhood trauma

• premenstrual dysphoric depression

• major depressive disorder: severe/ short term depression

what are some behavioural sympotoms for unipolar depression

• loss of energy

• social impairment

• weight changes

• poor hygiene

• sleep pattern disturbance

what are some emotional symptoms of unipolar depression

• loss of enthusiasm

• constant depressed mood

• worthlessness

what are some cognitive symptoms of unipolar depression

• delusions

• reduced concentration

• thoughts of death

• poor memory

what are some behavioural symptoms of bipolar depression (mania)

• high energy levels

• reckless behaviour

• talkative

what are some emotional sympotoms of bipolar depression (mania)

• elevated mood states

• irritability

• lack of guilt

what are some cognitive symptoms of bipolar depression (mania)

• racing thought

• irrational thought processes

• delusions

describe ellis’ ABC model

A: activating event

B: belief: rational/ irrational thoughts

C: consequence: desirable/ undesirable behaviours and emotions

What is Becks negative triad

this idea sees depression as a result of negative feelings about themselves, the world and the future.

How is the negative triad maintained

• Arbitrary inference: conclusions drawn in the absence of sufficient evidence.

• selective abstraction: conclusions drawn from just one part of a situation

• overgeneralisation: conclusions drawn on the basis of a single event.

• magnification/minimisation: exaggerations in evaluation of performance.

research support for becks neg triad

Boury et al (A03)

monitored students negative thoughts with the beck depression inventory, finding that depressive patients misinterpret facts and experiences in a negative fashion. They also feel hopeless about the future if asked.

What is CBT

cognitive behavioural therapy

is a combination of cognitive therapy (a way of changing maladaptive thoughts and beliefs) and behavioural therapy (a way of changing behaviour in response to these thoughts and beliefs.

what is REBT

• rational emotive behavioural therapy

• 1-2 sessions every two week for about 15 sessions. it has 3 phases:

1- education phase: patients are taught to recognise and record events (activating) in a dysfunctional thought diary, record all negative thoughts, emotions and behaviours

2- behavioural activation: the therapist can then work to help the patients challenge their beliefs so they can be disproved.

behavioural symptoms of obsessions (OCD)

• hinder everyday functioning- maladaptive/ failure to function due to reoccuring obsessions

• social impairment- cannot have meaningful social interactions

behavioural symptoms of compulstions (OCD)

• repetative- feel compelled to repeat behaviours

• hinder everyday functioning- maladaptive, disrupts life

• social impairment

emotional symptoms of obsessions (OCD)

• extreme enxiety- persistant inappropriate or forbidden ideas (the urge to repeat behaviours creates anxiety)

emotional symptoms of compulsions (OCD)

• distress- because they recognise the urges cannot be controlled

• embarassment- sufferers know they are behaving irrationallt and creates embarasment and shame

cognitive symptoms of obsessions (OCD)

• recurrent and persistant thoughts

• recognised as self-generated

• attentional bias

cognitive symptoms of compulsions (OCD)

• uncontrolable thoughts about urges

• realisation of inappropriateness

genetic explaination for OCD: the COMT gene

• regulates the neurotransmitter dopamine that could be involved in OCD.

• a mutation of the COMT gene produces higher levels of dopamine

genetic explaination for OCD: the SERT gene

• serotonin transporter/ reuptaker

• affects to transport of serotonin and a mutation in the gene produces lower levels of seratonin.

• this is thought to have happened in people with OCD.

research support: genetic explaination of OCD, Samuels et al

performed gene mapping on people with OCD finding a link to a mutation on chromosome 14, implying a genetic link to the disorder

neural explaination for OCD: anatomical abnormalities

• some forms of OCD have been linked to breakdowns in the imune system functioning due to infections such as lymes disease and influenza. this indicates damage to neural mechanisms due to the infections

• high levels of activity been found in the orbital frontal cortex, associated with higher level thought processes- this area is thought to control impulses.

neural explaination for OCD: biochemical abnormalities

brain scans show low levels of seratonin in addition, brain scans show low levels of seratonin activity in the brain and high levels of dopamine.

research support for the neural explaination: Hu 2006

procedure- compared seratonin activity in OCD sufferers and non sufferers

results- the research showed a finding of seratonin levels to be lower in 80% of the OCD patients.

conclusion- this supports the idea of low levels of seratonin being associated with the onset of the disorder

biological therapies to treating OCD: drug therapy

Antidepressants, specifically selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are used to treat OCD by increasing serotonin levels in the synapse. They block the serotonin transporter, reducing reuptake into the presynaptic cell. This allows more serotonin to bind to receptors on the postsynaptic neuron, improving communication in serotonin pathways and helping reduce symptoms like repetitive thinking.

research support for drug therapies: koran et al

• conducted research to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of drug treatments for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

• They found that while Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are effective in reducing OCD symptoms, many patients relapsed when the medication was discontinued. This suggests that SSRIs may manage symptoms rather than cure the disorder, and long-term use may be necessary for sustained benefits.