4. Cognitive Factors

Definition of maladaptive thinking

Thinking that was once adaptive but now isn't

Definition of appraisal

Subjective interpretation made by an individual to stimuli in the environment

What did Morrison et. al (1998) find

Triggers such as sleep deprivation can lead to schizophrenic individuals to hear voices in a maladaptive way - leads to them appraising voices inappropriately

What did Frith (1979) argue that schizophrenia was the result of

A deficit in the individuals thought filtering process

What is thought filtering

Our brains filters information that enters our precocious (thought that occurs without awareness) and the most pertinent information enters our conscious and the rest is removed

What theory did Frith (1979) develop

The attention deficit theory

What is the attention deficit theory

People with schizophrenia have issues with attention and so have difficulty in filtering out irrelevant information therefore this information is perceived as more significant than it really is

What did Frith say an inability to focus caused (3 positive symptoms)

disorganised thinking and disorganised speech, hallucinations and delusions

What are these cognitive defects (disorganised thinking and disorganised speech, hallucinations and delusions) caused by according to Frith

Abnormalities in certain areas of the brain particularly the frontal lobe

What did Bentall (1994) suggest - building on Frith's theory

Schizophrenics have an attentional bias towards stimuli of a threatening and emotional nature and are kore likely to perceive a stimuli as threatening when it isn't

What did Selvaggi (2022) discover

There was significantly lower absolute cerebral blood flow in the frontal cortex

4 strengths (Selvaggi 2022)

No anti-psychotics taken which would affect brain, very recent (high historical validity), scientific methods (quantitative data), directly supports Frith's theory

2 weaknesses (Selvaggi 2022)

Small sample size, correlational (no cause and effect)

What did Navalon et. al (2021) find

Schizophrenics fixated for longer and more often on threatening scenes than the controls

5 strengths (Navalon et. al 2021)

Directly supports Bentall's theory, historical validity, scientific methods, representative sample (50% taking anti-psychotics, 50% not), standardised procedure

3 weaknesses (Navalon et. al 2021)

Small sample size, correlational, some participants taking anti-psychotics

what are the 3 features of the cognitive triad

negative views about the self, the world, and the future

who proposed the cognitive triad

Beck

what did Beck state about schizophrenics beliefs (cognitive triad)

they endorse dysfunctional beliefs about their performance and their ability to experience pleasure

what did Beck et. al say about the mental filters and information processing of schizophrenic people

they only allow in negative messages and deficits in their information processing bolster their pessimistic view

what negative symptoms can the cognitive triad lead to

flatness, avolition and asociality

3 strengths for methodology of supporting studies for cognitive factors

no antipsychotics which may affect brain (Selvaggi 2022), scientific, standardised procedure

3 weaknesses for methodology of supporting studies for cognitive factors

small sample size (not generalisable), some participants taking antipsychotics (could affect brain - meds could be causing symptoms, NAvalon 2021), correlational so no cause and effect

1 positive real-world application for cognitive factors

CBT - challenge cognitive triad

1 negative real-world application for cognitive factors

CBT has limited effectiveness when combined with anti-psychotics

2 other strengths for cognitive factors

reductionist (therapies can be formed to help those with sz e.g. cbt), determinist (removes stigma)

2 other weaknesses for cognitive factors

reductionist (too simplistic), determinist (belief that you can't get better)