Clinical Psychology: Schizophrenia

What is schizophrenia?

A severe psychotic disorder characterised by disturbances in thinking, perception, emotion and behaviour, leading to a loss of contact with reality.

What classification system does Cambridge require for diagnosing schizophrenia?

The ICD

Who publishes the ICD-11?

The World Health Organization (WHO).

What is psychosis?

A state in which a person loses contact with reality and may experience hallucinations and delusions.

What are the two categories of symptoms in schizophrenia?

Positive symptoms and negative symptoms.

What are positive symptoms?

Symptoms that add abnormal experiences or behaviours to normal functioning.

What are negative symptoms?

Symptoms involving the loss or reduction of normal functioning.

According to ICD-11,

how long must symptoms usually be present before schizophrenia can be diagnosed?

According to ICD-11

what must schizophrenia symptoms cause?

What is a hallucination?

A perception experienced without an external stimulus.

What is the most common type of hallucination in schizophrenia?

Auditory hallucinations.

What are auditory hallucinations?

Hearing voices or sounds that are not actually present.

What are visual hallucinations?

Seeing people or objects that are not actually present.

What is a delusion?

A fixed false belief that persists despite clear contradictory evidence.

What is a persecutory delusion?

The false belief that others intend to harm, spy on or persecute the individual.

What is a grandiose delusion?

The false belief that the individual possesses exceptional abilities, wealth, power or importance.

What is a delusion of reference?

The false belief that ordinary events or comments have a special personal meaning.

What is a somatic delusion?

A false belief concerning the body or bodily functions.

What are thought insertion delusions?

The belief that thoughts have been placed into one's mind by an outside force.

What are thought withdrawal delusions?

The belief that thoughts are being removed from one's mind by an outside force.

What are thought broadcasting delusions?

The belief that other people can hear or know one's thoughts.

What is disorganised thinking?

A disturbance in logical thought processes resulting in confused or incoherent speech.

What is reduced emotional expression (flat affect)?

A reduction in facial expressions, gestures and vocal expression of emotion.

What is avolition?

A lack of motivation to begin or complete goal

What is alogia?

A reduction in the amount or content of speech.

What is anhedonia?

A reduced ability to experience pleasure.

What is social withdrawal?

A tendency to avoid social interaction and relationships.

What are the two main biological explanations of schizophrenia?

The genetic explanation and the dopamine hypothesis.

What does the genetic explanation propose?

Schizophrenia is inherited through genetic factors and has a strong hereditary component.

Is schizophrenia caused by a single gene?

No, schizophrenia is polygenic, meaning many genes contribute to the risk.

What does polygenic mean?

A characteristic influenced by many different genes.

Does inheriting genes guarantee schizophrenia?

No, genes increase susceptibility but do not guarantee the disorder will develop.

What does susceptibility mean?

An increased likelihood or vulnerability to developing a disorder.

What evidence supports the genetic explanation?

Family, twin and adoption studies show schizophrenia is more common among biological relatives.

What do family studies show?

The closer the biological relationship to someone with schizophrenia, the greater the risk of developing the disorder.

What do twin studies show?

Monozygotic (identical) twins have higher concordance rates than dizygotic (fraternal) twins.

What is concordance rate?

The probability that both individuals in a pair have the same disorder.

Why are monozygotic twins important in schizophrenia research?

They share 100% of their genes, allowing researchers to investigate genetic influences.

Why are dizygotic twins important in schizophrenia research?

They share approximately 50% of their genes and provide a comparison with identical twins.

What do adoption studies show?

Children are more likely to develop schizophrenia if their biological parents have the disorder, even when raised by adoptive families.

What does the genetic explanation conclude?

Genes make an important contribution to schizophrenia.

State one strength of the genetic explanation.

It is supported by evidence from family, twin and adoption studies.

State another strength of the genetic explanation.

It explains why schizophrenia tends to run in families.

State one weakness of the genetic explanation.

Not everyone with a genetic risk develops schizophrenia.

Why does the genetic explanation not fully explain schizophrenia?

Environmental factors also contribute to the disorder.

What debate is associated with the genetic explanation?

Nature versus nurture.

How does the genetic explanation support the nature side of the debate?

It argues that inherited genes are a major cause of schizophrenia.

What debate is associated with genetic explanations?

Determinism versus free will.

How is the genetic explanation deterministic?

It suggests behaviour is influenced by inherited biological factors.

What is the dopamine hypothesis?

The theory that schizophrenia is caused by abnormal dopamine activity in the brain.

What is dopamine?

A neurotransmitter involved in movement, reward, emotion and thinking.

What does the original dopamine hypothesis suggest?

Too much dopamine activity causes schizophrenia.

How do antipsychotic drugs support the dopamine hypothesis?

They reduce dopamine activity and decrease positive symptoms.

What symptoms does excess dopamine mainly explain?

Positive symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions.

State one strength of the dopamine hypothesis.

It is supported by the effectiveness of dopamine

State another strength of the dopamine hypothesis.

It has led to successful biological treatments for schizophrenia.

State one weakness of the dopamine hypothesis.

It cannot fully explain negative symptoms.

State another weakness of the dopamine hypothesis.

Not all patients respond to dopamine

Why is the dopamine hypothesis considered reductionist?

It explains schizophrenia using only one biological factor.

What debate is associated with the dopamine hypothesis?

Reductionism versus holism.

How is the dopamine hypothesis reductionist?

It ignores psychological and environmental influences.

What is the psychological explanation of schizophrenia?

The cognitive explanation.

What does the cognitive explanation propose?

Schizophrenia develops because of faulty cognitive processes.

What are cognitive processes?

The mental processes involved in thinking, attention, memory and problem

What attention deficit is associated with schizophrenia?

Difficulty focusing on relevant information while ignoring irrelevant stimuli.

How can attention deficits contribute to hallucinations?

The individual becomes overwhelmed by irrelevant information and misinterprets it.

What memory deficit is common in schizophrenia?

Impaired working memory.

What is working memory?

The ability to temporarily store and manipulate information.

What executive function deficit is common in schizophrenia?

Difficulty planning, organising and making decisions.

What is self

monitoring?

How does impaired self

monitoring explain hallucinations?

How does impaired self

monitoring explain delusions?

State one strength of the cognitive explanation.

It explains symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions using thought processes.

State another strength of the cognitive explanation.

It has led to effective psychological treatments such as CBT.

State one weakness of the cognitive explanation.

It does not explain the biological causes of schizophrenia.

How is the cognitive explanation holistic compared to the dopamine hypothesis?

It considers mental processes rather than only brain chemistry.

What debate is associated with the cognitive explanation?

Reductionism versus holism.

What research approach is commonly used to investigate biological explanations?

The nomothetic approach.

Why are biological explanations considered nomothetic?

They aim to identify general laws that apply to many people.

What research approach is commonly used in cognitive explanations?

Both idiographic and nomothetic approaches.

How can cognitive research be idiographic?

It can investigate an individual's unique thought processes.

How can cognitive research be nomothetic?

It compares cognitive processes across many people to identify common patterns.

What debate is relevant to schizophrenia explanations?

Individual versus situational explanations.

How are biological explanations individual?

They focus on characteristics within the individual, such as genes and brain chemistry.

How can situational factors influence schizophrenia?

Environmental stressors may interact with biological vulnerability.

What overall conclusion can be drawn from research into schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is best explained by an interaction between biological and psychological factors rather than a single cause.

What are the two main categories of biological treatments for schizophrenia?

Typical (first

What are antipsychotic drugs?

Medications used to reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia.

What are typical antipsychotics?

First

Name two examples of typical antipsychotics.

Chlorpromazine and Haloperidol.

How do typical antipsychotics work?

They block dopamine (D2) receptors, reducing dopamine activity and decreasing positive symptoms.

Which symptoms are typical antipsychotics most effective at treating?

Positive symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions.

What are extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS)?

Movement

What are common extrapyramidal symptoms?

Parkinsonism, acute dystonia, akathisia and tardive dyskinesia.

What is Parkinsonism?

Side effects resembling Parkinson's disease, including tremors, muscle rigidity and slow movement.

What is acute dystonia?

Painful muscle spasms and abnormal muscle contractions.

What is akathisia?

A feeling of inner restlessness and an inability to remain still.

What is tardive dyskinesia?

Potentially irreversible involuntary movements, usually affecting the face, mouth and tongue.

State one advantage of typical antipsychotics.

They are effective at reducing positive symptoms.

State one disadvantage of typical antipsychotics.

They have a high risk of extrapyramidal side effects.