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Description
Flashcards by Charlotte Summerly, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Charlotte Summerly
almost 9 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| DEFINITIONS OF ABNORMALITY | -Statistical infrequency -Deviation from social norms -Failure to function adequately -Deviation from ideal mental health |
| Statistical infrequency | Abnormality is defined as those behaviours that are extremely rare. |
| Normal Distribution - Statistical Infrequency | If the behaviours reach either end of the sales it is normally seen as abnormal. However, it could be seen as good abnormality e.g - having a high IQ. |
| Cultural Relativism - Statistical Infrequency | Behaviours that are statistically infrequent in one culture may be statistically frequent in another E.g one symptom of schizophrenia is hearing voices but this could be common in some cultures |
| Evaluation 1 (Desirable v Undesirable) | I: It can be seen that some abnormal behaviours are desirable. J: For example, very few people have an IQ of over 150 but it can still be seen as a desirable behaviour to have. E: Therefore, to identify behaviours, identification has to be made between desirable and undesirable behaviours. |
| Evaluation 2 (Statistical criterion) | I: In some situations it is appropriate to use a statistical criterion to define abnormality J: E.g - it can be used to establish a cut off point for abnormality and that if anybody's IQ is more than two SD's below then they are seen as abnormal. E: This shows that statistical infrequency is appropriate |
| Deviation from social norms definition | Abnormal behaviour is seen as deviant from unstated rules about how one 'ought' to behave. Anything that violates these rules are seen as abnormal. |
| Example of deviation from social norms | An example is homosexuality. Homosexuality used to be seen as abnormal and some people were put into mental institutes due to their sexuality. |
| Rules that deviation from social norms follows | These standards are normally in place for two reasons/rules that are followed within society. - Explicit : laws - Implicit : personal beliefs |
| Cultural Relativism - Deviation from social norms | Classification systems are most entirely based on the social norms of the dominant cultures but it is seen that the same criteria is applied to other subcultures |
| Evaluation 1 (homosexuality) | I: The main difficulty with the concept of this is that it varies as times change J: For example, homosexuality was not acceptable in the past but now it is part of social norms E: This shows that social morals and attitudes do change. |
| Evaluation 2 (Context of behaviours) | I: Making judgements on deviance is often related to the context of the behaviour J: In many cases there is not a clear line between what is abnormal deviation and what is eccentric E: This means that social deviance on its own cannot offer a complete definition for abnormality as it relies on context. |
| Failure to function adequately definition | People are judged on their ability to go about daily life. If they can't, it is seen as abnormal. |
| Failure to function adequately ideas | Not functioning adequately causes distress and suffering for the individual but could cause distress for others. There could be a situation where a person is coping with everyday life in a 'normal' way but if this doesn't cause any form of distress it cannot be seen as abnormal. |
| Failure to function adequately - DSM | The DSM includes an assessment of ability to function called WHODAS. It considers six areas: - Understanding and communicating - Self Care - Life activities |
| Cultural Relativism - Failure to function adequately | The mental health standards of one culture is used to measure another and this could lead to wrong judgements. |
| Evaluation 1 (Personal opinions) | I: In order to determine this, someone needs to decide if it actually the case J: It could be that the individual is content but it is others that are uncomfortable and judge behaviours as abnormal. E: Therefore, the weakness is that it depends who is making the judgement |
| Evaluation 2 (Judging behaviours) | I: This definition of abnormality does recognise the subjective experience of patients J: In addition, it is relatively easy to judge objectively as we can list behaviours E: This shows there are strengths of this definition. |
| Deviation from ideal mental health - definition | Abnormality is defined in terms of mental health, behaviours that are associated with competence and happiness |
| Jahoda (PRAISE) | Defined six categories for good mental health; - Personal Growth - Reality Perception - Autonomy - Integration - Self attitudes - Environmental mastery |
| Cultural Relativism - Deviation from ideal mental health | The criteria of self actualisation is relevant to members of individualist cultures but not collectivist cultures (Individualist - self centred / collectivist - good of community) |
| Evaluation 1 (Unrealistic criteria) | I: One of the major criticisms with this definition is that it has an unrealistic criteria J: Jahoda presents an 'ideal criteria' but it could be difficult to assess specific criteria e.g- personal growth E: This shows that it is not really usable when it comes to abnormality |
| Evaluation 2 (Physical and psychological health) | I: It suggests that mental health is the same as physical health J: Physical health is easy to detect and diagnose from causes whereas mental health is normally a consequence from life experiences E: Therefore, it is unlikely that mental abnormality is diagnosed the same way as physical. |
| Phobias - Emotional characteristics | - excessive or unreasonable - coupled by anxiety and panic - cued by presence of specific situation or object |
| Phobias - Behavioural characteristics | - always try to avoid the situation - freeze or faint - disrupts individuals normal life e.g. - social activities or relationships |
| Phobias - Cognitive characteristics | - irrational nature of a person's thinking - resistance to rational arguments - person recognises that their fear is excessive or unreasonable |
| Depression - Emotional characteristics | - sadness - loss of interest in normal, every day activities - low self esteem - anger due to lack of control |
| Depression - Behavioural characteristics | - increase / decrease in activity levels - often tired or agitated - could suffer from insomnia - poor appetite |
| Depression - Cognitive characteristics | - negative emotions and thoughts - negative self concept : such as guilt - negative view of self, world and future - irrational thoughts that are not accurate in real life |
| OCD - Emotional characteristics | - anxiety and stress due to obsessions and compulsions - feelings of embarrassment and shame -feel of disgust due to germs |
| OCD - Behavioural characteristics | - repetitive and unconcealed such as hand washing - compelled to perform these actions - may not be connected in realistic ways |
| OCD - Cognitive characteristics | - common themes include : ideas, doubts, impulses and images - seen as uncontrollable - thoughts are from own mind - recurrent / intrusive thoughts |
| Behavioural approach to explaining phobias | - Classical conditioning - Operant conditioning - Social Learning Theory |
| Classical conditioning | This same process can be used to explain how a person may develop a fear of other situations |
| Operant conditioning | in the case of a phobia, the avoidance of the phobic stimulus reduces fear and thus reinforcing. This is an example of negative reinforcement. The individual avoids the anxiety created by the situation by avoiding it completely. |
| Social Learning | phobias may also be acquired through modelling the behaviour of others e.g spiders |
| Evaluation 1 (Support for CC) | I: There is some support for CC in explaining phobias J: People with phobias are often able to recall when a phobia occurred e.g. being bitten by a dog E: However, not everyone can do this as the situation has been forgotten, even if the situation was traumatic |
| Evaluation 2 (Diathesis-stress model) | I: Developing a phobia could be explained by the diathesis stress model J: This is because the individual may have a generic vulnerability for developing a mental disorder E: However, the disorder will only occur if there has been a trigger from a life event and they have the vulnerability |
| Evaluation 3 (Biological preparedness) | I: The fact that phobias do not always develop after a traumatic incident could be explained by biological preparedness J: Seligman argued that animals are scared of ancient fears that would be dangerous in evolutionary past E: This could explain why people are less likely to develop fears of modern objects as they are dangerous in the past |
| Behavioural approach to treating phobias | - Counter conditioning - Relaxation - Desensitisation heirarchy - Flooding |
| Counter conditioning | - patient is taught a new association that runs counter to the original association - patient is taught through CC to learn a new association with a new response |
| Relaxation | - therapist teaches patient new relaxation techniques e.g slow breathing and relaxation of muscles - being mindful and keeping calm |
| Desensitisation hierarchy | - SD works by gradually introducing the patient to their feared situation one step at a time - at each stage the patient practices being relaxed within that situation - situation becomes more familiar and less overwhelming |
| Steps of systematic desensitisation | 1: patient is taught how to relax muscles 2: therapist and patient construct heirarchy of imagine scenes, each one causing more anxiety 3: patient works through heirarchy 4: once patient has mastered each step they can move onto the next 5: patient eventually mastered feared situation that caused them to initially seek help |
| Evaluation 1 of SD (successful for different phobias) | I: Research has found that SD is successful for a range of phobias J: Researchers reported that 75% of patients respond to SD and the key to success appears to lie with actual contact E: This shows that there is some effectiveness with SD. |
| Evaluation 2 (Relatively fast) | I: One strength is that it is generally fast and requires less effort on the patient's part than other psychotherapies J: For example, CBT requires a lot of willpower from the patient in trying to understand their behaviour E: This lack of thinking means that the technique is also useful for people who lack insight into their motivations and emotions |
| Evaluation 3 (evolutionary) | It is al.so suggested that SD may not be as effective in treating phobias that have an underlying evolutionary function |
| Flooding | - patient experiences their phobia at its worst whilst using relaxation techniques - continues till fully relaxed - Step one : patient is taught to fully relax muscles - Step two : patient master fear situation which is done within one long session -as adrenaline levels decrease a new association can be made |
| Evaluation 1 (individual differences) | I: There are some individual differences J: Flooding is not for every patient as it could be traumatic for them E: Even though they know this initially, they may still quit and therapy will not be as effective for the patient |
| Evaluation 2 (Effective and fast) | I: It appears that flooding can be effective and is relatively fast J: Choy said both treatments were good but flooding is more effective than SD E: However, others say that both treatments have the same effectiveness. |
| Cognitive Approach to explaining Depression | - Ellis' ABC Model - Mustabatory Thinking - Beck's Negative Triad - Negative schemas |
| Cognitive approach | The cognitive approach is based on how thinking shapes behaviours. It focuses on how irrational thinking could lead to depression. |
| Ellis' ABC Model | Activating Event (A) Rational or irrational belief (B) Healthy and unhealthy emotion (C) (A- getting fired at work, B- 'the company was overstaffed' or 'they've always had it in for me, C- acceptance or depression) |
| Mustabatory Thinking | - thinking that certain ideas or assumptions MUST be true in order for an individual to be happy e.g 'i must be approved or accepted' - an individual who holds these is likely to be very disappointed or at worst depressed |
| Beck's Negative Triad | -a pessimistic and irrational view of 3 elements |
| Negative Triad | - it is likely that depressed people have developed a negative schema in childhood - this could be caused by factors including peers, parents -thinking is biased towards negative interpretation and lack a perceived sense of control |
| Evaluation 1 (depression is linked to irrational behaviour) | I; Support for view that depression is linked to irrational behaviour J; Hammen and Krantz found that depressed p's made more errors in logic when asked to interpret written material rather than non depressed p's E; However, the fact that there is link between negative thoughts and depression doesn't mean that negative thoughts cause depression |
| Evaluation 2 (tends to blame client) | I; The cognitive approach tends to blame the client for their behaviour J; A good aspect of this is that it gives the clients the power to change their ways E; However, it may lead to a client or therapist to overlook situational factors (such as life events that could have contributed) |
| Evaluation 3 (practical applications) | I; The cognitive approach has lead to practical applications in therapy J; Both Ellis' model and Beck's triad have been applied to CBT as it is found to be the best treatment for depression E; If depression is then alleviated, then it suggests that irrational thinking has a role in depression |
| Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) | A combination of cognitive therapy and behavioural therapy. The aim of therapy is to turn irrational thoughts into rational ones. Ellis named his therapy 'REBT' (rational emotional behavioural therapy) |
| Challenging irrational thoughts | Ellis extended his ABC model to ABCDEF D= disputing irrational thoughts E= effects of disputing and effective attitudes to life F= feelings It is the beliefs that lead to self defeat consequences. REBT focuses on challenging irrational thoughts and replacing them with effective ones. |
| Forms of disputing | Logical disputing - do not follow logically with info available Empirical disputing - may not be consistent with reality Pragmatic disputing - emphasises lack of usefulness of beliefs |
| Homework | Clients are often asked to complete assignments between therapy sessions. E.g. asking someone on a date. It is vital as it tests if irrational beliefs are being challenged. |
| Behavioural Activation | CBT involves specific focus on encouraging depressed clients to become more active. A characteristic could be that they don't engage in activities. Therapist and client identify pleasurable activities and deal with the barriers |
| Evaluation (Research to support) | I; There has been research to support CBT J; Ellis claimed a 90% success rate for REBT, taking on average 27 sessions to complete treatments E; However, he recognised that therapy was not always effective as some clients didn't put new beliefs into action |
| Evaluation (Suitability) | I; CBT appears to be less suitable to people who have high levels of irrational beliefs that are rigid J; Ellis also found a possible lack of success for suitability as some did not want direct advice from CBT E; This shows that there are some individual differences |
| Evaluation (Alleviating depression) | I; The belief that changing behaviour can help to alleviate depression can be supported by a study on benefits of exercise. J; Researchers found that when studying 156 adult volunteers diagnosed with major depressive disorder, at the end of 6 months the exercise group had the lowest relapse rates from the medication group. E; This shows some support for behavioural activation |
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