Revision Session RE: Abnormality, Cognitive Approach

Cognitive Approach

All mental disorders are a result of ‘faulty thinking’ e.g. negative schema about things.

Strengths

It has been used to explain depression (Faulty beliefs about yourself which develops from negative feedback from others). Can also explain OCD (this develops as a result of faulty beliefs about the world).

Weaknesses

Can’t explain disorders such as schizophrenia, which can be best explained in terms of the biological approach.

If the cause of mental disorders is faulty thinking then the best form of treatment is to reverse faulty thinking (CBT) by, for example, changing a person’s existing belief system (cognitive restructuring)

Strengths

Therapies that use argument and example are very successful in treating depression and OCD. Also does not have the negative effects associated with other therapies that treat the same disorders (e.g. drugs have side effects).

Weaknesses

Can’t treat disorders such as schizophrenia.
Can be time consuming and expensive compared with drugs.

Revision Sessions RE: Abnormality, Psychodynamic Approach

Psychodynamic approach

All mental disorders are a result of...

-          Imbalance of the psychic apparatus (ID, EGO, SUPEREGO)

-          Memories of unpleasant things in childhood get repressed deep in the unconscious

Strengths

Can explain psychopathic personality disorder in terms of a weak or absent superego. Biological approach can’t do this.

Weaknesses

Cannot explain all mental disorders e.g. Schizophrenia which is much better explained by the biological approach.

No evidence at all that the ID, EGO and SUPEREGO exist anywhere in the brain. (Not scientific)

Treatment:

Bring the repressed memories out of the unconscious and into the conscious. Global term for this is psychoanalysis.
Two techniques are:
1) Interpretation of dreams
2) Parapraxes

Weaknesses

-There is no way of checking that an analysis interpretation of a dream is correct.
- Scientific studies suggest psychoanalysis has no benefits
-Time consuming and expensive

Revision Session RE: Abnormality, Behavioural approach

Behavioural

All mental disorders are caused by faulty learning. Mainly classical conditioning (learning by association) and operant conditioning (learning by consequences).

Strengths

Some mental disorders do have behavioural causes e.g. phobias – Little Albert – Classical conditioning; Anorexia – Vicarious reinforcement

Weaknesses

Not all mental disorders have behavioural causes e.g. schizophrenia is much better explained in biological terms

If mental disorders are caused by faulty learning, the best way to treat them is to reverse the learning.

Strengths

Systematic desensitisation
Effectiveness
Appropriate

Weaknesses

Systematic desensitisation
Depends on ability to use imagination
Limited to the treatment of phobias

Revision session RE: Biological Approach

Biological

Description of approach in terms of cause of abnormality:

All mental disorders have an underlying physical cause either brain damage, faulty regulation or brain biochemistry or genetic factors

Strengths

Some mental disorders do have physical causes e.g. schizophrenia is linked to an excess of dopamine; Alzheimers is linked to brain damage; Manic depression (Bipolar) is linked to genetic factors

Weaknesses

Not all mental disorders have physical causes e.g. Phobias are much better explained in behavioural terms.

Description of approach in terms of treatment of abnormality

If mental disorders have an underlying physical cause then the best way to treat them is physically; Drugs, ECT or psychosurgery

Strengths

Drugs – Effectiveness (Do they work?)
           - Appropriate (Should they be used?)

ECT – Effectiveness
        - Appropriate

Weaknesses

Drugs – Ethical issues (Agents of social control)
           - Associated with side effects
           - Physiological dependence (addiction)

ECT – Side effects
        - Ethical issues

Revision Session RE: Abnormality Definitions

Revision Session Notes RE: Stress

Selye’s GAS
1)   Alarm Reaction

2)   Resistance Stage – Body maintains a heightened state of physical activity (Immunosupression)

3)   Exhaustion Stage – Body becomes unable to maintain heightened activity and things start to go wrong = ‘Disease of Adaptation’ (Stress-related illness)

Research

-      Kiecolt-Glaser = Medical students = Natural killer cell activity. More stress, the less natural killer cell activity.

-      A researcher = ‘High stress’ group caring for a relation with Alzheimers compared with a low stress group. Scar tissue took an average 9 days longer to form in high-stress group.

-      Another researcher = _sI_gA  help defends us against influenza. Lower levels in high stress groups.

Coping Strategies

Cognitive/behavioural efforts to manage demands that are perceived as taxing or exceeding our resources.

Problem focussed coping strategies (PF)

Emotion focussed coping strategies (EF)

 Problem Focussed

Also known as optimistic strategies or coping mechanisms

These aim to deal constructively with a stressor in order to wither reduce it or terminate it.

Examples:

·        Seeking information about the stressor

·        Using social support systems

·        Formulating a plan of action (logical analysis)

·        Implementing the plan of action

Emotion Focussed

Also known as pessimistic strategies or ego defence mechanisms

They don’t deal constructively with the stressor and so whilst they might be effective in the short them, they are ineffective in the long term

Frequently used behavioural therapy is going to the pub

Cognitive strategies involved distorting reality in some way so as to deal with the stressor

Displacement:

Directing anger towards a readily available target

Denial:

Refusing to accept that something is the case

Regression:

Returning to an earlier stage of development when a behaviour reduced stress

Rationalisation:

Justifying ones behaviour or failures by plausible or socially acceptable reasons in place of a real reason

Repression:

Burying a memory deep within the ‘unconscious’ so that it is ‘forgotten’

Most people use a combination of PF and EF strategies

People only have problems when they rely exclusively on EF strategies

As a rule:

PF strategies are effective when the stressor is judged to be changeable.
EF Strategies are effective when the stressor is judged to be unchangeable

Workplace Stressors

·        Quantitative work overload or underload

·        Qualitative work overload or underload

·        Role ambiguity

·        Role conflict

·        Job security

·        Lack of a career structure

·        Interpersonal relationships (e.g. Bullying)

·        Degree of latitude

·        Degree of control

Friedman and Rosenman believed CHD was most strongly linked to diet. Research focussed on job-related stress, and the idea that personality may influence the likelihood of developing CHD. Conducted lengthy interviews with employees with CHD and employees without CHD.

Two personality types:

Type A
Non-Type A (Type B)

 Type A:

Very competitive

Would like to rapidly advance in a career

Very fast at doing things

Feel uneasy if waiting – Impatient

Always in a hurry

Hostile to the outside world

Highly self critical

Friedman and Rosenman

-To test the hypothesis that Type A personality is correlated with the development of CHD

-Type A more likely to develop CHD

Revision answers for papers

http://web.aqa.org.uk/qual/gce/science/psychology_a_materials.php?id=03&prev=#?id=03&prev=03

All the answers to the exam questions we were given are here!

Revision sites

http://as-psychology.pbworks.com/w/page/9174259/FrontPage
http://www.revisionworld.co.uk/a2-level/psychology/research-methods
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Psychology_Revison_Noted
http://www.holah.karoo.net/links.htm

Here are some revision links. Some may be more useful than others. I found the first one to be the most useful but it depends on which bits you are struggling on.

Abnoramility RE: Explaining Abnormaility - Biological Approach

Explaining Abnormality:

Biological Approach

Abnormal behaviour has physical causes.

(1) Brain Damage (Neurodevelopmental influence)

Possible causes:
- Viral infections or other influences during foetal development
- Birth trauma
- Post natal influences (e.g. drugs, bacteria, viruses, etc.)

(2)  Faulty regulation of brain biochemistry

-         There are higher concentrations of dopamine in the brains of schizophrenics (Iverson, 1979)

-         Cocaine and amphetamine indirectly stimulate dopamine receptors and (a) induce a schizophrenics-like disorder or (b) exacerbate symptoms in schizophrenics.

(3) Genetic factors

-         Studying identical twins

-         Key measure in these studies is the concordance rate (CR)

-         CR – The probability that a second twin will develop a disorder given that the first twin already has.

Concordance = 3/5 x100 = 60%

-         Studies of children whose parents have a mental disorder, but who have been adopted by ‘normal’ parents

Biological approaches:

-         Brain damage – Psychosurgery

-         Faulty regulation of brain biochemistry – Psychotherapeutic drugs

-         Gene factors – ‘Gene therapy’ (not YET for mental disorders)

-         ECT – Faulty regulation of brain biochemistry

Evaluating Psychosurgery

-         Was very rarely effective in reducing the symptoms of schizophrenia

-         Any operation was (and is) irreversible

-         Survivors experienced many side effects

-         Now mainly used as a last resort therapy in cases of depression and OCD

-         Psychosurgery raises fundamental ethical issues (e.g. informed consent, use as an agent of social control, human rights, dignity, etc.)

Individual Differences RE: Failure to Function Adequately

Failure to Function Adequately

Abnormality is failing to achieve some sense of personal well-being and failing to make some contribution to a larger group.

(1) Personal distress or discomfort as a ‘failure to function adequately’
e.g. hearing voices telling you to do things you don’t want to

(2) Distressing/discomforting others as a ‘failure to function adequately’
e.g. A family member who is abusing alcohol or some other substance

(3) Maladaptive behaviour as a ‘failure to function adequately’
e.g. Being unable to leave home to go to work

(4) Behaving bizarrely as a ‘failure to function adequately’
e.g. A man dressing up as a woman

Limitations:

-         Some states that cause us personal distress are actually appropriate responses in certain circumstances (e.g. depression is not abnormal unless it persists)

-         Some behaviours that are classified as mental disorders do not cause personal distress

-         It is impossible to measure ‘personal distress’ and ‘maladaptiveness’ in an objective way

-         Whether a behaviour is an example of failing to function adequately depends on the context in which that behaviour occurs

-         A behaviour which might be considered a failure to function adequately in one culture might be viewed as functioning adequately in another culture

Individual Differences RE: Deviation from Social Norms

Deviation from Social Norms

Abnormality is doing things that society says should not be done or not doing things that society says should be done (i.e. violating a society’s implicit or explicit social norms)

·        Explicit norms = Society’s norm

·        Implicit norms = Society’s unwritten rules, or, residual rules

-         If society says X should be done and anybody who does X is normal and anybody who does not do X is abnormal

-         If society says X should not be done and anybody who does not do X is normal and anybody who does X is abnormal

Limitations:

-         Some behaviours which deviate from social norms are actually statistically frequent

-         Different cultures have different social norms, so what is ‘normal’ in one culture may be ‘abnormal’ in another

-         Era dependent

Individual Differences RE: Deviation from Ideal Mental Health

Deviation from Ideal Mental Health

Abnormality is defined as possessing characteristics the mentally healthy should not possess, and/or not possessing characteristics the mentally healthy should possess

*Jahoba’s Checklist for Mental Health*

-         Being able to make your own decisions

-         Being able to resist stress

-         Being able to perceive reality accurately

-         Being able to ‘self – actualise’

-         Being able to adapt to the environment

Limitations:

-         Most people do not satisfy all, many or any of the ideals.

-         Claims about ‘ideal mental health’ are value judgements

-         Different cultures have different ideals (bound by culture)

-         Even within a culture ‘healthiness’ is determined by the context in which the behaviour occurs

-         Era dependent

-         A persons stage of development

Individual Differences RE: Statistical Infrequency

Statistical Infrequency

Based on how frequently a behaviour occurs.
Abnormality is defined as behaving in ways the majority do not behave in, or not behaving in ways the majority do behave in.

Abnormal if:

-         Most people do not behave in a certain way but you do behave in that way. (your behaviour is the minority)

e.g.  Homosexual behaviour
        Cannibalistic behaviour

-  Most people behave in a certain way but you do not behave in that way (your behaviour is the minority)

e.g. Wearing clothes to go shopping
        Washing on a regular basis

Limitations:

-         It fails to take into account the social desirability of minority behaviours or characteristics (There are many statistically infrequent behaviours which we value)

-         There are some behaviours which are statistically frequent, but are either socially undesirable, and/or are actually classified as mental disorders

-         The cut-off point for deciding when a behaviour is infrequent enough for us to call it ‘abnormal’ are purely arbitrary (not determined)

-         The statistical frequency of a behaviour can differ between cultures, so this definition is ‘bound by culture’

-         Cultural Relativism – No one culture has the right to tell another culture how they should behave, or what abnormality is

-         The statistical frequency of a behaviour can also differ within cultures, as well as between cultures.

Research Methods RE: Presenting Data

Graphs

Bar charts display discrete data and have gaps between the bars
Histograms display continuous data. They are drawn without gaps between the columns
Frequency Polygon is the name of a line drawn through the top points of a histogram in the absence of the bars
Scattergraphs/scattergrams display the data in a correlation study through which a line of best fit representing the correlation coefficient (r) may be drawn

Presenting Qualitative Data

Qualitative analysis involves the analysis of non-numerical data
Qualitative data from observations, surveys, interviews, and content analysis including: speech, books, magazines, videos, TV, films and computer games, as well as reflections and personal experience.

There are two approaches to analysing qualitative data:

• The first approach focuses on converting qualitative data into quantitative data for analysis. Convert analysis is often used to establish this conversion
• This approach involves coding qualitative by identifying recurrent words, concepts and themes. By establishing categories and counting the number of times these categories are used in the text.
• In observational studies you would establish behavioural categories relating to the behaviour being studies.

Presenting Pure Qualitative Analysis:

• The second approach rejects the conversion of qualitative data into quantitative data and works in the spoken script.
• The qualitative method is descriptive, dealing with personal data, rich in detail and varied in content. The data would be transcribed in its authentic form probably from a recording. You would organise and categorise the content and detail, by reading to identify recurrent themes, and the re-reading for emerging themes in the text.
• The emergent themes may include the client's attitudes, opinions, hopes and ambitions. Short medium or long term thinking. Views of self and others. Sources of mental conflict, clarifying and interpreting psychological issues.

Research Methods RE: Measures of Dispersion

Measures of central tendency give an idea of a typical value
Measures of dispersion describe the spread of data around the central value
Measures of central tendency should include a measure of dispersion of the data

Three measures of dispersion

• Range
• Semi-interquartile Range
• Standard Deviation

Range
Simplest measure of dispersion and is calculated by subtracting the lowest score in the data set from the highest score.
e.g. 'Days of work because of sickness'
3,5,6,6,6,8,9
9 - 3 = 6

The range is mostly used as a measure of dispersion with the mode and median

Advantages:

• Easy to calculate
• Takes into consideration extreme score

Disadvantages:

• Only using two scores in the data set and ignoring the rest
• The extreme scores could distort the range

Semi-interquartile Range
This measure of dispersion is normally used with the median as the measure of central tendency. The range can also be used with the median.

The Semi-interquartile Range is a measure of the spread of the middle 50% of the data, i.e. 25% of data below the median and 25% above the median.
Having set the data out in order. It ignored the lowest quarter and highest quarter of the data set.
The whole data set if set out on a scale may be represented as a Box and Whisker plot.

Advantages:

• The Semi-interquartile Range is less distorted be extreme scores than the range

Disadvantages:

• It only relates to 50% of the data set, ignoring the rest of the data set
• It can be laborious and time consuming to calculate by hand

Standard Deviation
This measure of dispersion is normally used with the mean as the measure of central tendency.
The Standard Deviation (SD) tells the mean distance of the scores in the data set from the mean.
A large SD describes scores that are widely spread out above and below the mean, suggesting the mean is not representative of the data set.
If the SD is small than the mean more closely represents the scores in the data set.

Formula:
1. Calculate the mean, x with a line over it, x-bar
2.Set up a table, column 1 is x, write down each value of the data set, then subtract the mean from each value in column 1 and write answer in column 2
3. Multiply each figure in column 2 by itself and write in column 3 (Squaring)
4. Add all the numbers in column 3 then divide by the number of scores in the data set (n) then square root this figure to get the SD

Advantages:

• SD is the most sensitive measure of dispersion as it is derived by using every score in the data set ans is not very distorted by extreme scores. The SD is closely related to the mean and is the best measure of dispersion to use when the mean is being used as the measure of central tendency

Disadvantages:

• Laborious to calculate but calculators make so it easy!

Research Methods RE: Mean, Median and Mode

The mean, median and mode are all measures of central tendency.
Central Tendency- Descriptive statistics that identify which value is most typical for the data set

The Mean
Adding all of the scores in a data set together and dividing by the number of scores.
e.g. Height/cm; 153, 146, 151, 170, 160
Added together =780
780 divided by 5 =156cm
The mean =156

Advantages:

• The most powerful measure of central tendency because it it made up from all of the scores in the data set

Disadvantages:

• Any rogue outliers can distort the mean making it untypical of the data set
• Sometimes the mean does not make sense in terms of the data set e.g. the number of children per family in the UK = 2.4

The Median
When all of the scores in a data set have been put in order, the median is the central number in the set.
E.g. Age of employees/years; 21, 29, 34, 44, 56
The median age of the employees is 34

Advantages:

• The median is less effected by extreme scores than the mean

Disadvantages:

• It is not suited to being used with small sets of data especially if containing widely varying scores
  e.g. 7, 8, 9, 102, 121 where the median would be 9. A more real median would be 60!

The Mode
The most frequent occuring number in the data set when put in order
e.g. Days off work because of sickness; 3, 5, 6, 6, 6, 8, 9.
Mode = 6

The data set could be Bimodal (two modes) or even multimodal

Advantages:
The mode is normally unaffected by extreme scores and may give an idea of how often something is occurring e.g. what size of shoes sell most when ordering stock

Disadvantages:
The mode may not be central measure, and a set of data may not have a most frequent score