Schizophrenia (Part 3)

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  • Created by: Natalie
  • Created on: 10-06-14 12:22
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  • Schizophrenia (3)
    • Biological Explanations
      • Genetics
        • The more genetically similar you are to someone with SZ, the more likely you are to get SZ too
        • Twin Studies
        • Adoption studies
          • Concordance rates for adopted children is not 100%
            • Cannot be account for by genetics alone
        • Family studies
          • Gottesman
            • Studied families. Concluded that if both your parents suffer from SZ then you have a 46% chance of developing it yourself
          • Could be explained in terms of the fact that genetically similar family members spend more time together and so environmental factors could also have an effect
      • Dopamine Hypothesis
        • Claims that excessive amounts of dopamine or an over sensitivity of the brain to dopamine is the cause of SZ
        • Strong empirical support
          • Drugs involving dopamine levels seem to reduce the symptoms of SZ
            • Phenothiazines
              • Do not work for everyone
        • L-Dopa is a drug for parkinsons disease which increases dopamine
          • This in turn can produce symptoms of SZ
        • Postmortems of schizophrenics show an increase of dopamine in parts of the brain
        • Aetiology fallacy
          • Using the treatment as the cause
      • Brain Structure
        • People with SZ have abnormally large ventricles in the brain
        • Andreasen
          • Conducted a controlled CAT scan study
          • Found significant enlargement of the ventricles in schizophrenics compared to controls
            • Was only the case for men and not women
              • Cannot be generalised
        • Difficult to establish cause and effect
          • Many p's have been undergoing treatment
            • Treatment could have changed the brain structure
      • Crow
        • Suggested there were two types of SZ (Two syndrome hypothesis)
          • Type 1: Genetically inherited and associated with dopamine. Characterised by positive symptoms
          • Type 2: To do with brain structure and is characterised by negative symptoms
    • Psychological Explanations
      • Behavioural
        • Explains SZ as being caused by operant conditioning
          • Bizarre behaviour may be rewarded with attention and sympathy
            • Encourages individual to conform to the behaviour
        • Reductionist
          • Reduces complex human behaviour to rewards and reinforcements
        • Ignores genetic influences and cognitive explanations
        • Deterministic
          • Says we are predetermined to learn SZ
        • Trivialising a serious condition
          • Being explained using the same principles we teach dogs tricks
      • Schizo-phenogenic mother
        • The term used to describe a mother who is cold, dominant and manipulative by being both overprotective and rejecting
        • Believed to cause child to be resentful and distressful and this could then be manifested as SZ
        • Has very little supporting evidence
          • Any research supporting was based on very flawed methodology
        • Families of schizophrenics do seem to differ from those of non-schizophrenics
      • Expressed Emotion
        • Over critical showing hostility and even over concerned
        • Assessment (interview with a relative of someone with SZ) - rating of:
          • 1. The number of critical comments
          • 2. The number of statements of dislike
          • 3. The number of statements showing over envolvement with the patient
        • Brown
          • Schizophrenic patients were more likely to relapse when lived in homes that displayed high levels of EE
        • Tarrier
          • Found strong correlation between relapse and living with EE
        • Only correlation research
          • Cannot establish causal link
        • EE has also been found in families with eating disorders and depression
        • Self-report method is used
          • Social desirability bias may have been used
        • Subjective
          • Lack validity
      • Diathesis Stress model
        • Schizophrenic already had a biological predisposition to SZ, but it was triggered by an environmental factor
        • Biological Explanations
          • Genetics
            • The more genetically similar you are to someone with SZ, the more likely you are to get SZ too
            • Twin Studies
            • Adoption studies
              • Concordance rates for adopted children is not 100%
                • Cannot be account for by genetics alone
            • Family studies
              • Gottesman
                • Studied families. Concluded that if both your parents suffer from SZ then you have a 46% chance of developing it yourself
              • Could be explained in terms of the fact that genetically similar family members spend more time together and so environmental factors could also have an effect
          • Dopamine Hypothesis
            • Claims that excessive amounts of dopamine or an over sensitivity of the brain to dopamine is the cause of SZ
            • Strong empirical support
              • Drugs involving dopamine levels seem to reduce the symptoms of SZ
                • Phenothiazines
                  • Do not work for everyone
            • L-Dopa is a drug for parkinsons disease which increases dopamine
              • This in turn can produce symptoms of SZ
            • Postmortems of schizophrenics show an increase of dopamine in parts of the brain
            • Aetiology fallacy
              • Using the treatment as the cause
          • Brain Structure
            • People with SZ have abnormally large ventricles in the brain
            • Andreasen
              • Conducted a controlled CAT scan study
              • Found significant enlargement of the ventricles in schizophrenics compared to controls
                • Was only the case for men and not women
                  • Cannot be generalised
            • Difficult to establish cause and effect
              • Many p's have been undergoing treatment
                • Treatment could have changed the brain structure
          • Crow
            • Suggested there were two types of SZ (Two syndrome hypothesis)
              • Type 1: Genetically inherited and associated with dopamine. Characterised by positive symptoms
              • Type 2: To do with brain structure and is characterised by negative symptoms
  • Concordance rate for MZ twins is not 100%
    • SZ cannot be accounted for be genetics alone

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