INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

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  • Created by: Emma
  • Created on: 01-06-13 14:43

DEVIATION FROM SOCIAL NORMS

  • any behaviour differ from society expects= abnormal
  • society established norms expectations, 'normal' should behave
  • passed on socialisation
  • break rules= abnormal

:)

  • practical applications, identify those need psychiatric help give treatments
  • improve some people's quality of life

:(

  • culturally biased- social norms differ 1 culture to another, normal & abnormal vary
  • e.g gay= illegal 80 cultures
  • limited not conclude universal definition abnormality
  • ethical issues- label 'abnormal' even institutionalised
  • e.g young single mothers put in mental institutions 
  • linked to issues of social control
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FAILURE TO FUNCTION ADEQUATELY

  • fail cope with everyday life= abnormal
  • indicators- due to personal distress/ anxiety (OCD) OR cause distress to others (oberserver discomfort) e.g schizphrenia

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  • practical applications- pyshchiatric help, treatment
  • improve qualities of life

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  • culturally bias, ideal vary 1 to another
  • ideals how life should be led vary ideas used to judge people from another culture- causes problems
  • ca't find universal definition of abnormality
  • low reliability: not all abnormal feel personal distress e.g pychopaths no personal distress when murdering
  • cannot generalise all cases abnormality
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DEVIATION FROM IDEAL MENTAL HEALTH

  • differ from perfect menta health= abnormal
  • ideals= accurate perception of reality & positive attitude towards self

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  • practical applications- psychiatric help, treatment, improve quality of life

:(

  • culturally biased
  • ideal vary 1 to another
  • e.g west= themselves before others, non-west= others before themselves
  • cannot= universal definition
  • low validity- no one always fits both ideals, struggle at least one
  • hardly anyone= normal, most= abnormal
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THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH

  • psychological & behavioural abnormalities have biological causes
  • something gone wrong in brain

CAUSES:

GENETICS- genes inherit, blueprint, slight abnosmality= abnormal brain functioning= abnormal behaviour 

NEURO-CHEMISTRY- brain rely on chemicals (neurotransmitters & hormones) to be correct balance, send message aroung brain and nervous system, imbalance= abnormality

INFECTIONS- brain no immune system, rely on barrier prevent virus & bacterias, infections= widespread damage= abnormal behaviour/experiences

NEURO ANATOMY- brain structure damaged/improperly formed during development, impact ability to think, emotional responses, behaviour change

SITUATION- environment effects, stress, pollutants, toxins etc

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THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH A02

1. Biomdeical model offers people a role & treatment, familiar, happy to go along with

BUT

individual differences, not everyone respond in same way, need different treatments, side effects, people= passive 

2. Twin studies- strong link between genetics & psychological disorders (schizophrenia)

BUT

only 48%- not 100% accurate, not always biological cause

3. If patients fare better when given a drug alters brain chemistry taken to show importance biomedical changes in that disorder

BUT

Kirsch et all 38 studies anti-depressants patients given placebos fare almost as better as those getting real drugs

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BIOLOGICAL THERAPIES: DRUGS

  • anti-depressants- SSRIs (selective seretonin reuptake inhibiters) block transmitter mechanism reabsorbs serotonin into presynaptic cell= more sertonin not reabsorbed in synapse prolong acitivity transmission next impulse easier
  • anti-anxiety- Benzodiazepines- GABA- react GABA receptors on outside receiving neurons, GABA locks on opens channels increase flow cholride ions, chloride makes harder for neuro to be stimulated by neurotransmitters, slow down activity= realxed
  • Beta-blockers- reduce activity adrenaline & neuroadrenaline bind receptor on cells of heart etc usually stimulated during arousal, harder stimulate ceels e.g in heart, beats slower, less force, blood vessels don't contact easily, less stress calm and relaxed
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BIOLOGICAL THERAPIES: DRUGS A02

:)

  • ease of use- easy just take pill. little effort from user
  • effective do work

:(

  • tackles symptoms not problem
  • side effects
  • individual differences
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BIOLOGICAL THERAPIES: ECT

  • suicide= quick 
  • electorde placed above temple
  • injected barbiturate unconcsious, paralyse body, prevent muscles contracting and fractures
  • oxygen given
  • 0.6 amps 1/2 second passed through brains
  • seizure- 1 minute
  • ECT= 3 times a week
  • 3-15 treatments

:)

  • effective, saves lives- Comer 60-70% patients improve after treatment

:(

  • sham
  • side effects
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PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH

  • psyche must be balanced to be normal
  • psychological disoerders cause emotional problems in unconscious mind
  • causes traced early childhood
  • relationships between parent & child crucial
  • trauma shapes personality
  • unresolved childhood conflicts
  • solve: unconcious ego defences: repression, projection, regression
  • early experiences cause mental disorder= loss parent as child ego not mature deal with trauma repression, loss later life= re-experience it

FREUD ICEBERG:

conscious

preconscious

unconscious

ID= from birth, instinctive, food, sex etc, motive= satisfaction desires, frustrated= aggressive

SUPER EGO= moral behave in ways parents approve of, punish= guilt/anxiety

EGO= concerned with reality, balance demands of other two, realistically as possible

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PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH: A02

:)

  • case study evidence ANNA O, severe paraylsis right side, nausea, difficulty drinking- dog hated drank same cup once, care for sick father childhood, expressed anxiety in psychoanalysis- unconscious thoughts conscious= paralysis disappeared
  • cannot disapprove abstract ideas

:(

  • case studies= individual differences, lack generalisability, unique to person, no lab experiments where results can be verified
  • abstract ideas difficult define & demonstrate through research- little support
  • sexism- sexually unbalanced
  • blames parents- ethics questioned, socially sensitive subject, issues around stigma for parents
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PSYCHOANALYSIS

FREE ASSOCIATION: patient express thoughts, relevant or irrelevant, Freud= lead to talk about conflict therapist decodes it bring into conscious mind, therapist interprets patient accepts/rejects or adds to it, associations determined by unconscious factors, bring repressed memories into conscious

RORSCHACH: ink blots- write 1st thing see in ink, therapist write down words, noises, timing etc, colour attention to detail. spontaneous/unrehersed responses, reveal secrets & info about personality, unreliable- misleading

DREAM ANAYLSIS: spyholes into unconscious fears, desires, emotions, wish- fufillment, warning messages are encoded/ disguised

:)

  • address cause not just symptoms
  • no side effects
  • BERGIN- 10,000 patients histories 80% benefit psychanalysis compare 65% electric therapies

:(

  • time consuming
  • subjective- people interpret diff things diff ways
  • false memories planted, not repressed ones
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COGNITIVE APPROACH

  • thinking, expectations & attitude direct effect on behavious
  • r
  • way you think about it
  • ABNORMALITY CAUSED BY FAULTY THINKING

ARBITRARY INFERENCES= negative conclusions no info back them

CATASTROPHISING- relatively normal events= disastorous

EXCESSIVE RESPONSIBILITY- take blame & responsibility things which happen

abnormal behaviour= absnormal thinking processes interact world mental representations, if inaccurate/ inadequate= disordered thinking

thought proccess= cognitive structures- organise categorise info

ABC

Acitivating event= situation triggers thought 

Relief= thoughts formed by individual different whether rational or not

Consequence= behaviour shown as result of beliefs

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COGNITIVE APPROACH A02

:(

  • blames patient- overlook situational factors (e.g stressors), only possible way change= think about stressors, not stressors themselves
  • consequence rather than cause- which comes first- faulty thinking cause mental disorder or mental disorder cause because of disorder?
  • irrational beliefs may be rational- subjective as to what is rational/irrational
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COGNITIVE THERAPIES- REBT

1. therapise help identify anxieties

2. client keeps record of thoughts/anxieties

3. using record therapist challenge disfunctional thoughts, drawing on positives- reality testing, compare irrational thoughts against reality

4. unique to REBT- confront client challenges & self- defeating beliefs using intensive debates

5. behavioural techniques- taught encourage & behaviour- set goals etc, sense of personal effectiveness

6. training in problem solving skills, client identify situations it triggers, teach appropriate skills overcome anxieties- e.g relaxation techniques

  • helps patient understand irrationality & consequences thinking this way
  • help change self-defeating thoughts
  • during therapy client encouraged dispute self-defeating beliefs
  • person moves more rational interpretations of events
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COGNITIVE THERAPIES- REBT A02

:)

  • appropriateness- useful not limited just mental disorders, also applied to non-clinical populations e.g exam anxiety
  • effectiveness- Engels et al- meta-analysis, effective treat OCD etc

:(

  • irrational environments- fail address irrational environments exist beyond theraputic situation, continue produce and reinforce irrational thoughts
  • not suitable for all- not always work, not always what people want, some fail put principles into action, others do not want direct advice from it
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THE BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH

  • focus only on our behaviour- the observable responses a person makes to their environment
  • abnormal bevahiours are learned
  • e.g panic attack= desired attention (operant conditioning)
  • abnormal behaviour aquired seeing others rewarded for same behaviour (social learning theory)
  • learning environments- environment behaviours are learnt reinforce maladaptive behaviour

classical conditioning- learning through associations and pairing, after learning enough pairings the neutral stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus which produces a conditioned response

operant conditioning= learning through reinforcement which can be positive or negative- learning through consequence

EXTINCTION- if conditioned stimulus continually presented without unconditioned stimulus conditioned response dies out

DISCRIMINATION- conditioned repsonse produced by presentation of original stimulus only

GENERALISATION- extension conditioned response from original stimulus to similar stimuli/situations

SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY- conditioned response not reinforced become extinuguished after period rest response may re-appear

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THE BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH- LITTLE ALBERT

  • 9 months old, reaction stimuli tested- white rat, rabbit, dog, monkey, masks with/out hair, cotton wool. hammer striking steel bar etc
  • only steel bar scared him= unconditioned stimulus, fear= unconditioned response
  • 11months old rat & steel bar= together, Al stroke steel bar sound, 7 times over 7 weeks
  • rat alone frightened Al (conditioned stimulus) fear= conditioned response
  • produce phobia rats
  • conditioned response change- rat, rabbit, fur coat, cotton wool, Watson's hair
  • did not discriminate building blocks or anyone else's hair
  • still evident one month later
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THE BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH A02

:(

  • behaviourist explanations ignore role of psychological/ cognitive factors in onset & treatment abnormality, both important psychopathology treatment
  • tackles symptoms not cause, effetive behavioural therapies treat only symptoms, cause still remain may resurface in diff form, although symptoms behavioural cause not always behavioural

:)

  • little Albert supporting evidence
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BEHAVIOURAL THERAPIES- SYSTEMATIC DISPENSATION

  • behaviour= learnt, can be unlearnt
  • 'unconditioning' conditioned responses etc

1. patient taught relax muscles

2. therpaist & patient construct dispensation hierachy- series of imagined scenes each causing little more anxiety than previous one

3. patient gradually work up hierachy, visualising etc. MUST BE COMPLETELY CALM BEFORE MOVING UP ANOTHER LEVEL

4. once mastered one step move onto next

5. patient masters feared situation causing them seek help

  • cannot feel relaxed and scared at same time (incompatible)- fear is eventually dispelled
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BEHAVIOURAL THERAPIES- SYSTEMATIC DISPENSATION A02

:)

  • quick, require less effort on patient's part than other psychotherapies
  • patients more likely persevere, treamtment more likely succeed
  • effective- successful range disorders

:(

  • may appear solve problem but eliminates symptoms rather than deal cause anxiety, may result othe symptoms appearing later on
  • not universally effective- less effective disorders with underlying adaptive component (e.g fear dangerous animals)
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