abnormality

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deviating from social norms means
breaking the unwritten rules society has created to govern the way we behave
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two strengths of deviating from social norms
easy and practical way, takes other people's views into account
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two weaknesses
context must be considered, norms can change over time
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3 more weaknesses
culturally biased, norms may not be morally right, hard to decide whether eccentric or abnormal
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what does failure to function adequately believe
behaviour is abnormal if it is maladaptive (hinders our survival)
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What are the seven criteria Rosenhan and Seligman created for defining failure to function adequately
personal distress, maladaptive, unpredictability, irrationality, statistical rarity, violation of moral and ideal standards, observer discomfort
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two strengths of this theory
statistical rarity and violation of moral and ideal standards make it practical to identify those needing help, takes the individual's personal distress into account
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three weaknesses
subjective, unpredictability and statistical rarity could refer to people doing their own thing, context and extent of the personal distress must be considered
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what does Jahoda's theory of deviation from ideal mental health believe
an individual is abnormal if they are not performing at their maximum potential
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what were Jahoda's six criteria for this
autonomy, high self esteem, self actualisation, environmental mastery, resistance to stress, accurate perception of reality
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4 weaknesses for this theory
historical relativism, cultural relativism, subjective, no one achieves ideal mental health
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What was the aim of Rosenhan's 'being sane in insane places' study
to investigate the problems with defining abnormalities
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how was this study carried out
using 8 sane men and women who changed their names and jobs, nothing else. Sought entrance into a mental hospital by 'hearing voices'. Once in they stopped acting and said they were fine.
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what were the findings
treatment of the patients was based on the schizophrenic diagnosis and none of the nurses realised they were sane (some patients did). Saw little contact between nurses and patients but some abuse.
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what are the key assumptions of the biological approach
abnormality has a physical cause, which should be treated medically. It is determinist and takes all blame away from the patient
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two strengths of the biological approach
determinist (patient doesn't feel at fault) and treats psychology as a science (can be tested for reliability)
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three weaknesses
reductionist, can't establish cause and effect, not good for all illnnesses
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two pieces of evidence for the idea of infections causing abnormality
Barr et al, who suggested that flu during pregnancy meant schizophrenia was more likely, and general paresis (causes illusions of grandeur) being caused by the disease syphilis
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two pieces of evidence of the idea of genes causing abnormalities
relatives of schizophrenics being 18 times more likely to develop schizophrenia and Hollands, who looked at anorexia in 100% identical and 50% identical twins. 100% had a 56% chance of both having anorexia, 50% was only 6% chance.
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what does the biochemistry idea assume
abnormality is due to chemical imbalances in the body, too little or too much neurotransmitter in the synapse is a problem.
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two pieces of evidence for the idea of biochemistry
depression is linked to low levels of serotonin and schizophrenia is linked to high levels of dopamine.
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three pieces of evidence for the idea of psychoanatomy
amnesia is caused by damage to the LTM, Alzheimer's is caused by a loss of cells in the nervous system, Clive Wearing had an infection that damaged his LTM
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What is ECT
electro convulsive therapy; two (or one) metal nodes are placed on the side of the head and 0.6 amps is passed through for 0.5 secs creating a seizure lasting up to a minute. Muscle relaxant and anaesthetic are given. 3 times a week 3-15 times.
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two strengths of ECT
effective in 50% of cases, useful in extreme cases when drugs have no effect
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four weaknesses
can be dangerous, can make it worse, only treats symptoms, has side effects like memory loss and headaches
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describe drugs
abnormality down to chemical imbalances in the body, so drugs try to fix that. Anti-depressants increase serotonin, anti-psychotics block the D2 receptors of dopamine. They have an effective rate of 60-70% and suppress symptoms.
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3 strengths of drugs
effective and quick, gives the patient more control, safer than ECT
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four weaknesses
side effects like weight gain and tiredness, only treat the symptoms, chance of overdose, can get addicted
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what does the psychodynamic approach believe
abnormality is caused by unconscious conflict, created by problems in childhood development which lead to unresolved conflict
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what are the three parts of the unconscious
the ID (selfish) the ego (compromising) and the superego (morality)
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what does the mind use to deal with these conflicts
defence mechanisms like suppression, projection, sublimination, denial, regression and displacement
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what was freud's theory of the psychosexual stages
5 stages of development. If there is a fixation in one stage it will lead to abnormalities in later life
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what were the stages
oral (could cause smoking, drinking, needy, aggressive behaviour), anal (OCD or very disorganised), phallic (oedipus and electra complex), latency (sexual urges go into hobbies and friends), puberty
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what is dream analysis
dreams have an obvious content (latent) and a symbolic content (manifest). It is the job of the therapist to interpret the manifest content.
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what is free association
where the participant just talks. it is thought that with enough talking unconscious, repressed thoughts will be brought to the conscious, which a therapist can then interpret
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weaknesses of this
doesn't treat psychology as a science, theoretical, takes power away from patient, false memories
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a strength
Bergin identified an 80% success rate
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what are the key assumptions of the cognitive approach
abnormality is caused by distorted and irrational thinking which influences behaviour. This thinking is conscious and is within the ability of the person to control it. Abnormality stems from cognitive errors
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what is Ellis' ABC model
A is the activating event, B is the belief and C is the consequence
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what is Becks' cognitive triad
three elements, self, world and future. Self is thinking 'i cant stop smoking', world is thinking 'everyone thinks i wont be able to stop smoking', future is thinking 'i'll always smoke'
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2 strengths of the cognitive theory
hollistic (can be used with other theories) and tries to deal with the cause as well as the symptoms
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3 weaknesses of the cognitive theory
isn't determinist (places blame on individual), doesn't treat psychology as a science, can't establish cause and effect
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what are the three stages of cognitive behavioural therapy
1. understanding the problem, analysing how distorted the person's thoughts are. 2. changing the thoughts from negative to positive. 3. practicing the techniques
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3 strengths of this therapy
sucessful, attempts to treat the cause, gives the patient some control
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3 weaknesses
doesnt work for schizophrenia, time consuming, makes the patient feel at fault
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what does the behavioural approach assume
that abnormal behaviours are learnt in the same way as normal behaviours. Humans learn the same way as animals and
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what are the three theories of it
classical conditioning (learning through association), operant conditioning (reinforcement), social learning (observation and imitation)
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a strength of this approach
determinist (takes blame away from individual)
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3 weaknesses
not good for all abnormalities, reductionist, assumes animals and humans learn the same way
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what did Watson and Rayner investigate
whether they could condition a fear response vie classical conditioning
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how did they do this
they used an 11 mnth year old boy and showed him white rats, cotton wool etc. At first he wasnt afraid of them but then a loud noise was made everytime he went to touch the rat. Then associated the rat and white fluffy things with fear.
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3 weaknesses of this study
lacks ecological validity, lacks population validity, psychological harm
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3 strengths
informed consent from parents, control over extraneous variables, can establish cause and effect
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what is systematic desensitisation
uses classical conditioning to get rid of phobias, by making the participant associate relaxation with the phobia
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how does it do this
it uses an anxiety hierarchy, which lists the aspects of the fear in order of how stressful they are. The therapist will work up these, making sure the patient stays relaxed. Gradually relaxation should be associated with the phobia.
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2 weaknesses of this
Marks et al suggested it was only the exposure to the fear that was helping the patients, can't be used for more serious abnormalities
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2 strengths
80-90% effective, more ethical than methods like flooding
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two strengths of deviating from social norms

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easy and practical way, takes other people's views into account

Card 3

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two weaknesses

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Card 4

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3 more weaknesses

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Card 5

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what does failure to function adequately believe

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