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AQA ALevel Psychology - psychopathology summary notes
Well summarised notes for psychopathology (Chapter 5) for AQA ALevel Psychology
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- Definitions of abnormality, including deviation from social norms, failureto function adequately, statistical infrequency and deviation from ideal
mental health.
- The behavioural, emotional and cognitive characteristics of phobias,
depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
- The behavioural approach to explaining and treating phobias: the two-
process model, including classical and operant conditioning; systematic
desensitisation, including relaxation and use of hierarchy; flooding.
- The cognitive approach to explaining and treating depression: Beck’s
negative triad and Ellis’s ABC model; cognitive behaviour therapy
(CBT), including challenging irrational thoughts.
- The biological approach to explaining and treating OCD: genetic and
neural explanations; drug therapy.
1. Definitions of abnormality
Statistical infrequency: occurs when an individual has a less common
characteristic, hence deviates from what is statistically frequent. (Rare Behaviour)
+ Strength: Statistical infrequency has real-world applications. This means that it
is used in clinical practices, for formal diagnoses or to access severity. For
example, to diagnose an intellectual disability disorder, an IQ of below 70 is
required. (bottom 70%) This shows that the value of statistical infrequency is
useful in diagnostic processes.
-Limitation: Infrequent characteristics can be positive as well as negative. For
example, for every person with an IQ of under 70, there is a person with an IQ
above 130, but we would not think having a high IQ is abnormal. This is bad for
statistical infrequency as it is never sufficient as the sole basis for defining
abnormality.
Deviation from social norms: concerns behaviour that is different from the
accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society.
- Mental illness is culturally relative: Behaviour only makes sense when viewed
within the originating culture. Abnormality cannot be judged without reference
to the standards of the culture where the behaviour arose. A diagnosis of
mental illness may be different for the same person in two different cultures.
+ Strength: Deviation from social norms has real-world applications. This means
that it is used in useful contexts such as clinical practices. For example, the key
defining characteristic of anti-social personality disorder is the failure to conform
to culturally acceptable behaviour. The signs of the disorder are all deviations
from social norms. This is good as it has value in psychiatry.
-Limitation: Deviation from social norms is the variability between social norms in
different cultures. This means that a person from one cultural group may label
someone from another group as abnormal using their own standards. For
example, the experience of hearing voices is seen as the norm in some cultures,
but would be considered abnormal in the UK. This means that it is difficult to
judge deviation from social norms across different situations and cultures.
, Deviation from ideal mental health: occurs when someone doesn’t meet a set
of criteria for good mental health. Good mental health is seen as having a
positive attitude towards the self, resistance to stress, and an accurate perception
of reality. [Jahoda suggested the absence of these indicates abnormality: 1. Self-
attitudes 2. Self-actualization 3. Integration 4. Autonomy 5. Accurate perception
of reality 6. Master of the environment]
+Strength: It is highly comprehensive. This means that an individual’s mental
health can be discussed with different theoretical views. For example, a
psychiatrist may focus on a person’s symptoms, whereas a humanistic counsellor
might be more interested in self-actualization. This is good as ideal mental health
provides a checklist which a range of professionals can discuss it with.
-Limitation: Its different elements are not equally applicable across a range of
cultures. This means that Jahoda’s criteria for ideal mental health are located in
the context of western cultures. For example, self-actualization would be
dismissed as self-indulgent in other parts of the world. This is bad as it is difficult
to apply the concept of ideal mental health from one culture to another.
{CULTURAL RELATIVISM}
Failure to function adequately: when a person is unable to cope with ordinary
demands of day-to-day living, such as basic standards of nutrition and hygiene.
Rosenhan and Seligman proposed additional signs that can be used to determine
when someone is not coping. They are maladpativeness, unconventionality
(unusual behaviour), loss of control (unpredictable behaviour), irrational
behaviour, observer discomfort, and violation of moral standards.
+Strength: It attempts to include the subjective experience of the individual.
Although these are assessed through the person’s distress, this definition
acknowledges that the personal experience of the individual is important. This
means that this approach captures the experience of many of the people who
need help. This is good as it has a useful criteria for assessing abnormal
behaviours.
-Limitation: It is easy to label non-standard lifestyle choices as abnormal. This
means that it is hard to say when someone is failing to function adequately, or
they have chosen to live an alternative lifestyle. For example, not having a
permanent job and address may be seen as failure to function adequately, but
the person may be a world traveller. This is bad for the explanation as people
who make unusual choices are at risk of being labelled as abnormal, which
restricts their freedom of choice.
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