Summary

Summary Psychopathology Notes (AQA A-Level Psychology)

0 purchase

Module
Psychopathology

Institution
AQA

Psychopathology Notes (AQA A-Level Psychology) This document covers all content on Psychopathology (AQA A-Level Psychology). The notes are very detailed but only include what is relevant to the course. There are abbreviations throughout that you should understand as a psychology student, but don...

[Show more]

Preview 3 out of 25 pages

View example

Summarized whole book? No
Which chapters are summarized? The chapter on psychopathology
Uploaded on August 23, 2023
Number of pages 25
Written in 2023/2024
Type Summary

evalancaster Member since 1 year 45 documents sold

£10.49

Add to cart

Add to wishlist

100% satisfaction guarantee
Immediately available after payment
Both online and in PDF
No strings attached

Psychopathology
Notes

Paper 1 - Section D

,Psychopathology
The study of mental disorders in terms of their causes, development, course,
classification, and treatment

Being sane in Insane places → Rosenhan (1973)

● Pseudo-patients ‘faked’ one schizophrenia symptom to get admitted to psychiatric
hospital
● That symptom was hearing a voice saying single words e.g. thud
● All Ps were admitted (worrying in itself) but they were then instructed to act
normally
● Normal behaviour was then interpreted as ‘abnormal’ e.g. ‘writing behaviour’
● Took between 7 and 52 days to get discharged and even then with schizophrenia in
remission

Conclusion:
- Highlights the problems with identifying what is normal and abnormal

, Definitions of abnormality
Definition 1: Statistical Deviation
● Characteristic / behaviour is ‘abnormal’ if it is rare / statistically unusual
● Statistical norms → any commonly seen behaviour / characteristic
● Deviation → any unusual behaviour or characteristic, e.g. fear of buttons
● What’s regarded as statistically rare depends on normal distribution
● Most would will be around mean - dec/incline amounts
of people away from mean
● An individual who falls outside the ‘normal distribution’
are perceived as abnormal

Example:
● IQ - intelligence
● Average IQ is 100 (most ranging from 85-115)
● Below 70 you are unusual or abnormal
● You may have a psychological disorder

Statistical infrequency (WORKSHEET)
● Standard deviation → a measure of how spread out
number are
● 68% → mean-(1xSD) to mean+1(1xSD)
● 95% → mean-(2xSD) to mean+1(2xSD)
● 99.7% → mean-(3xSD) to mean+1(3xSD)
● E.g outside this you're in the lowest 0.3% of population

Strengths:
● Appropriate for many mental illnesses where statistical criteria is available (e.g.
intellectual disability disorder)
● Objective, value free assessment of the level of mental disability experienced
● Real life application in the diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder - helps us
make cut off point in diagnosis
● Statistical deviation helps show normal/abnormal behaviours and characteristics
● All assessments of mental disorders include measurement of how severe their
symptoms are as compared to statistical norms

Limitations
● Unusual characteristics can be positive e.g IQ 130< just as unusual as 70>, wouldn’t
think super intelligence as an undesirable characteristic that needs treatment
● If something is unusual it doesn’t always mean it requires treatment to return to
normal - should never be used alone to make a diagnosis
● Someone is living a happy fulfilled life - no benefit being labelled abnormal
● Person w/ low IQ but not distressed - quite capable of working wouldn’t need a
diagnosis of intellectual disability
● Diagnosis likely to have negative effect on how others/they view them
● Fails to distinguish desirable/undesirable behaviour e.g obesity is statistically
normal but not associated with healthy or desirable
● Some behaviours regarded abnormal even if they’re quite frequent e.g left handed
● Doesn’t take into account the desirability of a characteristic

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller evalancaster. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for £10.49. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

68175 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 15 years now

Start selling

Summary

Summary Psychopathology Notes (AQA A-Level Psychology)

Document information

Subjects

Connected book

More summaries for

Written for

Seller

Reviews received

Content preview