Psychopathology

A psychologist defines abnormality as behaviour that violates the unwritten rules and expectations of a society. According to the AQA specification, which definition of abnormality is being used?

• AStatistical infrequency
• BFailure to function adequately
• CDeviation from social norms✓
• DDeviation from ideal mental health

Answer: Deviation from social norms defines abnormality as behaviour that breaches a society's accepted (often implicit) standards of conduct. A key limitation is that social norms vary across cultures and over time, making the definition relative rather than universal.

Jahoda's concept of 'ideal mental health' is most directly criticised on which of the following grounds?

• AIt relies entirely on a statistical cut-off two standard deviations from the mean
• BIt ignores the subjective distress experienced by the individual
• CIt can only be applied to phobias and not to depression
• DIts criteria (e.g. self-actualisation, autonomy, environmental mastery) set such a demanding standard that very few people would be judged 'normal'✓

Answer: Jahoda proposed criteria for ideal mental health such as self-actualisation, accurate perception of reality, autonomy, resistance to stress, environmental mastery and positive self-attitudes. Because almost nobody meets all of them at once, the definition sets an unrealistically high bar, classing most people as abnormal.

Using statistical infrequency to define abnormality, a person with an IQ of 145 would be classed as abnormal. Why is this considered a key limitation of the definition?

• AAn IQ of 145 is actually statistically common
• BSome statistically rare characteristics are desirable, so rarity alone does not make a behaviour problematic✓
• CThe definition cannot measure intelligence
• DStatistical infrequency only applies to negative emotions

Answer: Statistical infrequency classes any behaviour far from the average (e.g. very high IQ) as abnormal, but rarity is not the same as being undesirable or in need of treatment. This shows the definition fails to distinguish desirable from undesirable rare traits.

According to Rosenhan and Seligman's signs of failure to function adequately, which of the following would NOT typically be taken as an indicator?

• APersonal distress and suffering
• BBehaviour that is statistically average for the population✓
• CMaladaptive behaviour that prevents the person achieving life goals
• DBehaviour that is unpredictable or irrational and causes observer discomfort

Answer: Rosenhan and Seligman listed indicators such as personal distress, maladaptiveness, irrationality, observer discomfort, unpredictability and violation of moral standards. Behaviour that is statistically average is not a sign of failing to function; it is the opposite of an indicator.

A patient avoids a feared object, shows a fast heart rate and sweating when confronted with it, and holds an irrational belief that the object is far more dangerous than it is. In AQA terms, these three responses are respectively classified as the:

• Aemotional, behavioural and cognitive characteristics of a phobia
• Bcognitive, behavioural and emotional characteristics of a phobia
• Cbehavioural, cognitive and emotional characteristics of a phobia
• Dbehavioural, emotional and cognitive characteristics of a phobia✓

Answer: Avoidance is a behavioural characteristic; a racing heart and sweating (anxiety/fear) are emotional characteristics; and the exaggerated, irrational belief about danger is a cognitive characteristic. The correct order is therefore behavioural, emotional, cognitive.

The two-process model of phobias (Mowrer, 1960) explains the acquisition and maintenance of phobias through which two learning processes?

• AAcquisition through operant conditioning and maintenance through classical conditioning
• BAcquisition through social learning and maintenance through positive reinforcement
• CAcquisition through systematic desensitisation and maintenance through flooding
• DAcquisition through classical conditioning and maintenance through operant conditioning (negative reinforcement)✓

Answer: Mowrer's two-process model states that phobias are acquired by classical conditioning (a neutral stimulus paired with a fear response) and maintained by operant conditioning: avoiding the phobic stimulus reduces anxiety, which negatively reinforces the avoidance behaviour.

Systematic desensitisation treats phobias by gradually exposing the client to the feared stimulus while they remain relaxed. Which principle explains why pairing relaxation with the feared stimulus reduces the phobia?

• AReciprocal inhibition, because relaxation and fear cannot be experienced simultaneously✓
• BNegative reinforcement of avoidance behaviour
• CVicarious reinforcement from observing a model
• DSpontaneous recovery of the conditioned response

Answer: Systematic desensitisation relies on reciprocal inhibition (Wolpe): because relaxation and anxiety are incompatible states, learning to stay relaxed in the presence of the feared stimulus replaces the fear response as the client moves up an anxiety hierarchy.

Beck's cognitive theory of depression proposes a 'negative triad'. Which set correctly identifies its three components?

• ANegative views of the id, ego and superego
• BNegative views of the past, present and future
• CNegative views of the self, the world and the future✓
• DNegative reinforcement, punishment and extinction

Answer: Beck's negative triad consists of automatic negative views of the self, the world (one's experiences/environment) and the future. These pessimistic schemas, often formed in childhood, maintain depression by biasing how events are interpreted.

Ellis's ABC model explains depression. In this model, what do the letters A, B and C stand for?

• AAnxiety, Behaviour and Cognition
• BActivating event, Beliefs and Consequences✓
• CAntecedent, Bias and Conditioning
• DAffect, Belief and Coping

Answer: In Ellis's ABC model, A is the Activating event, B is the Belief (which may be rational or irrational) about that event, and C is the emotional/behavioural Consequence. Ellis argued that irrational beliefs, not the event itself, cause depression (e.g. 'musturbation').

The biological approach to OCD points to a candidate gene and a neurotransmitter implicated in the disorder. Which pairing is most consistent with this explanation?

• AThe COMT gene and low levels of serotonin✓
• BThe OFC gene and high levels of dopamine only
• CThe 5-HTT gene and excessive acetylcholine
• DThe DRD4 gene and low levels of GABA

Answer: Candidate genes such as COMT (and SERT/5-HTT) have been associated with OCD, and the disorder is linked to abnormal levels of serotonin (typically reduced serotonin activity). Dopamine is also implicated, but the COMT gene plus serotonin pairing is the established biological explanation.