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 on a statistical cut-off two standard deviations below the mean, so whether a person is judged ill depends on where a researcher draws the line
• BIt ignores the subjective distress (e.g. low mood) reported by the individual
• CIt can be applied to phobias, but not to depression or OCD
• 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, so it falls comfortably inside the normal range of the distribution
• BSome statistically rare characteristics are desirable, so rarity alone does not make a behaviour problematic✓
• CThe definition cannot be applied to intelligence, which is measured on an ordinal scale (IQ)
• DStatistical infrequency applies to negative emotions but not to abilities

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, where the fear response is rewarded, and maintenance through classical conditioning
• BAcquisition through social learning from a phobic model and maintenance through positive reinforcement (attention)
• 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, because avoidance always reduces the client's anxiety
• CVicarious reinforcement, because the client watches a model handle the feared object without harm
• DSpontaneous recovery of the conditioned fear and avoidance 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, Behavioural bias and Conditioned response
• 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.

What is the two-process model of phobias?

• AOperant conditioning acquires the phobia, classical maintains it
• BBoth acquisition and maintenance occur by classical conditioning
• CClassical conditioning acquires the phobia, operant maintains it✓
• DBoth acquisition and maintenance occur by social learning

Answer: Mowrer proposed that a phobia is learned by association and then maintained because avoidance reduces anxiety, which negatively reinforces it. That is exactly why exposure therapies work — they block the avoidance.

What does systematic desensitisation involve?

• AImmediate exposure to the most feared stimulus until calm
• BChallenging irrational beliefs about the feared stimulus
• CRewarding the client each time avoidance is successful
• DGradual exposure up a hierarchy while remaining relaxed✓

Answer: It relies on reciprocal inhibition, since relaxation and anxiety cannot coexist, so the client works up an anxiety hierarchy. Flooding is the immediate full-intensity alternative, which is faster but far more traumatic.

What is Beck's cognitive triad?

• ANegative views of the self, the past and other people
• BActivating event, belief and consequence in sequence
• CNegative views of the self, the world and the future✓
• DThoughts, feelings and behaviours influencing each other

Answer: Beck argued that depression involves automatic negative schemas across these three domains, reinforcing each other. Ellis's ABC model (activating event, belief and consequence) is a separate cognitive account.

In Ellis's ABC model, what does the B stand for?

• ABelief, which may be rational or irrational✓
• BBehaviour, which may be adaptive or maladaptive
• CBias, which distorts how events are perceived
• DBaseline, against which change is measured

Answer: Ellis argued the activating event does not cause the consequence — the belief about it does. REBT adds D for dispute and E for effect, challenging the irrational belief directly.

What are the four definitions of abnormality?

• AStatistical infrequency, social norms, genetic risk factors and ideal mental health
• BDeviation, distress, danger and the total duration of the presenting symptoms
• CBiological, behavioural, cognitive and psychodynamic explanations
• DStatistical infrequency, social norms, failure to function, ideal mental health✓

Answer: Each has limitations: statistical infrequency cannot distinguish desirable rarity, and social norms vary by culture and era, as the historic classification of homosexuality shows.

What is a strength of the biological approach to treating OCD?

• ADrug treatment addresses all the underlying psychological causes directly
• BDrug treatment is effective and requires little effort from the patient✓
• CDrug treatment produces no side effects whatsoever in the great majority
• DDrug treatment has been shown to cure OCD permanently

Answer: SSRIs are cost-effective and non-disruptive compared with psychological therapy. But they treat symptoms rather than causes, symptoms often return when medication stops, and side effects are common.

How do SSRIs work?

• AThey block release so that less serotonin enters the synaptic cleft
• BThey increase the amount of dopamine available at the synaptic cleft
• CThey destroy the enzymes that produce serotonin
• DThey block reuptake so more serotonin remains in the synapse✓

Answer: Blocking reabsorption into the presynaptic neurone leaves serotonin in the cleft longer, prolonging stimulation of the postsynaptic neurone. Effects take three to four months, which is evidence against a simple chemical-imbalance account.

What characterises the behavioural, emotional and cognitive elements of depression?

• AIncreased activity, persistent low mood and negative thinking
• BReduced activity, heightened anxiety and obsessive thinking
• CReduced activity, persistent low mood and negative thinking✓
• DIncreased activity, heightened anxiety and rigid thinking

Answer: Depression typically shows reduced or disrupted activity and sleep, lowered mood and anger, and absolutist negative thoughts. Distinguishing the three categories is exactly what exam questions on characteristics require.

What does the diathesis-stress model propose?

• AA vulnerability alone is sufficient to cause the disorder
• BAn environmental stressor alone is sufficient to cause it
• CA vulnerability is triggered by an environmental stressor✓
• DVulnerability and stress operate entirely independently

Answer: Neither factor is sufficient alone, which explains why identical twins are not 100% concordant despite sharing genes. It is an interactionist position and applies across many disorders.

Callum, who is depressed, believes 'Nobody at work likes me.' His therapist asks him to record how many colleagues greet him or chat to him each day and to bring the record to the next session.

Which treatment approach does this task belong to, and what is its purpose?

• ASystematic desensitisation, using a hierarchy to reduce his anxiety
• BCBT, using homework to test an irrational belief against reality✓
• CDrug therapy, using SSRIs to raise serotonin before therapy begins
• DFlooding, using lengthy exposure to colleagues to extinguish a fear

Answer: In CBT, based on Beck's approach, the client acts like a scientist, gathering evidence to test negative automatic thoughts; homework diaries are a standard technique. If colleagues do greet him, the evidence challenges his belief. Systematic desensitisation and flooding are behavioural treatments for phobias, and keeping a record is a psychological task rather than a drug treatment.

Years ago, Imran was trapped in a broken lift for two hours. He now takes the stairs in every building and feels relief each time he avoids a lift, although his fear has not faded.

According to the two-process model, why has Imran's phobia persisted?

• AAvoiding lifts is positively reinforced by praise, so the habit grows stronger
• BThe lift is an unconditioned stimulus, so his fear is an innate, unlearned response
• CThe fear was acquired by operant conditioning and is maintained by classical
• DAvoiding lifts is negatively reinforced by relief, so the fear is never extinguished✓

Answer: The phobia was acquired by classical conditioning (the lift paired with the fear of being trapped) and is maintained by operant conditioning: each avoidance removes anxiety, a relief that negatively reinforces avoiding lifts. Because he never stays in a lift long enough to learn it is safe, the association is not extinguished. No praise is mentioned, the lift is a conditioned (learned) stimulus, and the two processes are the other way round.

Sana spends around four hours a day checking that doors and appliances are switched off. She has lost her job because she is late every day, and her family say her behaviour is causing them great distress.

Which definition of abnormality applies most directly to Sana's situation?

• AStatistical infrequency, as her checking is typical of most of the population
• BDeviation from social norms, as checking appliances breaks a written law
• CFailure to function adequately, as she cannot cope with everyday demands✓
• DDeviation from ideal mental health, as she shows complete self-actualisation

Answer: Sana cannot hold down a job and her behaviour distresses others, both of Rosenhan and Seligman's signs of failing to function adequately. Four hours of daily checking is rare rather than typical, social norms are unwritten rules rather than laws (and checking breaks neither), and self-actualisation would be a sign of ideal mental health, not of deviation from it.

Since becoming depressed, Mark sleeps for up to 14 hours a day, has stopped seeing friends and eats far less than he used to.

Which type of characteristic of depression are these?

• AEmotional characteristics
• BCognitive characteristics
• CBehavioural characteristics✓
• DPositive symptoms

Answer: Changes in sleep, social activity and eating are things Mark does, so they are behavioural characteristics of depression. Emotional characteristics would be feelings such as low mood or anger, and cognitive ones would be thoughts such as negative views of the self. Positive symptoms is a term used for schizophrenia, not depression.

Which of the following is the most valid criticism of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as a treatment for depression?

• AIt works by changing serotonin levels directly, so its benefits are a drug effect rather than a psychological one
• BIt requires patients to uncover repressed childhood conflicts, so treatment usually lasts for many years
• CResearch shows it has little effect on depression, so improvement in clients is due to placebo
• DSome severely depressed people lack the motivation to engage with sessions, so drugs may be needed first✓

Answer: CBT requires active effort, such as challenging thoughts and completing homework, which a severely depressed person with very low motivation may be unable to manage; medication is sometimes used first to make engagement possible. CBT works on thoughts and behaviour rather than directly on neurotransmitters, uncovering repressed conflicts describes psychoanalysis, and research generally finds CBT effective for depression.