This document provides an overview of the AQA A Level Psychology specification on psychopathology and abnormality. It discusses definitions of abnormality, characteristics of specific psychological disorders like phobias, depression and OCD. It also summarizes behavioral, cognitive and biological approaches to explaining and treating these disorders, including therapies like systematic desensitization, cognitive behavioral therapy, and drug therapies that target serotonin levels.

1. AQA A Level Psychology Revision:
Psychopathology - Abnormality
Ella Warwick, Charters 6th form

2. Specification
• Definitions of abnormality, including deviation from social norms, failure to
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.

3. Definitions of Abnormality
• Statistical infrequency – abnormal behaviour is statistically rare behaviour. E.g. IQ
• Need measurements to make diagnosis.
• Fails to recognise desirable behaviour. E.g. high IQ
• Being labelled as abnormal may not benefit the person.
• Deviation from social norms – behaviour is different from accepted standards.
• Diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder.
• Social norms vary in time and culture
• Can lead to abuse of human rights. If people don’t agree with society they are labelled as mad.
• Diagnose Asperger's if person avoids eye contact, in Korea it is considered rude to make eye contact.
• Failure to function adequately – unable to cope with the demands of daily life.
• Subjective levels of distress.
• Just a deviation from social norms.
• Deviation from ideal mental health – don’t meet the criteria for good mental health.
• Comprehensive ideal that is good for thinking about mental health.
• Ideas are specific to western cultures and are traits of individualist cultures.
• Unrealistically high standards to be classed as normal.

4. Phobias, Depression, and OCD
• Phobias (anxiety disorder)
• Emotional characteristics – anxiety
• Behavioural characteristics – panic and avoidance
• Cognitive characteristics – selective attention (looking away), irrational beliefs and cognitive
distortions.
• Depression (mood disorder)
• Emotional characteristics – low mood and feeling worthless and empty, anger, low self-
esteem.
• Behavioural characteristics – low energy, disrupted sleep, aggression and self harm.
• Cognitive characteristics – poor concentration, dwelling on negative aspects.
• OCD (anxiety disorder with two components: obsessions and compulsions)
• Emotional characteristics – anxiety and distress, guilt and disgust.
• Behavioural characteristics – following compulsions reduces anxiety, avoidance e.g. germs.
• Cognitive characteristics – obsessive reoccurring thoughts, aware that it is irrational.

5. Behavioural Approach to Explaining and
Treating Phobias
• Two process model – classical conditioning (association with danger) acquires the phobia (Little
Albert) and operant conditioning maintains it (positive and negative reinforcement increase
frequency of behaviour).
• Application in therapy
• Goes beyond just acquiring it to the maintenance of it.
• Not all avoidance behaviour reduces anxiety.
• Someone with agoraphobia can go out with someone they trust, the model is too simple.
• Doesn’t explain innate phobias
• We should be more scared of guns and cars due to modern experiences than snakes and spiders.
• Systematic desensitisation – gradually reduces phobia through counterconditioning. You cannot
be afraid and relaxed at the same time. 3 processes: Anxiety hierarchy, relaxation(meditation,
sometimes drugs), exposure (in a relaxed state)
• Shown helpful in reducing anxiety for arachnophobia.
• Patients prefer against the trauma caused by flooding.
• Takes time and costs more due to more sessions.
• Flooding – immediate exposure for long period of time that makes the patient realise it is
harmless
• Quicker treatment therefore cheaper
• Traumatic.
• Time and money spent preparing when often patient cant go through with it.
• Complex phobias like social phobias.

6. Cognitive Approach to Explaining and Treating
Depression• Beck - the way a person thinks makes them more vulnerable to depression.
• Faulty information processing – jus looking at the negative aspects e.g. winning 1000 but someone else won 10000.
• Negative schemas – package of ideas gained through experience that leads us to expect negatively. This can lead wrong perspectives of a
situation.
• Negative triad
• Negative Triad - negative view of world, self, and future.
• Other studies support – women judged to have high cognitive vulnerability are more likely to suffer with post-natal depression.
• Forms the basis of CBT
• Doesn’t explain all aspects of depression – anger and hallucinations.
• Ellis’ ABC model – activating event (experiencing negative event e.g. failing a test), beliefs (irrational beliefs e.g. must always be
perfect), consequences (emotional and behavioural consequences e.g. failure could trigger depression)
• Successful in therapy by challenging irrational beliefs.
• Only accounts for certain types of depression.
• Doesn’t explain anger associated with depression and how some are more vulnerable. Also doesn’t explain hallucinations some get.
• CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) – uses Beck and Elis
• Beck – focusses around negative triad, they fill out the triad then challenge it. They are given homework tasks.
• Ellis – extended to ABCDE (dispute and effect) they identify the negative irrational thoughts and challenge them in an argument
• Evidence shows it is as affective as drugs (81% improvement in both antidepressant and CBT group)
• People with severe depression may lack the motivation. They can be given drugs then continue. This is a limitation as it cannot be the soul
treatment for all cases.
• Success may be more to do with the therapist-patient relationship than the type of therapy.

7. Biological Approach to Explaining and
Treating OCD• Genetic
• Diathesis stress model – genetic vulnerability probably genetic
• Candidate genes – been found. Some are involved in the generation and development of seratonin.
• OCD is polygenic – evidence of up to 230 genes involved. This includes ones associated with dopamine and serotonin which both regulate mood.
• Evidence to show concordance rates (68% identical twins, 31% non identical)
• Each genetic variation only increases the risk of OCD by a fraction. Provides little practical value.
• Environmental factors. one study showed that half the patients had witnessed a traumatic event, so cannot be entirely genetic. – diathesis stress
model.
• Neural
• Serotonin regulates mood. OCD is associated with low levels of serotonin.
• Decision making systems
• The lateral of the frontal lobes is responsible for logical thinking and is associated with OCD. The parahippocampal gyrus is associated with
processing unpleasant emotions and is also associated with OCD.
• SSRIs which work on the serotonin system reduce OCD symptoms.
• No system has been found that always plays a role in OCD.
• We do not know order of cause and effect.
• Drug therapy
• SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) – inhibits the reuptake channels so it has to be taken up by the postsynaptic receptors.
• Allows better engagement with CBT.
• Tricyclics have same affect but more severe side effects.
• SNRIs increase serotonin and noradrenaline levels.
• Symptoms decrease for 70% of patients.
• Drugs are cost effective and non-disruptive of lives.
• Some research may be bias as sponsored by the drug companies.