Who and when
AQA AS-Level Psychology 7182
Social Influence
Memory
Attachment
Topic overviewCaregiver-infant interactions: reciprocity and interactional synchronySchaffer's stages of attachmentMultiple attachments and the role of the fatherAnimal studies of attachmentExplanations of attachmentAinsworth's Strange Situation and types of attachmentBowlby's theory of maternal deprivation and effects of institutionalisationInfluence of early attachment on relationshipsCultural variations in attachment
Approaches in Psychology
Biopsychology
Clinical Psychology and Mental Health
Research Methods
Scientific Processes
Quantitative and Qualitative Data
Topic overviewQuantitative and qualitative data; the distinction between qualitative and quantitative data collection techniquesPrimary and secondary data, including meta-analysisDescriptive statistics: measures of central tendency and measures of dispersionPresentation and display of quantitative data: graphs, tables, scattergrams, bar chartsDistributions: normal and skewed distributionsIntroduction to statistical testing; the sign test
Clinical Psychology and Mental Health
- 5 subtopics
- 23 things to know
- Paper 2
What Clinical Psychology and Mental Health covers
Clinical Psychology and Mental Health is the specification's Psychopathology, the fourth topic of Paper 1. It covers the ways abnormality is defined, the characteristics of phobias, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and one explanation and treatment for each: behavioural for phobias, cognitive for depression and biological for OCD.
The 5 subtopics
Each one has its own page. AQA AS Psychology students sit this topic in the first year.
- Definitions in the field of mental healthHow abnormality gets defined — straying from social norms, failing to cope day to day, falling short of ideal mental health against Jahoda's six criteria — and what is wrong with each approach.Open →
- Characteristics of phobias, depression and OCDHow phobias, depression and OCD show themselves in behaviour, feeling and thought, and what separates an obsession from a compulsion.Open →
- Behavioural approach to explaining and treating phobiasThe two-process model of how phobias are acquired and maintained, why avoidance keeps them going, and systematic desensitisation and flooding as treatments.Open →
- Cognitive approach to explaining and treating depressionBeck's cognitive theory of depression, Ellis's ABC model and the rigid demands at its centre, and how cognitive behaviour therapy challenges depressive thinking.Open →
- Biological approach to explaining and treating OCDGenetic and neural explanations for obsessive-compulsive disorder, how drug therapy reduces symptoms, and the evaluation of that treatment.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
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Evaluation
Give two problems with defining abnormality as deviation from ideal mental health.
Key term
How does deviation from social norms define abnormality?
Key term
How is abnormality defined by failure to function adequately?
Numbers
Where does the statistical infrequency definition place its cut-off for abnormality?
Evaluation
Evaluate the statistical infrequency definition of abnormality.
Key term
State the behavioural, emotional and cognitive characteristics of phobias.
Key term
State the behavioural, emotional and cognitive characteristics of depression.
Key term
Define obsessions and describe the emotions produced.
Key term
What are compulsions in obsessive-compulsive disorder?
Process
How does the two-process model explain phobias?
Process
Why does avoidance keep a phobia going?
Process
Describe how systematic desensitisation treats a phobia.
Process
Describe how flooding treats a phobia.
Who and when
How does Beck's cognitive theory explain depression?
Who and when
What do A, B and C stand for in Ellis's model of depression?
Key term
What did Ellis call rigid demands built on 'must', 'should' and 'ought'?
Process
Describe how cognitive behaviour therapy challenges depressive thinking.
Key term
How does the genetic explanation account for OCD?
Process
How do neural explanations account for OCD?
Process
How does drug therapy reduce the symptoms of OCD?
Evaluation
Evaluate drug therapy as a treatment for OCD.
Evaluation
What weakens the biological explanations of OCD?
Take Clinical Psychology and Mental Health further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Systematic desensitisation vs Flooding
Systematic desensitisation: gradual exposure up an anxiety hierarchy while relaxed. Flooding: immediate prolonged exposure at maximum intensity without relaxation.
Deviation from social norms vs Deviation from ideal mental health
Deviation from social norms: behaviour breaking a society's unwritten rules. Deviation from ideal mental health: absence of qualities marking optimal psychological wellbeing.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What does the definition of 'deviation from ideal mental health' mean when classifying abnormality?
Model answer
Abnormality is defined as the absence of criteria associated with optimal psychological wellbeing, such as self-actualisation, autonomy, accurate perception of reality, and resistance to stress.
- 2
In the context of ideal mental health, what is meant by self-actualisation?
Model answer
Self-actualisation refers to realising one's full potential and achieving personal growth as a criterion for optimal psychological wellbeing.
- 3
How is autonomy defined as a criterion for ideal mental health?
Model answer
Autonomy refers to being independent and self-regulating, able to make decisions without excessive reliance on others.
- 4
What does 'accurate perception of reality' mean as a criterion for ideal mental health?
Model answer
It means having a realistic view of the world and oneself, without significant distortion of perception.
- 5
How is resistance to stress defined within the ideal mental health framework?
Model answer
Resistance to stress refers to having effective coping mechanisms and the ability to manage anxiety and stressful situations.
- 6
What are positive self-attitudes in the context of ideal mental health?
Model answer
Positive self-attitudes involve having high self-esteem and a positive sense of identity.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Clinical Psychology and Mental Health revision questions
- Is Clinical Psychology and Mental Health examined at AS in AQA Psychology?
- Yes. It sits in Paper 2, which you take in the first year, so it is on the AS paper as well as counting towards the full A level.
- What does Clinical Psychology and Mental Health cover in AQA AS-Level Psychology?
- 5 subtopics: definitions in the field of mental health, characteristics of phobias, depression and ocd, behavioural approach to explaining and treating phobias, cognitive approach to explaining and treating depression and biological approach to explaining and treating ocd. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Clinical Psychology and Mental Health organised?
- By the AQA 7182 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Clinical Psychology and Mental Health, on a schedule.
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