A level-readyAll subjects · Psychology · Unit 4
WPS04 Clinical Psychology and Psychological Skills
Edexcel IAL Psychology, Unit 4 (A2 unit, usually Year 13). 47 lessons so far, in the suggested order.
Lessons in WPS04
- Definitions of abnormality
Abnormality is defined in different ways: statistical infrequency (more than 2 SD from the mean) and failure to function adequately (Rosenhan and Seligman's fea - Classification systems: DSM and ICD
DSM (American Psychiatric Association; DSM-IV-TR 2000, DSM-5 2013) and ICD (WHO; ICD-10, ICD-11 in effect 2022) list disorders with criteria. Compare publisher, - Debates in diagnosis: reliability, validity and culture
Reliability = clinicians agree (kappa). Validity = the diagnosis reflects a real disorder (aetiological, predictive, descriptive). Culture affects expression an - HCPC guidelines for clinical practitioners
The HCPC regulates and registers practitioner psychologists. Know its standards of conduct, performance and ethics (10, in effect 2024), the standards of profic - Schizophrenia: symptoms and features
Positive symptoms (hallucinations, delusions, disordered thinking, thought insertion) and negative symptoms (avolition, flat affect). Schneider's first-rank sym - Schizophrenia: the dopamine hypothesis
Dopamine hypothesis: excess D2 activity (mesolimbic) causes positive symptoms; low mesocortical activity may cause negative symptoms. Evidence: amphetamine, D2- - Schizophrenia: genetic explanation
Schizophrenia is polygenic: risk rises with genetic relatedness (MZ twin 46 to 53%, sibling 9%). Gottesman and Shields (1966): 42% MZ vs 9% DZ concordance. Not - Schizophrenia: glutamate and brain structure
Glutamate hypothesis: NMDA receptor hypofunction (PCP and ketamine produce positive, negative and cognitive symptoms). Brain structure: enlarged ventricles (Joh - Unipolar depression: symptoms and features
DSM-5: 5 of 9 symptoms for 2 weeks, including depressed mood or loss of interest; never manic. ICD-11: 2-week depressive episode with similar symptoms. 322 mill - Unipolar depression: the monoamine hypothesis (biological)
Monoamine hypothesis: depression is caused by low serotonin and/or noradrenaline. For: antidepressants act on monoamines. Against: delayed onset, tryptophan dep - Unipolar depression: Beck's cognitive triad (non-biological)
Beck (1967): negative thoughts about self, world and future, driven by negative schemas and cognitive errors (overgeneralisation, selective abstraction, magnifi - Anorexia nervosa: symptoms and features
DSM-5: restriction causing significantly low weight, intense fear of weight gain, disturbed body image; restricting or binge-eating/purging type; severity by BM - Anorexia nervosa: biological explanations
Genetics: Holland et al. (1984), 9/16 MZ (56.25%) vs 1/14 DZ (7.1%) concordance. Serotonin: low 5-HIAA when ill, raised after recovery; restriction may lower se - Anorexia nervosa: social learning theory (non-biological)
SLT: anorexia learned by observing and imitating thin models, especially those identified with, through vicarious and direct reinforcement. Becker et al. (2002) - Drug therapy for schizophrenia
Typical antipsychotics (1950s; chlorpromazine, haloperidol) block D2; atypicals (clozapine, olanzapine) act on dopamine and serotonin. Effective for positive sy - Family therapy for schizophrenia
Family therapy targets expressed emotion (critical comments, emotional over-involvement), which predicts relapse. It uses psychoeducation, communication and pro - Drug therapy for unipolar depression
SSRIs (sertraline, fluoxetine) block serotonin reuptake; usual first choice. Take 1 to 2 weeks to start and up to 8 weeks to work fully; continue 4 to 6 months - Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for depression
CBT identifies and challenges negative automatic thoughts and uses behavioural activation and homework; usually 8 to 16 sessions. As effective as medication for - Drug therapy for anorexia nervosa
Drugs for anorexia (fluoxetine, olanzapine) are adjuncts, not sole treatments (NICE). Walsh et al. (2006): fluoxetine did not prevent relapse. Attia et al. (201 - CBT for anorexia nervosa
CBT for anorexia (NICE): weekly for up to 40 weeks, twice weekly at first; nutrition, healthy food choices, homework, monitoring, relapse prevention; challenges - Classic study: Rosenhan (1973) On being sane in insane places
Rosenhan (1973): 8 pseudo-patients at 12 US hospitals said they heard 'empty, hollow, thud'; none detected; average stay 19 days; discharged 'schizophrenia in r - Contemporary study: Suzuki et al. (2014) underweight in Japanese inpatients with schizophrenia
Suzuki et al. (2014): 333 Japanese inpatients with schizophrenia vs 191 matched controls; BMI and fasting blood tests. Underweight 14.1% vs 4.2%; hypoproteinaem - Contemporary study (depression option): Hans and Hiller (2013)
Hans and Hiller (2013): meta-analysis of 34 non-randomised effectiveness studies of outpatient CBT for adult unipolar depression (RCTs excluded). CBT was effect - Contemporary study (depression option): Ma, Quan and Liu (2014)
Ma, Quan and Liu (2014): 538 Chinese university students, online survey (CSES, MSPSS, Zung SDS). Self-evaluation correlated -.636 with depression; social suppor - Contemporary study (anorexia option): Becker et al. (2002)
Becker et al. (2002): Fijian girls before (1995, n = 63) and after (1998, n = 65) TV. EAT-26 above 20 rose from 12.7% to 29.2%; vomiting 0% to 11.3%; 83% said T - Contemporary study (anorexia option): Reichel et al. (2014)
Reichel et al. (2014): 36 females with anorexia and 36 controls (14 to 21) viewed 52 pictures incl. 16 emaciated bodies; startle noise 95 dB; EMG eye-blink. Pat - Clinical research methods: RCTs and neuroimaging
RCT: random allocation to treatment or control, often double-blind; strong internal validity but ethical and generalisability issues. Neuroimaging: CAT and MRI - Conventions of published research and peer review
Reports: abstract, introduction, aims and hypotheses, method, results, discussion, each with a purpose. Peer review: anonymous expert checking before publicatio - Decision making and interpreting clinical data
Difference + related + ordinal = Wilcoxon (T ≤ critical). Relationship = Spearman (rs ≥ critical). Independent nominal frequencies = chi-squared (χ² ≥ critical, - Clinical practical: a content analysis of attitudes to mental health
Content analysis of attitudes to mental health: secondary data from 2+ sources; operationalised coding categories (stigmatising, neutral, supportive); pilot; in - Research methods review: data, sampling, designs and methods
Know qualitative/quantitative and primary/secondary data; random, stratified, volunteer and opportunity sampling; three designs; null, alternate, directional an - Additional methods: twins, animals, case studies, scanning, RCTs and more
Additional methods: twin, animal, case study, scanning, RCT, content analysis, clinical interviewing, ethnography (Punch, 2002), longitudinal vs cross-sectional - Control issues in research
Extraneous and confounding variables (participant, situational); operationalisation; order effects controlled by counterbalancing and randomisation; demand char - Descriptive and inferential statistics review (Lists A and B)
List A: mean, median, mode, range, SD, tables, bar charts, histograms, scatter diagrams, normal and skewed distributions, percentages. List B: levels of measure - Methodological issues, thematic analysis and published research
Validity: internal, ecological, predictive. Reliability: test-retest, inter-rater. Also generalisability, objectivity/subjectivity, credibility. Thematic analys - Ethics with humans and animals
BPS (2009): respect, competence, responsibility, integrity, plus risk assessment. UNCRC (1989): children's protection and participation rights. HCPC standards f - Key questions in society
Key questions: current, important social issues explained with theory and research from Topics A to H (not F and G). 8-mark answers need accurate AO1 and AO2 ap - Issues and debates: ethical and practical issues in research
Ethical issues: deception, harm, consent, withdrawal, vulnerable groups, animals (Milgram, Burger, Watson and Rayner, Rosenhan, Reichel, Skinner). Practical iss - Issues and debates: reductionism, holism and different explanations
Reductionism breaks behaviour into parts (genes, neurotransmitters): testable and useful but oversimplified. Holism considers interacting factors: realistic but - Issues and debates: psychology as a science
Science: empirical, objective, falsifiable, controlled, replicable, peer reviewed. For: experiments, scans, RCTs, statistics, replication (Burger). Against: unf - Issues and debates: cultural and gender issues
Culture: ethnocentrism, Western samples, culture-bound tools (Strange Situation), culture in diagnosis (Suzuki) and behaviour (Becker, Bartlett). Gender: androc - Issues and debates: nature and nurture
Nature (genes, brain, neurotransmitters) vs nurture (learning, family, culture). Evidence: twin studies (Gottesman and Shields; Holland; Brendgen) vs learning a - Issues and debates: how psychology has developed over time
Psychology moved from introspection to behaviourism (around 1930s), cognitive models and neuroscience. Ethics developed (BPS 2009, UNCRC 1989, ASPA 1986; Burger - Issues and debates: social control and psychology in society
Social control: using psychology to manage behaviour (labelling, drugs, conditioning, obedience research). Positive uses: therapies, crowd safety, age ratings, - Issues and debates: socially sensitive research
Socially sensitive research has consequences for groups in society: stigma, discrimination, misuse, privacy. Examples: Milgram's question about Germans, Raine e - Synoptic review: studies across the course
Know a method and at least two issues and debates for every classic and contemporary study. Use specific findings, link them to the debate and judge. Keep evide - WPS04 exam technique
96 marks in 2 hours: A 32, B 16, C 20, D 8, E 20. Describe, explain, analyse, discuss (no judgement), evaluate (judgement). Link every point; balance AO3; show
Next exams for WPS04
- January 2027: Mon 25 Jan 2027, afternoon, 2h 00m
- Summer 2027: Thu 10 Jun 2027, morning, 2h 00m
From Pearson's final timetables. All exam dates. Always confirm your entries with your exams officer.