SCHIZOPHRENIA SPECIFICATION

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  Classification of schizophrenia. Positive symptoms of schizophrenia include hallucinations and delusions. Negative symptoms of schizophrenia include speech poverty and avolition.

• Reliability and validity in diagnosis and classification of schizophrenia, including reference to co-morbidity, culture and gender bias and symptom overlap.

• Biological explanations for schizophrenia: genetics and neural correlates, including the dopamine hypothesis.

• Psychological explanations for schizophrenia: family dysfunction and cognitive explanations, including dysfunctional thought processing.

• Drug therapy: typical and atypical antipsychotics.

• Cognitive behaviour therapy and family therapy as used in the treatment of schizophrenia. Token economies as used in the management of schizophrenia.

• The importance of an interactionist approach in explaining and treating schizophrenia; the diathesis-stress model.

• Assessment and examination questions

Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder explored in the AQA A-level Psychology syllabus. The specification covers its classification, including positive symptoms like hallucinations and delusions, and negative symptoms such as avolition and speech poverty. It examines biological explanations, including genetic and neural factors, psychological explanations like family dysfunction and cognitive deficits, and therapeutic approaches, such as drug therapy, CBT, and family therapy. The interactionist approach, including the diathesis-stress model, integrates genetic and environmental factors, providing a comprehensive framework for understanding schizophrenia.