Media influences on social behaviour

Explanations for media influences on pro-social and antisocial

behaviour:

Cognitive priming:
Watching pro-social acts may make the PPs more helpful e.g. Holloway et als
lab experiment Good News Studies = PPs from two conditions in two waiting
rooms = listened to radio.
Those in condition where good news were heard = more likely to be
cooperative when asked to participate in study involving bargaining with a
confederate.
Blackman and Hornstein carried out follow-up = additionally asked PPs to
rate their beliefs about human nature those who heard good news were
more likely to report that humans are good.
Evaluation: correlations =/= causation e.g. factors like temperament but
Holloways was reliable b/c it was replicated by Bla + Horn and thus supports
Hol.
Existent aggressive thoughts become activated when a viewer is primed to
respond aggressively due to network of memories involving aggression is
retrieved.
Josephson: hockey players were asked to play violent video games and
shown violent/nonviolent film of actor using walkie-talkies subsequent
hockey game, those who behaved aggressively were those who had seen
violent firm and referee was holding walkie-talkie so walkie-talkie was cue for
aggression. =

Social Learning Theory:

Both pro/antisocial behaviour can be learnt through same mechanisms of
watching and imitating the actions of role models on TV.
The two mechanisms are learning via direct experience (operant conditioning)
and via vicarious reinforcement (observation + imitation of role-models).
Four stages of SLT: attention retention reproducing motivation.
Sprafkin et al: asked PPs to press button to save puppy or gain prize after 3
groups watched TV programme (condition 1: boy saves puppy, condition 2:
same but no help, condition 3: something else) = found that those in condition
1 were more likely to save puppy
Bobo Doll Experiment: three groups of children aged three to six years old
had been assessed for aggressiveness and spread out between the groups.
Two groups saw adult models that were either aggressive or non-aggressive
towards a Bobo doll; those who were aggressive towards it sat on it, punched
it, hit it on the head with a mallet and threw it in addition to verbally abusing
it.
The third group acted as a control group.
After being frustrated to increase the chance of aggressive behaviour being
exhibited, all children were observed through a one-way mirror for twenty
minutes.
Children who were exposed to the aggressive model imitated their exact
behaviour and were significantly more aggressive- both physically and
verbally- than the control group. This effect was greater for boys than girls,
although girls showed more verbal aggression.
Easily replicated b/c its a lab experiment so has high levels of control but
Bobo doll is artificial stimuli so is contrived as adult would not abuse a Bobo

doll, which is undoubtedly different to abusing a human also experiment is

unethical as it put kids under distress.

Explanations for media influences on pro-social behaviour only:

Parental mediation Austin: effective mediation is parent discussing programme

with child and explaining ambiguous/disturbing material + following up concepts
presented on TV Rice et al: parental mediation enhances learning effect of
Sesame Street Rosenkoetter: kids able to understand complex messages in
adult sitcoms thanks to parental mediation.
Valkenburg et al: only some forms of PM is effective e.g. co-viewing w/o
discussion is ineffective and only instructive mediation is an effective mediator
between kid and TV.

Developmental factors pro-social skills develop throughout childhood according

to Eisenberg so strong developmental in which child of different age are
influenced by pro-social content so younger children may be less affected than
older kids.
Mares meta-analysis: weakest effect was on adolescents and strongest effect
was on primary school kids idea that media has effect on development of prosocial reasoning is stupid b/c theyre more likely to be affected by home
experiences.

Explanations for media influences on antisocial behaviour only:

Desensitisation violent media stimulates violent behaviour through

desensitisation and the more violent TV is watched, the more acceptable the
behaviour becomes so makes them less anxious about violence. Cumberbatch:
argues that it does the opposite = frightens child not make them more frightening.
Lowered physiological arousal Huessmann + Moise: boys who watch loads of
TV show slower than average physiological arousal in response to new scenes of
violence as they become used to it and their emotional and physiological
responses decline. Zillmann: excitation-transfer model suggests that arousal
creates readiness to aggress if there are appropriate circumstances as watching TV
enhances arousal and thus more aggression.

Effects of computers and video games:

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF VIDEO GAMES:

Gentile + Stone: lab experiment; found short-term increases in physiological
arousal + hostility + aggression after violent gameplay compared to nonviolent
gameplay.
Major weakness of lab experiment is that researchers are unable to measure
real-life aggression so use measures of aggression that have no relationship to
real-life aggression and only measures short-term effect.
Anderson et al: 430 7-9 year olds surveyed at two points during school year
those with high exposure to violent video games became more verbally +
physically aggressive and less pro-social.
PPs may have been exposed to other forms of media violence during course of
study.
Gentile + Anderson: meta-analysis found consistent link between violent
games and aggressive behaviour.
Correlation doesnt mean causation even Gentile et al. proposed bidirectional model wherein despite the negative effects of video games, those

who have aggressive temperament are more likely to play violent video games
for recreational purposes.
NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF COMPUTER-USE (FACEBOOK):
Charles: focus group + interview techniques to investigate FB habits of 200
Scottish undergrads 12% experienced anxiety linked to FB and had more
friends on FB than others; reported stress from deleting unwanted contacts +
constant pressure to be entertaining + worrying about etiquette 32% felt
guilty when rejecting FB friends + 10% reported they dislike FB friend requests.
Greenfield: FB infantilises the brain by shortening attention span and providing
constant instant gratification.
DAmato: case study of asthmatic 18 year old who broke up with girlfriend
she un-friended him he changed FB name to befriend her again but his
asthma worsened after seeing her pics =FB could be significant source of
psychological stress and triggering factor.

POSITIVE EFFECTS OF VIDEO GAMES:

Greitemeyer + Osswald: those who played Lemmings were showed more
pro-social behaviour than those who played aggressive game Lamers or neutral
game Tetris after 8 minutes, PPs saw researcher drop pencils and 67% of
those playing Lemmings helped, whilst only 33% of those playing Tetris helped
and 28% of those playing Lamers.
Kahne et al: found majority of those playing Sims said they learned about
issues in society and explored social issues.
Lenhart et al: large-scale US survey to investigate influence of multiplayer
games on social commitment and found 64% of those who played multiplayer
games like Halo/The Sims were committed to civic participation and 26% had
tried to persuade others how to vote in an election.
But issue of survey is that it lacks control for young peoples prior civic
commitments and pro-social activities and also unable to make causal claims
due to lack of random exposure to civic game opportunities (basically young ppl
choose these games rather than being randomly allocated).
Real-world application of Tetris on traumatic patients has reduced their memory
flashbacks (Holmes et al).
POSITIVE EFFECTS OF COMPUTERS (FACEBOOK):
Gonzales + Hancock: FB walls have +e impact on our self-esteem, as
feedback on them tends to be +e.
Cornell Uni: students were asked to either use their FB page, look at
themselves or do nothing; found that those who used FB page gave much more
+e feedback about themselves.
Supported by Walthers Hyper-personal Model which claims that self-selection
of info we choose to present ourselves has +e impact on self-esteem.

Explaining the persuasive effects of media:

Hovland-Yale Model:

Cognitive model
Attitudes change by looking at is as a sequence: attention comprehension
reactance = attitude change.

Persuasion is dependent on the source (trustworthiness + attractiveness),

message (e.g. emotional appeal), medium (written vs. audio-visual) and target
audience.
Petty + Cacioppo suggest that the more attractive the communicator is, the
more likely the audience will be persuaded Baron + Byrne suggest thats why
ads have experts in white coats = emphasises scientific status of message
Kiesler2 argue that physical attractive sources = more persuasive but
OMahoney + Meenaghan found that celeb endorsements arent always
successful and Hume suggest it doesnt increase persuasive communication as
they can overshadow product.
Walster + Festinger suggest messages which arent deliberately targeted at us
are more persuasive Meyerowitz + Chaiken gave female uni students
pamphlets about breast cancer: 3 different ones (loss pamphlet talking about
dangers of lack of check ups, gain pamphlet about +e results of self-exam and
control pamphlet just stating facts = found that after 4 months, loss condition selfexamined more and changed attitude but methodological issues include use of
interviews so social desirability but it is lab so highly controlled; ethical issues =
exposed to fearful messages so making them stressful.
Loftus found that younger people are more susceptible to persuasive messages
than adults Martin found that whereas older children have a good
understanding of persuasive intent of ads, kids dont McGuire suggest that
those with high IQ wont agree with message as opposed to low IQ ppl Eagly +
Carli suggest that women are socialised to conform and are therefore more open
to social influence.
But in general, H-Y model doesnt detail the relative importance of each factor;
major weakness is it concentrates on steps not how persuasion occurs (based on
assumption that attitude change derives from comprehension of message which
doesnt guarantee that people are persuaded); most research into persuasion
assumes they can measure attitude by measuring ppls beliefs through self-report
and standardised measurement scales; model assumes we are all equally rational
but we are cognitive misers.
Elaboration-Likelihood Model:
Suggests that we dont think systematically about arguments when exposed to
persuasive material.
Petty + Cacioppo agreed that even though we consider arguments, were
cognitive misers who dont think deeply about all info.
Two routes that lead to persuasion and attitude change.
Peripheral route taken by those with low need for cognition audience have low
motivation and ability to think about message superficial processing focusing on
secondary factors e.g. attractiveness of communicator = temporary change,
susceptible to fading and counterattacks.
Central route taken by those with high need for cognition audience has high
motivation deeply process info, focusing on quality of arguments = lasting
change that resists to fading and counterattacks.
Vidrine + Simmons + Brandon used 227 smokers who were measured to asses
their need for cognition when exposed to 1/3 conditions (fact-based leaflet warning
of risks, emotion-based leaflet and control condition) found that those with high
need for cognition responded better to fact-based pamphlet whereas those with
low need responded better to emotion-based highly controlled but awareness of
study so risk of social desirability; not longitudinal so cannot know whether attitude
is long-lasting; lacks ecological validity; ethical issues (stressful).
Lin et al supports ELM 63 Taiwanese students took part in online shopping
study in virtual shopping mall each PP had to select phone based on consumer

reviews; each consumer review differed in quality and quantity also asked to
complete need for cognition measurement found that those with high need for
cognition were more likely to look at quality of reviews when buying.
ELM takes into consideration gender differences + interest in topic + individual
choices so ppl therefore have some degree of control and freewill in being
persuaded.
Fiske + Taylor: take peripheral route for trivial matters (because were cognitive
misers) but will take central route when content is more important

Explanations for persuasiveness of TV advertising:

Hard-sell vs. soft-sell advertising: HS is when advertisers present factual info

about product and SS is when more creative persuasive techniques are used;
Snyder + DeBono: have different effects on different people those scoring high
on self-monitoring test (changing their behaviour to be liked) were drawn to softsell ads whereas those scoring low (less image conscious) preferred hard-sell ads.
Okazaki et als meta analysis found that HS techniques focused on factual
information but have greater capacity to irritate viewers because theyre more
direct and provocative so decreases persuasiveness.
Product endorsement: Giles suggest that celebs provide a familiar face because
people have para-social relationships with them.
Martin et al found that young people were more interested in whether the
product was fashionable rather than if it was approved by a celeb; Fowels et al
agrees, people remember celeb more than product.
Children and ads: Martins meta-analysis found strong positive correlation
between age and understanding of persuasive intent (i.e. older kids were better at
scrutinizing ads).
Importance of congruence: Bushman suggests ads are better remembered if
theres relatedness between content of ad and content of programme e.g. if theyre
embedded in programme; this can be explained depending on type of TV
programme watched = ads and TV programme must have similar content.

The attraction of celebrity

Attraction is measured using celebrity attitude scale devised by McCutcheon

people more likely to lie and be influenced by social desirability; CAS scale is
subjective due to interpretations of questions.
Social-psychological explanations:
Para-social relationships: when a person is attracted to another individual who
is unaware of the person; common amongst celebs and fans; no risk of
rejection/criticism.
Schiappa et al: meta-analysis concluded that P-S relationships form because the
celebs are similar or attractive to the fan.
People with poorer mental health and lower self-esteem are more prone to have a
P-S relationship.
Maltby et al examined link and used sample of 300 UK students to complete CAS
scale and a loneliness + depression questionnaire; those attracted to celebs had
anxiety and depression.
McCutcheon et als 3 levels of para-social relationship: level 1 = social level, level 2
= intense personal level, level 3 = obsessional level.

Jenkins + Jason suggests that para-social relationships serve as an important

function and positive effect on individuals; enable fans to enhance lives by taking
positive/active role; help create social networks with other fans and allows them to
develop sense of appreciation of other peoples talents.
Schiappa et als meta-analysis found that loneliness wasnt a predictor of the
formation of para-social relationships.
Para-social relationships are models of social behaviour and an opportunity to learn
cultural values e.g. soap opera characters are seen repeatedly and may lead to
uncertainty about social relationships.
The Absorption-Addiction Model: based on research related to CAS scale.
Fans with weaker sense of identity or power psychological adjustment may go
beyond and absorb themselves with celebs life to gain stronger sense of identity.
Motivational forces driving this absorption can become addictive and may lead fan
to more extreme behaviours to sustain satisfaction with para-social relationship.
Giles and Maltby identified three levels in the process:
Entertainment-social: fans are attached to celeb due to their perceived ability
to entertain.
Intense-personal: worships celeb compulsive feeling; akin to obsession.
Borderline-pathological: relationship goes beyond para-social; believe it is real.
G&M suggest intense-personal can lead to development of passive para-social
relationship but with borderline-pathological may go beyond the para-social;
believe that it is real.
Model linked to individuals mental health; Maltby et al used Eysenck Personality
Questionnaire to assess relationship between level of celeb worship and
personality; found that entertainment-social level linked to extraversion and that
intense-personal level is linked to neuroticism.
Attachment theory: tendency to form P-S relationship begins in early childhood
relationships; those with insecure attachment types as adults are more likely to
become strongly attached to celebs because they make no demands and fan runs
little of criticism/disappointment/rejection.
Anxious-ambivalent are very likely to form P-S relationships because they have
unrealistic and unmet rational needs due to their belief that others will not
reciprocate ones desire for intimacy.
Anxious-avoidant least likely to form P-S relationships because they find it difficult
to develop intimate relationships and are thus less likely to seek them with
real/fictional people.
But this theory is deterministic and ignores freewill we do not have much control
over our actions but are controlled by factors such as our biology or genes, or by
the way we are brought up.
Evolutionary explanations:
Attraction to creative individuals: humans are neophilic (love novelty); our
ancestors would had to amuse each other; neophilia would lead to more creative
displays from potential mates.
Mate choice in environment of evolutionary adaptation could have favoured
creative displays, which would explain many of characteristics that are universally
and uniquely developed e.g. music.
Miller argued that the mating mind claims that despite natural selections
favouring development of skills that enhance survival, sexual selection favours
those prone to creativity which celebs have.
Duck argues that boredom with partner is common reason for termination so those
offering creativity have longer and better relationships.

Neophilia in animals is an important factor in bird songs as novel/complex songs

make a bird more attractive.
Shiraishi found that those with a gene that makes more MAOA enzyme (linked to
novelty seeking); suggests genetic origin for some peoples preference for creative
people (lab experiment so high control).
But doesnt explain why traits like singing attract members of opposite sex.
Ignores individual differences.
Is reductionist because it focuses on past as important factor in behaviour but
ignores current issues within an individual lifes that plays important role, thus is
difficult to falsify.
Doesnt take sufficient account of variables across cultures e.g. Anderson et als
meta-analysis of 52 cultures and found that slender women were desirable in rich
countries and vice versa.
Research lends itself to qualitative analysis and fails to seek scientific credibility.
Celebrity gossip: exchange of info may be adaptive for ancestors De Backer
suggests that gossip creates bonds within social groups; serves similar adaptive
function to social grooming by initiating and maintaining alliances.
Also functions to construct + manipulate reputations of rivals.
Barkow suggests that our minds are fooled into regarding celebs as being
members of our social network so they trigger same gossip mechanisms that have
evolved.
De Backer surveyed 800 PPs; they reported that gossip was seen as useful means
of getting info about social group members.

Research into intense fandom (celeb worship and celeb stalking)

Research into celebrity worship:
Gabriel 348 students given questionnaire measuring self-esteem then asked to
write essay about celebrity then asked again to fill out questionnaire found that
those initially showing low confidence scored higher after writing essay they
associated celebs characteristics to themselves. Use of questionnaire can be
affected by social desirability and they may write idealised answers so lacks
validity + use of student PPs not representative; correlational (doesnt show causal
relationship).
Fuji et al looked at those with erotomania (type of delusion in which the affected
person believes that another person, usually a stranger, high-status or famous
person, is in love with him or her) and found they suffered from cognitive deficits
and lacked flexibility in their thinking. But mild forms may be beneficial as
Larsen found it provided youngsters with attitudinal and behavioural examples.
Kennedys characteristics of sufferers include absence of partner, full-time job,
75% are female, often have mental disorders Houran et al showed those who
engage in celeb worship dont perceive clear boundaries between themselves and
others; fail to distinguish between emotions and thoughts.
Cheung and Yue surveyed 833 Chinese teenagers found that idol worship was
associated with lower levels of work or study + lower self-esteem + less successful
identity achievement.
Research into celebrity stalking:
Kamphius + Emmelkamp wanted to review demographic and clinical traits of
victim of stalkers so carried out meta-analysis and found different types of stalkers
(erotomanic/obsessional/resentful/predatory/psychotic) but found no link between
celeb stalking and risk of violence. Research can lead to formation of effective
therapies + instances can be prevented through utilisation of counselling and
promote more satisfactory relationship conclusions.

Mullen looked at 20,000 incidents of stalking British Royal Family and found that
80% were psychotic so celeb stalking is a separate phenomenon.
McCutcheon et al developed Obsessive Relational Intrusion and Celeb Stalking
and factor analysis found two subscales = persistent pursuit and threat found to
be valid and reliable and uses indirect measurements so free from social
desirability bias.

Schizophrenia (profound disruption of cognition

and emotion)
Classification and diagnosis of schizophrenia:
Clinical characteristics:

Positive symptoms (excess/distortion of normal functions) include:

Delusions = bizarre beliefs that seem real but arent; can be paranoid in
nature.
Hallucinations = bizarre, unreal perceptions of environment;
auditory/visual/olfactory/tactile.
Disordered thinking = feeling that thoughts have been added/removed from
mind; tangential, incoherent, loosely associated speech, believe their thoughts
are being broadcast to others.

Negative symptoms (diminution/loss of normal functions) include:

Affective flattening = reduction in range and intensity of emotional
expressions e.g. voice tone.
Alogia = poverty of speech (less speech fluency + productivity).
Avolition = reduction of and inability to persist in goal-directed behaviour.

Sub-types of schizophrenia:
Disorganised (incoherent thoughts + speech, delusions + hallucinations,
inappropriate behaviour).
Catatonic (alternation between catatonic state and negativism, catatonic
excitement).
Paranoid (organised and complex delusions, auditory hallucinations).
Residual (gradual development of minor problems e.g. social withdrawal)>
Undifferentiated (unclassifiable symptoms)
Type 1 (positive symptoms) and type 2 (negative symptoms).

Issues of reliability and validity:

Classification systems are:
DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) produced in US and used as diagnostic
tool in psych institutions in US and Europe
ICD-10 (10th revision of International Statistical Classification of Diseases and
Related Health Problems).
DSM vs. ICD:
DSM: individuals must show 1+ clinical characteristic present for 6 months
before diagnosed; is multi-axial in that it takes a lot of factors into account (e.g.
biological, psychological, social) to assess person than merely using symptoms;
suggests there are five subtypes; culturally biased as made by and for US (a
non-US behaviour may be seen as schizo by US standards so incorrect
diagnosis).

 ICD: requires signs to be evident for 1 month only so are individuals arent at

risk and can receive appropriate treatment sooner; but emphasis on first-rank
symptoms and ignores other factors; seven different subtypes; less culturally
biased as it can be applied worldwide.
Cheniaux et al investigated I-R reliability of both systems and found that
despite both was above +0.50, ICD was able to diagnose more schizophrenics
than DSM according to their criteria.
Mojtabi + Nicholson: b/c only one characteristic is required for diagnosis; 50
senior psychiatrists were asked to differentiate between bizarre/non-bizarre
delusions = produced I-R correlations of +.40 = lacks sufficient reliability for it
to be a reliable method of distinguishing between schiz or non-schiz.
Reliability (consistency of measuring instrument to assess for example the
severity of persons symptoms).
Inter-rater reliability (whether two independent assessors gave similar diagnosis)
issue was fixed by the DSM-III (designed to provide more reliable criteria for
classifying disorders) according to Carson so should therefore increase reliability of
diagnosis.
But little evidence to support this as Whaley found inter-rater reliability
correlations in schiz diagnosis as low as +.11 //Rosenhans PPs presented
themselves to psychiatric hospitals and claimed they were hearing unfamiliar
voice; they were all admitted as having schizophrenia; no-one noticed they were
normal so Rosenhan warned hospitals of pseudo-patients and even though he
hadnt sent any, there was a 21% detection rate = unreliability in diagnosis of
schizophrenia but this study is 30+ years old so things have improved e.g. more
detailed //Beck et al found that agreement on diagnosis for 153 patients (where
each was assessed by two psychiatrists from a group of four) was only 54%, often
due to vague criteria for diagnosis and inconsistencies in techniques to gather
data.
Test-retest reliability (whether tests used to deliver diagnoses are consistent over
time) use cognitive screening tests like RBANS to measure degree of
neuropsychological impairment to help diagnose schizophrenia Wilks et al
found T-R reliability of +.84 after administering two alternate forms of RBAN to
schizos over intervals from 1-134 days.
Prescott et al analysed T-R reliability of several measures of attention +
information processing in 14 chronic schizos = found performance on these
measures over 6 months = stable!
Validity (extent that a diagnosis represents something that is real and distinct
from other disorders and that the extent that a classification system measures
what it claims to measure).
Harrison et al reported that incidence rate for schizo was 8x higher for AfroCaribbean groups than for white groups which can be explained by social factors
e.g. poor housing and social isolation but could also be because of misdiagnosis
due to cultural differences in language + mannerisms
Symptoms of schizo can be found in other diseases too; Ellason and Ross points
out that people with DID had more schiz symptoms than people with schizophrenia.
Comorbidity (extent that 2+ conditions co-occur).
Buckley et al estimates that comorbid depression occurs in 50% of patients and
47% of patients also have a lifetime diagnosis of comorbid substance abuse and
such comorbidity creates difficulties in diagnosis of a disorder and deciding the
treatment to use//Weber et al examined nearly 6 million hospital discharge
records to calculate comorbidity rates and found that 45% of comorbidity was
psychiatric/behaviour related diagnoses but rest were non-psych diagnoses e.g.
asthma, concluding that schizos will receive lower standard of medical care,

adversely affecting their prognosis//Kessler et al found rate for attempted suicide

rose from 1% for those with schiz alone to 40% for those with at least one
comorbid mood disorder.=
Positive vs. negative symptoms: Klosterkotter et al looked at 489 psychiatric
hospital admissions and found that positive symptoms were better at providing a
valid diagnosis than negative symptoms.
Prognosis (the likely course of a medical condition): schizos rarely share the
symptoms or the same outcomes. 20% fully recover, 10% achieve significant and
lasting improvements and 30% show improvement with intermittent relapses. This
means that a schizophrenia diagnosis has low predictive validity.

Explanations of schizophrenia:
Biological explanations:

Genetic factors:
Family studies: Found that schizophrenia is more common among biological
relatives of schizophrenic + closer the degree of genetic relatedness, the
greater the risk Gottesman found that kids with two Sz parents have
concordance rate of 46% whereas those with one Sz parent 13%.
May be due to common rearing patterns/other non-heredity factors.
Twin studies: Joseph found that pooled data for all twin studies carried out
prior to 2001 shows concordance rate of 40.4% for monozygotic twins and 7.4%
for dizygotic twins but recent methodologically sound studies (blind diagnoses
where they dont know if twins are MZ/DZ) found lower conc. rates for MZ twins
but always higher for them so genetic liability is confirmed.
Assumption is that environments of MZ and DZ twins are same but
Joseph suggested that MZ twins encounter things together and are
treated similar and experience more identity confusion so concordance
rates reflect the environmental differences.
Adoption studies: used to disentangle genetic and environmental influences
for people who share genes but not environment Tienari et al in Finland
found that 6.7% of adoptees whose biological mother was SZ also received
diagnosis of SZ compared to 2% born to non-SZ mothers.
Joseph argues that the case of adoptive parents adopting kids with Sz
parents are no different from adoptive parents who adopt kids with nonSz parents is bullshit as countries e.g. Denmark and US are informed of
genetic background of kids.

The dopamine hypothesis: messages from neurones that transmit dopamine fire
too easily/often leading to Sz symptoms; Sz people have high number of D2
receptors on receiving neurons meaning theres more dopamine binding and so
more neurons firing Comer suggests that because dopamine neurons play key
role in guiding attention, disturbances in this process leads to Sz symptoms.
Amphetamine is a dopamine agonist (stimulates nerve cells containing
dopamine, causing synapses to be flooded with dopamine) large doses = Sz
symptoms hallucinations/delusions.
Antipsychotic drugs are dopamine antagonists (block stimulation of dopamine
system) that alleviate Sz symptoms.
Haracz found that post-mortem studies of Sz patients show that those
who had taken antipsych drugs before death had higher levels of
dopamine as opposed to those who didnt receive medication who had
normal levels of dopamine.

 Those with Parkinsons disease have low levels of dopamine and Grilly found
that those who took L-dopa drug to raise dopamine levels developed Sz-like
symptoms.
Wong et al used PET scans and found higher levels of dopamine in Sz
people compared to control group but Copolov and Crook suggest that
neuroimaging studies havent provided convincing evidence of dopamine
activity of Sz people yet.

Psychological explanations:
Psychological theories:
Psychodynamic: Freud believed that Sz was result of regression to a pre-ego
stage + attempts to re-establish ego control Parents being cold/uncaring =
causing child to regress back into infantile state where the ego is not yet properly
formed symptoms include: delusions of grandeur (believing you can fly etc.) +
auditory hallucinations could be seen as an individuals attempt to re-establish ego
control.
Fromm-Reichman described schizophrenogenic mothers/overprotective,
dominant, rejecting families as contributory influences of Sz
But Oltmanns et al found that parents of Sz kids behave differently once
kid is diagnosed, not prior to, so therefore Sz is not due to parental
influence.
Bateson et als double-bind theory supports Freud as children who get
mixed-messages from their parents are more likely to develop
schizophrenia; prolonged exposure disrupts a childs internally coherent
construction of reality (perception of reality).
Cognitive: acknowledges biological factors as causing initial sensory experiences
of Sz but further symptoms stem from people trying to make sense of their
symptoms; reject feedback from others and believe that their beliefs are
manipulated by others.
Meyer-Lindenberg et als study looked at physical bases for cognitive
deficits associated with schizophrenia found link between excess
dopamine in prefrontal cortex and working memory.
Yellowlees et al developed machine that produces virtual hallucinations
e.g. hearing a TV telling you to kill yourself to show Sz people that their
hallucinations arent real but no evidence that this is a successful
treatment.
Bentall found that Sz people have trouble with processing information
shown in Stroop tests; colour words (red and green) are substituted for
emotional words (death and laughter) and Sz ppl take longer than non-Sz
to name the words so automatic subconscious processing may account
for positive symptoms but Stroop tests may be unreliable due to
individual differences
Socio-cultural factors:
Life-events and schizophrenia: factor that has been associated with a higher
risk of Sz episodes is occurrence of stressful life events but not known how
stress triggers schizophrenia, although high levels of physiological arousal
associated with neurotransmitter changes are thought to be involved.
Brown and Birley found that approximately 50% of people experienced
a major life event in the 3 weeks prior to a schizophrenic episode,
whereas only 12% reported one in the 9 weeks prior to that.
Hirsch et al followed 71 Sz patients over a 48-week period; life events
shown to make a significant cumulative contribution in the 12 months

before a relapse rather than having a more concentrated effect in the

period just before an episode.
But van Os et al reported no link between life events and Sz.
Family relationships:
o Double-bind theory: Bateson et al suggest that children who frequently
receive contradictory messages from their parents are more likely to develop Sz
because this prevents them from developing a consistent construction of reality
and manifests itself into Sz symptoms e.g. withdrawal kid unable to respond
b/c contradictions of messages.
Berger found that Sz ppl reported a high recall of double-bind statements
by their mothers than non-Sz (although their recall might have been
influenced by their Sz).
Liem found no difference in patterns of parental communication in
families of Sz and non-Sz
o Expressed emotion: a family communication style involving
criticism/hostility/emotional over-involvement so thought to be that high levels
of EE influence relapse rates.
Linszen et al found that patient returning to family with high levels of
EE are 4x more likely to relapse than patient returning to family with low
EE.
Study in Iran, Kalafi and Torabi found that high relevance of EE in
Iranian culture was one of main causes of Sz relapses negative
emotional climate arouses patient, leading to stress beyond Szs already
impaired coping mechanisms so triggering Sz episode.
But is it cause or effect of Sz???
Labelling theory: Scheff states that social groups construct rules for their
members to follow so Sz symptoms like delusions are deviant from rules we ascribe
to normal experiences so if person displays these symptoms, they are deviant and
Sz label Is applied which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that promotes
development of other Sz symptoms.
Scheff evaluated 18 studies and found that 13 of those were consistent
with self-fulfilling prophecy.

Biological therapies:
Antipsychotic medication:
Conventional antipsychotic drugs: e.g. chlorpromazine are used to combat +e
symptoms (products of overactive dopamine system reduces effects of
dopamine by acting as dopamine antagonists by binding to D2 receptors on postsynaptic cell (not stimulate) to block their action.
Effectiveness: Davis et als review found significant difference in
relapse rates between treatment and placebo group//Vaughn and Leff
found that they did work but only in EE environments (relapse rates
were 53% there but 92% in placebo condition and those living in
supportive homes = no significant diff. between med vs. placebo.
Appropriateness: worrying side effects e.g. tardive dyskeniska//Ross
and Reed argue that being prescribed meds reinforces idea that youre
abnormal, reducing their motivation to look for solutions for their
possible stressors.

Atypical antipsychotic drugs: e.g. clozapine also combat +e symptoms but

claims that it can also combat e too they block serotonin receptors too but
mainly thought to temporarily occupy D2 receptors and then rapidly dissociating =

allows normal dopamine transmission responsible for lower levels of side effects
e.g. tardive dyskinesia (mouth/tongue involuntarily moves).
Effectiveness: Leucht et als meta-analysis found that they were only
slightly more effective than conventional antipsychotics and even not
effective and also found marginal support for claim that AADs are
effective with e symptoms.
Appropriateness: decreased levels of tardive dyskinesia as Jeste et
al found that TD rates were only 5% for those treated with AADs
compared to 30% with CADs//fewer side effects to patient more likely
to continue their medication so more benefits.
Electroconvulsive therapy:
ECT works by using an electrical shock to cause seizure (short period of irregular
brain activity) seizure releases rush of chemical neurotransmitters
temporarily alters function (eg. perception/memory etc.) given up to 3 or 4 times
a week and usually for maximum of 12 treatments before each treatment,
patient given anesthetic (to induce sleep) + muscle relaxant electrical shock
applied to patients head (via electrodes), lasting only 1 or 2 seconds (high
voltage/low amperage) makes brain have seizure.
Effectiveness: American Psychiatric Association review listed 19
studies that compared ECT with simulated ECT (i.e. given anaesthesia
but no ECT) found ECT didnt produce results worse/different from
antipsychotic medication//Sarita et al found no difference in symptom
reduction between ECT/simulated ECT.
Appropriateness: Read found decline in its usage in UK due to
significant risks e.g. memory dysfunction.

Psychological therapies:

Cognitive-behavioural therapy:
Assumes that people have distorted beliefs that influence their behaviour in
maladaptive ways.
Patients are encouraged to: trace back origins of their symptoms so they have an
idea of how the symptoms developed AND to evaluate content of their delusions
AND to consider validity of their faulty beliefs.
May also be set behavioural assignments to improve their general level of
functioning.
Distorted thinking leads to maladaptive responses to lifes issues so therapist lets
patient develop own alternatives to their previous maladaptive beliefs.
Outcome studies look at how well patient has performed after particular treatment
compared to accepted form of treatment for Sz they suggest that Sz people
have fewer hallucinations and delusions and recover their functioning to a greater
extent than just using antipsych drugs alone.
Drury et al: reduction of +e symptoms and 25-50% reduction in recovery time for
Sz patient using both CBT + antipsych drugs.
Kuipers et al: confirmed these advantages and found lower dropout rate and
greater patient satisfaction when CBT + antipsych = combined!
Effectiveness: Gould et als found that seven studies meta-analysis
all reported decrease in +e symptoms after treatment//but difficult to
assess CBTs effectiveness alone without antipsych drugs because
patients are treatment with both.
Appropriateness: -e symptoms are seen as useful because they can
alleviate maladaptive thought processes e.g. withdrawal can help
patient avoid making +e symptoms worse//study in Hampshire,

Kingdon and Kirschen found that many patients werent suitable for
CBT because psychiatrists believed they wouldnt engage with therapy
esp. older people.
Psychodynamic therapy Psychoanalysis:
Assumes that people are not aware of the influence of unconscious conflicts on
their current psychological state AND that all symptoms are meaningful (products
of life history)
Aims to help bring out those conflicts into conscious so they can be dealt with.
Therapist aims to create alliance with patient offer real help with patients
problem (the more severe the case, the more support needs to be provided).
Freud stated that Sz ppl couldnt be analysed due to inability to form transference
(process by which emotions originally associated with one person are
unconsciously shifted onto analyst) with analyst.
Psychoanalysis refers to treatment including: free association, TAT tests, hypnotic
regression and dream analysis.
From these the analyst uncovers the unconscious conflicts causing the patient's
symptoms and interprets them for the patient to create a subjective resolution of
the problem
Effectiveness: Malmberg + Fenton: difficult to draw definite
conclusions for/against effectiveness but Gottdieners meta-analysis of
37 studies of 2642 patients found that 66% of them improved with
psychotherapy compared to 35% who didnt receive psychotherapy yet
contradictory findings e.g. May found that psychotherapy alone isnt
effective and that antipsych drugs alone are best whereas Karon +
VandenBos found that those treated with therapy improved more than
those treated with drugs alone.
Appropriateness: American Psychiatric Association recommend that
therapy is appropriate when combined with drugs//but therapy is
expensive and long-term preventing it being adopted on a large scale
and its not worth the expense because it doesnt outweigh drugs.