Psychology and abnormality Answer all questions.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Feb/Mar 2018). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. Award 1 mark for a basic explanation of the term/concept.
2. Award 2 marks for a detailed explanation of the term/concept.
3. For example: Learned helplessness is where an individual feels they do not have control over a situation because they have had negative experiences of that situation in the past. This gives the individual a sense of helplessness and can then lead to depression.
4. Please note – To be considered detailed the response must include something about how the negative experiences cause the sense of helplessness to develop.
5. Other appropriate responses should also be credited.
6. Award 1-2 marks for a basic answer with some understanding of the topic area.
7. Award 3-4 marks for a detailed answer with clear understanding of the topic area.
8. For example: 21-item multiple choice questionnaire. It is a psychometric self report that measures the severity of depression. There are three versions of the questionnaire with the most recent from 1996. The patient reads various statements and answers with how much the statement applies to them on a 0-3 scale over the past two weeks. The statements cover issues such as self-dislike, tiredness, etc. The higher the score, the more depressed the person is deemed to be.
9. e.g. (0) I do not feel sad.
10. (1) I feel sad.
11. (2) I am sad all the time and I can't snap out of it.
12. (3) I am so sad or unhappy that I can't stand it
13. 1-10: These ups and downs are considered normal
14. 11-16: Mild mood disturbance
15. 17-20: Borderline clinical depression
16. 21-30: Moderate depression
17. 31-40: Severe depression
18. over 40: Extreme depression
19. Version 2 - got rid of the statements that had the same scoring.
20. Version 3 - Changed questions on body image, hypochondria and difficulty working and added in questions on sleep loss and appetite.
21. Some credit can be given for the children's depression inventory up to a maximum of 2 marks.
22. Please note: The candidate must state approximately how many statements there are (1), something about the scoring system (1 or 2), an example of one of the statements or the topics covered by the BDI (1 or 2) and something about the meaning of the total scores (1 or 2).
23. Other appropriate responses should also be credited. Credit any description of the three variations of the questionnaire.
24. Likely strengths will be:
25. strengths of assessing depression symptoms using quantitative data, strengths relating to quantitative data such as can make comparisons between or within patients, do statistical tests, draw graphs, etc.
26. three variations of the scale exist which shows the scale has been updated to take into account changes to the diagnoses of depression
27. easy and quick to use to assess depression when the therapist/doctor has little time to do the assessment
28. can be done by the patient on their own to assess their depression
29. quick insight into the patients feelings
30. can compare to previous scores as treatment progresses to see if patient is improving
31. Other appropriate responses should also be credited.