Abnormal Psychology Chapters1-4 – Flashcards
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How is "abnormal" defined in the context of behavior?
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Abnormal behavior is defined as 1) distressful, 2) deviance, 3) dysfunctional, 4) dangerous
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Who believe that mental illness resulted from a conflict between one's emotions and one's rational thought?
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Sigmund Freud?
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What is deinstitutionalization, and what factors contributed to this phenomenon?
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Deinstitutionalization promoted the release of psychiatric patients into community treatment sites; -the policy of moving severely mentally ill people out of large state institutions
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How are the "witch hunts" of the Middle Ages related to abnormal psychology?
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Spiritual explanations of mental illness suggested that people who experienced psychological problems were possessed by the devil or were witches and should be executed.
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From your book, what are the three types of explanations for abnormality that have recurred through history? Be able to give an example of each.
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Spiritual Explanation, Scientific Explanation, and Humanistic explanation
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What are some arguments for and against the use of Empirically Supported Treatments in psychotherapy?
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-EST have demonstrated benefit through scientific study -pro: have replicable results, control for confining variables, are often peer reviewed therefore check for obvious design flaws and researcher bias -con: some treatments/outcomes are difficult to measure, may not have external reliability, samples may not accurately represent population of interest,
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biopsychosocial perspective
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abnormality results from the interaction of genetic, biological, developmental, emotional, behavioral, cognitive, social, cultural and social influences. Ex. Depression (may be explained by an individuals inheritance of unfavorable genes, traumatic loss during childhood, negative ways of thinking, and social isolation)
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What is the defining feature of a true experiment?
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requires random assignment of subjects to different levels of the independent variable
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Why are quasi-experimental designs frequently used in clinical psychology?
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makes use of control and experiment groups that already exist in the world. May be used for things such as child-abuse to keep the experiment humane.
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What is a Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT)? What are some key components of an RCT?
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A study where participants are assigned randomly to separate groups that compare different treatments. "Blind experiment".
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Prevalence
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Number of people who have ever had the disorder
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Describe three different research methodologies that could be used to determine the extent to which a disorder is genetically caused.
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-Twin studies -Gene Mapping -Cross Cultural Studies
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What kinds of research questions may be answered by a retrospective cohort study?
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follows a group of similar individuals who differ in respect to certain factors under study, to determine how they affect rates of certain outcome
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When might you use a Single Case Experimental Design?
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Single participant is observed both before and after manipulation of independent variable. ABAB design used to determine the systematic use of rewards helps to reduce a teenage boy's habit of disrupting his special ed class with loud talk
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What does a concordance rate tell you?
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if one twin has a disorder, does the other twin? -Concordance of a given genetic trait (used in twin studies)
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How do you interpret the correlation coefficient r? What are the extreme values of r, and what do they mean?
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r ranges from -1 to 1, a measure of the strength of association 1= perfect positive correlation -1= perfect negative
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Internal Validty
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accuracy with a study can pinpoint one of the previous factors as cause of phenomenon (maximized by experimental designs)
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What are some of the reforms that occurred in "asylums" in Europe and in the U.S.?
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La Bicetre-first site of asylum reform. Went from beatings and dungeon cells to unchained patients and well ventilated rooms
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What is a theoretical perspective? How does it influence one's treatment, assessment, case formulation, etc.?
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Thoughts and feelings result from biochemical and bioelectrical processes throughout the brain
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What is a synapse? What happens at the synapse?
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It separates one neuron from the next, and the message must somehow move across that space. It sends neurotransmitters across the synaptic space to receptors on the dendrites of another neuron
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Depression is linked to low activity of the neurotransmitters....
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serotonin and norepinephrine
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What nervous system is activated in the "fight or flight" response? How might this be related to anxiety disorders?
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Psychosurgery is...
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brain surgery for mental disorders. They are used only after certain severe disoders have continued for years without responding to other forms of treatment
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Three major types of psychotropic medications are SSRIs, neuroleptics, and benzodiazepines. Broadly, what is each category of drug prescribed for?
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Drugs that affect the brain and reduce many symptoms of mental dysfunctions
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Freud's structural model of personality. What are the three parts, and how do they interact?
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Id, Ego, Superego
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What is a defense mechanism, and why do we use them?
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they are strategies developed to control unacceptable impulses and to avoid and reduce anxiety
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What are the stages of psychosexual development, from a Freudian perspective?
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What are the consequences of failing to resolve conflicts at a key stage?
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What are the primary drives that determine behavior, from a Freudian perspective?
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How did subsequent psychodynamic theorists alter/augment the original drive theories of Freud?
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Archetypes and the collective unconscious. With whom are these concepts associated?
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What construct did Adler emphasize as a primary determinant of human behavior?
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Object relations theorists include Melanie Klein, Heinz Kohut, Margaret Mahler, etc.. What do these theorists believe about how personality develops?
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What is meant by one's attachment style? How is attachment related to mental health?
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Treatment, from a classical psychoanalytic perspective, involves bringing unconscious material into consciousness. Why would you want to do this? What techniques can be used to make this happen?
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Why is it important that the therapist be a "tabula rasa?"
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A Rogerian approach is also described as client-centered. What does this mean?
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What is unconditional positive regard, and why would a therapist use this principle, according to Rogers?
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Maslow postulated that people are motivated toward self-actualization, but that more basic needs need to be met before this can occur. How would this relate to therapy?
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How do social labels and roles impact behaviors?
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What role do social networks play?
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Abnormality is caused by maladaptive patterns of family interactions and relationships that exist in the family
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These theorists invented a unique method of therapy supervision. What is it called, and how does it work?
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A person who comes to treatment is seen as the "identified patient." This person is representative of the problems that exist in the family system.
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How do race, gender, sexual orientation, and intersecting identities impact behaviors?
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How is the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and mental illness explained (there should be two primary models here)?
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classical conditioning vs. operant conditioning
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Classical conditioning: be able to explain how a CS becomes associated with a UCS.
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Treatment, from this perspective, involves presenting the CS without the UCS. What does this mean? How does prolonged exposure do this?
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Operant conditioning - what is Thorndike's law of effect? What about Skinner's S - O - R paradigm? Why are true Skinnerians not really interested in the "O"?
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What is the difference between positive and negative reinforcement?
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What is the difference between reinforcement and punishment?
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Albert Bandura broadened the behavioral perspective to include modeling and social observation. From this perspective, how does one learn?
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Cognitive approaches have in common that they focus on dysfunctional, automatic thoughts. How might a cognitive psychologist intervene to help with abnormal behavior?
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Huang Ti
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Emperor in Ancient China (~2674 B.C.) wrote medical texts; believed mental disturbance was caused by an imbalance of yin and yang → treatment was to restore the balance
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Socrates
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Believed self-exploration as the cornerstone of happiness
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Plato
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Believed an "organismic" view; believed mental illness was a result from a conflict between emotion and reason
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Aristotle
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Described and examined human emotional states
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Hippocrates
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Believed the balance of four humors (bodily fluids) determines an individuals personality
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Galen
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Studied anatomy to further understanding both of physical and psychological disorders; his writings along with Hippocrates' writings formed the basis for the scientific model of abnormal behavior (A.D. 130-200)
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Vincenzo Chiarugi
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Leader of the reform movement, he revolutionized the standards for care of mental patients; believed "insanity" was due to impairment of the brain; made contributions to both the humanitarian and scientific models of abnormality
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Philippe Pinel
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Worked with Pussin on improving living conditions for hospital patients
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Jean-Baptiste Pussin
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Hospital worker who began reforming the mental hospital; worked with Pinel on improving living conditions of the patients; Freed mentally ill patients from their chains
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William Tuke
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Believed the mentally ill deserved to be treated with humanity; established York Retreat (1792) an institution based on religious humanitarian principles; his family legacy continued his work and their methods became known as "moral treatment"
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Benjamin Rush
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Founded American psychiatry; made radical changes (some positive, some negative); placed psych patients in separate wards; advocated for physical treatments such as bloodletting and the tranquilizer chair that were accepted ideas then but now seem barbaric;
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Dorothea Dix
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instituted reforms for asylums in MA in 1841; her efforts resulted in the growth of the state hospital movement
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Emil Kraepelin
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1800-1900s) Made advancements in diagnosis for manic-depression and dementia praecox;
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Spiritual Explanation
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-regard abnormal behavior as the product of possession by evil spirits. -Example: during the renaissance it became popular to execute people accused of being witches, which often mentally ill people were accused of.
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Scientific Explanation
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-look for causes of mental illness that we can objectively measure, such as biological alterations, faulty learning processes, or emotional stressors
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Humanistic Explanation
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-view psych disorders as a result of cruelty, stress or poor living conditions
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Incidence
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Number of new cases
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What are the criteria we might use to determine what is abnormal?
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Behavior, thoughts, and emotions that break norms of psychological functioning
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Hippocrate's Humor: Yellow Bile
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Cause mania, a state of frenzied activity
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Hippocrate's Humor: Black Bile
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Source of melancholia, condition marked by unshakeable sadness
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Diathesis Stress Model
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a model favored by some biopsychosocial theorists. States people must first have a biological, psychological, or sociocultural predisposition to develop a disorder and then must be subjected to episodes of severe stress. Ex. Depression ( unfavorable genes related to biochemical abnormalities predisposes the individual to develop the disorder but the loss of a loved one triggers its onset.
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Twin studies
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compare dizygotic and monozygotic twins
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Gene Mapping
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helps to prevent or change genes that cause medical disorders
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Retrospective Cohort Study
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take a look back at events that have already taken place. Does not follow patients up
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External Validity
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- degree to which events or characteristics vary along with each other.
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Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
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Form of biological treatment, used on depressed patients, in which a brain seizure is triggered as an electric current passes through electrodes attached to a patients forehead
