abnormal psychology exam 1-class notes – Flashcards
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psychopathology
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formal study of nature and development of abnormal behavior, long history, "why do some eople experience thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are different from what most people experience?"
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paradigms
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theory used to understand world at a given time, efforts to understand abnormal behavior derive from these theories
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emdr
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eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, treatment of ptsd, compelling to us
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biological model
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hippocrates, somatogenesis
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somatogenesis
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origin of disorders come from inside the body, brain problems lead to behavior problems
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normative
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or, relating to, or based on norms; a set standard of measurement usually derived from the average or median data of a large group
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anecdotal
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from personal experience (ex: in my experience people recover from depression in about 4 months)
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categorical variation
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one whose range is countable, belongs in either A or B (ex: male or female)
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continuous variation
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can take a value, ex: weight-0 to 500 lbs, Variation measured on a continuum rather than in discrete units or categories (eg height in human beings).
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mental disorder
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personal distress, violation of social norms, disability, dysfunction
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distress
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severe emotional pain and suffering
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disability
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inability to complete goals, limits function (ex: unable to work, or be in public places)
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violation of social norms
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makes others uncomfortable or causes problems, varies by culture and time
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dysfunction
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harmful, normal function is not occurring, internal process, difficult to observe-we presume it to be present (ex: hippocampus is smaller in depression)
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abnormal behavior
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a psychological dysfunction assoc with distress or impairment in functioning that is not typical or culturally expected
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abnormal behavior-dsm5
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disorder occurs within individual, involves clinically significant difficulties in thinking, feeling, behaving, involves dysfunction in processes that support mental functioning, not culturally specific, not a result o social deviance or conflict with society
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categorical variables
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discrete variable one whose range is countable (ex: gender-female or male)
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continuous variables
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ex: weight, where is behavior on a scale from normal to abnormal, not categorical
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supernatural model
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dark ages-1700s, influence of church increased after roman civilization fell, monasteries replaced physicians, demonology, asylums, ergot poisoning
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galton
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work on inherited mental illness
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behavioral genetics
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extent to which behavioral differences are due to genetics
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eugenics
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promotion of enforced sterilization to eliminate undesirable characteristics from a population, many state laws required mentally ill to be sterilized
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biological treatments
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insulin coma therapy, ect, prefrontal lobotomy
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syndrome
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cluster of symptoms
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psychoanalytic theory
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freud, human behavior determined by unconscious forces
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free association
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patient says whatever comes to mind without censoring anything, free thoughts
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interpretation
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analyst points out to the patient the meanings of certain parts of the patient's behavior
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transference
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patient's responses to his and her analyst that seem to reflect attitudes and ways of behaving toward important people in the person's past rather than reflect actual aspects of the analyst patient relationship
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superego
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conscience, develops as we incorporate parental and society values
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ego
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conscious, reality principle
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id
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unconscious, pleasure principle (immediate gratification)
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behaviorism
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emphasis on learning rather than innate tendencies; focus on observable behavior rather than unobservable things like id, ego, etc
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rational emotive therapy
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A Cognitive Therapy based on Albert Ellis' theory that cognitions control our emotions and behaviors; therefore, changing the way we think about things will affect the way we feel and the way we behave.
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biological causes of disorders
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heredity/imbalances in brain chemistry/disordered development of structures
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genotype
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genetic material you inherit
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phenotype
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observable characteristics you exhibit
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genes
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carriers of genetic information, impacted by environmental influences
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bidirectional
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the relationship between genes and environment is ________
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diathesis
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underlying vulnerability, gene
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stress
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environmental experience (low economic status, childhood maltreatment)
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diathesis-stress
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underlying genetic vulnerability plus environmental stressor may trigger development of disorder
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heritability
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extent to which variability in behavior is due to genetic factors
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shared environment
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events and experiences that family members have in common
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nonshared environment
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events and experiences that are unique to each family member
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polygenic traits
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more than 1 gene for every disorder, many genes contribute some risk, add up risk from all the genes to get the disorder
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gene environment interaction
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response to a specific environmental event is influenced by your genes
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reciprocal gene environment interaction
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genes predispose people to seek out situations that increase likelihood of developing a disorder
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neuroscience paradigm
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contribution of brain structure and function to psychopathology, mental processes are linked to processes in the brain
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neuroendocrine
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interaction between brain and hormone release system, contains hpa axis
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HPA axis
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study pathway through release of cortisol, mediates impact of external stressors on the body through changing the amount of cortisol released, which changes how we handle stressors because of cortisols role in helping us respond to stress
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cortisol
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involved in stress,A stress hormone that releases sugars into the blood, helping to prepare the body to respond to a threat , increases blood sugar and suppresses immune system
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sympathetic nervous system
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fight or flight, increase heartbeat, pupil dilation, gastrointestinal inhibition
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parasympathetic nervous system
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heart beat deceleration, pupil constriction, gi activation, rest and digest
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reductionism
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view that behavior can best be understood by reducing it to its basic biological components, ignores more complex views of behavior
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polygenic traits difficult to determine
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1) not all with the disorder have same genetic risk factors 2) some people without disorder have some genetic risk factors for disorder
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autonomic nervous system
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contains sympathetic and parasympathetic ns, fight or flight and rest and digest
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advantages of biological paradigm
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scientifically based, testable hypotheses, applies to all disorders, helpful treatments
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disadvantages of biological paradigm
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reductionism, not all psychological disorders have a known biological base, medication alone does not teach individuals adaptive skills, correlation doesn't equal causation,
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risk factor
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variable associated with increased risk of disease or infection, correlational not causal, # of short risk alleles increases risk for depression among those experiencing maltreatment--doesn't mean the person will definitely get depression
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cognitive behavioral paradigm
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roots in learning principles and cognitive science, behavior is reinforced by consequences (attention, escape or avoidance, sensory stimulation, access to desirable objects or events), to alter behavior, modify consequences; combines behavioral and cognitive models to explain abnormal behaviors and treat psychological disorders
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exposure therapy
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habituate to a stimulus over time, associate stimulus with safety rather than ranger, ex: ptsd example, important for anxiety disorders
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positive reinforcement
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behaviors followed by pleasant stimuli are strengthened
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negative reinforcement
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behaviors that terminate a negative stimulus are strengthened
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assumptions of cognitive behavioral paradigm
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abnormal behavior is learned, observable behavior is the topic of investigation
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behavior therapy
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use learning methods to change abnormal behavior, thoughts, and feelings, counterconditioning
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counterconditioning
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behavior paradigm, learning a new response, exposure therapy helps with this, ptsd example
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behavioral paradigm advantages
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scientifically based, predictive of behavior, generates research, testable hypotheses, effective treatments-one of the most effective, even more than medication
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behavioral paradigm disadvantages
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over simplifies,cannot explain all disorders, neglects feelings and thoughts, views humans as solely victims of their environments
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cognitive paradigm assumptions
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thoughts determine behavior and emotion, thoughts can be changed, changing thoughts=changing emotions and behavior
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schemas
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cognitive structures that consist of fundamental beliefs and assumptions, organized network of previously accumulated knowledge, actively interpret new info
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cognition
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mental process which includes: perceiving, judging, reasoning, conceiving, and recognizing
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cognitive paradigm advantages
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lots of research, testable hypotheses, effective treatments, cognitive accounts make sense to patients
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role of attention
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anxious individuals more likely to attend to threat or danger (ex: stroop test)
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cognitive paradigms disadvantages
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problems in thinking may not cause disorders, may be effect of disorder
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beck's cognitive therapy
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initially developed for depression, depression caused by distorted thoughts, helps patients recognize and change maladaptive thought patterns
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one dimensional models
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explaining behavior in terms of a single cause
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multidimensional models
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interdisciplinary, integrative, multiple determinants of behavior--biological factors, behavioral, envi, developmental, cognitive
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integrative approach
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multiple causation, broad, comprehensive perspective, useful to understand psychopathology and to prevent and treat psychopathology
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classify abnormal behaviors
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communication, suggests treatment, prediction, organizes research, societal demands
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reliability
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consistency of measurement
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interrater reliability
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The degree to which two or more independent observers agree in their ratings of another organism's behavior
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test retest reliability
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ability of the same instrument to produce consistent results when used a second time under conditions as similar as possible to the original conditions
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alternate form reliability
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A type of reliability, where different versions of same instrument are used and scores are compared
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internal consistency reliability
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assessment of reliability using responses at only one point in time
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validity
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does it measure what it is supposed to measure--do we think the construct is being measured
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content validity
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how well a test measures all of the contributing variables in your construct
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criterion validity
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is the measure you are , Form of validity concerned with how accurately a new measure can predict a well-accepted criterion, or previously validated concept, ex: predict intelligence
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construct validity
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does it measure what it is supposed to measure, Degree to which a test actually measures what it claims to measure, of highest concern
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concurrent validity
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A measurements ability to correlate or vary directly with an accepted measure of the same construct
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predictive validity
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Refers to the function of a test in predicting a particular behavior or trait.
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2 axes of dsm 5
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psychiatric/medical and psychosocial/environmental
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criticisms of dsm
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stigma and labeling, categories do not capture uniqueness of individual, implies that abnormal and normal are categorically different
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categorical system of diagnosis
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yes or no, does someone have something, person who meets criteria could have 1 day more of depression than a person who doesn't, dsm uses this today
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dimensional system of diagnosis
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how severe is the disorder? provides richer info than yes or no, ranks severity
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normal distribution
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population mean is most common, extremes less common, bell shape
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x axis
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severity
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y axis
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frequency in population
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improvements in dsm
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increasing number of diagnostic categories, issues and possible diagnostic categories in need of further study
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ethnic and cultural considerations (of dsm)
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mental illness is universal, culture can influence types of symptoms, willingness to seek help etc, commonalities rather than differences across cultures
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clinical assessment
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systematic evaluation and measurement of psychological problems
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purposes of clinical assessment
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understand individual, diagnose, predict behavior, plan treatment, evaluate treatment outcome
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standardization
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process by which a set of standards or norms are determined
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value of assessment
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reliability, validity, standardization
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clinical interviews
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language used to gather info about patient, attention to how the patient answers, empathy, can be highly structured or informal-depends on paradigm used
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psychological tests
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standardized procedures designed to measure a person's performance on a task or to assess his or her personality (projective, personality, intelligence tests)
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projective personality test
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project aspects of personality onto ambiguous stimuli, inference in scoring (ex:rorschach and tat)
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objective personality test
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not ambiguous, ex: mmpi2, results easy to interpret, research
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iq test
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intelligence estimate, reliable, predictive of academic performance, construct validity difficult to assess, high criterion validity
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cognitive assessment
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das, identifies maladaptive thoguht patterns, standardized, interpretation the same, construct validity high
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behavioral assessment
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present behavior, present context, straightforward, minimal interference, identify target behavior, ex: ema
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behavioral and cognitive methods
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direct observation, self monitoring, interviews, self report inventories, thought diaries, ex: clinician observes parent-child interaction
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neurobiological assessment
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brain imaging, many behavioral problems can be brought on by brain dysfunctions, these tests have been used to identify brain dysfunction
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neurotransmitter assessment
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assess metabolites in blood, measures are not direct reflections of levels of NT in brain
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neuropsychological test
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used in conjunction with brain imaging techniques to detect brain dysfunction, and to help pinpoint specific areas of behavior that are impacted by problems in the brain
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psychophysiological assessment
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concerned with bodily changes that are associated with psychological events, measures of heart rate, blood flow, electrical activity in brain when people are afraid
