question

Concerned with understanding the nature, causes, and treatment of mental disorders.

answer

Abnormal psychology

question

Whether a disorder runs in families.

answer

Family aggregation

question

The study of the distribution of diseases, disorders, or health related behaviors in a given population. Mental health _________ is the study of the distribution of mental disorders. A key component of an __________ survey is determining the frequencies of mental disorders.

answer

Epidemiology

question

Refers to the number of active cases in a population during any given period of time. Figures typically expressed in percentages. Several different types of ___________ estimates that can be made.

answer

Prevalence

question

Refers to the estimated proportion of actual, active cases of a disorder in a given population at a given point in time. E.g. The number of people who have major depressive disorder on January 1 of next year.

answer

Point prevalence

question

Everyone who experience depression at any point in time throughout the entire year.

answer

1-year prevalence

question

An estimate of the number of people who have had a particular disorder at any time in their lives (even if they are now recovered).

answer

Lifetime prevalence

question

Refers to the number of new cases that occur over a given period of time (typically 1 year). Tend to be lower than prevalence figures, because they exclude preexisting cases.

answer

Incidence

question

Term used to describe the presence of two or more disorders in the same person. From NCS-R study -> widespread occurrence among diagnosed disorders. Especially high in those with severe forms of mental disorders.

answer

Comorbidity

question

Short in duration

answer

Acute

question

Long in duration

answer

Chronic

question

The causes of disorders.

answer

Etiology

question

An in-depth examination of an individual or family that draws from a number of data sources, including interviews and psychological testing. An excellent way to illustrate clinical material. Can be a valuable source of new ideas, serve as a stimulus for research. May provide insight into unusual clinical conditions that are too rare to be studied in a more systematic way.

answer

Case study

question

The information in case studies is subject to ___________, because the writer of the case study selects what information to include and what information to omit.

answer

Bias

question

Whether or not the conclusions of a case study can be used to draw conclusions about other cases even when those cases involve people with a seemingly similar abnormality.

answer

Generalizability

question

Data collected directly from participants, typically by means of interviews or questionnaires. Can sometimes be misleading. Cannot always be regarded as highly accurate or truthful.

answer

Self-report data

question

Method of collecting research data that involves directly observing behavior in a given situation.

answer

Direct observation

question

An effort to explain, predict, or explore something. Statement or proposition, usually based on observation, that is tested in an experiment; may be refuted or supported by experimental results but can never be conclusively proved. Our working __________ regarding the causes of different disorders very much shape the approaches we use when we study and treat the disorders.

answer

Hypothesis

question

The process of selecting representative subgroup from a defined population of interest. Would like smaller sample to mirror larger group in all important ways. E.g. in severity and duration of disorder and in demographics such as age, gender, and marital status).

answer

Sampling

question

The extent to which we can generalize our findings beyond the study itself. Concerns the degree to which research findings from a specific study can be generalized to other samples, contexts, or times.

answer

External validity

question

Reflects how confident we can be in the results of a particular given study. The extent to which a study is methodologically sound, free of confounds, or other sources of error, and able to be used to draw valid conclusions.

answer

Internal validity

question

A group of people who do not exhibit the disorder being studied but who are comparable in all other major respects to the criterion group. Also, a comparison group of subjects who do not receive a condition or treatment the effects of which are being studied. Typically psychologically healthy or "normal."

answer

Comparison/Control group

question

Group of subjects who exhibit the disorder under study.

answer

Criterion group

question

A research strategy that examines whether and how variables go together (co-vary) without manipulating (changing) any variables. Involves studying the world as it is. Does not involve any manipulation of variables. Researcher selects certain groups of interest and then compare the groups on a variety of different measures. Capitalizes of the fact that the world works in ways that create natural groupings of people whom we can then study. Able to identify factors that appear to be associated with depression, alcoholism, etc. Takes things as they are and determines associations among observed phenomena.

answer

Correlational research

question

A relationship between two variables such that a high score on one variable is associated with a high score on another variable

answer

Positive correlation

question

A relationship between two variables such that a high score on one variable is associated with a low score on another variable

answer

Negative/inverse correlation

question

A statistic that ranges from +1.0 to -1.0 and reflects the degree of association between two variables. The magnitude of the correlation indicates the strength of the association, and the sign indicates whether that correlation is positive or negative. (denoted by an italic r)

answer

Correlation coefficient

question

Variables in question are entirely independent of one another, such that a given state or level of one variable fails to predict reliably the degree of the other.

answer

Uncorrelated

question

The tendency of two variables to change together. With + __________, as one variable goes up, so does the other; with - __________, one variable goes up as the other goes down.

answer

Correlation

question

A measure of the probability that a research finding could have occurred by chance alone. p < 0.05 means that the probability that the correlation would occur purely by chance is less than 5 out of 100. Influenced not only by the magnitude or size of the correlation, but also by the sample size. Correlations based on very large samples can be very small and still reach _____________. Correlations drawn from small samples need to be very large to reach ____________.

answer

Statistical significance

question

A statistical term referring the strength of the relationship between two variables in a statistical population. Reflects the size of the association between two variables independent of the sample size.

answer

Effect size

question

A statistical method used to combine the results of a number of similar research studies. The data from each study are transformed into a common metric called the effect size. This allows the data from the various studies to be combined and then analyzed. Like research that you are already familiar with, except that the "participants" are individual research studies, not individual people. A statistical approach that calculates and then combines the effect sizes from all of the studies.

answer

Meta-analysis

question

Refers to the problem of making causal inferences in correlational research, where the correlation between the two variables could be due to their shared correlation with an unmeasured third variable.

answer

Third variable problem

question

Method that often focuses on individuals who have a higher-than-average likelihood of becoming psychologically disordered before abnormal behavior is observed. Looking ahead in time. Focus research attention on these individuals before any disorders manifests. Can have much more confidence in our hypotheses about the causes of a disorder ..... much closer to establishing a causal relationship. Trying to identify factors that predate the onset of a disorder.

answer

Prospective research

question

Research approach that attempts to retrace earlier events in the life of a subject. Looking back in time. Try to collect information about how the patients behaved early in their lives with the goal of identifying factors that might have been associated with what went wrong later. Invites biased procedure, unconscious or otherwise.

answer

Retrospective research

question

A research design in which people are followed over time.

answer

Longitudinal design

question

Research that involves the manipulation of a given factor or variable with everything else held constant. Control all factors except one. The one that could have an effect on a variable or outcome of interest. To draw conclusions about causality and resolve questions of directionality.

answer

Experimental research

question

Correlational research does not let us draw any conclusions about directionality. I.e. Does variable A cause B, or does B cause A?

answer

Direction of effect problem

question

The factor that is manipulated in an experimental research approach.

answer

Independent variable

question

The outcome of interest in an experimental research approach.

answer

Dependent variable

question

A procedure used to create equivalent groups in which every research participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any group in the study. Means that every research participant has an equal chance of being placed in the treatment or the no-treatment condition.

answer

Random assignment

question

An experimental research design (e.g., an ABAB design) that involves only one subject. Case studies can be used to develop and test therapy techniques within a scientific framework. The same individual studied over time. Behavior or performance at one point in time is compared to behavior or performance at a later time, after a specific intervention or treatment has been introduced.

answer

Single-case research designs

question

Often used in studies examining drug treatment effects, a condition where neither the subject nor the experimenter has knowledge about what specific experimental condition (or drug) the subject is receiving.

answer

Double-blind study

question

An inert pill or otherwise neutral intervention that produces desirable therapeutic effects because of the subject's expectations that it will be beneficial.

answer

Placebo treatment

question

An experimental design, often involving a single subject, wherein a baseline period (A) is followed by treatment (B). To confirm that the treatment resulted in a change in behavior, the treatment is then withdrawn (A) and reinstated (B). One of the most basic experimental designs in single-case research.

answer

ABAB designs

question

Studies in which a researcher attempts to emulate the conditions hypothesized as leading to abnormality. E.g. Animal research. In which we study not the true item of interest but an approximation to it.

answer

Analogue studies

question

Two (or more) treatments are compared in differing yet comparable groups. Whether patients who receive the new treatment improve to a greater extent than those receiving the control (established) treatment. Comparative-outcome research. The treatment that is normally provided to people with a given condition. In many studies, a control group receives the _________________ while a treatment group receives the experimental treatment. After the clinical trial, researchers compare the outcomes of the two groups to see if the experimental treatment is better than, as good as or not as beneficial as the _________________.

answer

Standard treatment comparison study

question

Assigning a person to a particular diagnostic category, such as schizophrenia.

answer

Labeling

question

A formalized naming system.

answer

Nomenclature

question

The tendency to jump to conclusions (often negative) about what a person is like based on the beliefs about that group that exist (often incorrectly) in the culture (e.g. French people are rude, homosexuals have good taste in clothes, and patients with mental illness are dangerous).

answer

Stereotyping

question

Negative labeling.

answer

Stigma

Chapter 1 – Abnormal Psychology: Overview and Research Approaches – Flashcards

Unlock all answers in this set

Haven't found what you were looking for?

Search for samples, answers to your questions and flashcards