Ch. 2 Theoretical Perspectives on Psychopathology

Question 1

What is the single factor explanation?

Answer 1

attempts to trace the origins of a disorder to one factor. so saying the contraction of a disorder os due to one factor. usu reflects the primary focus of the researcher, or clinician.

Question 2

What is the interactionist explanation?

Answer 2

view behaviour as caused by the interaction of a variety of factors. takes into account biology, behaviour, and different environments. so mental disorders are caused by a bunch of factors interacting to influence behaviour.

Question 3

What is a null hypothesis?

Answer 3

says that the prediction made from the theory is false. so we want to reject the null hypothesis and therefore reject that the the prediction made from the theory is false.

Question 4

What is the purpose of experiments in relation to theories?

Answer 4

experiments are not set up to prove the worth of the theory but to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis/ the idea that the prediction from the theory is false.

Question 5

How do theories gain strength?

Answer 5

they gain strength not because the evidence supports the predictions, but primarily bc alternative explanations are rejected.

Question 6

What are the general aims of theories (about mental disorders)?

Answer 6

1) explain the etiology (causes or origins) of the problem behaviour. 2) ID the factors that maintain the behaviour. 3) predict the course of the disorder. 4) design effective tx’s.

Question 7

What is reductionism?

Answer 7

the actions of the whole are said to be caused by one or another of the component parts. (so just one part of the whole).

Question 8

What does reductionism ignore?

Answer 8

the possibility that human behaviour in all its forms produced of an array of features (biological, developmental, environmental, personal choice, cultural, etc).

Question 9

What is the biological paradigm?

Answer 9

biological paradigms see brain and body processes, and genetics as the only thing that matters. so one should use genetic DNA or an MRI to study brain processes.

Question 10

What do biological theories propose?

Answer 10

mental disorders are from dysfunctions in or damage to the brain/CNS, problems of control in so aspect of the peripheral nervous system ie ANS or SomNS, or malfunctioning of the endo syst.

Question 11

What are neurotransmitters?

Answer 11

chemical substances that relay messages from one neuron to another in a complex pathways of nervous activity within the brain. does so btwn synapses in the synaptic cleft. ex.’s dopamine, serotonin, NE, GABA

Question 12

What is the gene-environment interaction?

Answer 12

genes influence behaviours that contribute to environmental stressors which in turn increase the risk of psychopathology. so a relationship btwn genetic predisposition and environmental risk factors.

Question 13

What do more recent techniques for studying genetic influences include?

Answer 13

genetic linkage studies and research methods in molecular biology. genetic linkage studies look at families that have a high incidence of a mental disorder and then look for the presence of particular traits that can be linked to the occurrence of the disorder. if all the family members with the mental disorder have the genetic marker (trait), and the unaffected family members all do not, then the mental disorder has a genetic origin. molecular biology they compare specific DNA segments and identify the genes that determine individual characteristics, so can pinpoint the defective genes that contribute to various medical and psychological disorders.

Question 14

What is the psychodynamic/psychoanalytic paradigm?

Answer 14

guides the scientist to focus on early life events, internal conflicts, repressed memories, and unconscious ideas and instincts.

Question 15

Who was the founder of the psychodynamic school of thought?

Answer 15

Sigmund Freud 1856-1939. Freudian theory is largely speculative and has little empirical support.

Question 16

What do psychodynamic theories claim?

Answer 16

that unconscious process of which the person is unaware control behaviour.

Question 17

What is catharsis?

Answer 17

going under hypnosis to identify traumatic experiences and discharge the emotional responses attached to the unconscious memories.

Question 18

What are the 3 lvls of awareness?

Answer 18

theyre the lvls of consciousness; the conscious which contains info of which we are currently aware of. the preconscious which holds info not presently within our awareness but that can be readily be brought into our awareness. the unconscious which contains the majority of our memories and drives that can only be raised to awareness with great difficulty and typically only in response to particular techniques.

Question 19

What are defence mechanisms?

Answer 19

keep unacceptable drives and traumatic memories out of awareness. so allow the expression of libidinal desires in a distorted or symbolic form.

Question 20

What drives did Freud consider to be instinctual?

Answer 20

biological drives; sexual and aggressive drives.

Question 21

What are the 3 structures of personality (list)?

Answer 21

id, ego, superego.

Question 22

What is the id?

Answer 22

the personality structure present at birth which contains/represents the biological or instinctual drives. these drives demand instant gratification without concern for the consequences either to the self or others. id acts according to the pleasure principle.

Question 23

What is the ego?

Answer 23

the personality structure beginning to develop in the first year of life. its curbs the desires of the id so that the individual does not suffer any unpleasant consequences. theres no concern for whats right or wrong but only for the avoidance of pain or discomfort and the maximization of unpunished pleasure. acts according to the reality principle.

Question 24

What is the superego?

Answer 24

begins to develop as the child gets older. the internalization of the moral standards of society instilled by their parents. acts according to the moral principle and serves as a persons conscience by monitoring the ego.

Question 25

What drive did Freud think was the most NB determinant of behaviour?

Answer 25

sexual drives. called eros, the energy which was for libido. involved the phallic stage; boys develop sexual desires for their mother and father is a competitor. electra complex; girls desire their fathers for a penis.

Question 26

What is libido?

Answer 26

the energy for eros/sexual drives. sexual pleasure is the expression of libidinal energy.

Question 27

What is the behaviour paradigm?

Answer 27

guides the scientist to look at the environment and in particular the learning and conditioning that takes place as the person interacts with the enviro. classical and operant conditioning principles are emphasized.

Question 28

What did Watson assume in regards to all behaviour including abnormal behaviour?

Answer 28

assumed that all human behaviour including psychopathology was learned. thought that classical conditioning was the basis for learning.

Question 29

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 29

eliciting a conditioned response (salivation) when the conditioned stimulus (bell) happens after pairing it with and unconditioned stimulus (the meat). so with continued pairing of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus, get a conditioned response (salivation when bell rings). so we get a transfer of a response from the UCS to the CS.

Question 30

How was classical conditioning responsible for Little Hans' horse phobia?

Answer 30

the frightening experience with the horse (UCS) leads to all horses (CS) eliciting fear even though they didnt before. therefore the CR is fear in response to horses. so the UCS (scary horses) paired with the CS (normal horses), creates a CR (scared of horses).

Question 31

How was little Albert conditioned to fear the white rat?

Answer 31

paired a loud noise (UCS) with the rat (CS) to get him to develop a fear response to rats (CR).

Question 32

What is operant conditioning and who developed this idea?

Answer 32

Burrhus F. Skinner 1904-1990. consequences of behaviour are NB. some consequences encourage repetition of behaviour while others inhibit behaviour.

Question 33

What is reinforcement?

Answer 33

when behaviour increases in frequency as a result of consequences.

Question 34

What is punishment?

Answer 34

when behaviour decreases in frequency as a result of consequences.

Question 35

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 35

behaviours increased as a result of positive consequences. presence of smthn (food) leads to increase in behaviour (pressing lever to get food) as a result of consequences .

Question 36

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 36

behaviours increase bc it results in the absence of distress. absence of smthn (shock) leads to increase in behaviour (escaping to other side of box to avoid shock) as a result of consequences .

Question 37

What is positive punishment?

Answer 37

behaviour reduced by the consequent occurrence of an unpleasant experience. presence of smthn (beaten in a fight) leads to decrease of behaviours (starting fights) as a result of consequences.

Question 38

What is negative punishment?

Answer 38

behaviour is reduced following the removal of smthn desirable. absence of smthn (ice cream) leads to decrease of behaviours (being rude so not getting ice cream) as a result of consequences.

Question 39

What is two-factor theory?

Answer 39

two types of learning take place in the acquisition and maintenance of phobias; 1. classical conditioning establishes the aversive response to a previously neutral stimulus. 2. thereafter, the conditioned stimulus is avoided to prevent feeling afraid, which prevents extinction ie. person does negative reinforcement bc the absence of fear results in a good consequence (not being scared).

Question 40

Who initially developed the social learning theory?

Answer 40

bandura and walters 1959

Question 41

What does the social learning theory suggest?

Answer 41

behaviours/experiences occur by observation of others rather than by direct personal experience. ie learning to act aggressively from observing someone else acting aggressively, or becoming scared of smthn form seeing phobic parents

Question 42

What is missing in the stimulus-response model?

Answer 42

does not account for the acquisition of all human behaviour. instead its actually a number of individual characteristics (expectations, appraisals, feelings, etc.) that appear to influence diff responses to stimuli. ie losing your job doesnt mean you for sure get depression, but the way you appraise the situation can affect your response/if you get depression.

Question 43

What is cognitive behavioural theory?

Answer 43

says both thinking and behaviour are learned and therefore can be changed.

Question 44

What is the cognitive paradigm?

Answer 44

asserts that thought is critical and that how we organize our experience, conscious expectations, and interpretations of events is what really matters.

Question 45

What 3 principles do all clinically oriented cognitive theories have in common?

Answer 45

1. thinking affects emotion and behaviours 2. thoughts can be monitored and changed 3. by altering ones thoughts, a person will experience behavioural and emotional change.

Question 46

What is rational-emotive behavioural therapy?

Answer 46

says that the consequences of life events are not contingent upon the activating event per se, but are mediated by ones beliefs about the experience. so what actually happens is not as NB as how we interpret what happens.

Question 47

What is Beck's cognitive model?

Answer 47

states that emotions and behaviours are heavily influenced by individual perceptions or cognitive appraisals of events. so how ppl interpret events. 3 main lvls of cognition: 1. schemas 2. info processing biases and intermediate beliefs 3. automatic thoughts

Question 48

What are schemas?

Answer 48

internal representations of stored info and experiences. used to organize new info in a meaningful way and help to determine how we perceive and understand whats going on around us.

Question 49

What is content-specificity?

Answer 49

when different types of beliefs/thoughts are related to different psychopathology. ie anxiety is related to thoughts about the world being dangerous, the future uncertain, and the self inadequate.

Question 50

What are information processing biases and intermediate beliefs?

Answer 50

these biases often take the form of selective attention or enhanced memory for info thats schema consistent. ie those with high lvls of anxiety paying more attention to threatening stimuli. also if-then statements and inaccurate causal attributions.

Question 51

What are automatic thoughts?

Answer 51

the frequent thoughts that pop into our mind and are not accompanied by conscious appraisal. stem directly from a persons core beliefs or schemas in interaction with the enviro.

Question 52

What is the goal of cognitive therapy?

Answer 52

aims to help clients shift from unhealthy appraisals to more realistic and adaptive ones.

Question 53

What does cognitive therapy involve?

Answer 53

tx is highly collaborative and involves designing specific learning experiences to teach clients how to monitor automatic thoughts; understand the relationships among cognition, affect, and behaviour; examine the validity of automatic thoughts; develop more realistic and adaptive cognitions; and alter underlying beliefs, assumptions, and schemas.

Question 54

What is mindfulness?

Answer 54

the awareness that arises through paying attention in a particular way: on purpose in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally. have to be aware of and accept your experiences in the moment.

Question 55

What symptoms can mindfulness help decrease?

Answer 55

worry, fear, anxiety, anger and other forms of psychological distress.

Question 56

What disorders can be effectively treated with mindfulness based interventions?

Answer 56

depression, substance abuse, borderline personality disorder, anxiety disorders, bings eating, and for reducing stress.

Question 57

What benefits can mindfulness have on a persons psychological health?

Answer 57

patients view their thoughts and emotions as passing mental events rather than identifying with them or believing thoughts to be an accurate representation of reality.

Question 58

Who were the two biggest advocates of the humanistic view, and what did they emphasize?

Answer 58

carl rogers 1902-1987. person centered theory bc he considered the person to be of central importance in understanding behaviour. distressing kife events or the perception of events as distressing distort a persons perception of their subsequent experiences. abraham maslow 1908-1970. believed that ppl are good and that they behave dysfunctionally inly as a result of experience or their interpretation of it that has derived them from the path of self actualization. he has a hierarchy of needs that when fully satisfied results in the actualization of the persons potential.

Question 59

What is the existentialists view?

Answer 59

see the individuals awareness of their own existence as a critical feature of human functioning. brings the realization that we will cease to exist. loss of direction and meaning in our lives is a threat.

Question 60

Who are the leaders of the existentialist view?

Answer 60

rollo may, viktor frankl, irvine yalom.

Question 61

What is treatment by existentialists?

Answer 61

directed at confronting clients with their responsibility for their actions and assisting them in finding meaning in their lives.

Question 62

What is public stigma?

Answer 62

the perception held by a group or society that a person who seeks psychological treatment is undesirable or socially unacceptable .

Question 63

What is self stigma?

Answer 63

the reduction of an individuals self esteem or self worth caused by the individual self labeling themselves as someone who is socially unacceptable. the internalization of public stigma can lead to self stigma and that leads individuals to have neg attitudes towards seeking help.

Question 64

There is clear evidence that which type of support from close others is a significant factor in preventing or reducing the intensity of psychological problems and that the absence of such support is a factor in the causal chain leading to dysfunction?

Answer 64

social support.

Question 65

What does the systems theory propose?

Answer 65

that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. sees causation as the combined effect of multiple factors that are likely to be bidirectional.

Question 66

What is the diathesis stress perspective?

Answer 66

a predisposition to developing a disorder interacting with the experience of stress causes mental disorders.

Question 67

What is the biopsychosocial model?

Answer 67

says disorders are the product of biological, social, and psychological factors.