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Clinical Psychology > Lecture 3: Chapter 2: Current Approaches in Psychopathology > Flashcards

Lecture 3: Chapter 2: Current Approaches in Psychopathology Flashcards

1
Q

What are the 4 types of influences that guide the study and treatment of psychopathology?

A
  1. Genetic
  2. Neuroscience
  3. Cognitive behavioral
  4. Socioemotional
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2
Q

What is epigenetics?

A

The study of how the environment can alter gene expression or function

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3
Q

What are 2 current insights of genetic research?

A
  1. Almost all behavior is heritable to some degree
  2. But genes don’t operate in isolation from the environment
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4
Q

How many chromosomes does a human have?

A

46, each consisting of many genes

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5
Q

What are genes?

A

Parts of a chromosome that carry DNA (genetic info)

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6
Q

What is gene expression?

A

Proteins turning genes on and off

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7
Q

What does it mean that psychopathology is polygenetic?

A

Genetic vulnerability is caused by the influence of multiple genes turning themselves on and off as they interact with a person’s environment

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8
Q

What is heritability? What are 2 important characteristics?

A

Statistical measure that refers to the extent to which variability in behavior in a population can be attributed to genetic influences

  1. Range from 0-1, high number is high heritability
  2. It’s relevant for large population, not individuals
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9
Q

What are 2 types of environmental factors that are important in genetic research?

A
  1. Shared environment: things common to family members, such as parenting practices or family income
  2. Non-shared environment: things that are unique to individual members of the family (friends etc.)
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10
Q

What is behavioral genetics?

A

The study that explores to what extent genes and environment contribute to certain behaviors

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11
Q

What is the difference between genotype and phenotype?

A

Genotype = physical sequence of DNA, total genetic make up of someone. It’s dynamic (gene expression)

Phenotype = observable behavioral characteristics. It changes over time and is the product of genotype-environment interaction

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12
Q

What is molecular genetics?

A

The study that seeks to identify genes and their functions

The main focus is identifying sequence and structure differences in genes

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13
Q

What are alleles?

A

Different forms of the same gene

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14
Q

What is genetic polymorphism?

A

Refers to a difference in DNA sequence on a gene that has occurred in a population

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15
Q

What is the function of RNA?

A

DNA in genes are transcribed to RNA. Then RNA can be translated into amino acids, which form proteins. These proteins can serve all kinds of functions, such as making cells

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16
Q

What is single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPS)?

A

Difference between people in a single nucleotide in the DNA sequence of a particular gene

They’re the most common types of polymorphism in the human genome

It has been studied in schizophrenia, autism and mood disorders

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17
Q

What are copy number variations (CNVs)? What are the 2 types?

A

Abnormal copy of one or more sections of DNA within the gene

  1. Addition
  2. Deletion
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18
Q

What are genome-wide association studies (GWAS)?

A

Study of SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) and CNVs (copy number variations)

Computers isolate differences in genetic sequence between people who suffer from psychological disorders and people who do not

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19
Q

What is gene-environment interaction?

A

Genes can influence a person’s sensitivity to an environmental event

Genes can cause us to look for certain environments that increase the risk of developing a specific disorder

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20
Q

How can the genetic paradigm help us in psychopathology? What are 3 challenges that remain?

A

It helps us understand how genes are implicated in psychopathology

  1. How exactly the gene-environment interaction works
  2. Complex because several genes contribute to one disorder
  3. Most of genetic vulnerability increases rsik for psychopathology broadly more than for one specific disorder
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21
Q

SNPs tell us about the … of genes
CNVs tell us about the … of genes

A

SNPs: sequence
CNVs: structure

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22
Q

What are the 3 domains of neuroscientific research that are interesting for understanding influences in psychological disorders?

A
  1. Neurons and neurotransmitters
  2. Brain structure and function
  3. Neuroendocrine system
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23
Q

What are the 4 parts of a neuron?

A
  1. Cell body
  2. Dendrites
  3. Axons
  4. Terminal buttons at end of axon
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24
Q

What is a synapse?

A

Small gap between terminal endings of the sending axon and the cell membrane of the receiving neuron. This is the area neurotransmitters are sent from one to another

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25
Q

What are neurotransmitters?

A

Chemicals that allow neurons to send a signal across the synapse to another neuron

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26
Q

Which neurotransmitters may be involved in depression/mania/schizophrenia and which neurotransmitter in anxiety disorders?

A

Depression/mania/schizophrenia = dopamine and serotonin

Anxiety disorders = GABA

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27
Q

What are the 2 types of messages a neurotransmitter can send?

A

Inhibitory: makes postsynaptic cell less likely to create a new action potential

Excitatory: leads to creation of action potential in postsynaptic cell

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28
Q

What is meant with reuptake of neurotransmitters?

A

Neurotransmitters that aren’t received by post synaptic cell are either broken down in the synapse or there is reuptake from the pre-synaptic cell

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29
Q

What are gyri and sulci?

A

Gyri: ridges
Sulci: cavities

Describes structure of the brain

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30
Q

What is the difference between grey and white matter?

A

Grey: cell body material, form the outer covering of the brain

White: interior of the brain, where the large tracts of myelinated axons are

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31
Q

What are ventricles?

A

Cavities filled with cerebrospinal fluid deep in the brain. The fluid circulates through the brain through these ventricles which are connected to the spinal cord

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32
Q

What is the limbic system? What are the 5 important structures of it?

A

Structures that support the expressions of emotions and primary motivations

  1. Anterior cingulate
  2. Septal area
  3. Hippocampus
  4. Hypothalamus
  5. Amygdala
33
Q

What is pruning?

A

The elimination of synaptic connections when a child’s brain is developing. There will be fewer connections in the brain, but they will become faster

34
Q

What are 3 types of connectivity in the brain?

A
  1. Structural connectivity
  2. Functional connectivity
  3. Effective connectivity
35
Q

What is structural connectivity?

A

How structures are connected with white matter

36
Q

What is functional connectivity?

A

Connectivity between brain regions based on correlations between their BOLD responses measured with fMRI

37
Q

What is effective connectivity?

A

Combines structural and functional connectivity. It reveals correlations between BOLD responses in different regions but also the direction and timing of those activations

38
Q

What are brain networks?

A

Clusters of brain regions that are connected in activation

39
Q

What is the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA)?

A

Plays important role in stress

40
Q

What happens in the neuro-endocrine system when there is a great threat? Explain in 3 steps

A
  1. Hypothalamus releases CRF (corticothrophin releasing factors) to the pituitary gland
  2. Pituitary gland releases adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) to the adrenal cortex
  3. Adrenal cortex in kidneys releases cortisol (stress hormone)
41
Q

Which 2 disorders are linked to chronic stress?

A

Schizophrenia and depression

42
Q

What are the 2 systems of the autonomic nervous system and what is their function?

A
  1. Sympathetic: fight/flight
  2. Parasympathetic: rest and digest
43
Q

What is the role of cytokines?

A

They are proteins that are released when there’s an infection, fatigue and activation of HPA axis.

Pro-inflammatory cytokines have been implicated in depression and schizophrenia

43
Q

How do antidepressants and benzodiazepines work?

A

Antidepressants (Prozac): inhibiting reuptake of serotonin

Benzodiazepines: stimulates GABA neurons to inhibit systems responsible for physical symptoms of anxiety

44
Q

What does it mean we have to be cautious of reductionism?

A

The view that psychopathology and complex psychological disorders can be reduced to biological factors

The causal link between neurotransmitters and psychopathology isn’t strong

45
Q

What is behaviorism?

A

The idea that problem behavior can continue if reinforced

46
Q

What is behavioral activation (BA) therapy?

A

It involves helping a person engage in tasks that provide positive reinforcement

47
Q

What is exposure as a behavioral treatment?

A

It involves facing the object or situation causing the anxiety without harm

48
Q

What is time-out as a way to extinguish problem behavior?

A

The person is sent for a period of time to a location where positive reinforcers are not available

(in de hoek staan voor stoute kinderen)

49
Q

Why is behaviorism and behavior therapy criticized?

A

They minimize the importance of thinking and feeling

50
Q

What is cognition?

A

The mental processes of perceiving, recognizing, conceiving, judging and reasoning

51
Q

What are schemas? What are 2 ways to adjust schemas?

A

People and animals structure their experiences by creating schemas, which is an organized network of accumulated knowledge

  1. Assimilation
  2. Accommodation
52
Q

What is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)?

A

It attempts to influence thoughts, perceptions, self-statements and unconscious assumptions in order to modify overt and covert disturbed behavior

53
Q

What is cognitive restructuring?

A

Changing pattern of thought

54
Q

What therapy did Aaron Beck develop and what was his idea behind it?

A

Developed cognitive therapy for depression based on the idea that a depressive mood is caused by disturbances in the way people perceive life experiences

55
Q

For which 3 disorders are negative cognitive tendencies a good predictor?

A

Depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and PTSD

56
Q

What are 2 things you need to consider when linking emotional disturbances with psychopathology?

A
  1. Consider which emotion components are affected
  2. Ideal affect: emotional states a person ideally wants to feel
57
Q

On what does ideal affect depend?

A

It depends on cultural factors (how someone ideally wants to feel)

58
Q

What are 4 sociocultural factors that influence different psychological disorders?

A
  1. Gender: disorders have different effect on men and women
  2. Poverty: related to antisocial disorder and anxiety
  3. Cultural/ethnic factors: some mental disorders can be observed in different cultures but their conceptualization varies. Other disorders are specific to cultures (eating disorders)
  4. Race: schizophrenia is more prevalent among blacks compared to whites
59
Q

What are examples of interpersonal factors and how are they related to disorders?

A

The quality of family, relationships, social support and the amount of casual social contact

They influence the course of disorders

60
Q

What is interpersonal therapy (IPT)?

A

It encourages the patient to identify feelings about his/her relationships and to express these feelings and then help the patient generate solutions to interpersonal problems

61
Q

What 4 interpersonal issues are assessed in interpersonal therapy (IPT)?

A
  1. Unresolved grief: deleayed grieving following a loss
  2. Role transitions: transitioning from child to parent e.g.
  3. Role disputes: resolve different relationship expectations
  4. Interpersonal/social deficits: finding it difficult to negotiate with boss at work
62
Q

What is stress?

A

Subjective experience of distress in response to perceived environmental problems

63
Q

Why can’t you establish a causal relationship in the study of the effects of environment en socioemotional influences?

A

You can’t experimentally study it. That is ethically not okay

64
Q

What are 2 obstacles in the study of the effects of environment and socioemotional influences?

A
  1. No causal relationship possible to assess
  2. Many socioemotional influences are strongly related to one another (e.g. poverty and stress)
65
Q

What are the 3 components of emotion?

A
  1. Expression
  2. Experience
  3. Physiology
66
Q

What are the 6 schools of thought?

A
  1. Behavior/learning
  2. Cognitive theory
  3. Experiential
  4. Psychodynamic
  5. Genetics
  6. Neuroscience
67
Q

What are the 3 levels of description, explanation and research?

A
  1. Complaints & symptoms (clinical practice)
  2. Processes (experimental clinical research)
  3. Physiology (fundamental research)
68
Q

What is the diathesis stress model? Describe how it looks

A

Heritable predisposition + early experiences
–> influences strengths and vulnerabilities

Strength/vulnerabilities (diathesis) + stress –> influences complaints/symptoms

Complaints/symptoms have feedback loop to diathesis and stress, which then loops back to symptoms again

69
Q

Give examples of heritable predispositions and early experiences in the diathesis stress model

A

Heritable: genotype, temperament

Early exp.: nurture, care, trauma, deprivation

70
Q

Give examples of strenghts and vulnerabilities (diathesis) in the diathesis stress model

A

Fenotype, schemas, cognitions, attributions, attachment style, personality, neuro endocrine etc.

71
Q

Give examples of support and stress in the diathesis stress model

A

Social environment, medication, psychotherapy, daily stress, trauma, life events etc.

72
Q

What is the dodo bird effect? What risk does this way of thinking entail?

A

The effect that most therapies are equally effective in trials

Risk: some treatments can be harmful in some situations

73
Q

What are 3 factors in Evidence Based Practice (EBP) in Psychology?

A
  1. Individual clinical expertise
  2. Best external evidence
  3. Patient values & expectations
74
Q

Who was a pioneer in client-centered therapy? How does it work?

A

Carl Rogers: he let the client figure it out himself and helped to make sense of all that happens around the client and provide clarity. It helps a person to see one’s potential

75
Q

What are 3 aspects of a therapist in client centered therapy?

A
  1. Authenticity
  2. Unconditional positive regard
  3. Empathy
76
Q

What is the theory of self-actualization (Rogers)?

A

Understand more aspects of the self and become more integrated unique personality. Better understand and accept others and cope with the problems of life more readily

Not very well supported though

77
Q

How did Albert Ellis pioneer early cognitive therapy?

A

Ellis challenges one’s cognition very actively by talking a lot and telling client what she has to think

This sometimes works for people who never really had support. It sometimes gives you guts to try new behavior

78
Q

What is gestalt therapy according to Perls? Why can it be harmful?

A

It’s process oriented and focuses on experiencing the here and now.

It uses techniques such as the empty chair technique.

It’s sometimes effective and sometimes harmful. Harmful because a strong emotional event memory is formed

Clinical Psychology (10 decks)

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