Midterm 1 Flashcards
(238 cards)
Psychological disorder
A specific manifestation of this impairment of functioning (mental illness) as described by some set of criteria that have been established by a panel of experts
Psychopathology
Both the scientific study of psychological abnormality and the problems faced by people who suffer from such disorders
Culturally relative
- The norms of a particular culture determine what is considered to be normal behaviour, and abnormality can be defined only in reference to these norms
- the functions and acceptability of various behaviours vary by culture, rather than being universal truths; as such, an individual’s beliefs and activities should be understood in terms of his or her own culture
Psychological abnormality
Behaviour, speech, or thought that impairs the ability of a person to function in a way that is generally expected of him or her, in the context where the unusual functioning occurs
Psychiatrists
Trained in medicine prior to doing specialized training in dealing with mental illness
- focus on diagnosis & medical treatment that emphasizes use if pharmacological agents in managing mental disorders
- attend to medical & biological foundations, although usually consider psychological and environmental influences
Psychiatric nurses
Have received formal training in nursing before completing a specialization in psychiatric problems
- typically work in hospital settings
Psychiatric social workers
Usually have a graduate degree in social work, and they provide assistance to clients in adjusting to life within their families and the community
- attend to the influence of the social environment on disordered clients
Occupational therapists (OTs)
May practice in Canada with a bachelor degree along with field- training experience
- sometimes involved in providing mental health care
- may provide a broad range of services on rehabilitation teams and typically focus on helping clients to improve their functional performance
Tabula rasa
John Locke: a blank slate upon which experience writes all that is meaningful in thought and behaviour (attribute no effects at all to biology)
Clinical psychologists
Initially trained in general psychology and then receive graduate training in the application of this knowledge to the understanding, diagnosis, and amelioration of disorders of thinking and behaviour
Single factor explanation
Attempts to trace the origins of a particular disorder to one factor
Interactionist explanations
- View behaviour as the product of the interaction of a variety of factors
- generally make more satisfactory theories in describing mental disorders
Scientific theories are judged to be valuable because they embody these three essential features:
1) they integrate most of what is currently known about the phenomena in the simplest way possible (parsimony)
2) they make testable predictions about aspects of the phenomena that were not previously thought of; and
3) they make it possible to specify what evidence would deny the theory
Mental illness
Often used to convey the same meaning as psychological abnormality, but it implies a medical rather than a psychological cause
Are experiments set up to
a) prove the worth of a theory or
b) to reject (or fail to reject) the null hypothesis
b) to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis (never trying to “prove” a theory)
Null hypothesis
Proposes that the prediction made from the theory is false
General aims of theories about mental disorders
1) explain etiology
2) identify factors that maintain he behaviour
3) predict the course of the disorder
4) design effective treatments
Etiology
The causes or origins of the problem behaviour
Is it better to think of brain activity as
a) located in a single area of the brain or
b) concentrated in one or more areas
b) concentrated in one or more areas
Neurotransmitters
Chemical substances that carry the messages from one neuron to the next in the complex pathways of nervous activity within the brain
Four ways abnormal behaviour can result from disturbances in neurotransmitter systems:
1) there may be too much or too little of the neurotransmitter produced or released into the synapse
2) there may be too few or too many receptors on the dendrites
3) there may be an excess or a deficit in the amount of transmitter deactivating substances in the synapse
4) the reuptake process may be too rapid or too slow
Brain plasticity
The incredible capacity of the brain to reorganize its circuitry
Peripheral nervous system contains
- somatic nervous system & autonomic nervous system (ANS)
Somatic nervous system
Controls the muscle