Psychopathology Exam 1

Question 1

what is the textbook definition of a psychological disorder?

Answer 1

(1) psychological dysfunction within in an individual associated with
(2) distress or impairment in functioning and a response that is
(3) not typical or culturally expected

Question 2

psychological dysfunction

Answer 2

a breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behvioural functioning

Question 3

personal distress or impairment

Answer 3

self-explanatory

Question 4

atypical or not culturally expected

Answer 4

self-explanatory

Question 5

psychopathology and its 3 categories

Answer 5

the study of psychological disorders

(1) description
(2) causation
(3) treatment

Question 6

the scientist-practioner

Answer 6

taking a scientific approach (ex: mental health practitioners that do this in their clinical work)

Question 7

what are the three functions of a scientific-practitioner and describe them

Answer 7

1) consumer of science
2) evaluator of practice: determining effectiveness of practice
3) creator of science: conducting research that leads to new procedures useful in practice

Question 8

etiololgy

Answer 8

why a disorder begins or what causes it

Question 9

three historical approaches

Answer 9

(1) supernatural: exorcism
(2) biological: physical care and search for medical cure, specifically drugs
(3) psychological: therapy

Question 10

psychoanalysis major facets

Answer 10

(1) structure of the mind: id, ego, superego
(2) defence mechanisms
(3) psychosexual stages of development
freud

Question 11

humanism

Answer 11

positiveness of human nature

Question 12

behaviourism

Answer 12

greater emphasis on cognitive and social factors involved in learning

Question 13

Three Main Approaches to Defining Mental Disorders

Answer 13

1) Prototype (Textbook/DSM)​
2) Harmful dysfunction (Wakefield)​
3) Ignore the question (Cosmides & Tooby)

Question 14

Prototypical Approach

Answer 14

theres a list of criteria
must be reliable and valid
not always necessary nor sufficient

Question 15

reliable

Answer 15

2 different psychologists meet w the same person would end up with the same answer

Question 16

valid

Answer 16

is it really about the thing we’re trying to assess

Question 17

Wakefield’s harmful dysfunction

Answer 17

A psychological disorder is a harmful dysfunction

(1) A dysfunction is a failure of an internal mechanism to perform naturally selected functions (the explanatory criterion)
(2) The outcome is harmful to the individual from the standpoint of a persons culture

Question 18

Ignore the Question

Answer 18

Clinicians are concerned about helping people, not fixing disorders, the treatable condition

Question 19

the treatable condition

Answer 19

1) A characterizable (identifiable) condition. Need to be able to say what this person’s condition is, why are they coming to see me?​
2) A valuation that the condition is negative (i.e., harmful, undesirable, unhealthy) and requires change
3) The condition is changeable

Question 20

multidimensional influens (4)

Answer 20

1) biological
2) behavioural
3) emotional and cognitive
4) social

Question 21

describe genes

Answer 21

25,000n genes on 23 pairs of chromosomes
made up of nucleotides (A C G T)
code for amino acids to form proteins

Question 22

monomorphic vs polymorphic

Answer 22

having only one possibility for the trait of a gene (one possible skin colour for a jaguar) vs having many different possibilities for it

Question 23

quantitative genetics

Answer 23

the study of relative importance in genes and the environment in producing individual differences in behavioural phenotypes
heratibility

Question 24

molecular genetics

Answer 24

the study of the role of specific genes in creating a phenotype

Question 25

polygenic effect

Answer 25

one characteristic controlled by two or more genes

Question 26

epigenetics

Answer 26

the study of changes in inheritance without altering the genes
a mother exposed to stress during pregnancy may have smaller than average daughters and these daughters may have smaller than average daughters even if they are not exposed to stress during pregnancy

Question 27

diathesis-stress model

Answer 27

vulnerability (gene, temperament, etc) + stressor (death in family, job loss, etc) = disorder

Question 28

gene-environment correlation

Answer 28

some genes make people more likely to be exposed to a certain environment, and these environments in turn have an effect on behaviour