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CU: Abnormal Psychology > Test 1: Lecture Flashcards > Flashcards

Test 1: Lecture Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the standards for defining abnormal behaviors?

A

1) Societies Norms: Rules of right and wrong; what to do when, where, and with whom (diff culture to culture)
2) Statistical Rarity: Substantial deviation from the calculated average (“average” may be immoral)
3) Personal Discomfort: Unhappy about their person (still may be abnormal even if they are happy with it)
4) Maladaptive Behavior: Daily demands of life cannot be met
5) Deviation from an ideal: Stray from an ideal to a greater or lesser degree (who creates the ideal?)

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2
Q

What are the basic categories when considering signs of a mental disorder?

A
  • Behavior is harmful to self or others
  • Poor reality contact
  • Inappropriate emotional reaction
  • Erratic behavior
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3
Q

What is a psychological dysfunction?

A

Associated with distress and/or impairment in functioning - it is a breakdown in functioning in cognition, emotion, and behavior.
Think 4 D’s:
- dysfunction (disrupt social/occupational/daily),
- distress (unpleasant/upsetting: affect others),
- deviance (different, extreme, unusual: statistical/cultural deviance)
- Danger (interfere w/ life or risk of harm)

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4
Q

What are the distress and impairment aspects of psychological dysfunction? Rule of thumb?

A

Distress: normal in certain situations
- dysfunctional: person MUCH more distressed than others would be
Impairment: Must be pervasive and/or significant
- Mental disorders are often exaggerations of normal processes
Rule of Thumb: mental disorder - harmful dysfunction

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5
Q

What is the DSM? Current version? Use?

A

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Menal Disorders
Five
- Standard for abnormal behavior: keeps mental health workers on same page (criteria)

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6
Q

What are the mental health professionals for psychopathology?

A

(Scientific study of psychological disorders)
- Ph.D. research
- Psy.D. clinical, hands-on
- MD: psychiatrist, medications (not counseling)
- Psychiatric Nurses: often hospitals
- LCSW: Licensed Clinical Social Worker: delivering treatment (Masters Level)
- Science-practitioner: current with research, evaluates own assessments & treatment, conducts research

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7
Q

What starts the clinical description?

A

Presenting problem: what pt says

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8
Q

What does the clinical description describe?

A
  • Clinically significant dysfunction vs common human experience
  • Prevalence: # people in population with it
  • Incidence: # new cases over certain time
  • Onset (Acute vs insidious (gradual))
  • Course: episodic, time-limited, chronic
  • Prognosis: Good/guarded
    Consider age of onset, which may shape presentation
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9
Q

What about causation, treatment, and outcomes of a psychological disorder?

A

Etiology: cause/origin, what contributes to development of the psychopathology
Treatment: include pt because they need to own it.
- How alleviate psychological suffering
- Pharmacological, psychosocial (counseling), and/or combined treatments

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10
Q

What are aspects of the supernatural tradition? (view, causes, treatment, alternative view, other)

A
  • Abnormal is a battle of “Good” vs “evil”
  • Causes: demon possession, witchcraft, sorcery
    – possessions: treat w/ shocking/scaring out spirits
  • Treatment: exorcism, torture, religious services
  • Insanity caused by emotional “stress and melancholy” = anxiety and depression (competing, coexisting view)
    – treatment: rest, sleep, healthy environment, baths, potions
  • Mass hysteria
  • Moon and Stars: their pull, –> “lunatic”
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11
Q

How has mass hysteria been seen in the past and today?

A
  • Past: Saint Vitus’s Dance/Tarantism
  • Today:
    – Emotion contagion - emotion experience seems to spread
    – Mob psychology: person ID “cause” assume reactions same source
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12
Q

What are the aspects of early biological tradition?

A

Hippocrates: Father modern Western medicine extended by Galen
- Etiology of mental disorders is physical disease, brain chemical imbalances
- Hysteria: “the wandering uterus” (psychological symptoms from uterus moving around body)
- Humoral theory: too much/little, Blood (sanguine - cheerful, optimistic, insomnia, delirium), phlegm (phlegmatic- apathy sluggishness), black bile (melancholic, depressive), yellow bile, (hot tempered)
– treatment: change environmental conditions, bloodletting/vomiting

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13
Q

What about the aspects (specific disease, hospitals, treatments, consequences) of 19th century biological tradition?

A
  • General paresis (syphilis) and the biological link w/ madness
    – symptoms, cause: bacterial, treat penicillin
  • Grey: reform hospitals better care
  • Treatment: Psychotropic meds, electric shock, surgery, insulin, tranquilizers
  • Consequences: increased hospitalization, seen as untreatable, improved diagnosis/classification, increased science
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14
Q

What about the psychological tradition treatment?

A
  • moral therapy: treat as normally as possible, more humane treatment, social interaction
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15
Q

What caused the decline in the moral therapy?

A
  • Too many hospitals, not enough staff
  • Patient staff ratio - too large
  • No leaders to follow previous leaders
  • Medical model emerged (use of meds)
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16
Q

What about psychoanalytic theory?

A
  • Freudian: unconscious (buried emotions), catharsis (release emotion)
    – structure of mind: id, superego, ego
  • Defense mechanisms: displacement & denial, rationalization & reaction formation, Projection, repression & sublimation
    – psychosexual stages of development: conflict arise & must be resolved: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages
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17
Q

What are later developments of psychoanalytic thought?

A
  • Anna Frud: self-psychology, ego influence
  • Klein, Kernberg: object relations theory: incorporate significant others in images, memories, values
  • Neo-Freudians: de-emphasized sexual core
  • Unearth hidden conflicts: real problems, free association, dream analysis, little efficacy
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18
Q

What about the humanistic theory?

A
  • Intrinsic human goodness, striving for self-actualization
  • Person-centered therapy (Carl Rogers)” empathy & unconditional positive regard, minimal interpretation. No evidence, more effective for normal life
  • Hierarchy of Needs (Abraham Maslow, basic needs fulfilled first then higher needs (self-esteem)
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19
Q

What is the behavioral model history and people associated with it?

A
  • From scientific approach
  • Classical conditioning (Pavlov & Watson) unconditioned & conditioned stimuli, association or extinction
  • Watson: more scientific, Little Albert (white)
  • Mary Cover Jones: treat phobias with exposure and extinction
  • Thorndike: Law of effect repetition based on good/bad consequences
  • Skinner; Behavior operates on environment & managed by consequences
  • Behavior therapy: new associations and habits,
  • Wolpe: systematic desensitization
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20
Q

What is the current approach to psychopathology?

A
  • Broad approach
  • Multiple, interactive influences: biological, psychological, social factors
  • Scientific emphasis: no more supernatural, advances in neuroscience and cognitive and behavioral science will add to our knowledge
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21
Q

What can effect mood and what can mood effect? What about emotions?

A

Individuals and circumstances can effect mood and vice versa
Emotions can affect physiological feelings and vice versa.

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22
Q

What is a one-dimensional model of psychopathology?

A

A model that explains behavior from one cause (one paradigm, school, or conceptual approach) that then ignores information from all other areas

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23
Q

What is a multidimensional model of psychopathology?

A

It is a model that explains behavior in an interdisciplinary, eclectic, and integrative way considering a system of influences that cause and maintain suffering. It draws upon several sources recognizing that abnormal behavior comes from multiple influences

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24
Q

What are the major influences of abnormal behavior from a multidimensional model?

A

Biological (genetics: PKU, Huntingtons, physiology), behavioral (conditioned response to sight of blood), emotional (fear, anxiety, shame), social & cultural (pos/neg attention from others), developmental, environmental, and spiritual

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25
What is genotype, phenotype, and polygenetic?
Genotype: genetic status Phenotype: how the genes manifests Polygenetic: Several genes contributing to the outcome
26
What is the diathesis-stress model? (Definition & Diagram)
Disorders are the result of underlying risk factors combining with life stressors that cause a disorder to emerge [genes] --> *Environmental stressors: trauma, conflict, significant life change* [environment] --> --> [**possibility** of a psychological disorder] [healthy coping skills: prayer, scripture, exercise, eat/rest well, social support]
27
What is the function of neurotransmitters?
Chemical messengers to transmit messages between brain cells
28
What are agonists?
Chemical substances that increases the activity of a neurotransmitter by mimicking its effects
29
What are inverse agonists?
Chemical substances that produce effects opposite to a given neurotransmitter (most drugs are agonistic or antagonistic)
30
What are antagonists?
Inhibit/block the production of a neurotransmitter/function
31
What about serotonin?
- circuits: 6 in brain - influences: behavior, mood, and thought processes - Extremely low: less inhibition, instability, impulsivity, overreactions, depression, anxiety, aggression, suicidal thoughts, impulsive over-eating, excessive sexual behavior - Rx: SSRI (serotonin specific reuptake inhibitor) ie Celexa, Lexapro, Prozac, Pazil, Zoloft, St. John's Wart - Tx: Anxiety, mood, and eating disorders
32
What about glutamate and GABA?
Chemical brothers because they work together to balance brain function Glutamate: - Excitatory transmitter: "turns on" many different neurons leading to action GABA - inhibitory transmitter: "puts the breaks on" reducing post-synaptic activity - best known effect: reduce/inhibit anxiety - Rx: benzodiazepines: minor tranquilizers - reduce arousal and emotional responses and reduce anger/hostility/aggression and relaxes muscles
33
What about norepinephrine (noradrenaline)?
circuits: major in CNS - one regulates basic bodily functions - another influences emergency reactions/alarm responses Regulates/modulates: behavioral tendencies when we are faced with dangerous situation
34
What about dopamine?
- circuits: five in brain - implicated: in schizophrenia, Parkinsons, addictions, depression, ADHD - Described: as "switch" aka turning on brain circuits that facilitate/inhibit emotions and behaviors - Associated: with pleasure-seeking behaviors - Low level: muscle rigidity, tremors, impaired judgement
35
REVIEW BOOK
Neurotransmitters & medications
36
What are the contributions of behavioral and cognitive science?
- **Classical conditioning:** Pavlov - **Respondent & operant learning:** repeat behaviors based on desirable/undesirable consequences - **Learned helplessness:** Rats occasional shocks give up trying - **Social learning:** Albert Bandura, copy what goes well for others
37
What is the role of emotion in psychopathology?
- Nature: elicit or evoke action, (action tendency different from affect and mood) - Components: behavior, physiology, cognition (fear: anxious thoughts, elevated heart, tendency to flee) - anger: greater risk for cardiovascular disease than many physiological risk factors (reversed by practicing forgiveness)
38
What can result from problematic reactions to our own emotions?
Psychopathology - many types of psychopathology are maintained by problematic reactions to our own emotions - suppressing negative emotions increases sympathetic nervous system activity - Dysregulated emotions are key features of many mental disorders ie panic attack & fear
39
How do cultural, social, and interpersonal factors effect psychopathology?
- Cultural: influence form & expression (raised to be less fearful, fear only exist b/c certain culture) - Gender: Men & women differ in emotional experiences (insects, bulimia, alcohol) may be related to gender roles & coping - Social stigma: limit degree to which express mental disorder
40
What is clinical assessment?
Assessment - testing - systematic evaluation and measurement of psychological, biological, social, and spiritual factors
41
What is diagnosis?
The degree of fit between symptoms and diagnostic criteria (found in DSM-5)
42
What is the purpose of clinical assessment?
Understanding the individual, predicting behavior, treatment planning, evaluating outcomes - Funnel: broad, multidimensional start that narrows to specific problems
43
What is reliability?
The degree of consistency of a measurement - inter-rater reliability: across 2+ raters - test-retest reliability: across time
44
What is validity?
Does the test measure what it's supposed to? - Concurrent (descriptive): between results of one assessment with another measure known to be valid - Predictive: how well the assessment predicts outcomes - Construct: Degree to which test or item measures the unobseravble construct it claims to measure
45
What is standardization?
- Application of certain standards to ensure consistency across different measurements - Provides normative population data ie: administration procedures, scoring, evaluations
46
What are the key concepts in assessment?
Antecedents: the event that provoked, triggered, or caused the behavior Behavior: actions that can be **positive**, **problematic**, or **pivotal** Consequences: Outcome that resulted from the behavior can **extinguish** or **encourage** the behavior
47
What is the clinical interview used for? What are some forms?
- Most common clinical assessment method - Structured (same questions & order) or semi-structured (outline followed w/ flexibility to ask more/less depending on interviewee needs)
48
What is the mental status exam?
Used to assess individual by - Appearance and behavior - Thought processes - Mood and affect - Intellectual functioning - Sensorium: orientation x3 (person, place, time)
49
What about the physical examinations?
Helpful when diagnosing mental health problems because rule out - toxicities - medication side effects - allergic reactions - metabolic conditions
50
What are the aspects of behavioral observation?
- Identification and observation of target behaviors (behavior of interest) - Direct observation by assessor/individual/loved one - Goal: determine the factor that are influencing target behaviors - Getting to the heart of the matter
51
What are the questions of the spiritual selfie?
1) What do I think about 2) How do I spend my money 3) How do I spend my time 4) What words do I speak (most reliable gauge)
52
What are the types of behavioral assessment?
Behavioral observation and self-monitoring
53
What are the aspects of self-monitoring?
- when individual observes self - may be informal or formal (established rating scales) - the problem of reactivity: (observation may cause behavior to change)
54
What is psychological testing? What are the types of tests?
Specific tools for assessing cognition, emotion, and behavior - includes specialized areas like personality and intelligence - examples: blocks, Myers-Briggs, projective,
55
What are projective tests?
Think Freud--what you have buried inside will be projected (psychoanalytic tradition, unconscious process, project personality- ambiguous test stimuli) - requires high degree of inference in scoring and interpretation (very **subjective**)
56
What are examples, strengths, and criticisms of projective tests?
- Ex: Rorschach inkblot test, Thematic/children's apperception test, House-Tree-Person - Strengths: icebreaker, qualitative data - Criticisms: hard to standardize, reliability & validity data is mixed
57
What are objective tests?
Tests rooted in empirical tradition - stimuli less ambiguous - minimal inference in scoring and interpretation Ex: Beck depression/anxiety
58
What is an example of a personality test?
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - Extensive reliability, validity, and normative data - 567 items, true/false - interpretation: individual scales, profiles
59
What about intelligence tests?
- Nature of intellectual functioning and IQ - IQ deviation: compare same age - Verbal & performance domains
60
What are the purpose, goals, examples and problems with neurophysiological testing?
- Purpose: assess broad range of skills and abilities - Goal: understand brain-behavior relations - Examples: Luria, Nebraska, Halstead-Reitan batteries, assess brain damage, grip, rhythm sound, math, memory, attention, concentration - Problem: false positives/negatives
61
What are the aspects of neuroimaging?
Is: pictures of the brain Objectives: - Structure: CT (XR), MRI - Function: PET, SPECT, (radioactive isotopes), fMRI Advantage: detailed info, better understanding of structure/function Disadvantages; not well understood, expense, limited --> inadequate norms
62
What is the purpose, domain, and use/examples of psychophysiological assessment?
- Purpose: asses brain structure & function & nervous sys activity - Domains: EEG (wave activity) - ERP: event related potentials (spike), HR &strong physiological component resp, electrodermal (sweat) - Uses: routine psychophysiological assessment- disorders with - Ex: PTSD, sexual dysfunctions, sleep disorders, headache, hypertensions
63
What is important about classification?
- part of all sciences: categories based on attributes/relations - ideographic (individual) & nomothetic (groups) strategy - Taxonomy: classification in a scientific context - Nosology: taxonomy in psychological/medical phenomena - Nomenclature: labels in a nosologically system - Classical categorical, dimensional, prototypical (combination)
64
What has changed with the DSM-5?
- Removed axial system - clear inclusion & exclusion criteria for disorders - categorized under broad headings - empirically-grounded, prototypic approach - new disorders: symptoms x adequately explained existing labels - problem: comorbidity extremely common

CU: Abnormal Psychology (7 decks)

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