Abnormal Psychology Flashcards
study of the nature, symptomatology, development and treatment of psychological disorders
psychopathology
challenges to the study of psychopathology
- maintaining objectivity
- avoiding preconceived notions
- reducing stigma
- breakdown in cognitive, emotional or behavioral functioning
- internal mechanism is unable to perform its usual function
psychological dysfunction
a person’s behavior may be classified as disordered if it causes him or her great distress
personal distress
impairment in some important area of life
disability
- reaction is outside cultural norms
- something is considered abnormal because it occurs infrequently
violation of social norms
is a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning
mental disorder
they begin suddenly
acute onset
develop gradually
insidious onset
disorders follow a somewhat individual pattern
course
they tend to last a long time
chronic course
likely to recover and to suffer a recurrence
episodic course
will improve without treatment in a relatively short period
time-limited course
anticipated course of a disorder
prognosis
the doctrine that an evil being or spirit can dwell within a person and control his or her mind and body thereby can be treated by exorcism
demonology
the ritualistic casting out of evil spirits
exorcism
cutting holes to the skull in the belief that evil spirits may come out
trephination
patients were shocked back to their senses by being submerged in ice-cold water
hydrotherapy
four humors:
blood, black bile, yellow bile & phlegm
was viewed as instigated by Satan, was seen as heresy and a denial of God
witchcraft
municipal authorities assumed responsibility for care of mentally ill
lunacy trials
trials held to determine sanity
lunacy trials
attributes insanity to misalignment of moon and stars
lunacy
characterized by large-scale outbreaks of bizarre behavior
mass hysteria
characterized as a time of extreme cultural and scientific growth, and a decline of religious influence
renaissance and the rise of asylums
first physician to specialize in illnesses of the mind
johann weyer
pioneered humanitarian treatment at LaBicetre
philippe pinel and jean-baptiste pussin
is said to have begun to treat the patients as sick human beings rather than as beasts
pinel
he unchained the patients and allowed them to move freely about the hospital grounds
pinel
small, privately funded, humanitarian mental hospitals
moral treatment
was bringing similar reforms to northern England
william tuke (1732-1819)
he founded the York Retreat, a rural estate where about 30 mental patients lived
william tuke
- mental hygiene movement
- crusader for prisoners and mentally ill
dorothea dix
established the germ theory of disease, which set forth the view that disease is caused by infection of the body by minute organisms
louis pasteur (1860s)
degenerative disorder with psychological symptoms and individuals with this also have syphilis
general paresis
lead to notion that mental illness can be inherited
galton
extent to which behavioral differences are due to genetics
behavioral genetics
promotion of enforced sterilization to eliminate undesirable characteristics from the population
eugenics
inducing a coma with large dosages of insulin
insulin-coma therapy
applying electric shocks that produce epileptic seizures to the sides of the human head
electroconvulsive therapy
a surgical procedure that destroys the tracts connecting the frontal lobes to other areas of the brain
prefrontal lobotomy
developed insulin-coma therapy
manfred sakel (1927)
developed ECT
cerletti and bini (1938)
developed prefrontal lobotomy
egas moniz (1935)
pioneered classification of mental illness based on biological causes
emil kraeplin
two major syndromes kraeplin proposed:
- dementia praecox
- manic-depressive psychosis
- treated patients with hysteria using “animal magnetism”
- early practitioner of hypnosis called mesmerism
mesmer (1734-1815)
according to him, hysteric symptoms could be removed through hypnosis
jean martin charcot (1825-1893)
used hypnosis to facilitate catharsis, the case of Anna O.
josef breuer (1842-1925)
release of emotional tension triggered by reliving and talking about event
catharsis
human behavior determined by unconscious forces
psychoanalytic theory
first proponent of the modern field of ego psychology
anna freud
focused on a theory of the formation of self-concept and the crucial attributes of the self
heinz kohut
- broke with freud in 1914
- analytical psychology
- collective unconscious
carl jung
- individual psychology}
- created the term inferiority complex
alfred adler
regarded people as inextricably tied to their society because he believed that fulfillment was found in doing things for the social good
individual psychology
theory of development across the life span (psychosocial development)
erik erikson
a type of learning in which a neutral stimulus is paired with a response until it elicits that response
classical conditioning
developed classical conditioning
pavlov
- behaviorism
- revolutionized psychology in 1913
- little albert
john watson
- emphasis on learning rather than innate tendencies
- focus on observable behavior
behaviorism
was one of the first psychologists to use behavioral techniques to free a patient from phobia
mary cover jones
proposed systematic desensitization
joseph wolpe
added another element by having patients do something that was incompatible with fear while they were in the presence of the dreaded object or situation
systematic desensitization
principle of reinforcement
B.F Skinner
behaviors followed by pleasant stimuli are strengthened
positive reinforcement
behaviors that terminate a negative stimulus are strengthened
negative reinforcement
- learning by imitating other’s behavior
- can occur without reinforcement
modeling
- self-actualizing was the watchword for this movement
- all of us could reach our highest potential, in all areas of functioning, if only we had the freedom to grow
humanistic theory
- most systematic in describing the structure of personality
- postulated a hierarchy of needs
abraham maslow
originated client-centered therapy
carl rogers
kind of therapy where the therapist takes a passive role, making as few interpretations as possible
client centered therapy or person-centered therapy
developed a cognitive therapy for depression
aaron beck
according to him, sustained emotional reactions are caused by internal sentences that people repeat to themselves
albert ellis
developed rational-emotive behavior therapy
albert ellis
this paradigm shows how behavior, abnormal behavior and psychopathology are being influenced by the interaction of the genes and the environment
genetic-environment paradigm
although neither behavior nor mental disorders are determined exclusively by the genes, there is substantial evidence that many mental disorders show some genetic influence
genetic vulnerabilities
means that a given person’s sensitivity or reaction to an environmental event is influence by genes
gene-environment interaction
examines the contribution of brain structure and function to psychopathology
neuroscience
chemicals that allow neurons to send a signal across the synapse to another neuron
neurotransmitter
reabsorption of leftover neurotransmitter by presynaptic neuron
reuptake
enables muscle action, learning, and memory
acetylcholine
influences movement, learning, attention and emotion
dopamine
affects mood, hunger, sleep and arousal
serotonin
helps control alertness and arousal
norepinephrine