Ch. 18 Study Guide

Question 1

Is schizophrenia caused by genetic factors? Describe the evidence

Answer 1

Concordance rates in monozygotic twins is 45% and greater than that for fraternal twins (10%) suggesting that there is a genetic component but it doesn’t completely explain schizophrenia

Question 2

Describe research findings that cannot be explained by the D2 version of the dopamine theory of schizophrenia

Answer 2

• Neuroleptics block activity at D2 receptors within hours, but it takes weeks before clinical benefit is observed
• Only a small portion of patients with schizophrenia are benefitted by Neuroleptics
• Neuroleptics only alleviate positive symptoms of schizophrenia

Question 3

Define Unipolar depression

Answer 3

Depression patients who do not experience periods of mania

Question 4

Define Bipolar depression

Answer 4

Depression patients who experience periods of mania

Question 5

Define Reactive depression

Answer 5

Depression triggered by a negative experience

Question 6

Define Endogenous depression

Answer 6

Depression with no apparent cause

Question 7

What are mood stabilizers and why were they developed

Answer 7

• Drugs that act against depression without increasing mania or, conversely, act against mania without increasing depression
• They were motivated by finding that antidepressants reduce depressive symptoms but led to mania

Question 8

How does the textbook define anxiety

Answer 8

Chronic fear that persists in the absence of any direct threat

Question 9

Describe the five classes of anxiety disorders

Answer 9

• Generalized anxiety disorders: Stress and anxiety in the absence of a causal stimulus
• Phobic anxiety disorders: similar to generalized, triggered by exposure to particular objects
• Panic disorders: Attacks of extreme fear and stress; may occur within other disorders or alone
• Obsessive-Compulsive disorders: Frequently recurring, uncontrollable, anxiety producing thoughts (obsessions) and impulses(compulsions)
• Post traumatic stress disorders: Persistent pattern of physiological distress following exposure to extreme stress

Question 10

Involuntary, repetitive, stereotyped movements are called _______ and occur in _______ syndrome

Answer 10

Tics

Tourette’s

Question 11

Define and provide examples of positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia

Answer 11

Positive: Symptoms that seem to represent an excess of normal function (ex: delusions, hallucinations, inappropriate affect: failure to react with appropriate emotion to events, incoherent speech or thought, odd behavior)

Negative: Symptoms that seem to represent a reduction or loss of normal function (ex: affective flattening: reduction or absence of emotional expression, alogia: absence of speech, abolition: reduction or absence of motivation, anhedonia: inability to experience pleasure, Catatonia: remaining motionless)