CHAPTER 1: Historical Background Flashcards
What is the definition of abnormal psychology?
- Scientific study of abnormal behaviour in an effort to describe, predict, explain, and change abnormal patterns of functioning
- Many definitions of been proposed but none of them has won total acceptance
What are the two common features across all definition of abnormal psychology?
The four Ds
- Deviance
- Distress
- Dysfunction
- Danger
Influences
- Norms
- Culture
- Context
Is Abnormal Psychology defined by general criteria in society?
Yes
What did Thomas Szasz posit regarding societal involvement?
Posits that societal involvement may invalidate the concept of mental illness
What is treatment/therapy?
- Procedure designed to change abnormal behavior into more normal behavior
- Definitional challenges closely related to defining abnormality
What are the essential features of all therapy forms?
- Sufferer or patient
- Trained, socially accepted healer or therapist
- Series of therapeutic contacts between the healer and the sufferer
- Despite their differences, most clinicians agree that large numbers of people need therapy of one kind or another
Has every society in the present and past witnessed psychological abnormality?
Yes
What did ancient societies raged abnormal behaviour as?
the work of evil spirits
What were ancient societies treatment for abnormal behaviour?
Trephination and exorcism
How did the greek/roman (500 B.C. to 500 A.D.) views on abnormal behaviour differ than those of ancient times?
• Philosophers and physicians offered different explanations
and treatments for abnormal behaviors
• Hippocrates believed and taught that illnesses had natural causes; four humors
What were the greek/roman (500 B.C. to 500 A.D.) treatments for abnormal behaviour?
- Quiet life
- Vegetable diet
- Temperance
- Exercise
- Celibacy
- Bleeding
When did demonology return?
500-1350 A.D. – Middle Ages
What happened when demonology returned in 500-1350 A.D.? How did the perception of abnormalities change?
• Church rejected scientific forms of investigation and controlled
all education
• Mental disorders had demonic causes; mass madness; shared delusions and hallucinations
• At the close of the Middle Ages, demonology and its methods began to lose favor again
What was the treatment of abnormalities in 500-1350 A.D. when demonology returned?
- Exorcism
- Torture
- Gradually hospitalization
How did perception of abnormalities change in 1400-1700 A.D.?
With increased scientific knowledge, demonological views of abnormality continued to decline
Who is Johann Weyer? and what did he believe?
Weyer was the first mental health physician; believed that the mind was as susceptible to sickness as the body
When did the reform and moral treatment begin?
19th century
What happened during the 19th century?
Care of people with mental disorders began to improve
Moral treatment movement ended in the United States and Europe by the early twentieth century
What did Pinel and Tuke contribute?
Advocated moral treatment that emphasized humane and respectful techniques
What did Benjamin Rush promote?
- Promoted moral treatment in the United States
* Movement disintegrated in the late nineteenth century; mental hospitals warehoused inmates and provided minimal care
When did people with severe disturbances begin to get cared for?
New psychotropic medications discovered in 1950s
What were the New psychotropic medications discovered in 1950s?
A) Antipsychotic drugs
B) Antidepressant drugs
C) Anti anxiety Drugs
What did the New psychotropic medications discovered in 1950s lead to?
deinstitutionalization and rise in outpatient care
How were people with severe disturbances treated before the 1950s?
Almost all outpatient care took the form of private
psychotherapy
How are people with severe disturbances treated today?
- Outpatient care is the primary mode of treatment; more insurance coverage
- Prevention programs are increasing; positive psychology has grown
- Programs dealing with one kind of psychological problem have been created
How are people with severe disturbances treated today?
- Outpatient care is the primary mode of treatment; more insurance coverage
- Prevention programs are increasing; positive psychology has grown
- Programs dealing with one kind of psychological problem have been created
Does the multitude of Digital distractions provide the foundation for shorter attention spans?
Yes
What do clinical researchers do?
- Discover universal laws and principles
- Search for nomothetic understanding
- Do not typically assess, diagnose, or treat individual clients
- Rely on the scientific method
Research is the systematic search for facts through the use of careful observations and investigations. TRUE of FALSE?
TRUE
Clinical researchers depend on three methods of investigation: What are they?
- Case study
- Correlational method
- Experimental method
How are case studies helpful?
- Detailed, interpretative description of a person’s life and psychological problems
- Source of new ideas about behavior
- Tentative support for a theory
- Challenge of a theory’s assumptions
- Introduction of new therapeutic techniques
- Opportunities to study unusual problems
What are the limitations of case studies?
- Biased observers
- Subjective evidence (low internal validity)
- Little basis for generalization (low external validity)
What is correlation?
Degree to which events or characteristics vary with each other
• Positivecorrelation
• Negativecorrelation
• Unrelated
What is the correlational method?
Research procedure used to determine the co-relationship
between variables
When can correlations be trusted?
Correlations can be trusted based on a statistical analysis of probability
What is Statistical significance?
The finding is unlikely to have occurred by chance
Advantages of the correlational method?
- Has high external validity (can generalize findings)
* Can repeat (replicate) studies with other samples
Difficulties with correlational studies?
- Lack internal validity
* Describe but do not explain a relationship or causation
Definition of cofound variable?
Variables other than the independent variable that may also be affecting the dependent variable
What are the 3 features to guard against confounds?
- Control group
* Random assignment • Masked (blind) design
What is random assignment?
Any selection procedure that ensures that every participant in the experiment is as likely to be placed in one group as another
What is masked (blind) design?
Experiment in which participants do not know which assigned group they are in
• Placebo therapy
What is double-masked design?
Experiment in which both participants and experimenters are unaware of the groups to which participants are assigned
What is Matched (mixed) designs?
• Participants are not randomly assigned to groups, but rather
placed in existing groups
• Matched control groups are used to address confounds based on demographic and other variables
What is natural experiments?
• Nature manipulates the independent variable and the
experimenter observes the effects
• Events cannot be replicated at will
• Broad generalizations cannot be drawn from a single study
What is single-subject experiment?
- A single participant is observed before and after manipulation of the independent variable
- Experiments rely on baseline data to set a standard for comparison
- Has higher internal validity than the case study because the independent variable is manipulated
- ABAB(reversal)design
What is longitudinal studies?
- Same individuals are observed on many occasions over a long period
- Independent variable manipulation or random assignment of participants to conditions is not possible
- Causes cannot be pinpointed
What is epidemiological studies?
Reveal the incidence and prevalence of a disorder in a particular population
• Incidence: Number of new cases that emerge in a given period
• Prevalence: Total number of cases in a given period
What is a researchers primary obligation?
Avoid physical or psychological harm for human participants
What is a core problem for all social media studies?
most social media sites do not really have policies prohibiting researchers from studying subscribers or subscriber profiles without clear permission
