Chapter 12 - Normality, Mental Health & Mental Illness

Question 1

Descriptive statistics

Answer 1

used for analysing, organising , summarising and describing results

Question 2

Experimenter Effect

Answer 2

Occurs when there is a change in a participants due to the researchers expectations, biases or actions, rather than to the effect of the IV

Question 3

Approaches to defining normality

Answer 3

Situational
Statistical
Socio-cultural
Medical
Functional
Historical

Question 4

Mental Health

Answer 4

The capacity of an individual to interact with others and the environment in ways that promote subjective wellbeing, optimal development throughout the lifespan and effective use of person’s cognitive, emotional and social abilities

Question 5

Mental Illness

Answer 5

A psychological disorder that significantly interferes with an individual’s cognitive, emotional and/or social abilities

Question 6

Categorical Approach

Answer 6

• A yes-or-no approach
• Organises mental disorders inti categories and subcategories based on shares features
• Strength: A higher degree of detail
• Limitation: high degree of overlap between symptoms of various disorders

Question 7

Dimensional Approach

Answer 7

• Rank of classifies disorders along a continuum via use of questionnaires or standardised inventories
• Strengths: Quantifying information, a richer more detailed description of an individual’s disorder is generated

Question 8

DSM & ICD-10

Answer 8

Categorical systems for diagnosing and classifying mental disorders based on recognisable symptoms that are precisely described for each disorder

Question 9

Axis 3 Of DSM

Answer 9

General Medical Conditions

- Provides information about medical conditions that may have caused disorder from Axis 1 & 2

Question 10

Biopsychosocial Framework

Biological

Answer 10

Physiological based or determined influences, often not under our control, such as genes we inherit and our neurochemistry

Question 11

Biopsychosocial framework

Psychological

Answer 11

Influence associated with mental processes such as how we think; learn;make decisions; solve problems; perceive our internal and external environments; perceive, understand and experience emotions; manage stress; reconstruct memories; and so on

Question 12

Biopsychosocial framework

Social

Answer 12

Skills in interacting with others, the range and quality of our interpersonal relationships, and the amount and type of support, available from others when needed

Question 13

Stress

Answer 13

A state of physiological and psychological arousal produced by internal or external stressors that are perceived by the individual as challenging or exceeding their ability or resources to cope

Question 14

Stressor

Answer 14

Any person, situation or event that has the potential to produce stress

Question 15

A stress response

Answer 15

Physiological and psychological changes that occurs when people are confronted by stressor

Question 16

Fight-flight response

Answer 16

Increased respiration rate
Increased glucose secretion by the liver
Dilation of pupils

Question 17

HPA axis

Answer 17

Hypothalamus stimulates the nearby pituitary gland
Pituitary gland secretes hormones such at ATCH
ATCH stimulates the adrenal cortex secretes cortisol

Question 18

Eustress

Answer 18

A positive psychological response to a stressor

Question 19

Distress

Answer 19

A negative psychological response to a stressor

Question 20

Lazarus and Folkman’s Transactional Model - Primary Appraisal

Answer 20

Evaluate, or ‘judge’, the significance of the situation.

Irrelevant, benign-positive or stressful

Question 21

Problem-focused coping

Answer 21

Effort to manage or change the change the cause the cause or source of the stress; that is, the stressor

Question 22

Emotion-focused coping

Answer 22

Efforts to deal with our emotional response to the stressor

Question 23

Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model strengths

Answer 23

The transactional model focuses on psychological determinants of the stress response over which we do have control and emphasises the personal nature and individuality of the stress response

Question 24

Inferential Statistics

Answer 24

Interpreting and giving meaning to the results.

e.g. p-value

Question 25

Social Factors that influence stress

Answer 25

Relationships, loneliness, feelings of isolation

Question 26

Cultural Factors that influence stress

Answer 26

Language difficulties, racial prejudice and lower socioeconomic status

Question 27

Environmental Factors that influence stress

Answer 27

Crowding, loud noise, air pollution

Question 28

Biofeedback

Answer 28

A technique that enables an individual to receive information about the state of bodily processes

• Meditation
• Relaxation
• Physical exercise

Question 29

Relaxation

Answer 29

Reducing psychological and physiological arousal

Question 30

Coping with stress

Answer 30

Social support

Help or assistance provided by other people when needed