Chapter 15: Psychological Disorders Flashcards
Dr. Thurman has been asked to assess a young man who was found wandering the streets and acting strangely. When Dr. Thurman questions him, he cannot remember who he is or any information about his past. Dr. Thurman believes the woman is experiencing ________.
a) depersonalization disorder
b) fugue
c) dissociative identity disorder
b) fugue
Psychodynamic theorists believe that dissociative disorders are caused by ________.
a) repression
b) displacement
c) regression
d) projection
a) repression
Zuri did not do well on her history test. If Zuri makes internal, stable, and global statements about her poor test performance, she is at risk for developing ________. This would support the ________ theory.
a) bipolar disorders; learned helplessness
b) depression; learned helplessness
c) bipolar disorder; attribution-helplessness
d) depression; attribution- helplessness
b) depression; learned helplessness
________ involves drawing broad negative conclusions on the basis of a single insignificant event.
a) Overgeneralization
b) Cognitive dissonance
c) Magnification
d) Selective perception
a) Overgeneralization
According to the concept of ________, individuals can start out from very different places and yet, over time, because of life experiences, eventually function (or dysfunction) in similar ways.
a) selective perception
b) overgeneralization
c) multifinality
d) equifinality
d) equifinality
Giovanni believes that he is the pope of the Catholic church. He has told his family that he is only living in their house because he needed a break from his duties and insists that he will go back to Vatican City shortly. This is an example of ________.
a) a delusion of reference
b) a delusion of fame
c) a delusion of grandeur
d) a delusion of persecution
c) a delusion of grandeur
Learned helplessness may lead to depression if a person attributes failure to ________.
a) socio-cultural factors that are outside of the person’s control
b) a lack of control over the rewards and punishments in their lives and hold themselves responsible for this helpless state
c) their intelligence level and their inability to anything about it
d) their personality characteristics and their lack of emotional control
b) a lack of control over the rewards and punishments in their lives and hold themselves responsible for this helpless state
Mehdi is having trouble sleeping, has lost his appetite, is too tired to go to work, and CANNOT concentrate on simple television shows. It is most likely that Mehdi is experiencing a ________.
a) bipolar disorder
b) dysthymic disorder
c) major depressive disorder
d) cyclothymic disorder
c) major depressive disorder
Declan had two public incidents of becoming intensely fearful to the point where he was dizzy, shaking, and hyperventilating. Once an adventurous thrill-seeker, he is now cautious and avoidant of any experiences that he perceives as potentially distressing. Declan is exhibiting characteristics of ________.
a) acrophobia
b) generalized anxiety disorder
c) panic disorder
d) agoraphobia
c) panic disorder
Which of the following is NOT one of the somatoform disorders?
a) conversion disorder
b) hypochondriasis
c) somatization disorder
d) bipolar disorder
d) bipolar disorder
Abnormal Psychology
Scientific study of psychological disorders
No universal definition of what is abnormal behavior
* Deviance: Behaviour, thoughts, emotions are highly unusual,
deviate from social norms
* Distress: Distress felt by the person or others
* *Dysfunction: Interference with daily living
* *Danger: May put themselves at risk
Is eccentricity abnormal?
- An eccentric is a person who deviates
from common behaviour patterns or
displays odd or whimsical behaviour. - Eccentrics do not typically suffer from
psychological disorders, and
eccentricity is not an absolute but a
continuum.
What is abnormal behaviour?
Abnormal behaviour is characterized by behaviour that is
atypical or statistically uncommon within a particular culture or
that is maladaptive or detrimental to an individual or to those
around that individual.
Deviance
Deviance: Behaviour, thoughts, and emotions are considered abnormal when
they differ from a society’s ideas about proper functioning. Judgments of
deviance and abnormality vary from society to society.
Distress
Distress: To be considered abnormal, behaviours, ideas, or
emotions usually must also cause distress or unhappiness.
Dysfunction
- Abnormal behaviour also tends to interfere with daily
functioning, as opposed to behaviour that is simply eccentric
but a part of a person’s life. - When behaviour upsets people so that they cannot take
proper care of themselves, interact well with others, or work
effectively, then it is referred to as abnormal.
Danger
Danger: Some people with psychological dysfunction are more likely to
become dangerous to themselves but are less likely to harm others.
How is a psychological disorder classified?
A symptom is a physical, behavioural, or mental feature that helps indicate a
condition, illness, or disorder. Fatigue is often a symptom of depression, for
example. Similarly, poor concentration can be a symptom of anxiety, and
hallucinations may indicate schizophrenia (Ernst, 2006).
International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10)
System used by most countries to classify psychological disorders;
published by the World Health Organization and currently in its tenth
edition.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V)
*Manual used to diagnose mental disorders in North America.
*Provides a categorical list of symptoms for all 400 mental disorders.
The Neuroscience Model
- Neuroscientists have also linked some mental disorders to deficient or
excessive activity of different neurotransmitters. - For example, Depression seems to be related to insufficient activity of the
neurotransmitters, norepinephrine and serotonin (Beck & Alford, 2009). - In addition to focusing on neurotransmitters, neuroscience researchers have
learned that mental disorders are sometimes related to abnormal hormonal
activity in the body’s endocrine system. Abnormal secretions of the hormone
cortisol, for example, also have been tied to depression (Qin et al., 2016;
Vrshek-Schallhorn et al., 2013).
Reductionist perspective
Reductionist perspective: reduce complex phenomenon to a single cause.
Reductionist views such as biomedical models neglect the complex interplay of
biological and non-biological factors, including a person’s environmental
experiences.
Biopsychological perspective
recognizes the links between each of these
important areas (biological, social, psychological, and cultural variables) of human
development (Wade & Halligan, 2017). Biological (e.g., genes), Psychological (e.g.,
personality, ability to cope) and Social components (e.g., cultural and social
interactions).
Diathesis-stress model
Disorders arise from an interaction of internal and external
causes. A person may inherit a genetic predisposition (a diathesis) for a disorder,
but that it will remain undeveloped unless triggered by an external (stressful) life
event
The Cognitive- Behavioural Model
Mental Disorders are the result of maladaptive learned
behaviours and problematic thinking.
* Behaviour and thinking interact and influence each other.
* Acknowledge that emotions and biological factors also interact with
behaviour and cognition.
- To more fully understand the cognitive-behavioural model, it is
useful to first examine the behavioural and cognitive components
separately. - At one time, the behavioural model stood alone, and behaviourists
used only principles of conditioning and modelling to explain
abnormal functioning
The Psychodynamic Model
Underlying, perhaps unconscious psychological forces cause conflict.
* Rooted in Freudian theory.
* Fixation - being trapped at an early stage of development due to
traumatic childhood experiences.
The Socio-cultural Model
A society’s characteristics create stressors for some of its members.
* Widespread social change.
* Socio-economic class.
* Cultural factors.
* Social networks and supports.
* Family systems.
Social Change
When a society undergoes major change, the mental health of its
members can be greatly affected. Societies undergoing rapid urbanization,
for example, usually show a rise in mental disorders (Anakwenze & Zuberi,
2013).
* Unemployment and poverty are strongly linked to psychological dysfunction
Cultural factors
- Many theorists believe that human behaviour, including abnormal
behaviour, is understood best by examining an
individual’s unique cultural context, including the values of that
culture and the external pressures faced by members of the culture
(Matsumoto & Juang, 2016; Alegria et al., 2009, 2007, 2004).
e.g., groups such as LGBT+ individuals, economically disadvantaged groups,
ethic and racial minority groups, women face special pressures in society
which may produce feelings of stress and abnormal functioning.
Social networks and Supports
- Many theorists focus on the social networks in which people operate,
including their social and professional relationships. How well do they
communicate with others? What kind of signals do they send to or receive
from others? - Researchers have often found ties between deficiencies in a person’s
social networks and that person’s functioning (Liu, Gou, & Zuo, 2016; Lee,
Chung, & Park, 2016; Santini et al., 2016; Bryant et al., 2016). - They have observed, for example, that people who are isolated and lack
social support or intimacy in their lives are more likely to become
depressed when under stress and to remain depressed longer than are
people with supportive spouses or warm friendships.
Family systems
- Family systems theory: a theory holding that each family has its own implicit rules,
relationship structure, and communication patterns that shape the behaviour of the
individual members. - How was Diane Markos’s family structured? She was required to be a third parent
in the family, which in many ways deprived her of normal childhood experiences
and emotions. In turn, she came to view her life as one of “servitude, rejection,
and failure,” and she experienced ongoing depression. - Structure and communication patterns of certain families actually force individual
members to react in ways that otherwise seem abnormal. If the members were to
behave normally, they would severely strain the family’s usual manner of operation
and would actually increase their own and their family’s turmoil.
The Developmental Psychopathology Model
- This model studies how problem behaviours evolve as a function of
a person’s genes and early experiences and how these early issues
affect the person at later life stages. - Risk factors - Biological and environmental factors that contribute to
problem outcomes.
Equifinality
The idea that different children can start from different
points and wind up at the same outcome.
Multifinality
The idea that children can start from the same point and
wind up at any number of different outcomes.
