Chapter 16

Question 1

Name and describe 3 broad criteria of abnormal behavior that must be present before that behavior is diagnosed as psychological disorder.

Answer 1

Statistical deviance - is the person’s behavior outside of normal range of behavior

Maladaptiveness - does the person’s behavior pose a danger to self or others?

Personal distress - does the behavior cause personal anguish or discomfort?

Question 2

Define developmental psychopathology and contrast the developmental psychopathology perspective to a medical or disease perspective

Answer 2

Developmental psychopathology - A field of study concerned with the origins and course of maladaptive or psychopathological behavior

Alan Sroufe believes that psychopathology is not a medical condition or disease that people have or are born with but rather the outcome of a developmental process.

Question 3

Describe the diathesis stress model of psychopathology (illustrate with an example)

Answer 3

Psychopathology results from the interaction over time of a vulnerability to psychological disorder (diathesis) and the experience of stressful events.

Diathesis is a predisposing genetic makeup, physiology, set of cognitions, personality or a combination of those.

Example: Predisposed to depression - not likely you will become depressed unless there is a compounding of stressful events. Similar to gene-environment correlation.

Question 4

Describe the two defining features and four abnormalities of brain functioning associated with autism spectrum disorder

Answer 4

Two features

1. Social and communication deficits - difficulty with social cues
2. Restricted and repetitive interests and behaviors

Four abnormalities

1. Mute
2. Rocking
3. Flapping hands
4. Disorganized attachments

Question 5

List and briefly describe suspected causes of autism, including genetic and environmental influences

Answer 5

Genetic - links with twins; chromosones, older father

Environmental - virus or chemicals in the environment interacting with a genetic predisposition; prenatal exposures; epigenic effects and gene expression

Question 6

What are 2 early experiences that could contribute to depressive symptoms in infancy?

Answer 6

Family environment - abuse, neglect, important attachment severed, depressed caregiver.

Question 7

Describe the symptoms of depression in young children. What is the preferred treatment?

Answer 7

Losing interest in activities, eating poorly, express excessive shame or guilt, sadness, irritability.

Question 8

Major depressive disorder

Answer 8

An affective or mood disorder characterized by at least one episode of feeling profoundly sad and hopeless, losing interest in almost all activities, or both.

Question 9

Diathesis stress model

Answer 9

Psychopathology results from the interaction over time of a vulnerability to psychological disorder and the experience of stressful events

Question 10

Substance use disorder

Answer 10

Occurs when a person continues to use a substance despite adverse consequences such as putting the person in physical danger or interfering with work or school

Question 11

Cascade model of substance use

Answer 11

Transactional, multifactor model that envisions development as a flow of water, gaining momentum and contributing to the next influence in the chain

Question 12

Ruminative coping

Answer 12

Way of managing stress that involves dwelling on problems and attempting to analyze them; may help explain higher rates of depression in females than in males

Question 13

Social norms

Answer 13

A socially defined expectation about how people should behave in particular social contexts.

Question 14

Age norms

Answer 14

Societal expectations about what behavior is appropriate or normal at various ages

Question 15

Classic autism

Answer 15

Abnormal social and communication development, restricted interests, repetitive behavior

Question 16

Asperger syndrome

Answer 16

Normal or above average intelligence, good verbal skills, but deficient social cognitive and social communication skills

Question 17

Co-morbid

Answer 17

Occurring with other disorders

Question 18

Resilience

Answer 18

High function in the presence of risk factors

Question 19

Ivar Lovaas

Answer 19

Autism treatment with applied behavior analysis

Question 20

Simon Baron-Cohen

Answer 20

Extreme male brain hypothesis

Question 21

Bulimia nervosa

Answer 21

Binge purge syndrome

Question 22

Anorexia nervosa

Answer 22

Literally “nervous loss of appetite”

Question 23

Describe gender differences in adolescent suicidal behavior

Answer 23

Females attempt suicide more often than males do, but males more often commit suicide when they try. This is mainly because men use more lethal techniques (especially guns).

Question 24

Describe the major characteristics of dementia and Alzheimers

Answer 24

Dementia is a progressive deterioration of neural functioning associated with cognitive decline—for example, memory impairment, declines in tested intellectual ability, poor judgment, difficulty thinking abstractly, and often personality changes as well

The first noticeable symptoms of Alzheimer’s, detectable 2–3 years before dementia can be diagnosed, are usually difficulties remembering recently encountered material such as new acquaintances’ names or yesterday’s lunch menu

Question 25

Explain how one can distinguish between irreversible dementias like Alzheimers and reversible dementias delerium, depression and normal aging

Answer 25

Reversible dementias can be caused by alcoholism, toxic reactions to medication, infections, metabolic disorders, vitamin deficiencies, and malnutrition. If these problems are corrected—for example, if the individual is taken off a recently prescribed medicine or is placed on a nutritious diet—a once “senile” person can be restored to normal mental functioning. By contrast, if that same person is written off as a hopeless case of Alzheimer’s disease, a potentially curable condition may become a progressively worse and irreversible one.

Only after all other causes, especially potentially treatable ones, have been ruled out should a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease be made.