CHAPTER 2: Models of Abnormality Flashcards
What do models influence in investigators in abnormal psychology?
they inline whats investigators observe, the questions they ask, the information they seek, and how they interpret this information
Sometimes in conflict models focus on?
Sometimes in conflict, each model focuses on one aspect of human functioning and no single model can explain all aspects of abnormality.
A model can explain all aspects of abnormality. TRUE or FALSE
FALSE
What do models/paradigms used by scientists and clinicians to treat abnormality do?
- Explain events and basic assumptions
- Guide treatment techniques and principles
- Involve several models to explain abnormality
What is the biological model?
Has a biological basis and medical perspective
What does the biological model consider?
Considers illness to be brought about by malfunctioning parts of the organism
What does the biological model points out problems in?
points to problems in brain anatomy or brain chemistry
What does the biological model provide full understanding of?
thoughts, emotions, and behaviour, must include understanding of their biological basis
What are the different sources fo abnormalities?
- Abnormalities in brain anatomy or chemistry are sometimes the result of genetic inheritance
- Genes that contribute to mental disorders may be viewed as mistakes of inheritance
Abnormalities in brain anatomy or chemistry are sometimes the result of genetic inheritance suggests that?
that inheritance plays a part in mood disorders, schizophrenia, and other mental disorders.
in most cases, several genes combine to produce actions and reactions
What do evolutionary theorists suggest?
- Genes contribute to adaptation and survival
- contemporary pressures may cause this genetic inheritance to be less adaptive and leave come people prone to abnormal psychological patterns
What are the three leading biological treatments today?
- Drug therapy
- Brain stimulation
- Psychosurgery
What do biological partitioners do?
attempt to identify the physical source of dysfunction to determine the course of treatment
What are the 4 major drug groups used in drug therapy?
- Anti-anxiety drugs
- Antidepressant drugs
- Anti-bipolar drugs
- Antipsychotic drugs
When did drug therapy begin?
1950s: advent to psychotropic medications
What is Direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertisement?
- Appeals directly to the consumer; seen by 80 percent of Americans
- Has information about psychotropic drugs 50 percent of the time
- Allowed only in the US and New Zealand
Contributions to Direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertisement?
- Patient education about available drugs
- Increased involvement of patients in their own care
Drawbacks to Direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertisement?
- Higher drug costs related to advertising expenses
- Patient misinformation
- Pressure on doctors to prescribe inappropriate DTC-advertised drugs
What is Brain Stimulation?
Direct or indirect brain stimulation
What are the 4 approaches of brain stimulation?
- Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
- Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)
- Deep Rabin stimulation
What is psychosurgery?
Brain surgery for mental disorders
What are the strengths of the biological model?
- Enjoys considerable respect in the field
- Constantly produces valuable new information
- Treatments bring great relief
What are the weaknesses of the biological model?
- Limits understanding of abnormal function by excluding non-biological factors
- May produce significant undesirable effects
What is the oldest and most famous model?
The Psychodynamic model
Who developed the theory of psychoanalysis?
Freud
What did freud propose in the theory of psychoanalysis?
Proposed person’s behaviour determined largely by underlying unconscious, dynamic, psychological forces.
Suggested abnormal symptoms are the result of conflict among these forces
What were the three levels of Freud’s view of the human mind (the mental iceberg)?
Conscious Level
Subconscious Level
Unconscious Level
How did Freud explain normal and abnormal functioning?
Three unconscious forces shape personality: instinctual needs, rational thinking and moral standards
- Id: Pleasure principle
- Ego: Reality principle
- Superego: Morality Principle
How do other psychodynamic explanations differ from Freud’s?
Despite differences, each theory posts human functioning is shaped by dynamic (interacting) forces
Self theorists
- Emphasize the unified personality
Object-relations theorists
- Emphasize the human need for relationships, especially between children and caregivers
What do psychodynamic seek to do?
Seek to uncover past trauma and inner conflicts with the therapist acting as a guide
- Free association
- Therapist interpretation
- Catharsis
- Working Through
the brain is made up of _______ nerve cells called ______ and _____ of support cells called ____
86 billion
neurons
thousands of billions
glia
toward the top of the brain is a cluster of structures, collectively referred to as?
the cerebrum
The cerebrum includes?
the cortex, corpus callous, basal ganglia, hippocampus, and amygdala
Clinical researchers have sometimes linked particular psychological disorders to problems in specific parts of the brain, an example of thus is?
Huntington’s disease
What is Huntington’s disease?
A disorder marked by involuntary body movements, violent emotional outburst, memory loss, suicidal thinking, and absurd beliefs
Huntington disease has been linked in part to a loss of?
loss of cells in the basal ganglia and cortex
Information is communicated throughout the brain in the form?
Electrical impulses that travel from one neuron to one or more others.
An impulse is first received by a neuron’s dendrites, antenna-like extensions located at one end of the neuron. From there it travels down the neutrons exon, a long fiver extending from the neuron’s body.
Finally, it is transmitted through the nerve ending at the end of the axon to the entries of other neurons.
How do messages get from the nerve ending of one neuron to the dendrites of another?
After all, the neurons do not actually touch eachother. A tiny space called the synapse, separates one neuron from the next, and the message must somehow move across that space. When an electrical impulse reaches a neuron’s ending, the nerve ending is stimulated to release a chemical called a neurotransmitters, that travels across the synaptic space to receptors on the dendrites of neighbouring neurons….
What are the two types of therapies in current trends?
- Short-term psychodynamic therapies
- Relational psychoanalytic therapy
What is Short-term psychodynamic therapies?
In several short versions of psychodynamic therapy, patients choose a single problem - a dynamic focus - to work on, such as difficulty getting along with other people. The therapist a patient focus on this problem throughout the treatment and work only on the psychodynamic issues that relate to it.
What is relational psychoanalytic therapy?
Freud believed that psychodynamic therapists should take on the role of a neutral, distant expert during a treatment session.
Relational psychoanalytic therapy argues that therapists are key figures in the lives of patient - figures whose reactions and beliefs should be included in the therapy process. The key principle of relational therapy is that therapists should also disclose things about themselves, particularly their own reactions to patients and try to establish more equal relationships with patients
What are the strengths of the psychodynamic model?
- First to recognize the importance of psychological theories and systematic treatment for abnormality
- Saw abnormal functioning nested in the same processes as normal functioning
What are the weaknesses of the psychodynamic model?
- Unsupported ideas; difficult to research
- Non-observable concepts
- Inaccessible to human subjects (unconscious)
What is the cognitive-behavioural mode?
- Focuses on maladaptive behaviors and/or cognitions in understanding and treating psychological abnormality
- Shares key principles between behavioral and cognitive perspectives
what is the behavioural dimension of the cognitive-behvaioural model?
Uses conditioning
- classical conditioning
- modeling
- operant conditioning
Therapists, as teachers, seek to help replace problematic behaviours with more appropriate behaviours
What is the Bandura Study?
Modelling may account for some forms of abnormal behaviours. Study by Bandura and his Colleagues demonstrated that children learned to abuse a doll by observing an adult hit it. Children who had not been exposed to the adult model did not mistreat the doll.
What is the cognitive dimension of the cognitive behavioural model?
Focuses on maladaptive thinking processes
- Inaccurate/disturbing assumptions and attitudes
- Illogical thinking
Therapists help clients recognize, challenge, and change problematic thinking
What does the cognitive dimension of the cognitive behavioural model propose?
that we can best understand abnormal functioning by looking at cognitive processes – the centre of behaviours, thoughts, and emotions
What does the cognitive dimension of the cognitive behavioural model argue?
It argues that clinicians must ask questions about the assumptions, attitudes, and thoughts of a client.
What is cognitive-behavioural interplay?
of the cognitive behavioural model?
Strengths of the cognitive behavioural model?
- Powerful force in clinical field
- Very broad appeal
- Clinically useful
- Focuses on a uniquely human process
- Theories lend themselves to research
- Therapies are effective in treating several disorders
Weaknesses of the cognitive behavioural model?
- Powerful force in clinical field
- Very broad appeal
- Clinically useful
- Focuses on a uniquely human process
- Theories lend themselves to research
- Therapies are effective in treating several disorders
What is the humanist view of humanistic-existential model?
- Emphasis on people as friendly, cooperative, and constructive
- Focus on drive to self-actualize through honest recognition of strengths and weaknesses
What is the existentialist view of humanistic-existential model?
- Emphasis on accurate self-awareness and meaningful life (authentic)
- Total freedom from birth can result in negative or positive behaviors/outcomes
- Psychological dysfunction is caused by self-deception
What is Rogers humanist theory and therapy?
Basic human need for unconditional positive regard
- If received → unconditional self-regard
- If not → conditions of worth
Rogers’ client-centered therapy
- Therapist creates a supportive climate
- -Unconditional positive regard
- -Accurate empathy
- -Genuineness
Little research support but positive impact on clinical practice
What is the Gestalt theory and therapy?
Goal is to guide clients toward self-recognition through challenge and frustration
Techniques
- Skillful frustration
- Role playing
- Rules, including “here and now” and “I” language
Little research support; subjective experiences and self-awareness cannot be objectively measured
Spiritual views and interventions of the the humansitic-existential model?
- Historical alienation between the clinical field and religion seems to be ending
- Researchers suggest spirituality can correlate with psychological health
- Many clinicians now encourage use of spiritual resources to cope with stressors
What are the 2 existential theories and therapy?
- Psychological abnormality
- Existential therapy
Strengths of the humansitic-existential model?
- Taps into domains missing from other models
- Emphasizes the individual
- Optimistic
- Emphasizes health
Weaknesses of the humansitic-existential model?
- Focuses on abstract issues
- Difficult to research
- Weakened by disapproval of scientific approach; may be changing
What is the sociocultural model?
Abnormal behaviour includes social and cultural forces that influence an individual
- Address norms and roles in society
Includes two major perspectives
- Family-social perspective
- Multicultural perspective
How do family-social theorists explain abnormal functioning?
Proponents argue that theorists should concentrate on forces that operate directly on an individual
- Social labels and roles; diagnostic labels
- Social connections and supports
- Family structure and communication
What is family-social treatments?
Psychological problems emerge and are best treated in family and social settings
Perspective helped spur growth of several treatment approaches
- Group therapy
- Family therapy
- Couple (marital) therapy
- Community treatment
What is avatar therapy (virtual reality therapy)?
Clients use three-dimensional graphical representations to interact in a virtual world of social situations
- Treating phobias, traumatic memories, fears, and other disorders
- Treating social anxiety, loneliness, and hallucinations
What is the multicultural perspective?
- All behavior and treatment are best understood in the context of culture, cultural values, and external pressures in that context
- Prejudice and discrimination may impact abnormal functioning
What is the treatment for the multicultural perspective?
Therapist effectiveness enhanced
- Greater sensitivity to cultural issues
- Inclusion of cultural morals and models
- Culture-sensitive therapies, gender-sensitive therapies
Strengths of the sociocultural model?
- Added to clinical understanding and treatment of abnormality
- Increased awareness of clinical and social roles
- Have been clinically successful when other treatments have failed
Weaknesses of the sociocultural model?
- Research is difficult to interpret
- Models are unable to predict abnormality in specific individuals
