Chapters 1-4 (Exam 1)

Question 1

Define psychological disorder

Answer 1

Psychological dysfunction associated with distress or impairment in functioning that’s not a typical or culturally expected response

Question 2

Define phobia

Answer 2

A psychological disorder characterized by marked and persistent fear of an object or situation

Question 3

If someone passes out repeatedly from witnessing blood or injury, what is their mental disorder?

Answer 3

Blood-injury-injection phobia, a type of specific phobia

Question 4

Define psychological dysfunction

Answer 4

A breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning

Question 5

Define personal distress

Answer 5

An individual in a state of being extremely upset or impaired

Question 6

Give an example of a cultural expectation being violated

Answer 6

For example, if a culture expects to hear voices only during rituals, if someone hears them at other times, then that cultural expectation for behavior is being violated

Question 7

Define abnormal

Answer 7

Behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunctions that are unexpected in their cultural context and associated with present distress and impairment in functioning or increased risk of suffering, death, pain, or impairment

Question 8

Some scholars argue that we haven’t defined what term properly?

Answer 8

Disorder or disease

Question 9

A typical profile of a disorder is called a ____

Answer 9

prototype

Question 10

Marriage and family therapists

and mental health counselors typically have what kind of degree? Where are they employed?

Answer 10

They typically spend 1–2 years earning a master’s degree and are employed to provide clinical
services by hospitals or clinics.

Question 11

The most important recent development

in psychopathology is what?

Answer 11

the adoption of scientific methods to learn more about psychological disorders, their causes, and
their treatment

Question 12

Many mental health professionals take a scientific approach to their clinical work and therefore are
called _________

Answer 12

scientist–practitioners

Question 13

Mental health practitioners function as scientist–practitioners in three ways. Describe them.

Answer 13

First, they keep up with the latest developments in their field and therefore use the most current diagnostic and treatment procedures. In this sense, they are consumers of the science of psychopathology.
Second, they evaluate their own assessments or treatment procedures to see whether they work. They are accountable not only to their patients, but also to government agencies and insurance companies, so they must demonstrate that their treatments work.
Third, they conduct research that produces new information about disorders or their treatment. Such research attempts three basic
things: describe psychological disorders, determine their causes, and treat them

Question 14

Psychopathology is the scientific study of _____ ______

Answer 14

psychological disorders

Question 15

Describe the different professions within the field of psychopathology

Answer 15

Examples include clinical and counseling psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric social workers, psychiatric nurses, marriage and family therapists, and mental health counselors. Clinical and counseling psychologists
receive the PhD degree (or sometimes an EdD, doctor of education, or PsyD, doctor of psychology) and follow a course of graduate-level study, lasting approximately 5 years, that prepares them to conduct research into the
causes and treatment of psychological disorders and to diagnose, assess, and treat these disorders. Psychologists with other specialty training, such as experimental and social psychologists, investigate the basic determinants of behavior but do not assess or treat psychological disorders. Psychiatric social workers and psychiatric nurses are also included.

Question 16

What’s the difference between clinical and counseling psychologists?

Answer 16

Counseling psychologists tend to study and treat adjustment and vocational issues encountered by relatively healthy individuals, and clinical psychologists usually concentrate on more severe psychological disorders.

Question 17

What do psychiatric social workers do?

Answer 17

They typically earn a master’s degree
in social work as they develop expertise in collecting information about the social and family situation of the individual with a psychological disorder. Social workers also treat
disorders, often concentrating on family problems

Question 18

What do psychiatric nurses do?

Answer 18

Psychiatric nurses have advanced degrees and specialize in the care and treatment of patients with psychological disorders, usually in hospitals as part of a treatment team.

Question 19

Define presenting problem

Answer 19

Original complaint reported by the client to the

therapist. The actual treated problem may be a modification derived from the presenting problem.

Question 20

Define clinical description

Answer 20

Details of the combination of behaviors, thoughts,

and feelings of an individual that make up a particular disorder.

Question 21

Define prevalence

Answer 21

Number of people displaying a disorder in the total population at any given time (compare with incidence)

Question 22

Define incidence

Answer 22

Number of new cases of a disorder appearing during a specific period (compare with prevalence)

Question 23

Define course

Answer 23

Pattern of development and change of a disorder over time.

Question 24

Define prognosis

Answer 24

Predicted development of a disorder over time.

Question 25

Define and give examples of the three different courses a disease typically can have

Answer 25

Some, such as schizophrenia, follow a chronic course, meaning that they tend to last a long time.
Others, like mood disorders, follow an episodic course, in that the individual is likely to
recover within a few months only to suffer a recurrence of the disorder at a later time.
Still other disorders may have a time-limited course, meaning they will improve without treatment in a relatively short period.

Question 26

What are the two typical types of onset of a disorder and why are they important?

Answer 26

Some disorders have an acute onset,
meaning they begin suddenly; others develop gradually over an extended period, which is sometimes called an insidious onset.
It is important to know the typical course of a disorder so we can know what to expect and how best to deal with the problem

Question 27

What aspect of a patient’s demographics is important to consider when evaluating their diagnosis and prognosis?

Answer 27

Their age; A disorder occurring in childhood may present differently from the same disorder in adulthood or old age. For example, children experiencing severe anxiety often assume they are physically ill.

Question 28

The study of changes in behavior over time is called _____

Answer 28

Developmental psychology

Question 29

The study of changes in abnormal behavior is called _____

Answer 29

Developmental psychopathology

Question 30

Study of abnormal behavior across the entire age span is referred to as _______

Answer 30

Life-span developmental psychopathology

Question 31

Define and describe etiology

Answer 31

The study of origins; has to do with why a disorder begins and includes biological, psychological, and
social dimensions

Question 32

Psychology is rarely simple because the ____does not necessarily imply the ____.

Answer 32

effect; cause

Question 33

Humans have always assumed that agents may affect our behavior, which might be divinities,
demons, spirits, or other phenomena such as magnetic fields or the moon or the stars. These things are the driving forces behind the _______ _____

Answer 33

supernatural model

Question 34

Explain the split that resulted in the biological model and psychological model

Answer 34

The mind has often been called the soul or the psyche and considered separate from the body. Although many have thought that the
mind can influence the body and, in turn, the body can influence the mind, most philosophers looked for causes of abnormal behavior in one or the other. This split gave rise to two traditions of thought about abnormal behavior: the
biological model and the psychological model.

Question 35

Define exorcism

Answer 35

Religious ritual that attributes disordered behavior to possession by demons and seeks to treat the individual by driving the demons
from the body

Question 36

The church identified symptoms of depression such as despair and lethargy with the sin of ____

Answer 36

acedia (sloth)

Question 37

What happened in the middle ages if an exorcism failed?

Answer 37

In the Middle Ages if exorcism failed, some authorities thought that steps were necessary to make the body uninhabitable by evil spirits,
and many people were subjected to confinement, beatings, and other forms of torture (hanging someone over poisonous snakes, dunking them in cold water, etc).