Exam 1 Flashcards
Distress or impairment in functioning - it is a breakdown of functioning in cognitive, emotional, and behavioral areas. Involves a response that is not typical or culturally expected.
Psychological dysfunction
Occurs when person is much more distressed than others would be
Dysfunctional distress
Must be pervasive and/or significant. Mental disorders are often exaggerations of normal processes
Impairment
Consider “normalcy” relative to behavior of others in same context
Culture
Rule of thumb
Mental disorder = harmful dysfunction
Behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunctions that are unexpected in their cultural context and associated with present distress and/or impairment in functioning or increased risk of suffering, death, pain, or impairment
An Accepted Definition of a Psychological Disorder
Scientific study of psychological disorders
Psychopathology
Clinical and counseling psychologist (trained in research and delivering treatment
Ph.D
Clinical and counseling “Doctor of Psychology” (trained in delivering treatment)
Psy.D.
Psychiatrist
M.D.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (trained in delivering treatment)
LCSW
Nurses
Psychiatric nurses
Stays current with research in field. Evaluates own assessment and treatment. Conducts research
Scientist-practitioner
Symptoms that brought the client to seek help
Presenting problem
Aims to distinguish clinically significant dysfunction from common human experience.
Clinical Description
How many people in a population have the disorder
Prevalence
The number of new cases over a period of time
Incidence
Acute vs. insidious
Onset of disorders
Episodic, time-limited, or chronic. Individual pattern of disorder
Course of disorders
Good vs. guarded. The anticipated course of disorder.
Prognosis
Age may shape presentation. Can be acute. Can be insidious
Onset of disorder
The factors contributing to the development of psychopathology
Etiology
Deviant behavior as a battle of “Good” vs. “Evil”. Believed to be caused by demonic possession, witchcraft, sorcery. Treatments included exorcism, torture, religious services.
The supernatural tradition
Experience of an emotion seems to spread to those around us
Emotion contagion
If one person identifies a “cause” of a problem, others may assume that their own reactions have the same source
Mob Psychology
Founded by Hippocrates (460-377 BC). Etiology of mental disorders = physical disease. Linked abnormality with brain chemical imbalances (foreshadowed modern views). Galen (129-198 AD) extended Hippocrates’ work
Biological tradition
Blood - cheerful and optimistic; insomnia and delirium caused by too much blood in the brain
Sanguine
Black bile - depressive
Melancholic
Phlegm - apathy and sluggishness
Phlegmatic
Yellow bile - hot tempered
Choleric
Functioning is related to having too much or too little of four key bodily fluids (humors). Treated by changing environmental conditions or bloodletting/vomiting
Humoral theory of disorders
Popular in first half of 19th century. Referred to psychological/emotional factors. Main idea to treat patients as normally as possible in normal environment. More humane treatment of institutionalized patients. Encouraged and reinforced social interaction
Moral therapy - the psychological tradition
Freudian theory of the structure and function of the mind. Unconscious, catharsis - helpful release of emotion, model sought to explain development and personality.
Psychoanalytic theory
Id (pleasure principle; illogical, emotional, irrational). Superego (moral principles). Ego (rational; mediates between superego/id)
Structure of the mind
Ego’s attempt to manage anxiety resulting from id/superego conflict. Displacement & denial; rationalization & reaction formation; projection, repression, and sublimation
Defense mechanisms
Oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages. Theory: conflicts arise at each stage and must be resolved.
Psychosexual stages of development
Theoretical constructs: intrinsic human goodness, striving for self-actualization.
Humanistic theory
Carl Rogers (1902-1987). Therapist conveys empathy and unconditional positive regard. Minimal therapist interpretation
Person-centered therapy.
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970). Humans fulfill basic needs first before moving onto higher needs like self esteem
Hierarchy of needs
Derived from a scientific approach to the study of psychopathology.
The behavioral model
Ubiquitous form of learning. People learn associations between neutral stimuli and stimuli that already have meaning (unconditioned stimuli). Explains the acquisition of some fears
Classical conditioning
Start to respond the same way to similar stimuli
Stimulus generalization
When the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus, the association is weakened
Extinction
Behavior will be repeated more often if it is followed by good consequences and less often if it is followed by bad consequences
Law of effect (E.L. Thorndike 1874-1949)
New behavior can be learned by reinforcing successive approximations
Behavior “shaping”
Creating new association by practicing new behavioral habits and/or reinforcing useful behaviors with positive consequences. Tends to by time-limited and direct. Evidence supports its efficacy
Behavior therapy
Individuals gradually exposed to fears (usually through imagination) while practicing relaxation exercises
Systematic desensitization
A broad approach with multiple interactive influences. Scientific emphasis continues to be very important; advances in neuroscience and cognitive and behavioral science will add to our knowledge
The scientific method and an integrative approach
Explain behavior in terms of a single cause. Could be a paradigm, school, or conceptual approach. Tend to ignore information from other areas.
One-dimensional models
Interdisciplinary, eclectic, and integrative. “System” of influences that cause and maintain suffering. Draw upon information from several sources. Abnormal behavior results from multiple influences
Multidimensional Models
Biological, behavioral, emotional, social & cultural, developmental, environmental, and spiritual
Major influences of multidimensional models
Behavioral - Conditioned response to the sight of blood. Biological - genetics (inherited tendencies), physiology (e.g., lightheadedness). Emotional - fear and anxiety. Social - attention from others
Causes of Judy’s phobia
Exceptions to polygenetic development and behavior
Huntington’s disease, phenylketonuria
Disorders are the result of underlying risk factors combining with life stressors that cause a disorder to emerge
Diathesis-stress model
Chemical messengers - relay messages between brain cells
Functions of neurotransmitters
Increases the activity of a neurotransmitter by mimicking its effects
Agonist
Produce effects opposite to a given neurotransmitter
Inverse agonists
Inhibit/block the production of a neurotransmitter/function
Antagonists
Most drugs are
Either agonistic or antagonistic
Giving up trying to control outcomes after unsuccessful attempts
Learned helplessness
Learn to copy the behaviors that seem to turn out well for other people
Modeling and observational (social) learning
Many types of psychopathology are maintained by
Problematic reactions to our own emotions
Systematic evaluation and measurement
Clinical assessment
Areas of clinical assessment
Psychological, biological, social, and spiritual
Degree of fit between symptoms and diagnostic criteria
Diagnosis
Purpose of assessing psychological disorders
Understanding the individual, predicting behavior, treatment planning, and evaluating outcomes
Degree of consistency of a measurement
Reliability
Consistency across two or more raters
Inter-rater reliability
Consistency across time
Test-retest reliability
Whether the test measures what it is intended to measure
Validity
Comparison between results of one assessment with another measure known to be valid
Concurrent (Descriptive) Validity