Exam 3 Flashcards
What is personality?
People’s typical ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving
-“A set of behavioral, emotional, and cognitive tendencies that people display over time and across situations and that distinguish individuals from one another
What are traits?
Relatively enduring predispositions that influence our behavior across many situations
What is a nomothetic approach to studying personality?
Aims to explain personality across individuals
What are the pros and cons of a nomothetic approach to studying personality?
Pro: allows for you to generalize across individuals
Con: may loose what makes someone unique
What is an idiographic approach to studying personality?
Aims to explain personality within an individual
What are the pros and cons of an idiographic approach to studying personality?
Pro: are focused on unique individuals that may loose w/nomothetic
Con: not clear how generalizable the results are
What are the main influences on personality?
- Genetics
- Shared environment
- Nonshared environment
How can a shared environment influence personality? What is it? Give an example
Experiences that make individuals within the same family more alike
Ie: food, values, etc.
How can a nonshared environment influence personality? What is it? Give an example
Experiences that make individuals within the same family less alike
Ie: peer groups, age, parental differential treatment
What does reared together mean?
Raised together
What are two behavioral genetic designs?
- Twin studies
- Adoption studies
What does a twin study measure within a behavioral genetic design context?
Analysis of how traits differ in identical vs fraternal twins
What does an adoption study measure within a behavioral genetic design context?
Analysis of how traits vary in individuals raised apart from their biological relatives
Twin studies on the influence of personality?
A genetic influence is suggested, along with environmental (non-shared) for both reared together and reared apart
Reared apart vs reared together on personality in twin studies? What does this suggest?
Slightly different, though quite similar
- Suggests that a shared environment plays little or no role in adult personality
- —therefore, a genetic AND non-shared influence
Adoption studies on the influence of personality? Why is this important?
Tend to show more similarity to biological parents
-suggests a genetic influence and a non-shared environmental influence
Conclusion from behavioral genetic designs on what influences personality?
Differences may not be from different parental treatment, etc.
-Little evidence for shared-environment influence
What are the four theories/models of personality?
- Psychoanalytic
- Behavioral
- Social learning
- Humanistic
What is the goal of the psychoanalytic theory? Who is the founder? What did (S)he believe?
Freud
- To explain psychological causes of mental disorders
- –believed that physical and mental problems may be caused by psychological causes
What are the three core assumptions of the psychoanalytic theory?
- Psychic determinism
- Symbolic meaning
- Unconscious motivation
What is psychic determinism within the psychoanalytic theory?
All psychological events have a cause
What is symbolic meaning within the psychoanalytic theory?
No action is meaningless
What is unconscious motivation within the psychoanalytic theory?
We rarely understand what we do
What has a major influence on our lives, according to Freud?
Sex
What is the structure of the model of personality for psychoanalytic theory?
- Id
- Ego
- Superego
What is the Id, according to the psychoanalytic theory? Give an example - what would someone ruled by their Id say?
Primitive impulses
- unconscious; well below surface of awareness
- Ie: sex drives, libido, etc.
- –“I want what I want and I want it now”
What is the ego, according to the psychoanalytic theory? How would someone with an underdeveloped ego feel? Developed?
Sense of morality
- almost entirely unconscious
- –Underdeveloped: guilt-free
- –Developed: feels guilt
What is the superego, according to the psychoanalytic theory?
Decision maker
- One with most available to conscious (contact with outside world)
- —some unconscious though
- Operates with reality principle
What is the reality principle?
Control of the pleasure-seeking activity of the id in order to meet the demands of the external world
-Will delay immediate gratification until an appropriate outlet is found
What results from conflict within the Id, ego, and/or superego?
Stress results from conflict within these three
How can conflict within the Id, ego, and/or superego present itself?
- Dreams
- Anxiety (and defense mechanisms)
How does conflict within the Id, ego, and superego present itself through dreams?
Wish fulfillment; expressions of Id’s impulses
- Illustrate how ego and superego operate to keep Id in check
- –disguises impulses as symbols (vary according to dreamer) bc see impulses as “threatening”
How does conflict within the Id, ego, and superego present itself through anxiety?
The ego tries to minimize anxiety via defense mechanisms
- Types of defense mechanisms:
- –Repression
- –Denial
- –Regression
-Protects us from being consciously aware
How does the ego use repression in order to try and minimize anxiety?
- Threatening memories
- “motivated forgetting”
How does the ego use denial in order to try and minimize anxiety?
Refusing to acknowledge current events in our lives
How does the ego use regression in order to try and minimize anxiety? Example?
Returning, psychologically, to a younger and safer time
-Ie: bring an old toy to college
How many stages are there for psychosexual development? What are they?
5 stages
- Oral
- Anal
- Phallic
- Latency
- Genital
Oral stage of psychosexual development - age range, erogenous zone, conflict, consequences of fixation
- Age: birth-12-18 m
- Erogenous zone: mouth
- Conflict: weaning (stopping breastfeeding)
- Consequences: unhealthy oral behavior (chewing gum, smoking, overeating)
Anal stage of psychosexual development - age range, erogenous zone, conflict, consequences of fixation
- Age: 18 m-3yrs
- Erogenous zone: anus
- Conflict: toilet training
- Consequences: anal retentive/explosive (sloppiness, disorganization vs. anal retentive, excessive neatness)
Phallic stage of psychosexual development - age range, erogenous zone, conflict, consequences of fixation
- Age: 3-6yrs
- Erogenous zone: genitals
- Conflict: oedipus/electra complex
- Consequences: aggression/dominance
Latency stage of psychosexual development - age range, erogenous zone, conflict, consequences of fixation
- Age: 6-12yrs
- Erogenous zone: dormant
- Conflict: none
- Consequences: n/a
Genital stage of psychosexual development - age range, erogenous zone, conflict, consequences of fixation
-What is special about this zone?
- Age: 12yrs+
- Erogenous zone: genitals
- Conflict: none
- Consequences: if other probs not resolved, diff. w/attachment
—matures into romantic feelings towards others
What is the electra complex?
Girls loved father romantically and wanted to eliminate mother as a rival
What is the oedipus complex?
Boys loved mother romantically and wanted to eliminate father to have mother
What happens from the electra/oedipus complex if successful?
Eventually, the children get over it and transfix the “love” onto other opposite sex people and starts to relate to same sex parent
-realizes that mom/dad is more superior and will win
What are some of the critiques of the psychoanalytic theory?
- Based findings on small group of people, so may not be generalizable
- Hard to test for Id, ego, and superego -> therefore, many features are unfalsifiable
- Little scientific results for defense mechanisms
Who are two major behavioral theorists?
Skinner and Watson
What did Watson believe?
Personality is the “end product of our habit systems”
Criticisms of behaviorism
- motivation not considered
- doesn’t consider internal processes
Who was skinner? What did he believe?
A radical behaviorist
-believed that differences in our personalities stem largely from differences in our learning histories
What do radical behaviorists reject, unlike Freudians?
The notion that the first few years of life are especially critical in personality development
-While childhood matters, they believe that our learning histories continue to mold our personalities throughout the life span
What do radical behaviorists believe?
Personalities are bundles of habits acquired by classical and operant conditioning
-Personality DOES NOT CAUSE behavior, but consists of overt and covert behaviors
What are overt behaviors?
observable
What are covert behaviors? Give an example
unobservable
-Ie: thoughts and feelings
According to behaviorists, personality is under control of 2 major influences:
- Genetic factors
- Contingencies in the environment (reinforcers and punishers)
What is one similarity between psychoanalysts and behaviorists?
Are both determinists
What are the behavioral theorist views on determinism?
- Determinists: believe all of our actions are products of preexisting causal influences
- Radical behaviorists: free will is an illusion
What do radical behaviorists think of free will?
Free will is an illusion
-We’re convinced that we’re free to select our behaviors only because we’re usually oblivious to the situational factors that trigger them
What are the behavioral theorist views on unconscious processing? More specifically, in terms of the similarities between skinnerians and freudians
Freudians and skinnerians agree that we often don’t understand the reasons for their behavior, but the views on WHY differ
What are skinnerian views on unconscious processing?
We’re “unconscious” of many things bc we’re often unaware of immediate situational influences on our behavior
-Ie: unaware why we are humming a song until we realize that it’s playing softly in the background
—initially unaware of the external cause of this behavior
What are the differences between skinnerians and freudians views on unconscious processing?
Freudian unconscious -> vast storehouse of inaccessible thoughts, memories, and impulses
Radical behaviorists -> no such storehouse bc unconscious variables that play a role in causing behavior lie outside, not inside, us
What is another term for a social learning theorist?
Social cognitive theorist
What do social learning theorists believe?
Place an emphasis on thinking is a cause of personality
What do social learning theorists think about Skinner?
They believe that he went too far in his wholesale rejection of the influence of thoughts on behavior
What do social learning theorists believe about thinking?
How we interpret our environments affects how we react to them
-If we perceive others to be threatening, we’ll typically be hostile and suspicious in return
What do social learning theorists believe about classical and operant conditioning?
They believe that they are not automatic reflexive processes, but are products of cognition
-As we acquire info in classical/operant conditioning,, we’re actively thinking about and interpreting what this info means
Social learning views of determinism?
Reciprocal determinism
What is reciprocal determinism? Give an example
The tendency for people to mutually influence each other’s behavior
- Ie: high levels of extraversion -> meet new friends in intro psych class
- –friends reinforce extraversion by encouraging us to go to parties we’d otherwise skip and parties give you more friends, further reinforcing the extraversion
Social theorist’s views on observational learning and personality?
-Give an example
Much of learning occurs by watching others
- Therefore, parents and teachers play a sig role in shaping our personality
- –We acquire both good and bad habits by watching and later emulating them
Ie: We can learn to behave altruistically by seeing our parents donate money to charities
Social theorist’s views on the sense of perceived control?
Emphasizes individuals’ sense of control over life events
-Locus of control
What is a locus of control?
The extent to which people believe that reinforcers and punishers lie inside or outside their control
What is an internal?
Internal locus of control
-Life events are due largely to their own efforts and personal characteristics
What is an external?
External locus of control
-Life events are largely a product of chance and fate
What are the two main types of locus of control?
- Internals
- Externals
What type of locus of control would someone who says “If I set my mind to it, I can accomplish just about anything I want” have?
Internal
Internals vs externals
Internals are less prone to emotional upset following life stressors than externals
-Are more likely to believe that they can remedy the situation on their own
What is a downside to having an external locus of control? What is one way to help this, though?
Almost all forms of psychological distress (i.e. depression or anxiety) are associated w/an external locus of control
-Feeling some measure of control over ones life helps
—^Causal relationship though!!!!! NOT developed
Critics of Skinner - what do they say?
The claim that our thoughts play no causal role in our behavior is implausible from an evolutionary perspective
- Natural selection: enormous cerebral cortex, which is specialized for problem solving, planning, reasoning, etc.
- –difficult to comprehend why our huge cortexes would have evolved if our thoughts were merely by-products of contingencies
Behavioral theories evaluated - Skinner vs Freud?
Skinner (and fellow radical behaviorists) agreed with Freud that our behavior is determined
-However, they believed that the primary causes of our behavior (contingencies) lie outside rather than inside us
Criticisms for social learning theory?
The claim that observational learning exerts a powerful influence over our personalities implies an important causal role of shared environment
-However, behavior-genetic studies have shown that the effects of shared environment on adult personalities are weak or nonexistent
Although believes that learning depends on cognition, processes seen in animals w/tiny cerebral cortexes
-Learning can occur in relatively simple animals
What do humanistic psychologists believe?
Rejected the strict determinism of psychoanalysis and behaviorists and embraced the notion of free will
-Believes that we are perfectly free to choose either socially constructive or deconstructive paths in life
What is the core motive in personality, according to humanistic psychologists?
Self-actualization
What is self-actualization?
The drive to develop our innate potential to the fullest possible extent
Freudians vs humanist theorists
Freudians: self-actualization would be disastrous for society bc our innate drives, housed in the Id, are selfish and potentially harmful if not controlled
Humanist’s: human nature is inherently constructive, so self-actualization is a worthy goal
Who was Rogers? What did he believe?
Humanist theorist
-We could all achieve our full potential for emotional fulfillment if only society allowed it
What were two humanistic models?
- Rogers’s model of personality
- Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
What is Rogers’s model of personality?
According to Rogers, our personalities consist of three major components
- Organism
- Self
- Conditions of worth
What does the organism represent within Rogers’s model of personality?
Our innate - and substantially genetically influenced - blueprint
What does the self represent within Rogers’s model of personality?
Our self-concept, the set of beliefs about who we are
What do the conditions of worth represent within Rogers’s model of personality?
The expectations we place on ourselves for appropriate and inappropriate behavior
-Arise typically in childhood when others make their acceptance of us conditioned on certain behaviors but not others
Compare the organism to the Id
The organism is just like the Id, except Rogers viewed the organism as inherently positive and helpful towards others
Compare the conditions of worth with the superego
Emanate from our parents and society, and eventually we internalize them
Give an example of a situation demonstrating Rogers idea of our conditions of worth being influenced
Child likes to write poetry
- When teased, develops conditions of worth: not worthwhile
- When stops writing, teasing stops: is worthwhile
What is Incongruence?
When our personalities are inconsistent with our innate dispositions
Where does individual differences in personality stem from? What are some of the potential conflicts this can cause?
Stem largely from differences in the conditions of worth that others impose on us
- Result in incongruence between self and organism
- –No longer our genuine selves bc we’re acting in ways that are inconsistent w/our genuine personalities
Rogers vs Maslow
Rogers: Focused largely on individuals whose tendencies toward self-actualization were thwarted and therefore ended up with psychological problems
Maslow: Focused on individuals who were self-actualized
Who was Maslow? What did he believe?
A humanist theorist
- Focused on self-actualized people, especially historical figures
- Full self-actualization is a rare feat, something only 2% of people can accomplish
What are some characteristics of self-actualized people?
- tend to be creative, spontaneous, and accepting of themselves and others
- self confident but not self-centered
- focus on real-world and intellectual problems
- have few deep friendships rather than many superficial ones
- crave privacy and can come off as aloof or even difficult to deal with
- prone to peak experiences
Why can self-actualized people sometimes come off as aloof or difficult to deal with?
They’ve outgrown the need to be popular
-Not afraid to express unpopular opinions or “rock the boat” when necessary
What are peak experiences?
Transcendent moments of intense excitement and tranquility marked by a profound sense of connection to the world
Critics of Rogers?
Challenge the claim that human nature is entirely pos
- the capacity for aggression and altruism is inherent
- –THEREFORE, human nature is a mix of selfish and selfless motives
Results in terms of incongruence are hard to interpret
-The people who showed decreases in incongruence following therapy weren’t the same people who improved
What did Rogers research on incongruence show?
Incongruence is greater for those who are emotionally disturbed than it is for healthy individuals
-Difference decreases over the course of psychotherapy
-> Rogers interpreted this finding as reflecting a lessening of conditions of worth
Critics of Maslow?
His work was problematic on methodological grounds
-May have limited search for self-actualized historical figures who displayed the characteristics of creativity and spontaneity
—> Conformation bias
How may have Maslow developed conformation bias?
Because he wasn’t blind to his hypothesis concerning the personality features of self-actualized individuals, he had no way of guarding against this bias
Critics on humanistic models?
Difficult to falsify
-the claim that self-actualization is the central motive in personality is not scientifically testable
What is Rotter’s basic formula for predicting behavior?
Behavior potential = Expectancy + Reinforcement value
What is behavior potential in Rotter’s formula?
The likelihood of engaging in a particular behavior in a specific situation
What is expectancy in Rotter’s formula?
The subjective probability that a given behavior will lead to a particular outcome or reinforcer
What is the Reinforcement value in Rotter’s formula?
The degree to which we prefer one reinforcer over another
Who was Rotter? What did Rotter believe?
A social theorist
-Hypothesized that those with internal locus of control are less prone to being emotionally upset following stress
What is the trait theory?
Interested in the individual differences of personality
-Traits that are important and prevalent in society will be well-represented in the language
—Lexical approach
What is the lexical approach?
The most crucial features of human personality are embedded in our language
Trait models vs the other models of personality?
Trait models are interested in the STRUCTURE of personality
-Behavioral, social learning, and humanistic models are interested in the CAUSE of personality
What are the big five traits?
OCEAN
- Openness to experience
- Conscientiousness
- Extroversion
- Agreeableness
- Neuroticism
What did a factor analysis tell us?
The big five traits
-OCEAN
High score on openness to experience? Low score?
High
- curious
- wide range of interests
- independent
Low
- practical
- conventional
- prefers routine
High score on conscientiousness? Low score?
High
- hardworking
- dependable
- organized
Low
- impulsive
- careless
- disorganized
High score on extroversion? Low score?
High
- outgoing
- warm
- seeks adventure
Low
- quiet
- reserved
- withdrawn
High score on agreeableness? Low score?
High
- helpful
- trusting
- empathetic
Low
- critical
- uncooperative
- suspicious
High score on neuroticism? Low score?
High
- anxious
- unhappy
- prone to neg emotions
Low
- calm
- secure
- even tempered
Personality traits associated with good grades in school?
- high conscientiousness
- low neuroticism
- high agreeableness
Personality traits associated with physical health?
-High conscientiousness
Personality traits associated with Facebook posts?
- High extroversion
- high openness to experience
What do personality traits influence?
- the way we interact with others
- the activities we pursue
- our success in different areas, etc.
Are personality traits consistent across cultures?
No; personality traits can vary across culture, depending on what traits are valued in those societies
- some underdeveloped regions have only 2 main traits
- some countries (i.e. China, Germany, Finland, etc.) have more
Personality traits within collectivist cultures?
- Personality traits are less predictive of behavior
- Behavior may be more influenced by social norms
Do personality traits change across time?
Personality traits are relatively consistent across time for individuals, but not a population
Population:
- Openness, extroversion, and neuroticism tend to decrease from teens to 30s and then are stable
- Conscientiousness and agreeableness tend to increase from teens to 3os and then are stable
Do personality traits change across situation?
We can’t use someone’s personality to predict how they’ll act in one specific situation
-We can’t look at one situation and conclude someone’s personality
—Personality traits can predict trends in behavior over a span of time, but cannot reliably predict behavior in one specific situation
What can affect behavior?
- situational factors
- mood
- energy level
- others behavior
What did Mr. Carson show us?
Power of situation to display personality traits
Types of tests for personality assessment
- Structured
- Projective
Structured personality tests - what do they entail?
Questions answered in a fixed way
-easier to score and administer
Approaches to structured personality test construction?
- Empirical method
- Rationally/theoretically constructed
What does the empirical method entail?
- Data based
- Criterion groups
- Determines items that best identify these groups
- –usually valid and reliable
Con of empirical method? Why?
Can result in low face validity
- If high, may tailor responses
- > adv of high: can sometimes get suspicion from low validity
State two examples of the empirical method being employed for personality tests
- Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
- California Psych Inventory (CPI)
What is the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory)? What is it? Evaluation of it? Criticisms?
- Assesses symptoms of psych disorders
- True/false format
- Validity scales (x3)
- Evaluation: tends to be valid and reliable
- Criticisms: scales may overlap one another - not entirely independent
What is the CPI (California Psych Inventory)?
- Assesses personality in the normal range
- Evaluation: high in validity and reliability
- Criticism: issues with overlap -> correlation?
What does the Rationally/theoretically constructed personality tests entail?
- Starts with an idea of a personality trait
- Items developed based on that idea
Examples of the Rationally/theoretically constructed personality tests? What do they measure?
- NEO personality inventory
- Tipi
^Measures the Big Five
Projective personality tests - what do they entail? State an example (anything critique?)
Ambiguous stimuli
- project aspects of personality onto stimuli
- look at answers to infer aspects of personality
—Doodle exercise: low on validity
Types of projective personality tests
- Thematic apperception test
- Human figure drawings
- Graphology
- Rorschach inkblot
What does a thematic apperception test entail?
Story telling
What does a human figure drawing test entail?
Draw him/her anyway you want
What does the Rorschach inkblot test entail?
- symmetrical inkblot
- participants report what the blot looks like
Critiques of the Rorschach inkblot test?
Areas of low reliability and validity
- low interrater reliability
- low test-re-test reliability
Lack of incremental validity
What is incremental validity?
Does it offer more than the other tests?
-seeks to answer if the new test adds much information that might be obtained with simpler, already existing methods
Issues in personality tests?
- P.T. Barnum Effect
- Scientific assessment
What is the P.T. Barnum effect?
The tendency to apply descriptions that are applicable to many people specifically to ourselves
How do we define mental illness?
- Statistical rarity
- Subjective distress
- Impairment
- Societal disapproval
- Biological dysfunction
—Can’t just use one but can use all five
How does biological dysfunction play into mental illness? Any exceptions?
Many mental disorders probably result from breakdowns or failures of physiological systems
-Exception: some specific phobias are acquired, not biological
How does statistical rarity play into mental illness? Any exceptions?
Many mental disorders are uncommon in the population
-Exception: depression, anxiety, etc.
How does subjective distress play into mental illness? Any exceptions?
Most mental disorders produce emotional pain for individuals afflicted with them
-Exception: manic phase of bipolar disorder
How does impairment play into mental illness? Any exceptions?
Most psychological disorders interfere with everyday lives
-Exception: procrastination, disorganization, etc.
How does societal disapproval play into mental illness? Any exceptions?
Societal attitudes shape our views of abnormality, so psychiatric diagnoses have often mirrored the views of the times (i.e. homosexuality)
-Exception: racism, messiness, rudeness, etc.
What was the conception of psychological disorders in the middle ages?
Demonic model causing mental illness
What was the conception of psychological disorders in the Renaissance?
Medical model
What was the conception of psychological disorders in the 1800’s?
Moral treatment
What are the conceptions of psychological disorders in the modern era?
Treatments with medicine and deinstitutionalization
What is the demonic model?
View of mental illness in which behaving oddly, hearing voices, or talking to oneself was attributed to evil spirits infesting the body
What is the medical model?
View of mental illness as due to a physical disorder requiring medical treatment
What is the moral model?
Approach to mental illness calling for dignity, kindness, and respect for those with mental illness
-Tried to change poor conditions for those in asylums, homes, etc.
What is deinstitutionalization?
Government policy that focused on releasing hospitalized psychiatric patients into the community and closing mental hospitals
Pros and cons to deinstitutionalization?
Pro: some improved through at-home care
Con: some didn’t have adequate follow-up
Purpose of psychiatric diagnosis?
- Accurate diagnosis
- –can better pinpoint problem and choose most effective treatment
- Make it easier for mental health prof.’s to communicate
Common misconceptions regarding diagnosis?
- Pigeonholding
- Unreliable
- Stigmatizing
- Invalid
What is pigeonholding?
“Putting people into boxes”
- According to this, when we diagnose people with a mental disorder, we deprive them of their uniqueness
- > we imply that all people within the same diagnostic category are alike in all important respects
Reality of “pigeonholding” misconception regarding diagnoses
A diagnosis only implies that all people with a particular diagnosis are alike in at least ONE important respect
Reality of “stigmatizing” misconception regarding diagnoses
Little evidence that the diagnosis itself harms the person long-term
Criteria for valid diagnosis
- Distinguishes that diagnosis from other similar diagnoses
- Predicts diagnosed individuals’ performance on lab tests
- Predicts diagnosed individuals’ family history of psychiatric disorders
- Predicts individuals’ natural history
- Predicts diagnosed individuals’ response to treatment
Criterion: distinguishes that diagnosis from other similar diagnoses - What would we expect in ADHD?
The symptoms can’t be accounted for by other diagnoses
Criterion: predicts diagnosed individuals’ performance on lab tests - What would we expect in ADHD?
Poor performance on measures of concentration
Criterion: predicts diagnosed individuals’ family history of psychiatric disorders - What would we expect in ADHD?
Higher likelihood of other relatives with ADHD
Criterion: predicts individuals’ natural history - What would we expect in ADHD?
Continued difficulties with inattention
Criterion: predicts diagnosed individuals’ response to treatment - What would we expect in ADHD?
Likelihood of responding positive to stimulant meds
Diagnosis today?
DSM-5
- 18 different classes of disorders
- diagnostic criteria
- decision rules
- prevalence
Criticisms of the DSM-5?
- High levels of comorbidity
- Medicalizes normality
- Reliance on categorical rather than dimensional model
- Vulnerable to political and social influence
What is the DSM-5?
Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders
In what way does the DSM-5 medicalize normality?
i.e. grief
In what way does the DSM-5 allow for there be high levels of comorbidity? Give an example. Why could this be problematic?
A person diagnosed with depression may also be diagnosed (more likely to be) with anxiety
-Are they truly independent or just symptoms?
What is comorbidity?
co-occurance of two or more diagnoses within the same person
What is a categorical model? Give an example of one
Differs in kind rather than degree
- Either has the disorder or does not (no in between)
- Ie: Piaget’s theory of development
What is a dimensional model? Give an example of one
Differs in degree rather than kind
-Ie: The Big Five model
What are some anxiety-related disorders?
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Panic disorder
- Phobia’s
- PTSD
- OCD
What does the generalized anxiety disorder entail?
- Excessive anxiety and worrying occurring more days than not for at least 6 months
- –may cause sig. distress and impairment
- Difficult to control the worrying
- Often diagnosed with another disorder
- Often worry over the “little” things
- Females more likely to experience this
Common symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder?
- feeling restless or on edge
- irritability
- easily fatigued
- muscle tension
- sleep disturbances
What does a panic disorder entail?
Repeated, unexpected panic attacks
Common symptoms of a panic attack?
- accelerated heart rate
- trembling or shaking
- sweating
- shortness of breath
- chest pain or discomfort
- nausea
- chills or heat sensation
Common symptoms of a panic disorder?
- persistent concerns about future attacks
- change in personal behavior to avoid them
What is a panic attack? Relation to panic disorders?
A brief, intense period of extreme fear
-not only specific to panic disorders
What do phobias typically entail?
“Irrational fears”
- intense fear of an object or a situation that is greatly out of proportion to its actual threat
- fairly common
- 3 types
What are the 3 types of phobias?
- Agoraphobia
- Specific phobia
- Social anxiety disorder
What is agoraphobia? Give some examples
Fear of being in a place or situation where escape would be difficult or embarrassing if one were to experience a panic attack
- fear that they won’t be able to get help
- Ie: crowds, movie theater, open spaces, outside of home, etc.
What is a specific phobia? What does it entail?
Phobia of a specific object, place, or situation
- the object of fear is unavoidable
- fear is persistent for at least 6 months
- changes behavior
- can cause impairment
- more common in females
What is another term for social anxiety disorder?
Social phobia
What is social anxiety disorder? What provokes it? What does it entail?
Fear of negative evaluations in social situations by others
- social situations ~always provokes the anxiety
- avoided and persistent (usually lasts 6 months or more)
- can cause impairment
- rates generally higher in females than males
What is PTSD? What does it entail?
Marked emotional disturbance after experiencing or witnessing a severely stressful event
-3 main types of symptoms
Main types of symptoms of PTSD?
- Re-experiencing symptoms
- Avoidance symptoms
- Hyperarousal symptoms
What is a re-experiencing symptom? What may it entail?
Flashbacks
-can be accompanied by physical symptoms (sweating, inc. heart rate, etc.), bad dreams, etc.
What are some avoidance symptoms?
- emotional numbing
- loosing interest in activities previously enjoyed
- loosing memories related to event
- avoidance of things that reminds one of the event
What are some hyperarousal symptoms?
- difficulty sleeping
- angry outburst
What does OCD entail?
Repeated and lengthy immersion in obsessions, compulsions, or both
What is an obsession?
Persistent idea, thought, or urge that is unwanted, causing marked distress
What is a compulsion?
Repetitive behavior or mental act performed to reduce or prevent stress
What are some learning models of anxiety related disorders?
- Reinforcements
- Observations
What are some cognitive factors of anxiety related disorders?
- Anxious people think about world differences
- –Catastrophize
- Sensitivity to anxiety
- –anxiety of fear-related sensations
What does it mean if you’re catastrophizing?
Having an irrational thought a lot of us have in believing that something is far worse than it actually is
What are some biological influences on anxiety related disorders? Give an example
Anxiety disorders may be genetically influenced
-Personality traits: neuroticism
What are the major mood disorders?
- Major depressive disorder
- Bipolar disorder
- Dissociative disorders
- –Depersonalization/derealization disorder
- –Dissociative amnesia
- –Dissociative identity disorder
What is the prevalence of a major depressive disorder?
- average age of onset is 30
- less common among elderly
- women 2x more likely than men
What is the course for a major depressive disorder?
- reoccurant
- most episodes last 6m-1yr
Common symptoms of major depressive disorder?
Lasts at least 2 weeks; felt usually everyday; must have at least 1/2 of (—-) symptoms
- lack of motivation
- difficulty sleeping (feeling tired or inc need for sleep)
- lack of appetite
- weight changes (weight loss or weight gain)
- restlessness
- feelings of guilt
- —depressed mood
- —loss of pleasure/interests
What does one need in order to be diagnosed with a major depressive disorder?
5+ symptoms, with at least one being one of the two major ones
What are two models for major depressive disorder?
- Cognitive model
- Learned helplessness
What is the cognitive model for major depressive disorder?
Depression is caused by negative beliefs and expectations
-Becks cognitive triad
What is Becks cognitive triad?
Negative views of:
- self
- world
- future
What is the learned helplessness model for major depressive disorder? Give an example
Tendency to feel helpless in the face of events we can’t control
- Ie: Dogs in box
- .5 is electrified, with barrier separating the two sides
- light dims, warning of shock
- when dog first restrained on electrified side, after released still didn’t jump to safe side
What is the prevalence for bipolar disorder?
- average age of onset is 18
- equal proportion of men and women
What is Bipolar disorder?
Condition marked by a history of at least one manic episode
Common symptoms of a manic episode?
- inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
- decreased need for sleep
- talkativeness (rapid, loud, continuous, etc.)
- flight of ideas (“racing thoughts”)
- distractability
- inc goal-directed activity or psychomotor agitation
- risky behavior
How may the symptom of “flight of ideas” present itself? What disorder is this a symptom of?
May result in disorganized or incoherent speech
-Bipolar disorder
How may the symptom of “inc goal-directed activity” present itself? What disorder is this a symptom of?
Increase in sociability
-political, religious, sexual, etc.
-> bipolar disorder
How may the symptom of “flight of ideas” present itself? What disorder is this a symptom of?
Restlessness
-increase in sociability
-> bipolar disorder
When does a manic episode usually happen within someone with bipolar disorder?
Often precedes a depressive episode
How may the symptom of “risky behavior” present itself? What disorder is this a symptom of?
Driving, investments, foolish spending, sexual improm.
-bipolar disorder
What does a depressive episode within someone with bipolar disorder entail?
Usually follows a manic episode
-sadness, anxiety, helplessness, etc.
Influences on bipolar disorder?
Heritable -> genetic influences
What does a dissociative disorder entail?
Involves disruptions in consciousness, memory, identity, or perception
What are some dissociative disorders?
- Depersonalization/derealization disorder
- Dissociative amnesia
- Dissociative identity disorder
What does a depersonalization/derealization disorder entail?
Marked by episode of depersonalization, derealization, or both
-sense of detachment from self or real world felt
What does it mean to experience depersonalization?
When you feel detached from yourself, as though you’re living in a movie or dream or observing your body from the perspective of an outsider
What does it mean to experience derealization?
The sense that the external world is strange or unreal
-often accompanies both depersonalization and panic attacks
What does dissociative amnesia entail?
- Inability to recall important personal info that cannot be explained by ordinary forgetfulness - most often related to a stressful experience
- Dissociative fugue
What is dissociative fugue?
Sudden, unexpected travel away from home or the workplace, accompanied by amnesia for significant life events
-may find self in new place with lack of memory
What does dissociative identity disorder entail?
Condition characterized by the presence of 2+ distinct personality states that recurrently take control of the person’s behavior
- differences in behavior across alters
- women tend to develop the disorder more, and tend to have more alters
What are the “states” in dissociative identity disorder often referred to as?
Alters
Similarities between the alters in dissociative identity disorder?
Different alters appear to be completely distinct, but not completely
—if provide info to one alter, is “available” to other alters
What are the different schools of thought for dissociative identity disorder? What questions arose from these?
Is DID a response to early trauma? Or is it a consequence of social and cultural factors?
- Post-traumatic model
- Sociocognitive model
What is the post-traumatic model for dissociative identity disorder?
DID developed as a way to cope
What is the sociocognitive model for dissociative identity disorder?
DID developed as a results of increased use of psychotherapies (i.e. hypnosis)
- therapeutic responses may have caused an increase number in alters
- believes that therapists, along with the media. may be creating alters rather than discovering them
What are characteristic adaptations?
The ways in which underlying personality traits (basic tendencies) can be expressed in dramatically different ways
What are personality disorders?
Condition in which personality traits, appearing first in adolescence, lead to distress or impairment
-among the least reliably diagnosed psychological conditions
What is psychopathy? What does it entail?
Comprises traits such as callousness, manipulativeness, guiltlessness, recklessness, and narcissism
- more common in men
- history of conduct disorder (e.g. lying, stealing, etc.)
- can observe and measure callous-unemotional traits in children
- mask of sanity
What trait may psychopathy be misdiagnosed with?
Overlaps moderately with DSM-5 antisocial personality disorder
Why don’t we avoid psychopathic individuals?
“Mask” of sanity
- superficial charm, sociable, charismatic
- appearance of psychological well-being
What are some potential causes of psychopathy?
- Most likely not one single cause
- Fear deficit
- Underarousal
What can cause a fear deficit?
- Hyporeactive amygdala
- Impoverished reactions to classical conditioning paradigms
Classical conditioning: what happens before, during, and after?
- Before: neutral stimulus -> no response
- During: neutral stimulus -> unconditioned stimulus -> unconditioned response
- After: neutral stimulus -> conditioned response
What can underarousal lead to? Who presents with this the most?
- stimulus hunger
- risk taking
—psychopath
Common misconceptions in psychopathy?
- most with psychopathic traits are not physically violent
- psychopathy does not mean psychotic
- psychopathic traits are not all maladaptive
Why does psychopathy not mean psychotic?
Guiltlessness -> they rationally know that they have done, they just don’t really care
What does borderline personality disorder entail?
- disorder of stable instability
- condition marked by emotional instability, deficits in the perception of self, and impulsivity
- intense fears of abandonment and loneliness
- chaotic lifestyles that are often self-destructive and manipulative (e.g. drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, etc.)
What is a misnomer for borderline personality disorder?
Emotional disregulation disorder is a better term
What are the interests and goals like for someone with borderline personality disorder?
Can shift dramatically
-unpredictable
What are the interpersonal relationships like for someone with borderline personality disorder?
love to hate and hate to love
Some potential causes of BPD?
- Childhood problems with developing sense of self and bonding emotionally to others
- –cold, distant mother?
- Sociobiological model
- Emotional cascade model
What is the sociobiological model for BPD?
Inherit stress sensitivity that gives rise to lifelong emotional dysregulation
What is the emotional cascade model for BPD?
Intense rumination about negative experiences gives rise to emotional cascades that promote self-destructive behaviors
Characteristic adaptations of BPD?
Many individuals with BPD are married, successful, employed, etc.
-e.g. Marsha Linehan: pioneer in BPD research and has it herself
Are personality disorders “hopeless”?
- NOT untreatable
- may see enhanced improvement with prolonged and intensive psychotherapeutic interventions
- we may not be able to change traits, but we can change responses to situations, emotions, and behaviors
How can we we can change responses to situations, emotions, and behaviors in terms of psychological disorders?
- tolerance
- acceptance
- regulation
- mindfulness
- –The cognitive triangle
What are the three pillars in the cognitive triangle?
- Thoughts
- Feelings
- Behavior
Common misconception about schizophrenia?
NOT the same as dissociative identity disorder
What is psychosis?
A severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that one loses contact with external reality
What are the diagnostic criteria for Schizophrenia?
2 or more of the following, each for a sig portion of time during a 1 month period, symptoms for 6 months:
- delusions*
- hallucinations*
- disorganized speech*
- grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior
- negative symptoms
—*=must have at least one to be diagnosed
What does the symptom of delusions entail for Schizophrenia?
Strongly held beliefs that have no basis in reality
What does the symptom of hallucinations entail for Schizophrenia?
Sensory perceptions that occur in the absence of external stimuli
What does the symptom of disorganized speech entail for Schizophrenia?
Disjointed, peculiar
-word salad
What does the symptom of grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior entail for Schizophrenia?
Problems with self care and hygiene
-catatonic behavior
What does the symptom of negative symptoms entail for Schizophrenia?
Blunted affect, avolition (lack of motivation)
-persists over the course of the illness
What is a word salad?
A confused mixture of seemingly unrelated words or phrases
What are some catatonic behaviors?
Movement problems, bizarre postures, pacing, frenzied
What is anosognosia?
Lack of insight
What is the biggest reason as to why people with schizophrenia do not seek treatment?
Anosognosia
What are some risk factors for schizophrenia?
- gender (more common in men)
- genetics
- neural deterioration
- dopamine hypothesis
- diathesis stress model
Explain the risk factor of neural deterioration for schizophrenia
Brain abnormalities -> enlarged ventricles
-cause or effect??? Not sure…
What is the dopamine hypothesis? How do we know this? Then vs now?
- effects of antipsychotic drugs (antagonist)
- responses to cocaine, amphetamines
- –induce schizophrenia-like symptoms
- Then: excess dopamine in people with schizophrenia
- Now:abnormalities in dopamine receptors; other neurotransmitters??
What is an antagonist, in dopamine hypothesis context?
A drug that blocks effects of dopamine
What is the diathesis stress model?
Diathesis + stress = increased risk
What is diathesis?
A hereditary predisposition to a disease/disorder
Treatment for schizophrenia?
- Therapeutic: CBT [- symptoms]
- Pharmacologic: Antipsychotics [+ symptoms]
What is a prodrome? Give an example
An early symptom that may indicate disease onset
-Ie: a fever may indicate measles, but not a guarantee
Prodrome and schizophrenia?
Prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia can mimic mood disorders
-~30% of prodromal patients develop schizophrenia
What does psychotherapy entail?
A psychological intervention can:
- help people resolve emotional, behavioral, and interpersonal problems
- improve the quality of people’s lives
Who practices psychotherapy?
- Licensed professionals
- Paraprofessionals
Who is a paraprofessional? Examples?
A person with no professional training who provides mental health services
-Ie: crisis intervention centers or volunteers
Who is the most effective, paraprofessionals or licensed professions?
Little difference in effectiveness between more and less experienced therapists
Common factors that account for most of the change observed in therapy?
- expectancy and placebo effects
- technique and model factors
- client variables and extra-therapeutic events
- therapeutic relationship
What are some psychotherapy approaches?
- Insight therapies
- Behavioral and cognitive behavioral approaches
What are some approaches with insight therapies?
- psychoanalytic/psychodynamic
- humanistic
What are some approaches with behavioral and cognitive behavioral approaches?
- exposure therapies
- cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT)
What is the goal of insight therapy?
Expand self-awareness or insight
What does the psychoanalytic/psychodynamic approach entail?
- cause of abnormal behavior: traumatic/adverse childhood experiences
- analyze distressing thoughts and feelings, recurring patterns, past events, and therapeutic relationship
- insight into previously unconscious thoughts leads to symptom reduction
What are some psychoanalytic key approaches?
Decrease guilt and frustration by making the unconscious conscious:
- free association
- interpretation
- dream analysis
- resistance
- transference
- working through
What is free association?
Expressing oneself without any censorship
What is transference, in terms of psychoanalysis?
Act of projecting intense unrealistic feelings from the past onto the therapist
What is interpretation, in terms of psychoanalysis?
Therapist’s explanation of client’s unconscious
What is resistance, in terms of psychoanalysis?
Client attempts to avoid confrontation and anxiety associated with uncovering previously repressed thoughts
What is working through, in terms of psychoanalysis?
Therapist helps client process his/her problems
Is insight important?Any evaluations?
While gratifying, no
- falsifiability?
- –cannot rule out other hypothesis
Is insight effective?
- questionable
- interpersonal therapy (based on psychoanalysis) effective for certain disorders
Are traumatic memories repressed?
- evidence is weak
- disturbing events usually more memorable
- false memories can be created from memory retrieval techniques in patients that believe that they have repressed memories
What do humanistic therapies entail?
- overcome alienation
- develop sensory and emotional awareness
- assuming responsibility for decisions
- living in the present, not attributing probs to the past
What is one type of humanistic therapy? What does it entail?
Person-centered therapy
- nondirective
- therapist must:
- –be authentic
- –express unconditional regard
- –have empathetic understanding of client
- –show warmth
What is the technique for person-centered therapy?
Reflective statements/avoid confrontation -> motivational interviewing
Are humanistic theories effective?
- self-actualization difficult to measure
- more effective than no treatment
- mixed feelings -> some say it’s as effective as CBT and some say it’s not more effective than the placebo
Evaluation of therapeutic relationship within humanistic theories?
- stronger predictor of success in therapy than specific techniques
- self-help programs also successful—-is therapist necessary???
- causal directions -> clients who get better then have stronger relationship w/therapist
Goal of behavioral and cognitive behavioral approaches?
Address current variables that maintain problematic thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
What does exposure therapy entail?
Confronts clients with what they fear with the goal of reducing the fear
- systematic desensitization
- flooding and response prevention
What is systematic desensitization? What did it entail?
Clients are taught to relax as they are gradually exposed to what they fear in a stepwise manner
- Reciprocal inhibition
- counter-condition
- anxiety hierarchy
What does reciprocal inhibition entail within systematic desensitization?
client cannot experience two conflicting responses/relaxation techniques
What does counter-condition entail within systematic desensitization?
pairing incompatible relaxation response with anxiety conditions a more adaptive response
What does the anxiety hierarchy entail within systematic desensitization?
ladder of situations from least to most anxiety inducing
Steps of systematic desensitization
- relaxation techniques
- relax and imagine least anxiety-provoking scenario on anxiety hierarchy
- move to next level when able to imagine prior scene w/o anxiety
- continues until able to confront most fear-inducing scene w/o anxiety
Is systematic desensitization effective?
- Dismantling (research procedure examining effectiveness of isolated component of a larger treatment/mechanism)
- > no one component is necessary
What does flooding and response prevention therapy entail?
- Flooding: expose clients to top fear on anxiety hierarchy
- Avoidance: maintains fear
- Response prevention: therapist prevent clients from performing typical avoidance behaviors
What is the goal of cognitive behavioral therapy?
Replace irrational cognitions and maladaptive behaviors with more rational cognitions and behaviors
What are the 3 core assumptions of cognitive behavioral therapy?
- cognitions are identifiable and measurable
- cognitions are key in both healthy and unhealthy psychological functioning
- irrational beliefs or thinking can be replaces with more rational (realistic) cognitions
- irrational thinking styles
Examples of irrational thinking styles
- all or nothing thinking
- over-generalizing
- jumping to conclusions
- magnification (catastrophizing) and minimization
What is one type of cognitive behavioral therapy?
Rational-emotive therapy
What does rational-emotive therapy entail?
Change in how we think (cognitive) and how we act (behavioral)
-ABC’s
What are the ABC’s of rational-emotive therapy? What do they entail?
- Activating event: unpleasant internal/external event
- Beliefs: our beliefs regarding the event
- Consequences: emotional and behavioral reactions/consequences
Give an example of an ABC (rational-emotive therapy) situation
A: Nobody responds to text in 2 mins
B:
-irrational: everyone hates me
-rational: they’ll respond - maybe hasn’t seen phone yet
C: to irrational, feeling depressed/may not send text again
Cognitive Behavioral therapies evaluation?
- more effective than no treatment or placebo
- at least as effective as (and in some cases, more than) psychodynamic and person-centered therapies
- equally as effective as behavioral treatments
