Exam #5 Flashcards
perceived causes of disorders
- movements of sun/moon
- evil spirits, demons, witchcraft
- religion
ancient treatments of disorders
-exorcism, cages, etc.
psychological disorder
- a condition in which behavior is judged
- atypical, disturbing, unjustifiable & maladaptive
atypical
- infrequent
- deviates from what is normal
disturbing
- violates some ideal standard
- varies w/ time and culture
unjustifiable
-no good reason or explanation
maladaptive
- harmful, distressing
- interferes w/ effective functioning
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
- manual of psychological disorders and their symptoms
- lists over 250 different disorders
- describes typical course of illness
- diagnosis across 5 axis: clinical disorders, personality disorders, general medical conditions, psychosocial & environment problems, and global assessment of functioning
clinical disorders
mood, anxiety, schizophrenia, ADHS, eating disorders, etc.
personality disorders
stable & enduring parts of individual’s personality
general medical conditions
illnesses that could impact adjustment
psychosocial & environmental problems
problem in life such as job loss, divorce, etc.
global assessment of functioning
overall assessment of individual’s functioning
rates of disorders
- any anxiety disorder = 26.8%
- major depressive disorder = 16.6%
- any disorder = 46.4%
anxiety disorders
- disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety and/or maladaptive behaviors intended to reduce anxiety
- generalized, panic, phobias, OCD
generalized anxiety disorder
- unexplainably and continually tense and uneasy behavior lasting six months or more
- feelings of dread and impending doom
- low level
panic disorder
- intense fear that something bad is about to happen (lasts several minutes or longer)
- often fear of dying
- symptoms include heart palpitations, shortness of breath, etc.
- feels like a heart attack
- high level
phobias
- persistant, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation
- fears become phobias when people have to build life around avoiding things they are afraid of
OCD
- intruding, recurring thoughts (obsessions) create anxiety
- relieved by performing a repetitive, ritualistic behavior (compulsions)
- brain activity relationship (frontal and occipital)
mood disorders
- characterized by emotional extremes
- major depressive, bipolar
major depressive disorder
- two or more weeks of depressed mood often w/ no apparent reason
- wide range of symptoms: emotional (feelings of sadness/hopelessness), behavioral (less facial expressions/eye contact), cognitive (difficulty thinking/concentrating), and physical (changes in appetite, insomnia)
- stressful experiences > negative explanatory style > depressed mood > cognitive/behavioral changes (can be broken at any point)
bipolar disorder
- person alternates between depression & mania
- hopelessness/despair & hyperactive/wildly optimistic (alternates)
schizophrenia
- severe psychotic (loss of contact w/ reality) disorder
- characterized by delusions, disordered thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions & actions
delusions (schizophrenia)
- false beliefs
- persecution: beliefs that others are persecuting, spying on, or trying to harm them
- grandeur: belief that they have great power, knowledge, or talent
disordered thinking (schizophrenia)
-thoughts are disorganized, bizarre, childish
disturbed perceptions (schizophrenia)
-hallucinations: false sensory experiences
inappropriate emotions or actions (schizophrenia)
- emotions fluctuate rapidly, or may become blunted
- unusual actions w/ special meaning
- may become cataleptic (waxy flexibility)
biological contributors of schizophrenia
- overactivity or specific neurotransmitter receptors
- brain damage: enlarged ventricles
- genetic or other biological predisposition
psychosocial (environmental) contributors
-stress can trigger a schizophrenic episode, especially family communication patterns w/ high levels of criticism, hostility, contradictory messages
personality disorders
- persistant, rigid, and maladaptive pattern of behavior
- behavior interferes w/ normal social interactions
- develop in childhood, onset in adolescence/early adulthood
- antisocial, borderline, narcissistic
antisocial personality disorder
- no morals or conscience so no regard for consequences of behavior
- often behaves in an impulsive behavior: aggressive & ruthless or clever con artist
- usually male
borderline personality disorder
- relationships w/ others are intense & relatively unstable
- moody, unstable, lacks a clear sense of identity, and often clings to others
narcissistic personality disorder
-self absorbed, impulsive, reckless
clinical psychology
- field of psychology focusing on the assessment, diagnosis, & treatment of abnormal behavior
- guided by the boulder model
Boulder Model
- integration of science and practice w/ ultimate goal of clinical utility
- research practice
psychiatrists
- have an MD
- prescribe drugs
- endorse medical model
psychologists
- have a PhD
- do not prescribe drugs
- endorse biopsychosocial model
medical model
- abnormal behavior reflects a type of physical or mental illness or disease
- can be “cured” through treatment including therapy and use of drugs
biopsychosocial model
- abnormal behavior can be treated by understanding the biological, psychological, and social factors at work
- bio: genetics, brain structure & function
- psycho: stress, trauma
- social: social support
psychotherapy
-a planned, emotionally charged, confiding interaction between a trained therapist and person seeking help
humanistic therapy
- self actualization, self accepting, & client centered
- non-directive
self actualization (humanistic)
-problems occur when a persons potential is blocked
self accepting (humanistic)
-when obstacles are removed, people can become self accepting (people are responsible for solving their own problems)
client centered therapy (humanistic)
- Carl Rogers
- non-directive insight therapy
- explores thoughts & feelings to obtain insights into causes of behavior
- focus is on encouraging healthy emotional experiences by using 4 qualities of communication: empathy (help explore feelings farther), unconditional positive regard (accepting atmosphere, genuine caring), genuineness (authenticity, feelings of trust), active listening (therapist aches, restates, and clarifies; no interpretation)
cognitive therapy
- faulty though processes and beliefs cause problem behaviors and emotions
- replace distorted, unrealistic beliefs w/ realistic thoughts
- common distortions: jumping to conclusions, selective thinking; overgeneralization; magnification and minimization
rational emotive therapy (cognitive)
- Albert Ellis
- A (activating event; ex. insult) > B (belief; ex. I must be liked by everyone to be happy) > C (consequent emotion; ex. unhappiness)
- focuses on changing B
- clients are directly challenged on irrational beliefs
- restructures thinking into rational belief statements
- directive (ex. provide hmwk assignments)
behavior therapies
- change behavior through learning new responses (learning created problem, new learning corrects problem)
- action therapy, therapy based on classical conditioning, therapy based on operate conditioning
therapy based on classical conditioning (behavioral)
- systematic desensitization
- aversion therapy
systematic desensitization (behavioral)
- used to treat phobias
- client is first taught deep muscle realization
- next creates a list of ordered fears (hierarchy of fears)
- pairs relaxation w/ fear
aversion therapy (behavioral)
- undesirable behavior is paired w/ aversive stimulus
- reduces frequency of behavior
therapy based on operant conditioning (behavioral)
-reinforcement & extinction
reinforcement (behavioral)
- rewarding new response
- token economy: tokens reinforce behavior
extinction (behavioral)
- removal of reinforcer
- reduces frequency of behavior
- ex. time out
psychoanalytic therapy
- goal is to bring unconscious conflicts, usually from childhood, into consciousness
- patient learns that conditions that caused conflicts no longer exist, which permits a release of tension and anxiety
- methods include free association & interpretation, dream analysis, and interpretation of transference
free association & interpretation (psychoanalytic)
- patient free to say anything that comes to mind
- therapist notes resistance
biological therapies (biomedical)
- therapies directly affecting the biological functioning of body and brain
- psychopharmacology (the use of drugs to control or relieve symptoms of psychological disorders)
- anti-psychotic drugs (used to treat psychotic symptoms like delusions, hallucinations, etc.)
- anti-anxiety drugs
- antidepressant drugs
eclectic therapy
-any combination of approaches that offers appropriate treatment
effectiveness of psychotherapy
- long term is better than short term
- therapy w/ medication is not always better than just therapy
- no type of therapy is better than another
- freedom to choose therapist results in more improvement
- psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers are equally good and better than marriage counselors and family drs
social psychology
- branch of psychology that studies how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the real, imagined, or implied, presence of others
- behavior is influenced by many competing factors
conformity
- change in behavior due to real or imagined pressure from others
- Sherif & Asch
Sherif (conformity)
- autokinetic effect
- informational conformity: we conform bc we think the group has more info or knows the right answer (private acceptance)
Asch (conformity)
- line judging task
- normative conformity: we conform to be part of the group, to be liked by the group, or to not be rejected by the group (public conformity)
compliance
- when we agree to a request or offer made by another person
- often respond in automatic, mindless way
- different from conformity bc here it’s actually asked
- request often incorporates a principle of compliance gaining (reciprocity, social proof, scarcity)
reciprocity (compliance)
-people feel like they have to return the favor
social proof (compliance)
-biggest selling, fastest growing, we do what others do
scarcity (compliance)
-limited time only
persuasion
- convince someone the merits of a position by presenting arguments
- goal is to change a person’s attitude
attitude
- global and enduring pos or neg evaluation
- use words like: like/dislike, good/bad, pro/con, for/against etc.
- can be formed based on simple associations (see relationship between two things)
obedience
- someone demands something of you
- Milgram (shock experiment, 65% obeyed)
order of increasing pressure
conformity > compliance > persuasion > obedience
power of the situation
- the situation exerts a great deal of influence on us
- behavior is pulled out by situation, not pushed out by us
correspondance bias =
fundamental attribution error
