Final! Flashcards
psychopathology
the study of abnormal behavior
situational context
the social or environmental setting of a person’s behavior
subjective discomfort
emotional distress or emotional pain
maladaptive
anything that does not allow a person to function within or adapt to the stresses and everyday demands of life
sociocultural perspective
perspective in which abnormal behavior (as well as normal behavior) is seen as the product of the learning and shaping of behavior within the context of the family, the social group to which one belongs, and the culture within which the family and social group exist
cultural relativity
the need to consider the unique characteristics of the culture in which behavior takes place
culture-bound syndromes
disorders found only in particular cultures
psychological disorder
any pattern of behavior that causes people significant distress, causes them to harm others, or harms their ability to function in daily life
biological model
model of explaining behavior as caused by biological changes in the chemical, structural, or genetic systems of the body
cognitive psychologists
psychologists who study the way people think, remember, and mentally organize information
biopsychosocial model
perspective in which abnormal behavior is seen as the result of the combined and interacting forces of biological, psychological, social, and cultural influences
anxiety disorders
disorders in which the main symptom is excessive or unrealistic anxiety and fearfulness
free-floating anxiety
anxiety that is unrelated to any realistic, known source
phobia
an irrational, persistent fear of an object, situation, or social activity
social phobia
fear of interacting with others or being in social situations that might lead to a negative evaluation
specific phobia
fear of objects or specific situations or events
claustrophobia
fear of being in a small, enclosed space
acrophobia
fear of heights
agoraphobia
fear of being in a place or situation from which escape is difficult or impossible
panic attack
sudden onset of intense panic in which multiple physical symptoms of stress occur, often with feelings that one is dying
panic disorder
disorder in which panic attacks occur frequently enough to cause the person difficulty in adjusting to daily life
panic disorder with agoraphobia
fear of leaving one’s familiar surroundings because one might have a panic attack in public
obsessive-compulsive disorder
disorder in which intruding, recurring thoughts or obsessions create anxiety that is relieved by performing a repetitive, ritualistic behavior or mental act (compulsion)
acute stress disorder
a disorder resulting from exposure to a major stressor, with symptoms of anxiety, dissociation, recurring nightmares, sleep disturbances, problems in concentration, and moments in which people seem to “relive” the event in dreams and flashbacks for as long as 1 month following the event
posttraumatic stress disorder
a disorder resulting from exposure to a major stressor, with symptoms of anxiety, dissociation, nightmares, poor sleep, reliving the event, and concentration problems, lasting for more than 1 month.
generalized anxiety disorder
disorder in which a person has feelings of dread and impending doom along with physical symptoms of stress, which lasts 6 months or more
magnification
the tendency to interpret situations as far more dangerous, harmful, or important than they actually are
all-or-nothing thinking
the tendency to believe that one’s performance must be perfect or the result will be a total failure
overgeneralization
the tendency to interpret a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat and failure
minimization
the tendency to give little or no importance to one’s successes or positive events and traits
affect
in psychology, a term indicating “emotion” or “mood”
mood disorders
disorders in which mood is severly disturbed
major depression
severe depression that comes on suddenly and seems to have no external cause, or is too severe for current circumstances
manic
having the quality of excessive excitement, energy, and elation or irritability
bipolar disorder
severe mood swings between major depressive episodes and manic episodes
How do scientists determine what is abnormal?
They consider various different criteria, of which at least two must be met in order to give a diagnosis of abnormality: 1) Is the behavior unusual? 2) Does the behavior go against social norms? 3) Does the behavior cause the person significant subjective discomfort? 4) Is the behavior maladaptive, or does it result in the inability to function? 5) Does the behavior cause the person to be dangerous to self or others?
seasonal affective disorder
a mood disorder caused by the body’s reaction to low levels of sunlight in the winter months
schizophrenia
severe disorder in which the person suffers from disordered thinking, bizarre behavior, hallucinations, and inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality
psychotic
term applied to a person who is no longer able to perceive what is real and what is fantasy
delusions
false beliefs held by a person who refuses to accept evidence of their falseness
delusional disorder
a psychotic disorder in which the primary symptom is one or more delusions
halucinations
false sensory perceptions, such as hearing voices that do not really exist
flat affect
a lack of emotional responsiveness
disorganized
type of schizophrenia in which behavior is bizarre and childish, and thinking, speech, and motor actions are very disordered
catatonic
type of schizophrenia in which the person experiences periods of statue-like immobility mixed with occasional bursts of energetic, frantic movement, and talking
paranoid
type of schizophrenia in which the person suffers from delusions of persecution, grandeur, and jealousy, together with hallucinations
positive symptoms
symptoms of schizophrenia that are excesses of behavior or occur in addition to normal behavior; hallucinations, delusions, and distorted thinking
negative symptoms
symptoms of schizophrenia that are less than normal behavior or an absence of normal behavior; poor attention, flat affect, and poor speech production
stress-vulnerability model
explanation of disorder that assumes a biological sensitivity, or vulnerability, to a certain disorder will result in the development of that disorder under the right conditions of environmental or emotional stress
What are the three subtypes of schizophrenia that are talked about in the book?
Disorganized, catatonic, and paranoid
humanistic perspective
the ‘third force” in psychology that focuses on those aspects of personality that make people uniquely human, such as subjective feelings and freedom of choice
self-actualizing tendency
the striving to fulfill one’s innate capacities and capabilities
self-concept
the image of oneself that develops from interactions with important, significant people in one’s life
self
an individual’s awareness of his or her own personal characteristics and level of functioning
real self
one’s perception of actual characteristics, traits, and abilities
ideal self
one’s perception of whom one should be or would like to be
positive regard
warmth, affection, love, and respect that come from significant others in one’s life
unconditional positive regard
positive regard that is given without conditions or strings attached
conditional positive regard
positive regard that is given only when the person is doing what the providers of positive regard wish
fully functioning person
a person who is in touch with and trusting of the deepest, innermost urges and feelings
nondirective
therapy style in which the therapist remains relatively neutral and does not interpret or take direct actions with regard to the client, instead remaining a calm, nonjudgmental listener while the client talks
person-centeredd therapy
a nondirective insight therapy based on the work of Carl Rogers in which the client does all the talking and the therapist listens
reflection
a therapy technique in which the therapist restates what the client says rather than interpreting those statements
unconditional positive regard (in therapy)
referring to the warmth, respect, and accepting atmosphere created by the therapist for the client in person-centered therapy
empathy
the ability of the therapist to understand the feelings of the client
authenticity
the genuine, open, and honest response of the therapist to the client
Gestalt therapy
form of directive insight therapy in which the therapist helps clients to accept all parts of their feelings and subjective experiences, using leading questions and planned experiences such as role-playing
behavior therapies
action therapies based on the principles of classical and operant conditioning and aimed at changing disordered behavior without concern for the original causes of such behavior
behavior modification OR applied behavior analysis
the use of learning techniques to modify or change undesirable behavior and increase desirable behavior
systematic desensitization
behavior technique used to treat phobias, in which a client is asked to make a list of ordered fears and taught to relax while concentrating on those fears
aversion therapy
form of behavioral therapy in which an undesirable behavior is paired with an aversive stimulus to reduce the frequency of the behavior
exposure therapies
behavioral techniques that expose individuals to anxiety or fear-related stimuli, under carefully controlled conditions, to promote new learning
flooding
technique for treating phobias and other stress disorders in which the person in rapidly and intensly exposed to the fear-provoking situation or object and prevented from making the usual avoidance or escape response
modeling
learning through the observation and imitation of others
participant modeling
technique in which a model demonstrates the desired behavior in a step-by-step, gradual process while the client is encouraged to imitate the model
reinforcement
the strengthening of a response by following it with a pleasurable consequense or the removal of an unpleasant stimulus
token economy
the use of objects called tokens to reinforce behavior in which the tokens can be accumulated and exchanged for desired items or privileges
contingency contract
a formal, written agreement between the therapist and the client (or teacher and student) in which goals for behavioral change, reinforcements, and penalties are clearly stated
extinction
the removal of a reinforcer to reduce the frequency of a behavior
time-out
an extinction process in which a person is removed from the situation that provides reinforcement for undesirable behavior, usually by being placed in a quiet corner or room away from possible attention and reinforcement opportunities
cognitive therapy
therapy in which the focus is on helping clients recognize distortions in their thinking and replace distorted, unrealistic beliefs with more realistic, helpful thoughts
arbitrary inference
distortion of thinking in which a person draws a conclusion that is not based on any evidence
selective thinking
distortion of thinking in which a person focuses on only one aspect of a situation while ignoring all other relevant aspects
overgeneralization
distortion of thinking in which a person draws sweeping conclusions based on only one incident or event and applies those conclusions to events that are unrelated to the original
magnification and minimalization
distortions of thinking in which a person blows a negative event out of proportion to its importance (magnification) while ignoring relevant positive events (minimalization)
personalization
distortion of thinking in which a person takes responsibility or blame for events that are unconnected to the person
cognitive-behavioral therapy
action therapy in which the goal is to hellp clients overcome problems by learning to think more rationally and logically
rational-emotive behavior therapy
cognitive-behavioral therapy in which clients are directly challenged in their irrational beliefs and helped to restructure their thinking into more rational belief statements
therapeutic alliance
the relationship between therapist and client that develops as a warm, caring, accepting relationship characterized by empathy, mutual respect, and understanding
psychopharmacology
the use of drugs to control or relieve the symptoms of psychological disorders
antipsychotic drugs
drugs used to treat psychotic symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, and other bizarre behavior
antianxiety drugs
drugs used to treat and calm anxiety reactions, typically minor tranquilizers
antidepressant drugs
drugs used to treat depression and anxiety
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
form of biomedical therapy to treat severe depression in which electrodes are placed on either one or both sides of a person’s head and an electric current is passed through the electrodes that is strong enough to cause a seizure or convulsion
psychosurgery
surgery performed on brain tissue to relieve or control severe psychological disorders
prefrontal lobotomy
psychosurgery in which the connections of the prefrontal cortex to other areas of the brain are severed
bilateral anterior cingulotomy
psychosurgical technique in which an electrode wire is inserted into the anterior cingulate gyrus, with guidance from magnetic resonance imaging, to destroy a very smal portion of that brain area with electric current
What is taxonomy and what are the advantages and disadvantages of using it?
Taxonomy is the way psychological disorders are organized into groups. Advantages: it provides an organized structure for disorders, it allows you to see related disorders next to eachother which could help with treatment, makes communication easier between doctors and experts, and it’s useful in establishing categories with which to conduct research Disadvantages: labeling people can be stigmatizing, sometimes when you give someone a label they believe that it defines them and they begin to act in ways that are consistent with the label, using these categories can hide significant variability between people
statistical difference
looking at the continuum and statistically calculating whether or not a person is abnormal
How do most scientists view abnormality?
They view it as a continuum with abnormality on either end and normal being in the middle
What is the classification system and when was the latest edition released?
The classification system is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders (DSM-IV-TR), the latest edition, the 4th edition, was released in 2000 but a new edition is being released in May
What is the first Axis of the DSM-IV-TR and what does it include?
Axis 1: Clinical Syndromes (major disorders) includes anxiety disorders (phobias, PTSD, panic disorders), mood disorders (depression, bipolar), dissociative disorders, and schizophrenia
What is the 2nd Axis in making a psychological diagnosis?
Axis 2: Personality Disorders including mental retardation
What is the 3rd Axis in making a psychological diagnosis and what does it include?
Axis 3: General Medical Conditions (when a person is diagnosed with a chronic lifelong disease they can be affected mentally, for example, with depression)
What is the 4th Axis in diagnosing psychological disorders and what does it include?
Axis 4: Psychosocial and environmental problems (anything going on in a person’s life that could affect their diagnosis, treatment, or prognosis)
What is the 5th Axis of diagnosing psychological disorders and what does it include?
Axis 5: Global Asessment of Functioning (an assesment of how well a person is functioning in their life by assigning a number, or a range of numbers, to a person on a scale of 1-100)
What is unipolar disorder?
people who are unipolar only experience one extreme at one end of the mood spectrum, symptoms include: depressed mood, loss of interest/pleasure in activities, appetite disturbance/weight changes, sleep disturbances, decreased activity and energy, feelings of worthlessness and guilt, difficulty concentrating, thoughts of death, and suicide attempts, in order to be diagnosed with unipolar disorder a person has to have at least one of the first two symptoms, unipolar disorder is twice as common in women as it is in men and in the past year about 7% of the population met the criteria for this disorder, the onset of this disorder tends to be in the late 20’s but it can occur at any point in the lifespan, symptoms have to be present for 2 or more weeks to be diagnosed, it is caused by genetic inheritance, neurotransmitters in the brain (abnormally low levels of seratonin), environmental stress, and cognitive theories (“depression results from focusing on the negative things in life”), it can be treated by: drug therapy (MAOI inhibitors, seratonin reuptake inhibitors), psychotherapy can be used to by targeting the negative beliefs of a person or increasing rewards in an environment, or by using ECT
What is bipolar disorder?
bipolar disorder is when a person experiences alternating episodes of mania and depression, it was formerly called manic-depression disorder, its symptoms can be split into two categories, depression symptoms and manic symptoms, the depression symptoms are similar to unipolar disorder and the manic symptoms include: euphoric mood, inflated self esteem, more talkative than usual, flight of ideas, distractibility, excessive pleasurable activities without regard for consequences, and a decreased need for sleep, on average the onset is during the early 20’s, it can be caused by genetic inheritance, environmental stressors, or glucose metabolism, it is treated by using the drug lithium carbonate or ECT (if the person is in a depressive episode)
What is schizophrenia?
the root of the word schizophrenia means “split mind” meaning the mind is split from reality–the individual’s thoughts and feelings no longer work together, people with schizophrenia are not usually violent towards others, schizophrenia is a disorder in which a person loses contact with reality, experiencing extremely irrational ideas or distorted perceptions, symptoms include: psychotic symptoms (positive): hallucinations and delusions; disorganized symptoms (positive): speech, behavior, affect; negative symptoms: anhedonia (loss of capacity to experience pleasure), flat affect, social withdrawal, poverty of speech, and lack of motivation, in order to be diagnosed, a person needs a few of the symptoms and they have to last at lease 6 months and affect the person’s functioning, and you have to rule out organic reasons for symptoms, the onset occurs in adolescence or early adulthood (before 25 years old), it is caused by genetic inheritance, neurological abnormalities (abnormal levels of dopamine), structural differences in the brain, environmental factors, and stressful life events can trigger it, it is treated with antipsychotic medications along with antidepressants or antianxiety meds
Solomon Asch
Conducted a study on conformity (line comparison test)
Albert Bandura
Conducted the experiment proving observational learning by having children watch an experimenter interact with a Bobo doll; he also believed that three factors influence eachother in determining the patterns of behavior that make up personality: the environment, the behavior itself, and personal or cognitive factors, he called this relationship reciprocal determinism, he discussed self-efficacy (an individual’s expectancy of how effective his or her efforts to accomplish a goal will be) as well; he developed the use of modeling as a therapy (modeling is learning through the observation and imitation of a model), so someone with specific fears or someone who needs to develop social skills can learn to do so by watching someone else
Alfred Binet
he designed a formal test of intelligence that would help identify children who were unable to learn as quickly or as well as others, so that they could be given remedial education, he decided that the key element to be tested was the child’s mental age, or the average age at which children could successfully answer a particular level of questions
John Bowlby
interpersonal psychotherapy was based partly on John Bowlby’s attachment theory; attachment theory?
Erik Erikson
he developed the psychosocial stages of development (ex. trust vs. mistrust, identity vs. role confusion, etc.) in which he believed that development occurred in a series of eight stages, with the first four stages occurring in infancy and childhood; Erikson was an art teacher who became a psychoanalyst by studying with Anna Freud, but he broke away from Freud’s emphasis on sex, preferring instead to stress the social relationships that are important at every stage of life
Sigmund Freud
he developed a theory of psychoanalysis, he believed that disorders were created by repressed urges in the unconscious, believed that aggression is a basic human instinct, he believed in and developed the stages of personality development that included the oral, anal phallic, and latency stage; he also developed the theory of the id, ego, and superego
Abraham Maslow
he was one of the earliest founders of the humanistic perspective, he developed the heirarchy of needs, where people are constantly trying to get to the top which is self-actualization
Stanley Milgram
he conducted the experiment where the participants would “shock” other people and he was testing how far the participants would go before stopping, he tested this to see how much of an effect social influence could have on a behavior, his experiment raised a lot of ethical questions though
Ivan Pavlov
he first studied classical conditioning by ringing a bell before feeding dogs and then ringing it and not giving them food and measuring the saliva they produced to condition them to salivate when they heard the bell, he developed the elements in classical conditioning such as condition stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned response, unconditioned response, etc
Carl Rogers
helped to found the humanistic perspective, he believed that people were always striving to reach their full potential, he developed the theory of self-concept, he developed a person-centered therapy which emphasizes a person’s sense of sel, he proposed that everyone has a real self and an ideal self and that the closer the real and ideal selves matched up, the happier and more well adjusted the person would be
B. F. Skinner
he was a behaviorist who basically took over the field of behaviorism after John Watson, he developed the theory of operant conditioning where behavioral responses that are followed by pleasurable consequences are strengthened, or reinforced
John Watson
developed his own “science of behavior” called behaviorism where he only studied observable behavior, his big experiment was conditioning “Little Albert” to be afraid of white rats,
Define and describe the Id, Ego, and Superego including how they are theorized to interact with eachother.
Id: part of the personality complex present at birth, it is a completely unconscious, pleasure-seeking, amoral part of the personality, it contains all of the basic biological drives: hunger, thirst, self-preservation, and sex, for the id, if it feels good, do it. Ego: is mostly conscious and it is far more rational, logical, and cunning than the id, it works on the reality principle, which is the need to satisfy the demands of the id only in ways that will not lead to negative consequences, this means that sometimes the ego denies the id its desires because the consequences would be too painful or unpleasant. Superego: the superego develops as a preshool-aged child learns the rules, customs, and expectations of society; the superego contains the conscience, the part of personality that makes people feel guilty when they do something wrong, it is not until this develops that children have a sense of right and wrong. All three of these divisions work together. The id makes demands, the superego puts restrictions on how those demands can be met, and the ego has to come up with a plan that will quiet the id but still satisfy the superego. Sometimes when the id or the superego doesn’t get its way it results in a gread deal of anxiety for the ego. When the anxiety created by this conflict gets out of hand, disordered behavior arises.
Describe and give examples of two defense mechanisms
Denial is refusing to recognize or acknowledge a threatening situation, such as if a person who is an alcoholic denies, or refuses to acknowledge, that they have a drinking problem. Displacement is expressing feelings that would be threatening if directed at the real target onto a less threatening substitute target. An example of this would be if a man was angry at his boss, instead of yelling at his boss and potentially losing his job, he goes home and kicks his dog instead.
Describe and differentiate between classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. (i.e. what are the main characteristics that differentiate these types of learning?)
Classical conditioning is learning to make an involuntary reflex or response to a stimulus other than the original, a natural stimulus that normally produces the reflex, it includes unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, and conditioned response, it was used in Pavlov’s experiment with dogs. Operant Conditioning is the learning of voluntary behavior throught he effects of pleasant and unpleasant consequences to responses, this was used in Thorndike’s puzzle box with cats. Observational Learning is the learning of new behavior through watching the actions of a model (someone else who is doing that behavior), there are four elements of observational learning: attention, memory, imitation, motivation.
Describe the concept of internal vs. external locus of control.
internal locus of control is the belief that you control what happens to you through your own actions and decisions. external locus of control is the belief that powerful others, luck, or fate control your life rather than anything that you do.
What is the major advantage of an experimental design over other types of research designs (e.g. descriptive or correlational methods)?
Experimental design allows for causal explanation, or it allows for the determination of cause-and-effect relationships, the other two don’t allow for that because descriptive is basically just observation of various things and correlational is just looking at the relationship between two variables
What is the goal of random assignment and why is it so important?
the goal of random assignment is to ensure control over other interfering variables, random assignment means that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to each condition so that there are no bias’ when choosing which participant goes into which group, it is important because it makes the only difference between the two groups (test and control) the condition that is being tested so that researchers can be sure that results are accurate
Describe the concept(s) of short-term or working memory including a discussion of issues such as capacity, duration and factors that influence these characteristics.
Short-term memory is the memory system in which information is held for brief periods of time while being used, if you don’t do anything with the information while it is there, it can last about 10-30 seconds, the capacity of short-term memory is the 7 + or - 2, where people can remember up to 7 pieces of information, plus or minus 2, in their STM, more information can be held in a person’s STM if a person “chunks” up the information, information can only stay longer if a person practices maintenance rehearsal by repeating the information over and over again.
Describe the difference between sensation and perception and explain how these two processes work together.
Sensation is a process that occurs when special receptors in the sense organs are activated, allowing various forms of outside stimuli to become neural signals in the brain. Perception is the method by which the sensations experienced at any given moment are interpreted and organized in some meaningful fashion. They have to work together because in order for perception to occur, there has to be a sensation first. First sensory organs alert the brain to any sensations that are experienced, and then the brain percieves this information by organizing it into something meaningful.
Describe the characteristics of REM sleep.
REM is the stage of sleep where dreams occur, during REM, the person’s body temperature rises to near-waking levels, the eyes move rapidly under the eyelids, the heart beats much faster, and brain waves resemble beta waves-the kind of brain activity that usually signals wakefulness, REM dreams are more vivid, more detailed, longer, and more bizarre than dreams that occur during non-REM sleep, 90% of dreams occur in REM, voluntary muscles are paralyzed during REM sleep so the person is unable to move.
Describe the “cognitive miser principle” and how it relates to our use of heuristics.
The cognitive miser principle is the idea that only a small amount of information is actively percieved by individuals when making decisions, so when a person is in a crowded room they can’t possibly digest everything that is being said so they shut most of it out, but yet they still hear when someone says their name.
How has the study of developmental psychology changed over time (i.e. what major shift has occurred with regard to the focus of study)?
At first, scientists only studied the development of infants and children, believing that after they reached a certain age there was no more development, but they shifted their views to include adolescence, aging, and the entire life span.
Describe the “strange situation” procedure developed by Ainsworth.
Ainsworth’s “Strange Situation” experiment was a lab experiment with one year olds and their mothers. Through a series of steps and observations where they watch and see what the children do in certain situations, Ainsworth noted that there are three different childhood patterns of attachment, but researchers have now identified four. These include: secure attachment, anxious attachment, avoidant, and disorganized/disoriented.
Why are some emotional expressions considered to reflect “universal” emotions?
Sadness, happiness, surprise, anger, disgust, and fear
What did we discuss as the main reason Milgram’s “shock” study could not be performed anymore?
The main reason was because of the reduced freedom of choice for the participants, this study cannot be conducted today because if a participant says they don’t want to do something they have to let them leave with no consequences
List and describe each of the Big Five factors of personality.
OCEAN: Openness: a person’s willingness to try new things and to be open to new experiences, conscientiousness: the care a person gives to organization and thoughtfulness of others; dependability, extraversion: one’s need to be with other people, agreeableness: the emotional style of a person that may range from easygoing, friendly, and likeable to grumpy, crabby, and unpleasant, neuroticism: degree of emotional instability or stability
Describe the lexical hypothesis in the context of personality.
The lexical hypothesis is the idea that the most relevant personality differences in peoples lives will eventually become encoded into language.
Provide an example of problem-focused coping and an example of emotion-focused coping that are not the same as those provided in the textbook.
An example of problem focused coping is if a student is extremely worried about an upcoming speech, he or she will revise their speech a million times trying to perfect it, memorize the speech, and practice it in front of people so that they are less nervous when giving the speech in class. If a person uses emotion focused coping, they would, in the same situation, watch TV to take their mind off of the speech, pray for guidance, ignore the problem in the hopes that it will go away, or build themselves up to expect the worst.
What did we discuss as the common factors of effective therapy?
For therapy to be effective there needs to be: a therapeutic alliance between the client and the therapist, hope, new perspective, support, and a protected setting.
