Lecture II Flashcards
3 kinds of causes
Necessary - must exist for disorder to happen
Sufficient - guarantees the existence of disorder
Contributory - increases probability
Etiology
The causal pattern of abnormal behavior
Distal vs proximal causal factors
Distal - earlier causal factors. Proximal - more recent factors
Reinforcing contributory cause
Maintains a pre-existing maladaptive behavior
Feedback
The effects go back and influence causes
Bidirectionality
Influences can be two ways - an example is alcohol dependence and major depressive disorder
Diathesis
Predisposition to developing a disorder. Can be biological, psychological, sociocultural
Stress
The response of individual to demands perceived as taxing
Diathesis-strss models
A combination of diathesis and stress result in the emergence of the disorder
Interactive vs additive diathesis-stress models
The interactive model says that individuals without the diathesis cannot develop the disorder, regardless of level of stress. The additive models say that individuals without the diathesis can still develop the disorder if they are exposed to enough stress. In both models the chances of developing the disorder have direct relationship with the amount of stress
Protective factors
Modify a person’s response to environmental stressors, making negative consequences less likely - can be a teacher for ex.
Resilience
Ability to adapt to even very difficult circumstances
Theoretical orientation
These viewpoints help organize observations, provide systems of though, suggest areas of focus
Biopsychosocial viewpoint
A more integrative theoretical orientation that is widely supported today. Posits that biological, psychological, and social factors play into the development of a disorder
Biological viewpoint
Focuses on mental disorders as treatable diseases. Causes include (1) neurotransmitter/hormonal abnormalities in brain (2) genetic vulnerabilities (3) temperament (4) brain dysfunction and neural plasticity
Psychological viewpoint
Includes psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive-behavioral
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy
Concerned with conflicts between id, ego, superego that lead to anxiety. Ego tries to deal with this anxiety by resorting to ego-defense mechanisms. Goal is to make the unconscious conscious. Analyst makes analysand free associate and discuss childhood experiences,
Psychoanalytic ego-defense mechanisms
Displacement, fixation, projection, rationalization, reaction formation, regression, repression, sublimation
Psychosexual stages of development
(1) Oral stage (0-2)
(2) Anal stage (2-3)
(3) Phallic (3-6; oedipal and electra complex)
(4) Latency period (6-12)
(5) Genital stage (after puberty)
Psychoanalytic vs psychodynamic perspectives
Psychoanalytic is only from Freud. Psychodynamic also is everything that his followers came up afterwards. Psychodynamic has more empirical support and is more patient friendly - do not have to dedicate as must time as psychoanalytic.
Object-relations theory
The child takes an object - a symbolic rep of another person, and introjects it (symbolically incorporates) into own personality
Impact of psychoanalytic
Concepts of unconscious and intrapsychic conflict; importance of childhood; therapeutic techniques. However lack of empirical support, emphasis on sex drive, sexism, pessimism, perhaps overemphasis of unconscious.
Behavioral perspective
Learning is the central theme. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning and Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning are etiology. Subcategories include social learning theory, observational learning theory.
Classical conditioning
Conditioned stimulus gains capacity to elicit Unconditioned responses by simultaneous presentation with unconditioned stimulus.
Operant conditioning
Individual learns how to achieve a desired goal.
Generalization
In conditioning, a response is conditioned to stimulus but then is able to be elicited by similar stimuli. For example if I am afraid of elevators then the fear generalizes into all small spaces
Discrimination
In conditioning, person learns to distinguish between similar stimuli.
Observational learning
Learning via observation alone - unconditioned stimulus not experienced.
Impact of the behavioral perspective
Idea that patient can change behaviors and emotional responses by eliminating undesirable reactions and learning desirable ones. Precision, objectivity. However, criticized in that it oversimplifies human behavior and ignores root cause in order to tackle appearances
Cognitive-behavioral perspective
How thoughts and info processing can become distorted and lead to maladaptive emotions, behavior. Involves schema, nonconscious
Schema
Representation of the world and self/ of knowledge that guides information processing. Assimilation - new experiences fit into schema, even if they have to be distorted. Accommodation - if distortion not enough, adjustments to frameworks made. Self-schema - who we are, might become, what is important.
Nonconscious
Mental processes that occur without our being aware of them
Attributions (cognitive-behavioral)
The way that we assign causes to things that happen. Attributional style is the characteristic way in which an individual assigns causes to events - stable, internal, global
Distorted patterns of thought (cognitive-behavioral)
Filtering, dichotomous thinking, overgeneralization, magnification, personalization and blame, fortune-telling, mind reading
Beck’s CBT
Shift of focus from overt behavior to underlying cognitions. Interpretation of events is important. Focus of therapy to alter distorted/maladaptive schemas
Impact of cognitive behavioral perspective
Behaviorists were skeptical as cognitions are not observable, but there is evidence for efficacy. Increased understanding of cognition has reduced criticism
Psychological causal factors
Early deprivation, trauma, institutionalization, neglect, abuse, separation, marital discord, maladaptive peer relationships, bad parenting
Sociocultural perspective
Sociology and anthropology important to understanding development of individuals. Stressors in a society can produce mental disorders that are specific to society
