Midterm 1 Flashcards
Psychological disorder
A specific manifestation of this impairment of functioning (mental illness) as described by some set of criteria that have been established by a panel of experts
Psychopathology
Both the scientific study of psychological abnormality and the problems faced by people who suffer from such disorders
Culturally relative
- The norms of a particular culture determine what is considered to be normal behaviour, and abnormality can be defined only in reference to these norms
- the functions and acceptability of various behaviours vary by culture, rather than being universal truths; as such, an individual’s beliefs and activities should be understood in terms of his or her own culture
Psychological abnormality
Behaviour, speech, or thought that impairs the ability of a person to function in a way that is generally expected of him or her, in the context where the unusual functioning occurs
Psychiatrists
Trained in medicine prior to doing specialized training in dealing with mental illness
- focus on diagnosis & medical treatment that emphasizes use if pharmacological agents in managing mental disorders
- attend to medical & biological foundations, although usually consider psychological and environmental influences
Psychiatric nurses
Have received formal training in nursing before completing a specialization in psychiatric problems
- typically work in hospital settings
Psychiatric social workers
Usually have a graduate degree in social work, and they provide assistance to clients in adjusting to life within their families and the community
- attend to the influence of the social environment on disordered clients
Occupational therapists (OTs)
May practice in Canada with a bachelor degree along with field- training experience
- sometimes involved in providing mental health care
- may provide a broad range of services on rehabilitation teams and typically focus on helping clients to improve their functional performance
Tabula rasa
John Locke: a blank slate upon which experience writes all that is meaningful in thought and behaviour (attribute no effects at all to biology)
Clinical psychologists
Initially trained in general psychology and then receive graduate training in the application of this knowledge to the understanding, diagnosis, and amelioration of disorders of thinking and behaviour
Single factor explanation
Attempts to trace the origins of a particular disorder to one factor
Interactionist explanations
- View behaviour as the product of the interaction of a variety of factors
- generally make more satisfactory theories in describing mental disorders
Scientific theories are judged to be valuable because they embody these three essential features:
1) they integrate most of what is currently known about the phenomena in the simplest way possible (parsimony)
2) they make testable predictions about aspects of the phenomena that were not previously thought of; and
3) they make it possible to specify what evidence would deny the theory
Mental illness
Often used to convey the same meaning as psychological abnormality, but it implies a medical rather than a psychological cause
Are experiments set up to
a) prove the worth of a theory or
b) to reject (or fail to reject) the null hypothesis
b) to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis (never trying to “prove” a theory)
Null hypothesis
Proposes that the prediction made from the theory is false
General aims of theories about mental disorders
1) explain etiology
2) identify factors that maintain he behaviour
3) predict the course of the disorder
4) design effective treatments
Etiology
The causes or origins of the problem behaviour
Is it better to think of brain activity as
a) located in a single area of the brain or
b) concentrated in one or more areas
b) concentrated in one or more areas
Neurotransmitters
Chemical substances that carry the messages from one neuron to the next in the complex pathways of nervous activity within the brain
Four ways abnormal behaviour can result from disturbances in neurotransmitter systems:
1) there may be too much or too little of the neurotransmitter produced or released into the synapse
2) there may be too few or too many receptors on the dendrites
3) there may be an excess or a deficit in the amount of transmitter deactivating substances in the synapse
4) the reuptake process may be too rapid or too slow
Brain plasticity
The incredible capacity of the brain to reorganize its circuitry
Peripheral nervous system contains
- somatic nervous system & autonomic nervous system (ANS)
Somatic nervous system
Controls the muscle
Autonomic nervous system (ANS)
Sympathetic nervous system
Parasympathetic nervous system
Sympathetic nervous system
Fight or flight
Parasympathetic nervous system
Rest and digest
Behavioural genetics
The study of the way in which inherited features interact with with the environment to produce behaviour
Genotype- environment interaction
- Genes may influence behaviours that contribute to environmental stressors, which, in turn, increases the risk of psychopathology
- there is a reciprocal relationship between genetic predisposition and environmental risk
Concordant (concordance)
The similarity of diagnosis in a pair of twins- they are concordant if they both exhibit the same trait or disorder
Genetic linkage studies
Researchers examine families that have had high incidence of a particular psychiatric disorder. Within these extended families researchers look for the presence of particular traits (called genetic markers) that can be linked to the occurrence of the disorder
Molecular biology
Able to compare specific DNA segments and identify the genes that determine individual characteristics, and pinpoint the defective genes that cause various medical and psychological disorders
Psychodynamic theory
Sigmund Freud; claim that behaviour is controlled by unconscious forces of which the person is unaware
Catharsis
Discharging the emotional responses attached to these unconscious memories, by identifying he original traumatic experiences during hypnosis
Conscious
Contains information of which we are currently aware
Preconscious
In psychodynamic theory, holds information not presently within our awareness but that can readily be brought into awareness
Unconscious
According to Freud, contains the majority of our memories and drives that, unfortunately, can only be raised to awareness with great difficulty and typically only in response to particular techniques (that is, by psychoanalytic procedures)
Defence mechanisms
Freuds suggestion for the ways in which we try to keep unacceptable drives and the traumatic memories out of awareness;
Mechanisms through which the ego allows the expression of libidinal desires in a distorted or symbolic for
Id
The structure present at birth and it contains, or represents, the biological or instinctual drives that are not constrained at birth, demanding instant gratification without concern for the consequences either to the self or others
- acts according to the pleasure principle
Ego
In Sigmund Freud’s theory, the structure that begins to develop in response to the fact that instinctual demands of the id are not always immediately met. The ego develops to curb the desires of id so that the individual does not suffer any unpleasant consequences
- reality principle
Superego
The internalization of the moral standards of society inculcated by the child’s parents
- moral principle
Phallic stage
In this stage boys are presumed to develop sexual desires for their mother and to see their father as a competitor for their mothers love (Oesipus complex)
Boys become focused on penis and girls become aware that they don’t have one (penis envy)
Electra complex
Girls are thought to desire their father- not to won their fathers love, but rather, by seducing him, to gain what they truly desire: a penis
Classical conditioning
A type of learning described by the Russian Physiologist Ivan Pavlov. In classical condition a response is transferred from one stimulus to another
John B.Watson room the view that classical conditioning was the basis for human behaviour, including abnormal behaviour
Two- factor theory
The model proposed that fears are acquired by classical conditioning, but maintained through operant conditioning
Operant conditioning
An idea developed by Skin we according to which it is the consequences of behaviour that are important. Some consequences encourage the repetition of the behaviour that produces them, while other consequences result in the opposite effect
Reinforcement
When behaviour increases in frequency as a result of consistent consequences
Punishment
When a behaviour decreases in frequency as a result of its consequences
Positive reinforcement
Pleasant consequences or rewards that increase frequency of behaviour
Negative reinforcement
Reduction of distress that causes an increase in frequency of behaviour
Positive punishment
When a behaviour is reduced by the consequent occurrence of an unpleasant experience
Negative punishment
Behaviour is reduced following the removal of something desirable
Social learning theory
As originally outlined by Bandura and Walters, a theory that suggested that while classical and operant conditioning experiences are important, the majority of such experiences are primarily acquired vicariously- that is, by observation of others rather than direct personal experience. The theory has been extended to include not only direct observation but also info derived from books, movies, and television
Cognitive- behavioural theory
Reflects the view that both thinking and behaviour are learned, and, therefore, can be changed
- assumes that the way in which people view the world, a including their beliefs and attitudes towards the world, themselves, and others, arises out of their experience and that these patterns of thinking and perceiving are maintained by consequences in the same way that overt behaviour is maintained
Rational- emotive behaviour therapy
Albert Ellis; when faced with unfavourable life circumstances, human beings tend to make themselves feel frustrated, disappointed, and miserable, and behave in self-defeating ways, mainly because they construct irrational beliefs about themselves and their situations
ABC
Schemas
Internal representations of stored information and experiences. They are used to organize new information in a meaningful way and help to determine how we perceive and understand what goes on around us
Content-specificity
- Different types of beliefs are considered to be related to different kinds of abnormal behaviour
- distinct cognitive content is related to different types of disorders. For example depression is related to thoughts of deprivation and loss, where’s anxiety is related to themes of threat and potential harm
Self-actualization
Maslow; an actualization of ones potential arrived at by satisfaction of a hierarchy of needs visualized as a period: physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, self actualization
- believed abnormal or dysfunctional behaviour results from a failure to attain the self-esteem necessary to achieve self-actualization
labelling theory
A person being identified as having a disorder results in other people perceiving that person as dysfunctional and different
Public stigma
The typical societal response that people have to stigmatizing attributes
Self-stigma
The internalized psychological impact of public stigma
Social support
An individual’s perceived quality of support from close others
Systems theory
The who,e is more than the sum of its parts
Diathesis- stress perspective
A predisposition to developing a disorder (the diathesis) interacting with experience of stress causes mental disorders
Bippsychosocial model
Declares that disorders cannot be understood as resulting from the influence of one factor, be it biological, psychological, or social
Diagnosis
A determination of identification of the nature of a person’s disease or condition, or a statement of that finding
Diagnostic (classification system)
A system of rules for recognizing and grouping various types of abnormalities
Assessment
A procedure through which information is gathered systematically in the the evaluation of a condition; this assessment procedure yields information that serves as the basis for a diagnosis
Reliability
A diagnostic system must give the same measurement for a given thing every time
Inter-rather reliability
The extent to which two clinicians agree on the diagnosis of a particular patient
Validity
Whether a diagnostic category is able to predict behavioural and psychiatric disorders accurately
Concurrent validity
The ability of a diagnostic category to estimate an individual’s present standing on factors related to the disorder but not themselves part of the diagnostic criteria
Predictive validity
The ability of a test to predict the future course of an individual’s development
Atheoretical
The versions of the manual moved away from endorsing any one theory of abnormal psychology, becoming more pragmatic as they moved to more precise behavioural descriptions
Polythetic
An individual could be diagnosed with a certain subset of symptoms without having to meet all criteria
Major depressive disorder
A person is extremely sad and discouraged, and displays a marked loss of pleasure in usual activities
Mania
A condition in which a person seems extremely elated, more active, and in less of a need of sleep, and displays flights of somewhat disconnected ideas, grandiosity (an illusion of personal importance), and impairment in functioning
Bipolar disorder
Both depression and mania are exhibited
Comorbidity
The presence of more than one disorder in the same individual
Categorical approach
An individual is seen to either have a disorder,or not have a disorder with no in-between
Dimensional approach
Based on a continuum for mental disorders from non-existent or mild to severe
Psychological assessment
A systematic gathering and evaluation of information pertaining to an individual with suspected abnormal behaviour
Test- retest reliability
Refers to the degree to which a test yields the same results when it is given more than once to the same person
Alternate- form reliability
An attribute of a test demonstrated by high correlation between scores on two versions of a test. To circumvent the problem that one may improve on a test the second time around because of practice,test designers may prepare two for,s of the same test- that is they decide hat construct they want their test to measure, think up questions (or items) that would test that construct, and them word those questions in a slightly different way in order to create a second test that measures the same construct as the first
Internal consistency
Refers to the degrees of reliability within a test; to what extent do different parts of the same test yield the same results?
Split-half reliability
A measure of internal consistency, often ascertained by comparing responses on odd-number test items with responses on even- numbered test items and seeing if the scores for these responses are correlated
Coefficient alpha
Measures internal consistency by averaging intercorrelations of all items on a given test
Face validity
The user of a test believes that the items on that test resemble the characteristics associated with the concept being tested for
Content validity
Requires that a tests content include a representative sample of all behaviours thought to be related to the construct
Criterion validity
An attribute of a test, when it gives higher scores to people already known to have greater ability in the area it tests. The concept arises because some qualities are easier to recognize that to define completely, such as artistic ability
Construct validity
Refers to the importance of a test within a specific theoretical framework and can only be understood in the context of that framework
Clinical approach
- Argue that there is no substitute for the clinicians experience as personal judgement
- they prefer to draw on all available data in their own manner, they are guided by intuition honed with professional experience rather than by formal rules
Actuarial approach
Argue that adore objective standard is needed- something more unbiased and scientifically validated. The rely exclusively on statistical procedures, empirical methods, and formal rules in evaluating data
Computerized axial tomography (CAT) or CT scan
A brain imaging technique in which a narrow band of X-rays is projected through the head. The X-Ray source and detector rotate very slightly and project successive images. The exposures are combined to produce a highly detailed cross-section of the brain
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging
A noninvasive technique for examining the structure and the functioning of the brain. A strong homogenous magnetic field is produced around the head and brief pulses of radio waves are introduced. When the radio waves are turned off, radio waves of a characteristic frequency are emitted from the brain itself, which can be detected. The information gathered is integrated into a computer- generated image of the brain