Overview & History Flashcards
What is considered “abnormal”?
there is no consensus and fixed definition; no individual element is sufficient to define abnormality
5 elements of abnormality
subjective or psychological distress, maladaptiveness or impairment in normal functioning, violation of social norms, irrationality or unpredictability, dangerousness to self or others
2 standardized manuals to classify abnormality by disorder
DSM-5 by the American Psychological Association (used by US and Canada) and ICD-10 by the WHO (used by the rest of the world)
DSM-5 definition of mental disorder
a biological, psychological, or developmental dysfunction leads to a problem in behavior, emotion regulation, or cognitive function, which causes increasing distress or disability
4 reasons for diagnostic classification of mental disorders
to (1) communicate research and clinical settings, (2) meaningfully organize features of disorders, (3) facilitate research, (4) define what counts as “abnormal”
Prevalence
number of active cases in population in a given period of time
5 sources of information in research
case study, direct observation, psychophysiological variables, self-report data, implicit behavior
Who should researchers include in a study?
large, randomly selected groups with individuals who have similar behavioral abnormalities and that are representative of the population
Criterion vs comparison groups
those in the criterion group are people with the disorder and those in the comparison group are people without the disorder but are comparable in other major ways
Pros of using observational research designs
allows us to study things as they are and determine correlation
How much of the Canadian population will have experienced a mental disorder?
at least 46%; most begin in childhood and adolescence
What are the inherent errors in research design?
almost all data is binary or only studies information gathered on males and females, resulting in a lack of data on people who identify as non-binary, who are often simply regarded as outliers
Single-case experimental or ABAB design
used to make causal inferences in individual cases by introducing and removing an intervention over multiple sessions
What are examples of treatments done in the past?
drilling a hole in the skull, starvation, vegetarianism, dunking body into hot water, sensory deprivation, marriage
What 3 paradigms developed in the 20th century?
somatogenic, psychogenic, psychological research (developed behaviorism)
Somatogenic paradigm
mental disorders have a biological basis
Psychogenic paradigm
mental disorders have a psychological basis, which developed a lot of psychodynamic treatment
Demonology
a supernatural theory which proposes that bad spirits (e.g. the devil) dwell within a person and control one’s mind and body
3 treatments for demonology
ostracism, exorcism, trepanning
Ostracism
getting rid of the people with evil spirits so that others surrounding them do not get affected
Exorcism
having someone call evil spirits out from a person
Trepanning
drilling a hole in the skull to give the evil spirits an exit; caused brain damage in people
What is somatogenesis?
something physically or somatically wrong with a person disturbs their thoughts and behavior, leading to the development of disorders
How was somatogenesis diagnosed?
checking if someone had too much of one of the 4 humors (blood, black bile, yellow bile, or phlegm)
How was an excess in black bile treated?
a quiet lifestyle, vegetarianism, exercise, celibacy, and bleeding out to treat melancholia or depression
3 psychological malfunctions that lead to mental illness
inadequate moral development, being stuck in a psychosexual developmental phase (treated with psychotherapy), reinforcement for problematic behavior (treated with token economy)
Token economy
positive reinforcement by giving out tokens after the completion of a task or behaving in a desired way
What influences ideas about etiology?
the current paradigm (e.g. DSM-5) and the idea that correlation is not the same as causation
Paradigm
a viewpoint or set of assumptions about how to understand, study, and treat psychological disorders
