PSYC 276 Chapter 12: Psychopathology Flashcards
a false belief that is strongly held in spite of contrary evidence
delusions
12.1
Originally, “paralytic dementia” (ft sudden onset of delusions, grandiosity, euphoria, poor judgment, impulsive behavior, disordered though, physio signs like abnormal pupillary constriction) was believed to be caused by ———-.
Postmortem analyses of their brains revealed that cause was actually ——-.
weak character; syphilis
severe psychopathological disorder characterized by negative symptoms (e.g., emotional withdrawal and flat affect), positive symptoms (hallucinations, delusions, word salad, disorganized thought), and cognitive symptoms (e.g., poor attention span).
schizophrenia
Why is schizophrenia also a public health problem?
people with schizophrenia have it their entire lives and often become homeless
By the 1980s, it became clear that many schizophrenia symptoms could be viewed as belonging to which two groups?
positive symptoms and negative symptoms
abnormal behaviors that have been gained (were not previously present)
positive symptoms
abnormalities resulting in the loss of normal function
negative symptoms
Positive symptoms of schizophrenia include:
Hallucinations, delusions, disordered speech (word salad), and disordered behavior
Negative symptoms of schizophrenia include:
emotional dysregulation:blunted affect, lack of emotional expression, inability to experience pleasure in daily activities (anhedonia)
impaired motivation: reduced conversation (alogia), diminished ability to begin/sustain activities, social withdrawal
Contemporary view of schizophrenia symptoms distinguishes between postive symptoms (psychosis) and negative symptoms (emotional/motivational impairments), but recognizes an additional dimension, which is ——–
cognitive impairment
In schizophrenia, problems with processing and acting on external information are ——–
cognitive symptoms
Neurocognitive impairments in schizophrenia include:
- memory problems
- poor attention span
- difficulty making plans
- reduced decision-making capacity
- poor social cognition
- abnormal movement patterns
People with ————————— are at increased chances of developing schizophrenia, indicating the disorder has a ——— component.
relatives who have schizophrenia; heritable
Studies of adopted people confirm ———- in schizophrenia.
a strong genetic factor
In identical twins, if one twin has schizophrenia, the other twin has ——— chance of also developing the disorder.
In fraternal twins, if one twin has schizophrenia, the other has ——— chance of developing schizophrenia.
50%; 17%
sharing of a characteristic by both individuals of a pair of twins
concordance
What does it tell us that the concordance rate for schizophrenia between identical twins is 50%?
genes cannot be fully responsible for development of schizophrenia
What do twin studies about schizophrenia tell us?
it has both environmental and genetic origins
People with schizophrenia often have subtle neurological signs, such as ———— and ———–.
impaired motor coordination; difficulty with smooth movements of eyes to follow moving target
Genetic analyses suggest that ————— influencing the likelihood of schizophrenia are scattered across many different human chromosomes.
over 100 genes
Genes known to participate in ————– appear to be abnormal in people with schizophrenia.
synaptic plasticity
mutant, disabled version of a gene invovled in schizophrenia
disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1)
An epigenetic factor in schizophrenia is ———–.
paternal age at the time of conception
maybe bc older men’s sperm = more time to accumulate mutations
Research suggests that stressful events significantly increase risk of developing schizophrenia. Notably, stress of ——————– is associated with greater risk.
city living
medium-sized = 1.5x more likely
big city = even more likely
- earlier a person begins living in city, the greater the risk
- children who move from city to country have reduced risk
