Unit 1 Flashcards
Chapters 1-4
criteria for abnormal behavior
the four D’s (deviance, distress, dysfunction, and danger)
deviance
- behavior that is unexpected in its cultural context or behaviors that are rare
- not doing the societal norm of behavior
- can think about it as not statistically normal
distress
- individual is suffering/unhappy and wants to be rid of the behavior
- people are not aware of problems that their behaviors may create from themselves and others
dysfunction
- the behavior prevents normal daily functioning
- if they were left on their own, they would not be okay
danger
- behavior is careless, hostile, or confused consistently
- place themselves and others at risk
prehistoric abnormal behavior approach
- theory: caused by evil spirits
- treatment: trephination (drilling holes in the head to let the evil spirits out)
ancient China abnormal behavior approach
- theory: imbalance on Yin/Yang
- treatment: diet and lifestyle changes to restore balance
ancient Greece and Rome abnormal behavior approach
- 500 BCE to 500 AD
- theory: imbalance of natural forces (blood, phlegm, black bile, yellow bile)
- treatment: rebalance the natural forces through diet, lifestyle change, temperature, exercise, celibacy or bleeding
middle ages abnormal behavior approach
- about 500 to 1350
- theory: possessed by evil spirits/Satan’s influence (church was in control)
- treatment: drive out the evil spirits via exorcisms (usually included torture)
renaissance abnormal behavior approach
- about 1400 to 1700
- theory: mental disorders are like medical illnesses
- treatment: create asylums/mental hospitals (lock people up) because there was no effective cure, very inhumane
20th century abnormal behavior approach
- mutual influence of body and mind
- somatogenic hypothesis: physical issue cause psychological disorder
- psychogenic hypothesis: psychological issue causes physical disorder
- treatment: antipsychotic medication
- effects: deinstitutionalization and insufficient funds for resources
biopsychosocial approach
- biological: emphasis on biological processes like genetics
- psychological: emphasis on psychological factors such as early childhood experiences and self-concept
- social: emphasis on interpersonal relationships and social environments
capgras delusion
- when looking at something and it goes to the temporal lobe where it is identified, then goes to the amygdala where you keep emotions, but the relationship between the temporal lobe and amygdala is cut off so emotions aren’t associated with the recognition of an image/person/place
- lack of emotional response causes thinking people are not who they look like
- biological contribution: no connection between temporal lobe and amygdala
- psychological contribution: no emotional response to known people
- social contribution: disturbs relationships with others
cerebral cortex
- responsible for the higher level processes of the human brain, including language, memory, reasoning, thought, learning, decision-making, emotion, intelligence, and personality
- includes: precentral gyrus, central sulcus, postcentral gyrus, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, temporal lobe, and frontal lobe
limbic system
- processes and regulates emotion and memory while also dealing with sexual stimulation and learning
- includes: cingulate gyrus, olfactory bulb, amygdala, hippocampus, mammillary body, hypothalamus, fornix, and thalamus
modern abnormal behavior approach
- biopsychosocial approach: attribute the cause of abnormality to an interaction of genetic, biological, developmental, emotional, behavioral, cognitive, social, and societal influences
- vulnerability stress approach: individuals’ vulnerabilities and life events vary, interaction of these variables may precipitate psychological disorders
evidence based treatments
research supported recommendations for treating specific disorders
case studies
- detailed description of a person’s life and psychological problems
- values: opens the way for discovery, helps other therapists/clinicians, can support or challenge theories
- limitations: biased observer, subjective evidence, little basis for generalization
correlational studies
- a research procedure used to determine the ‘co-relationship’ between variables
- values: easily reproducible, uses variables, observes participants and applies statistical tests
- limitations: does not explain variable relationships, does not do causality
- examples: epidemiological and longitudinal studies
experimental studies
- research procedures in which a variable is manipulated and the manipulation’s effect on another variable is observed
- factors: independent and dependent variable, confound variables, control group, random assignment, blind design, double blind design
quasi-experimental studies
designs that fail to include key elements of a pure experiment and intermix elements of experimental and correlational studies
meta-analysis
statistical analysis of a collection of independent studies to see treatment success, to filter out bad studies, scale for all the remaining studies and have a clear message of what the body of studies tells you
presenting problem
why the person has come for help
clinical description
unique combination of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings that make up a disorder
course of a disorder
the characteristic pattern of how a disorder progresses
prognosis
anticipated course of a disorder
prevalence
how many people in the population as a whole have the disorder at a particular point in time
incidence
the number of new cases of a disorder occurring in a population over a specific period of time
etiology
the cause, set of causes, or manner of causation of a disease or condition
treatment
procedure to change abnormal behavior into more normal behavior
outcome
results of treatment, intervention, or experiment
comorbid
having more than one disorder at the same time
differential diagnosis
distinguishing among disorders that have symptoms in common
equifinality
number of different developmental routes lead to the same psychological disorder
multifinality
when individuals have experienced a number of similar developmental variables but have different clinical outcomes
biological model
- abnormal behavior is an illness brought on by malfunction of parts of an organism, usually in the brain
- structural injuries can cause dysfunctional diseases (ie Phineas Gage)
- biochemical causes can cause abnormalities
- treatment: drug therapy, brain stimulation, and psychosurgery
important neurotransmitters
acetylcholine, norepinephrine, GABA, serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, and endorphins
acetylcholine
- one of the first neurotransmitters to be discovered and the most common
- in motor neurons and muscles
- used for memory (ie Alzheimer’s)
norepinephrine
- important for bodily and psychological arousal (ie cocaine)
- used for bipolar disorder
GABA
- main inhibitory neurotransmitter in restraining some behaviors
- used for anxiety
serotonin
- regulation of sleep and wakefulness
- important in mood disorders
- hallucinogens stimulate it
dopamine
- pleasurable emotions
- causes addiction and withdrawals
- can be used for schizophrenia and Parkinson’s
glutamate
- major excitatory neurotransmitter
- enhances action potentials
- important for learning and memory
- important in rewiring the brain
endorphins
- disrupt pain messages
- causes placebo effect
- addiction and withdrawal
agonists
- enhance the action of the specific neurotransmitters
- increase how much the neurotransmitter is made, so there is more inside each vesicle
- can block reuptake of neurotransmitters
- can mimic a particular neurotransmitter, binding to that neurotransmitter’s postsynaptic receptors and either activate them or increase the neurotransmitter’s effects
antagonists
- block the action of specific neurotransmitters
- can decrease the release of neurotransmitters, so there are fewer inside each vesicle
- can help destroy neurotransmitters in the synapse
- can mimic a particular neurotransmitter, binding to that neurotransmitter’s postsynaptic receptors enough to block the neurotransmitter binding
central executive network
- high order cognition and attentional tasks
- prefrontal cortex
- think CEO or project manager
salience network
- monitoring critical external and internal states
- discrepancies –> activate central executive
- looking for errors and reporting to CEO
default/intrinsic network
- interacting areas involved in internal activity (no external stimulation)
- becomes less active when other networks involving external stimuli are activated
- some disorders involve problems with turning this network on and off
other brain networks
visual processing, auditory processing, sensorimotor processing, and attentional processing
are the multiple biological subsystems coordinated?
yes
nervous system
- central nervous system: brain and spinal cord
- peripheral nervous system: somatic and autonomic (sympathetic and parasympathetic)
endocrine system
- works with neurons to control growth, sex, heart rate, temperature, and stress
- hypothalamus stimulates the pituitary gland, which stimulates other glands, which release hormones into the bloodstream
genes
the unit of heredity that helps determine the characteristics of an organism; blueprints for building a person
alleles
genes come in different ‘flavors’ and can mutate over time
gene expression
- genes only affect some things in your body if they are turned on or off at the right time
- genes must be activated in a complex pattern to carry out the plan
- can be affected by environmental factors
epigenetics
- environment is seen as layered over genetics
- genes themselves may not be changed by the environment but instructions for gene expression can be coded and passed down