Week 2 - Conceptual Issues in Psychology Flashcards
Define ‘statistical rarity’
- People who possess a characteristic that is rarely found in society
- These can be either positive or negative characteristics
Define ‘deviance of norm violation’
Behavior that isn’t socially unacceptable/abnormal
Define ‘distress’
- When abnormal behaviors cause distress to the person
- These people tend to seek treatment
Define ‘dysfunction’
- When the behavior gets in the way of properly functioning in everyday life
- The behaviour is manipulative
Definition of a ‘mental disorder’
Abnormal behaviour that is:
- statistically rare
- unacceptable to society
- cause of distress
- maladaptive
- stems from an underlying dysfunction
Name Wakefield’s 1999 analysis
Harmful dysfunction
- that the concept of mental disorders has both a dysfunction (factual) component and a harmful (value) component
What does the factual (dysfunction) component specify?
Wakefield, 1999
That there is an internal dysfunction present
- an internal function failed to develop/carry over during evolution
What does the internal (value) component specify?
Wakefield, 1999
It helps instances of mental disorder from instances of social deviance, non conformity or crime
According to Wakefields (1999) approach - for an internal dysfunction to qualify as a mental disorder………..
… the mental disorder needs to be causing harm to the individual
Hippocrates believed that mental and physical health required the balance of WHAT 4 humors/fluids in the body
- blood (mood)
- yellow bile - choler (aggression)
- black bile - melancholia
- phlegm (energy)
Paracelsus (16th cent) proposed WHAT 3 classes of mental illness?
- vesania - caused by poisons
- lunacy - influenced by phases of the moon
- insanity - heredity
What was Louis Pasteur’s theory?
Germ theory
-tiny creatures, invisible to the naked eye could invade the body and cause illness
‘general paralysis of the insane’ was caused by..?
The bacterium ‘treponema pallida’ - the main agent in syphilis
Who found the part of the brain which is involved in the production of speech?
Pierre P. Broca
What is ‘expressive aphasia’?
The inability to produce meaningful speech
Who found the part of the brain which is involved in understanding speech?
Carl Wernicke
What is ‘receptive aphasia’?
The inability to understand speech
Emil Kraepelin distinguished WHAT two mental illnesses?
Manic-depressive psychosis (now bipolar) and; Dementia praecox (now schizophrenia)
What was electroconvulsive therapy used for?
The treatment of mood disorders.
Involved causing brain seizures by passing an electrical current through the patients brain
It had a “calming effect”
Define ‘Psychosurgery’
Biological treatment, like a lobotomy for psychological disorders
-involves severing the neural fibers connecting to the prefrontal cortex
Contemporary biological perspectives focus on..?
.. uncovering the interactions between behavior and biological functions (and how they influence each other)
What are the two main theories that the Contemporary biological perspective focuses on in trying to identify the causes of mental disorders?
- Structural brain abnormalities and, 2. Neurochemical imbalances
Main causes are theorised as being: a persons genetic makeup and any experienced trauma affecting the nervous system
What are psychopharmacological treatments?
The use of drugs to treat psychological disturbances
- high risk or relapse though
Define the psychological Approach
theories that explain abnormality in terms of psychological factors. e,g disturbed personality, ways of thinking etc
How does psychotherapy work?
It’s a treatment for abnormality which consists of discussion of the clients symptoms
What is the id?
- most primitive part of the unconscious
- drives and impulses
Humans are proposed to be born with a sexual drive, the __________ was thought to motivate much of human behaviour.
Libido
Define the ‘Pleasure Principal’
Need of instant gratification of its desires, with no use of logic , reality etc
What is the ego?
The conscious self
-It channels libido acceptable to the superego and within constructs of reality
What is the superego?
The part of the brain that develops last
- It operates on the morality principal, based on the values and moral standards of society
List the stages of psychosexual development
Oral Anal Phallic Latency Genital
Define the defense mechanism ‘Repression’
Stopping thoughts from coming into the conscious to avoid the anxiety they cause. The memories are repressed
Define the defense mechanism ‘Denial’
Reducing anxiety by refusing to admit something
Define the defense mechanism ‘Projection’
When someone reduces their anxiety by taking their stress out on someone else
Define the defense mechanism ‘Rationalisation’
Creating a socially acceptable reason for the action
Define the defense mechanism ‘Reaction Formation’
Acting in a way that is the exact opposite of the impulse they feel
Define the defense mechanism ‘Displacement’
Shifting sexual or aggressive impulses from an unacceptable target to an acceptable one
Define the defense mechanism ‘Intellectualisation’
Creating an overly logical , rational response to distance themselves from the anxiety provoking emotions
Define the defense mechanism ‘regression’
Retracting back to an earlier stage of development to avoid anxiety
Define the defense mechanism ‘Sublimation’
Impulses expressed in ways that are acceptable to society - e.g becoming a footy player
Define ‘neurosis’
Maladaptive symptoms caused by unconscious conflict and it’s anxiety
Define ‘psycoses’
State involving a loss of contact with reality - experiences of delusions and hallucinations
What happens in ‘transference’?
When patients get angry or irritated with their analyst out of frustration with someone else from an earlier stage of life
What happens in ‘coundertransference’?
When the therapist transfers their feelings from their past onto the patient
Define the theory of ‘object relations’
The people whom individuals are attached to. E.g. a baby to its mother
Who came up with the ‘object relations’ theory?
Margaret Mahler
Define ‘separation-individualisation’ by Margaret Mahler
The crucial process of developing a separate sense if self
Define ‘separation-individualisation’ by Carol Gilligan
Crucial in the development of the superego - Important in the development if masculinity
According to the behavioural perspective, both normal and abnormal behaviour is a product of…?
Learning
Define ‘Adversion Therapy’
Pairing an unpleasant stimulus with a maladaptive source of pleasure. E.g. Giving an alcoholic medication which will make them sick every time the drink alcohol
Define ‘Systematic desensitization’
Gradually exposing someone to images of something they’re afraid of to help ease their anxiety in the long run - by desensitizing them to the stimuli
Define ‘token economics’
When people get awards for showing desired behaviours - these awards can also be held back for bad behaviours
List Albert Ellis’ ABC model
A - is the event
B - is the persons interpretation of the event
C - is the persons reactions to the event
Define the ‘cognitive perspective’
Theories which focus on dysfunctional ways of thinking as the cause of abnormal behaviour
Aaron Beck believed that specific types of psychological disorders were associated with…?
…certain specific thinking patterns
According to Aaron Beck, what is Black an White thinking?
People who see things at one extreme or another, with no middle ground
According to Aaron Beck, setting ________ _________ was a negative pattern of thoughts, associated with causing depression.
Unrealistic expectations
Define ‘Selective attention’
An adaptive process that enables us to process information that is most important, while ignoring other distractions in the process
When clients are assisted by their therapists to change dysfunctional patterns of thinking by testing alternate interpretations, this is called…..
Cognitive restructuring
Who came up with the theory of ‘self-actualisation’?
Carl Rogers
Define ‘self-actualisation’
According to Carl Rogers, people who build talents and live according to their own values are/become self-actualised.. This is also influenced by how much unconditional positive regard the person gets as a child
What is ‘Unconditional Positive Regard’?
When someone is fully accepted, without judgement of their feelings and behaviours
