Psychopathology Lecture 1: Mental Disorders as Hypothetical Constructs

50 Question and Answer flashcards generated from Psychopathology Lecture 1 notes on mental disorders as hypothetical constructs and their validity.

According to the lecture, what are mental disorders considered to be?

Hypothetical constructs

What type of definitions are insufficient for understanding mental disorders?

Simple dictionary-type definitions

According to DSM-5-TR, what characterizes a mental disorder?

A syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior.

What underlying processes does a mental disorder's dysfunction reflect, as per DSM-5-TR?

Dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning.

What are mental disorders usually associated with, according to the DSM-5-TR?

Significant distress or disability in social, occupational, or other important activities.

According to DSM-5-TR, when is an expectable response to a common stressor, like death of a loved one, not considered a mental disorder?

When it is an expectable or culturally approved response.

When is socially deviant behavior not considered a mental disorder by DSM-5-TR?

Unless the deviance or conflict results from a dysfunction in the individual.

Who authored the 1955 paper 'Construct validity in psychological tests'?

Cronbach, L. J., & Meehl, P. E.

How many essential aspects of the nature of constructs and their validity are discussed?

Four

What is the first essential aspect of constructs?

Constructs organize complex psychological phenomena (i.e. affect, thought and action).

What is the nature of constructs in relation to human creation?

Constructs are human creations; they are classification schemes and thus abstractions.

How should constructs be evaluated regarding their utility?

They aren’t true or false, but more or less useful.

According to Einstein & Infeld, what are physical concepts?

Free creations of the human mind, not uniquely determined by the external world.

What did Niels Bohr say physics concerns?

What we can say about nature, not how nature is.

What are two key diagnostic criteria organized by the construct of Schizophrenia?

Delusions and Hallucinations.

What two primary symptoms must be present for Major Depressive Disorder diagnosis?

Depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure.

How do constructs impact communication about psychopathology?

They ease communication because they consume fewer cognitive resources.

How does the DSM-5 view its classification of disorders?

As a historically determined cognitive schema imposed on clinical and scientific information to increase its comprehensibility and utility.

What statistical method can be used to test if elements of a construct strongly inter-correlate?

Factor analysis

What is the second essential aspect of constructs?

Constructs describe and predict relations to other constructs and variables.

What term refers to the network of associations and predictions for a construct?

The nomological network

What does the nomological network enable a construct to be useful for?

Beyond mere classification.

Name one factor in the partial nomological network for Depression.

Responds to CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) or SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors).

Name another factor associated with Depression in its nomological network.

Low Social Support, Follows bad life events, or Low self-esteem.

Name one factor in the partial nomological network for Schizophrenia.

Responds to Anti-psychotic meds or Token economies.

Name another factor associated with Schizophrenia in its nomological network.

Dopamine system dysregulation, Obstetric Complications, Impaired Working Memory, or Pre-morbid low intelligence.

What form of test validity is considered a variation of constructs describing and predicting relations?

Criterion validity

What does criterion validity mean?

A test predicts an outcome that you want to predict for practical purposes.

What are the two types of criterion validity?

Predictive validity and Concurrent validity.

What is predictive validity?

Your test predicts a future outcome.

What is concurrent validity?

Your test predicts current status.

How is construct validity defined in the lecture?

Everything that is known about the correlates of a test.

What is the third essential aspect of constructs?

Constructs are open scientific constructs that should change over time.

What happens if a construct doesn't change?

Either it cannot be improved anymore, or nobody cares about it anymore.

What does the DSM-5 state about its diagnostic criteria in relation to new evidence?

They 'may need to be modified as new evidence is gathered.'

What is the fourth essential aspect of constructs?

The validity of a construct depends upon the accuracy of the predictions under points I and II, as indicated by empirical research.

What is the standard of evidence used in science for construct validity?

Empirical research and public presentation and discussion of data.

Is validity a dichotomy or a continuum?

A continuum (constructs are more or less valid rather than valid or invalid).

List three types of evidence that do not count toward construct validity.

Anecdotal evidence, personal experience, clinical experience, religious belief, political ideology, or literary depictions.

What must one give up to have a scientific understanding of psychopathology?

Reliance on anecdotal evidence, personal experience, clinical experience, religious belief, political ideology, and literary depictions.

What is crucial for a scientific approach to psychopathology, regarding different types of understanding?

Keeping straight when you are thinking scientifically and when you are not.

What is the primary role of constructs in psychology?

To organize complex psychological phenomena.

Why are constructs considered abstractions?

Because they are human creations and classification schemes used to make sense of the world.

What is illustrated by the diagnostic criteria for Schizophrenia and Major Depressive Disorder?

How constructs organize disparate symptoms into a coherent category.

What is one way that constructs conserve cognitive resources?

By allowing us to talk about a group of symptoms or actions as roughly equivalent, rather than each specific one.

What is described as a 'testable hypothesis' regarding the organization of behavior by an investigator?

The particular organization of behavior proposed by an investigator within a construct.

What does the nomological network for depression illustrate?

The various relations and predictions established between the construct of depression and other variables/constructs.

If a test's links to various correlates (e.g., genetic risk, treatment response) are established, what aspect of validity does this best represent?

Construct validity.

Why is it important for scientific constructs to be 'open' and change over time?

To allow for improvement as new evidence is gathered, ensuring their continued relevance and utility.

What constitutes valid evidence for the accuracy of predictions related to a construct's validity?

Empirical research and data, as opposed to mere opinions or non-scientific understandings.

Regarding the evaluation of constructs, what is more important than whether they are 'true' or 'false'?

Whether they are 'more or less useful'.