Abnormal Psych Ch. 1-2

psychological disorder OR problematic abnormal behavior

a psychological dysfunction within an individual associated with distress or impairment in functioning and a response that is not typical or culturally expected

phobia

a psychological disorder characterized by marked and persistent fear of an object or situation

psychological dysfunction

a breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning

distress or impairment

* does not define abnormal behavior alone
* suffering/distress can be absent from some disorders
* shyness/laziness CAN be an impairment, but not always

Atypical or not culturally expected

* something that deviates from the average or violates social norms (cultural differences in what defines a disorder)
* -- harmful dysfunction
* -- behavior is out of individual's control

prototype

a typical profile of a disorder

psychopathology

scientific study of psychological disorders

clinical psychologists and counseling psychologists

receive Ph.D., and follow a course of graduate-level study lasting about 5 year (prepares them to conduct research into the causes and treatment of psychological disorders and to diagnose/assess/treat)

psychiatrists

earn an M.D. and then specialize in psychiatry during residency training that lasts 3-4 years; investigate nature and causes of psychological disorders, make diagnoses, and offer treatments

psychiatric social workers

earn a master's degree in social work as they develop expertise in collecting information relevant to the social and family situation of the individual with a psychological disorder

marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors

spend 1-2 years earning a master's degree and provide clinical services under supervision of a doctoral-level clinician

scientist-practitioners

Mental health professionals who are expected to apply scientific methods to their work. They must:


1. keep current in the latest research on diagnosis and treatment
2. evaluate their own methods for effectiveness
3. generate their own research to discover new knowledge of disorders and their treatment.

presenting problem

Original complaint reported by the client to the therapist. The actual treated problem may be a modification derived from the presenting problem.

clinical description

combination of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings that make up a specific disorder

prevalence

The number or proportion of cases of a particular disease or condition present in a population at a given time.

Incidence

The number or rate of new cases of a particular condition during a specific time.

course

pattern of development and change of a disorder over time

acute vs insidious onset

acute- begins suddenly

insidious- disorder develops gradually

prognosis

anticipated course of a disorder

developmental psychology

the study of changes in behavior over time

developmental psychopathology

the study of changes in abnormal behavior

life-span developmental psychopathology

study of abnormal behavior across the entire age span

Granger causality

when a series of events temporarily predict another series of events

historical concepts of abnormal behavior

supernatural model - agents outside our bodies influence our behavior, thinking, and emotions

* mind often been called the soul/psyche (separate from body)

Exorcism

various religious rituals performed in an effort to rid the victim of evil spirits

What were some common historical "causes" for disorders?

* demons and witches
* stress and melancholy
* the moon and the stars
* torture procedures were often given as treatments for possession

mass hysteria

outbreak of irrational behavior that is spread by social contagion (demonstrates emotion contagion)

Hippocrates

father of modern Western medicine; determined that psychological disorders could be caused by brain pathology, head trauma, or genetics

humoral theory

Hippocrates assumed that normal brain functioning was related to four bodily fluids or humors: blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm.

somatic symptom disorder

psychological disorder in which the symptoms take a somatic (bodily) form without apparent physical cause (described by Hippocrates as hysteria)

Why was the biological tradition reinvigorated in the 19th century?

* discovery of the nature and cause of syphilis
* support from American psychiatrist John Grey

What were the first biological treatments?

* insulin shock therapy
* electroconvulsive therapy
* drugs (neuroleptics, benzodiazepines)

psychosocial treatment

Treatment practices that focus on social and cultural factors (such as family experience), as well as psychological influences. These approaches include cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal methods.

moral therapy

psychosocial approach in the 19th century that involved treating patients as normally as possible in normal environments

mental hygiene movement

Mid-19th-century effort by Dorothea Dix to improve care of the mentally disordered by informing the public of their mistreatment.

Psychoanalysis

Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious processes; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

Behaviorism

Watson, Pavlov, and Skinner; focuses on how learning and adaptation affect the development of psychopathology

psychoanalytic theory

A theory developed by Freud


1. the structure off the mind and the distinct functions of personality that clash
2. the defense mechanisms with which the mind defends itself from these clashes
3. the stages of early psychosexual development that provide grist for the mill of our inner conflicts

Catharsis

a release of emotional tension

the structure of the mind, according to Freud

id, ego, superego

id - source of our strong sexual and aggressive feelings

* energy drive: libido
* death instinct: thanatos
* operates according to pleasure principle
* primary process

ego - the part of our mind that ensures that we act realistically

* operates according to the reality principle
* secondary process

superego - conscience (moral principles from our culture)

* conflicts with id; ego must mediate

intrapsychic conflicts

In psychoanalytic theory, a struggle among the id, ego, and superego.

defense mechanisms

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

displacement (defense mechanism)

* The transfer of feelings from one target to another that is considered less threatening or that is neutral.
* EX: A client is angry at his doctor, does not express it, but becomes verbally abusive with the nurse.

sublimation (defense mechanism)

* Rechanneling of drives or impulses that are personally or socially unacceptable into activities that are constructive.
* EX: Mom of son killed by drunk driver, president of MADD.

psychosexual stages of development

four distinct stages of the development of the self between birth and adulthood, according to Freud; personality quirks are a result of being fixated, or stuck, at any stage

castration anxiety

In psychoanalysis, the fear in young boys that they will be mutilated genitally because of their lust for their mothers.

Neuroses

psychological disorders characterized by anxiety or tension

object relations

the study of how children incorporate the images, the memories, and sometimes the values of a person who was important to them and to whom they were (or are) emotionally attached

collective unconscious

Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history

free association

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

Transference

in psychoanalysis, the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent)

humanistic theory

Jung and Adler's emphasis of the positive, optimistic side of human nature; focuses on self-actualizing

person-centered therapy

therapist takes a passive role, making as few interpretations as possible

unconditional positive regard

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help clients to develop self-awareness and self-acceptance

cognitive-behavioral model

combines insights from behavioral, cognitive, and social learning models

classical conditioning

a type of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to bring about a response after it is paired with a stimulus that naturally brings about that response

Extinction

the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced.

Introspection

A method of self-observation in which participants report their thoughts and feelings

systematic desensitization

A type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli. Commonly used to treat phobias.

behavior therapy

therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors

Reinforcement

in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

Shaping

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

multidimensional integrative approach

approach to the study of psychopathology that holds psychological disorders as always being the products of multiple interacting causal factors

Genes

long molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) at various locations on chromosomes within the cell nucleus

Genome

the complete set of genetic information of an organism

diathesis-stress model

a diagnostic model that proposes that a disorder may develop when an underlying vulnerability is coupled with a precipitating event

gene-environment correlation model

Hypothesis that people with a genetic predisposition for a disorder may also have a genetic tendency to create environmental risk factors that promote the disorder.

Epigenetics

the study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change

Neuroscience

how the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences

central nervous system

brain and spinal cord

peripheral nervous system

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body

Neuron

a specialized cell transmitting nerve impulses; a nerve cell.

Dendrites

Branchlike parts of a neuron that are specialized to receive information.

Axon

A threadlike extension of a neuron that carries nerve impulses away from the cell body.

Synapse

the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron

action potential

a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon

terminal buttons

Small knobs at the end of axons that secrete chemicals called neurotransmitters

synaptic cleft

the space between the terminal button of one neuron and the dendrite of another

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers stored in vesicles in the terminal buttons that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons

* some are excitatory; some are inhibitory

structure of the brain

hindbrain (medulla, pons, cerebellum), midbrain (reticular activating system), forebrain (limbic system, basal ganglia, cerebral cortex)

hemispheres

four loves: temporal, parietal, occipital, and frontal

* temporal: recognizing various sights and sounds
* parietal: recognizing various sensations of touch
* occipital: integrating visual inputs
* frontal: prefrontal cortex manages higher-level thinking

hormone

Chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands, that are produced in one tissue and affect another

brain circuits

neurotransmitter currents or neural pathways in the brain

agonists

drugs that increase the action of a neurotransmitter; antagonists decrease/block neurotransmitters

Reuptake

a neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron

Glutamate

A major excitatory neurotransmitter

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)

a neurotransmitter whose low activity has been linked to generalized anxiety disorder

Serotonin

\-regulates mood, eating, sleeping, and arousal

\-prozac and ecstasy work by boosting its effects

Norepinephrine

part of the endocrine system, stimulates receptors that relate to panic

Dopamine

A neurotransmitter associated with movement, attention and learning and the brain's pleasure and reward system (can be linked to depression and ADHD)

brain-gut connection

The influence of the gut bacteria on physical and mental health.

cognitive science

concerned with how we acquire and process information and how we store and ultimately retrieve it

learned helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

modeling/observational learning

learning through observation and imitation of the behavior of other individuals and consequences of that behavior

prepared learning

learning that occurs without extensive training because of an evolved predisposition to the behavior

implicit memory

retention independent of conscious recollection

emotion

linked to an action tendency to behave a certain way