PSYCH 212 Exam 1 Study Guide

Personal distress theory

anything that is subjectively unpleasant to the person

statistical deviation theory

anything that occurs rarely in the general population

harmful dysfunction

an internal mechanism is not performing its natural function

etic perspective

the outsider perspective

emic perspective

the insider perspective

incidence

the number of new cases in a specific period of time

prevalence

the number of active cases in a specific period of time

lifetime prevalence

the number of people who represented a case at any time in their life

biological paradigm

abnormal behaviors have a physical cause

psychodynamic paradigm

unconscious conflicts are heavily influences by early childhood experiences

cognitive-behavioral paradigm

behavior is a result of past reinforcement/punishment and the ways in which people appraise their experiences

humanistic paradigm

humans have free will that directs them toward being their true selves and living their most fulfilling lives

systems theory

an integration of theories and methods will provide the fullest and most complete understanding of human behavior

holistic view of the person

all factors need to be considered,can only be considered in the context of one another

rejection of reductionism

each factor can be considered alone because they do not interact, look for the single “true” causal factor

equifinality

for any given type of mental illness you come across in a patient, there are many differet factors that contribute to a diagnosis

multifinality

a singular cause might influence the development of multiple possible outcomes

Behavioral genetics studies can only answer one basic question; what is that question?

To what extent are differences in a trait among individuals due to genetic differences?

categorical approach

assumes or suggests qualitative differences

dimensional approach

focuses on quantitative differences, all of which exist on one continuum

threshold approach

a mix between categorical and dimensional classificatinos

reliability

the classification system’s ability to provide consisten “answers”

test-retest reliability

the diagnosis does not change over time

inter-rater reliability

do multiple clinicians come to the same conclusion consistently using the same classification system?

validity

the classification system can be used to come to accurate conclusions about the person

concurrent validity

about what the person is experiencing at that time

predictive validity

about what the person will experience in the future

etiological validity

about the specificity of a cause to an outcome

syndrome

a group of symptoms that tend to co-occur and are assumed to have a common etiology

etiology

means causes

comorbidity

2 or more concern occurring during an overlapping period of time

reciprocal causality

stuck in a cycle until someone changes their behavior

proband

the “index person” identified for the purposes of a research study

concordance rates

“agreement” between the proband and someone with a known amount of genes

diagnosis

the recognition by a skilled clinician that a person is experiencing clinically significant symptoms of a given disorder

appetite disturbance

could be that the patient experiences a loss of appetite or overeating

sleep disturbance

could be that the patient is experiencing insomnia or hypersomnia

psychomotor retardation

everything you are trying to do physically feels like it is slowed down

psychomotor agitation

internal sense of jitteryness

fatigue/lack of energy

You feel tired and like you don’t have the energy to get going

feelings of worthlessness/guilt

Feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt

difficulty concentrating/making decisions

sustained difficulty of being able to focus on something, no matter how much you are trying to

passive suicidality

thoughts of death

active suicidality

intent, planning, and ideas of hurting onself

indecisiveness

being overwhelmed by making choices about inconsequential things

low self-esteem

feelings of like you are disappointing others

hopelessness

feelings of being stuck and like it would never end

distractiblity

inablity to focus because focus cannot be maintained on just one thign

decreased need for sleep

the person does not feel particularly tired after barely sleeping

inflated self-esteem/grandiosity

a person thinks very well of themselves to an unusual degree (not narcissistic)

excessive talkativeness/pressured speech

When the person is essentially spitting words at you

racing thoughts/flight of ideas

thoughts are coming very very quickly with little to no break between them

excessive engagement in risky/reckless behavior

the individual is engaging in more risky/reckless behaviors than they usually do

increased goal-directed activity

lots of ideas are started, but nothing gets finished

remission

symptom alleviation for at least 2 months

relapse

when symptoms return after remission

cyclothymic disorder

the patient is spending more days than not in some type of episode (could be depressive or hypomanic)

learned helplessness

someone learns (though experience) that their actions have no effect on the outcome

serotonin theory of depression

depression is caused by a deficiency or imbalance of serotonin

cohort effect

a group’s behavior, attitudes, or health might be different not because they’re older or younger, but because they grew up during a different time