PSYCH - Unit 2

What approach does clinical assessment use?

Idiographic approach

what is the idiographic approach?

What is unique about a person (personality traits, family background, other circumstances)

what approach does psychiatric diagnosis use?

nomothetic approach

what is the nomothetic approach?

applying what we know about a person to what we know about people more broadly; seeing if specific problems fit a general class of problems

what does diagnostic classification do?

develop categories based on shared activities

what are three terminologies to know regarding classification systems?

taxonomy, nosology, nomenclature

what is taxonomy?

classification in a scientific context

what is nosology?

taxonomy in psychological/medical contexts

what is nomenclature?

nosological labels (e.g., panic disorder)

what are two widely used classification systems?

ICD-11 and DSM

what is the ICD-11

International Classification of Diseases and Health related problems

who published the ICD-11?

World Health Organization (WHO)

what is the DSM?

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

who published the DSM

American Psychiatric Association (APA)

what DSM version are we currently in?

DSM-5 (2013)

What is the classical (or pure) categorical approach?

yes/no decisions. each disorder viewed as fundamentally different from others. There must be a clear underlying cause; the individual must meet all requirements for classification

How is the classical categorical approach viewed?

viewed as inappropriate to complexity of psychological disorders

what is the dimensional approach to classification?

symptoms or disorders exist on a continuum; helps to create a profile to represent person’s functioning. There is no agreement on number of dimensions or which dimensions required

what is the prototypical approach?

a mixture of classical and dimensional approaches. categorical (yes/no decisions) but individual does not have to fit every symptom. instead, patient must meet some minimal number of prototypical criteria (5 to 9 depression symptoms)

what are characteristics of the prototypical approach?

polythetic, creates within-category heterogeneity (diverse in character or context), and presumes homogeneity within the “yes” and “no” group

what are the purposes of the DSM system

aid communication, evaluate prognosis and need for treatment, and treatment planning

what are commonalities between the DSM-1 (1952) and DSM-2 (1968)?

both relied on unproven theories and were unreliable

what are commonalities between the DSM-3 (1980) and 4 (2000)

atheoretical (emphasizing clinical description not underlying etiology), detailed criterion sets for disorders, emphasis on reliability (inter-rater; test-retest), and questions about validity

what are characteristics of the DSM-5?

emphasis on understanding that many (most) symptoms aren’t specific enough to a single disorder but cut across many disorders. introduced new dimensional measures that exist across disorders

what are the basic components of research?

starts with a hypothesis (educated guess) and research design

What are the components of research design?

independent variable and dependent variable

what is an independent variable?

the variable that causes or influences behavior

what is a dependent variable?

the behavior influenced by the independent variable

What is considered during research design?

internal and external validity?

what is internal validitiy

did the independent variable produce the outcome? This is more important than external validity

what is external validitiy?

are the findings generalizable?

what are confounds?

factors that might make the results uninterpretable

what can be used to increase internal validity by minimizing confounds?

use of control groups, use of random assignment, use of analog models

what are control groups?

individuals not exposed to independent variable but like the experimental group in every other way

what are random assignment procedures?

individuals assigned to either experimental group or control group randomly; avoid some systematic bias

what does it mean to use analog models?

study related phenomenon in controlled conditions of laboratory setting

why can internal and external validity be at odds?

because you want to control any confounds that could impact the results while also being able to generalize results to the real world.

what do statistical methods help to do?

help to protect against biases in evaluating data

what is statistical significance?

are the results due to chance?

what must be measured when determining statistical significance?

size of the effect, level of significance, and sample size

what is clinical significance?

Are the results clinically meaningful?

is there a relationship between clinical significance and statistical significance?

No. Statistical significance does not imply clinical meaningfulness

How does one balance statistical significance vs clinical significance?

by evaluating effect size

what is effect size?

statistical measures that tell the magnitude of effect but focuses less on sample size

what is the nature of a case study?

it includes an extensive observation and detailed description of a client. It is also the foundation for early developments in psychopathology

what are some limitations of a case study?

lacks scientific rigor & suitable controls, internal validity is weak and often entails many confounds

what is the nature of correlation?

a statistical relation between two or more variables, does not tell causations, and there is no independent variable being manipulated

what is the issue with correlation and causation?

there is a problem with directionality (which is actually the cause of the other)

how do we measure strength of association?

range from -1 to +1

how do we measure correlation?

positive vs negative correlation

what is the issue with correlational studies?

can’t use random assignment and cant manipulate independent variable

what does epidemiological research do?

study incidence, prevalence, and course of disorders as a way to find clues about the etiology of disorder

what is incidence?

number of new cases during a specified time

what is prevalence?

number of people with a disorder at any given time

what is distribution

is the disorder more or less common in certain populations

what happens in experimental research?

manipulation of independent variable, random assignment, attempt to establish casual relations, premium on internal validity

what is the purpose of control groups?

to show that IV is responsible for observed changes

what should the nature of control groups be?

should be nearly identical to treatment group

what is the purpose of a placebo group?

to ensure that treatment effect isn’t due to expectation that one will improve

When are and when aren’t placebos easy to use?

easy to use with medications, not as easy in psychological treatment

what is a double-blind control?

when both researchers and participants are unaware of their group treatments

what are comparative treatment designs meant to do?

compare different forms of treatment in similar persons. address treatment outcomes (did change occur?)

what does dismantling studies intel?

breaking the studies into parts and remove or focus only on certain aspects

why is dismantling studies important?

it is necessary to figure out the active components of treatment

what does a single-case experimental design include?

manipulations of experimental conditions and time, repeated measurements, premium on internal validity

what are the types of single-subject design?

withdrawal designs and multiple baseline designs

what do withdrawal designs include?

baseline (depression), treatment (assess depression), withdrawal (stop medication; assess depression), assets and liabilities

what are assets of withdrawal designs?

better sense if treatment caused changes

what are liabilities of withdrawal designs?

removal of a treatment that might be helpful

what are the drawbacks from liabilities?

risk relapse and its impossible to “withdraw” most psychological treatments (can’t force a patient to unlearn something that was learned)

what do multiple baseline designs include?

no start/stop of treatment; instead, start intervention at different times across settings or behaviors

what are assets of multiple baseline designs?

don’t have to withdrawal treatment

what are liabilities of multiple baseline designs?

still making conclusions on the basis of a small number of people

what are some genetic research strategies?

family studies, adoptee studies, twin studies, and genetic wide association studies

what is behavioral genetics?

interaction among genes, experience and behavior (phenotype vs genotype)

what are phenotypes?

observable characteristics or behavior of an individual

what are genotypes?

genetic make-up of an individual

what do family studies do?

examine behavioral pattern/emotional traits in family members (schizophrenia, alcohol use)

what do adoptee studies do?

allow separation of environmental from genetic contributions

what do twin studies do?

evaluate psychopathology in fraternal vs. identical twins

what were the results of twin studies on risk of developing schizophrenia?

monozygotic twins: 48%

dizygotic twins: 17%

most results find that both types of twins are treated in an equally similar manner

what do genetic wide association studies do?

locate site of related genes

what does studying behavior over time do?

may help us understand participating factors for the manifestation of disorder

what is important in prevention research?

study of risk factors for development of disorder (biological

what is important in treatment research?

what helps individuals recover (emotional support, medication, behavioral activation)

what are two time-based research strategies?

cross-sectional designs and longitudinal designs

what are cross-sectional designs?

take a cross section of the population across different groups and compare on a certain characteristic

what are cohorts in cross-sectional designs?

participant in each age group

what do members of cohorts share?

same age, historical time and exposed to similar experiences

what is the problem with cross-sectional designs?

differences across ages may be due to both age and dissimilar experiences

what is the cohort effect?

confounding effect of age and experience

what is a major limitation of cross-sectional designs?

they tell us little about how problems develop but can tell us what two variable are related

what are longitudinal designs?

follow one group over time and assess changes in individuals

what do longitudinal designs help us to do?

get closer to understanding casualty (order of relationship: depression leads to fewer friends vs. fewer friends leads to depression)

what are some problems with longitudinal designs?

• takes a long time to do

• expensive

• study topic may no longer be relevant by time study is done

• cross-generational effect

• worry of participation attrition (not random!)

what is the cross-generational effect?

may not be possible to generalize study effects to other groups whose experiences are quite different

what is the value of cross-cultural research?

can be informative and tell us about origins and treatment of disorders from different perspectives. Can also help us to overcome ethnocentric research

what are issues with cross-cultural research?

same terminology may “look” or “feel” different across cultures

• nonwestern cultures tend to emphasize somatic aspects of depression

• different thresholds for abnormal behavior

• treatments exist within cultural context

what are some components of a research program?

• no one study with definitively answer the question

• replication is vital

• scientific knowledge builds incrementally

• conducted in stages

• studies that proceed ask slightly different questions using slightly different procedures

What is the nature of anxiety?

• future oriented mood state

• negative affect

• somatic symptoms of tension

• apprehension about future danger or misfortune