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Describe the divorce study and what it provides evidence for.* (Good grasp)
The study found that identical twins had a higher rate of both being divorced than fraternal twins. This indicates that there is a “divorce gene”; twins with a similar temperament (from genes) may be more likely to divorce.
There is a higher probability of divorce if:
Fraternal twin is divorced: 2x higher rate of divorce
Identical twin is divorced: 6x higher rate of divorce - suggests a genetic component of divorce
Describe the rat adoption study, and what it gives evidence for.*
Affectionate mother rats ‘adopted’ aggressive rat babies with genes for aggressiveness. Because of their nurturing environment, the angry rat babies grew up to be affectionate even despite their predisposition to aggression. This is an example of gene-environment interaction. The aggressive gene was suppressed by the environment.
How can environment affect genetic influence?*
Environment can determine whether certain genes are expressed or suppressed. It can override genetic influence.
What are the x and y labels of THE GRID: Biopsychosocial model* (Use this to help you study disorders)
X: Etiology, Presentation, Treatment
Y: Biological, Psychological, Social
(Reversible)
What is the biopsychosocial model of psychopathology?* (Good grasp)
Biological, psychological, and social factors all interact to contribute to the development of a mental disorder.
A unified model that combines paradigms. It includes biological factors, psychological factors, and social/cultural factors.
What are social factors that are linked to psychopathology?*
Poverty
Parental stress
Minoritized status
Other factors:
Cultural approach to mental health
immigration stress
limited access to services
What is the humanistic/existential view of mental illness?*
Core of human funcitoning = inner, subjective experiences
Emphasis:
positive growth
searching for meaning in life
using agency and taking responsibility
choices and attitude
living according to your values
The idea that shifting your focus to finding meaning in your life and living in line with your values can help alleviate your problems.
Examples of cognitive view of mental illness* (Good grasp)
Mental disorders results from problems in thinking
Depression - self fulfilling pessimistic beliefs
Social Anxiety- Jumping to conclusions causes anxiety
What is a schema and which paradigm is it related to?*
A schema is a way of viewing the world; you interpret all you see through this lens.
An organized framework of accumulated knowledge that guides the interpretation of events.
Part of the cognitive paradigm.
What is the cognitive paradigm of mental illness?*
This paradigm believes that mental illnesses arise from problems in thinking.
Psychological disorders come from cognitive (thinking) errors.
We actively interpret situation, impose meaning through perception, interpretation, judgement, memory, and reasoning
Involves schemas, which are important in this paradigm.
What is Mowrer’s Two-Factor theory? (Good grasp)
Classical conditioning is an emotional response to a netural stimulus.
Operant conditioning is learned avoidance of a previously neutral conditioned stimulus.
fear is acquired according to classical conditioning principles and is maintained by operant conditioning principle
Describe each of the 4 scenarios in the Law of Effect.*
Adding something increases behaviour = Positive reinforcment
Adding something decreased behaviour = Positive punishment
Removing something increases behaviour = negative reinforcement
Removing something decreases behaviour = negative punishment
Explain classical and operant conditioning.*
Training someone such that an emotional or biological reaction is triggered by a previously neutral stimulus
Training someone such that a learned behaviour takes place when they encounter a previously neutral stimulus
What is the Law of Effect? (Good grasp)
Behaviour followed by pleasant things = increase in behaviour
Behaviour followed by shitty things = decrease in behaviour
Pleasant = positive or negative reinforcement
Unpleasant = positive of negative punishment
What is the Learning/Behavioural paradigm of mental illness?*
Mentally disordered (and all other) behaviour is learned and reinforced. This involves classical and operant conditioning.
What are the 8 defense mechanisms?* (work on this later)
Repression
Sublimation
Transference
Reaction formation
Lecture 3 below.
See below.
What are Biological therapies in Western treatment?*
Which one is the most common, and which ones are usually used for treatment-resistant disorders? (Good grasp)
Psychopharmacology (medication) - most common
ECT: Electroshock therapies, used for treatment-resistant disorders
TMS: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (activate/silences brain regions), used for treatment-resistant disorders
What are psychological therapies in Western treatment?* What is the main issue with these therapies?
Psychotherapy - there are many forms of psychotherapy.
The main issue here is that there are some psychotherapies that are evidence-based and some that are not evidence-based.
What does “evidence-based treatment” and “non-evidence based treatment” mean?*
Efficacy studies (research) have found it to be effective.
The treatment decreases symptoms.
The treatment group does better than the comparison group (a placebo or other treatment type)
Alternatively, some treatments are:
Still being tested and we are unable to say it works
People think it works based on personal clinical experience (as client or practitioner)
Can be crazy shit.
What disorders is psychopharmachology typically used for, which neurotransmitters are being affected, and which medications do they use?*
Psychosis
DA (dopamine)
antipsychotics
Bipolar mood disorders
GABA
Lithium
Anxiety
GABA
Benzodiazepines (benzos)
Depression
5-HT (serotonin)
SSRIs (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)
A) What are evidence-based therapies? B) What are non-evidence-based therapies?*
A)
Behavioural
Cognitive
Cognitive-behavioural
Humanistic
Interpersonal
B)
Psychodynamic
Classic Psychoanalysis (it takes YEARS, which makes it really hard to study.)
Contemporary Psychodynamic Therapy (though there is some research underway)
What are the main focuses/techniques of Psychodynamic Therapies?*
Classical (Freudian) psychoanalysis: Free association, dream analysis, transference, resistance
Psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy: Object-relations, attachment
What is the premise (basic idea) of behavioural therapy, what are some examples, and what disorders does it work well with?*
If you modify behaviour, feelings will follow the behaviour.
e.g. Exposure therapy, modelling (behaviour), reinforcement, behavioural activation
Works well with anxiety disorders, depression
What is the premise (basic idea) of cognitive therapy, what are some examples?
Thoughts cause feelings and moods, which influences behaviour. It examines distorted patterns of thinking.
Main idea is to change behaviour by changing thoughts.
e.g. modifying self-statements (“I am worthy! I am enough!”), changing interpretation of events (she wasn’t mad at me, she was just tired)
Slides do not mention which disorders it works best for.
What is the premise of cognitive-behavioural therapy, what are some examples, and which disorders does it work best for?*
Incorporates the thoughts and behaviours that maintain the disorder. It i the most widely practice type of therapy.
Works well for anxiety, mild-moderate depression, conduct disorder (antiocial; disregards basic social standards and rules), and bulimia.
What is the 3-component model of CBT (cognitive-behavioural therapy?*
ABC: Affect, Behaviours, Cognitions
Feelings affect behaviours, which affect thoughts, which affect feelings… they all affect each other
What is the premise of Humanistic therapies, what are some examples, and what disorders does it work best for?
Client-centered: Focusing on the values of the client non-judgmentally. “I believe in you to eal yourself!”
Uses motivational interviewing, which is good for building commitment to treatment. Also uses Gestalt therapies (don’t need to understand this one).
Works for difficult-to-treat- behaviours, such as substance use issues.
What is the premise of Interpersonal therapy (IPT), what are some examples, and who does it work well for?*
“Eclectic” therapy; the premise uses multiple paradigms
Addresses the way the client relates to others, using the client-therapist relationship. Confronts issues using how they repond in therapist-client relationships.
Evidence that it works with: Borderline personality disorder, depression
What are some of the barriers that prevent access of minoritized groups to empirically-supported treatments?*
Minoritized groups are less studied, use fewer services, and there are fewer clinicians of minority status.
Client-clinician different cultural backgrounds can be a barrier.
The impact of communities on lack of access to empirically-supported treatments can make existing problems even worse.
What is the HPA axis?* What does it do, and what happens when you are exposed to prolonged _____?
This system in the body is related to stress.
When you are stressed, it activates the HPA axis. The adrenal glands get the message to start producing cortisol.
Cortisol is the stress hormone. Too much or too little can have bad effects.
Cortisol isn't supposed to be produced for long periods of time. Its production should end when the stressful event is over.
Long periods of stress can cause the HPA axis to go into effect too often and release too much cortisol.
While higher cortisol levels are needed at certain times, they can be harmful when elevated for too long. This is because cortisol may suppress the immune system. If that dampening continues, the person could be more susceptible to infections.
What are the effects of severe stress?*
Extreme or prolonged stress can lead to extensive physical and psychological problems.
Increase in reactivity of sympathetic nervous system (your system is more sensitive)
Decrease in efficacy of immune system (your immune system gets worse)
Decrease in psychological self-efficacy (feeling bad about yourself)
Personality deterioration (you don’t feel like ‘you’ anymore)
Death 😋
What are the Psychosocial Contributing Factors of stress? * (Important!) (Needs review)
X axis: Stresor (stressful event), Crisis (fallout in life from the event/bad thing that comes up after event), Resources (what helps one get through stressor & crisis)
Y axis: External, Internal
External Stressor: What is the nature of the stressor? Is it chronic? Who created the stress? Is is on purpose or accidental?
External crisis: Life changes due to crisis? Injury? Job? Relationships?
External Resources: What is your social support like? Family? Friends? Money for treatment?
Internal Stressors: Your perception of the stressor. Is it predictable? Controllable? (Easier to cope if so)
Internal crisis: What is your experience of the crisis? Are you able to make meaning from it?
Internal Resources: What is your stress tolerance like? What biological and psychological strengths or weaknesses do you have?
How does someone get Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?* (Needs review, important!)
#1: Exposure to event threatening death, serious injury, or sexual violence through:
Direct experience
Witness others’ experience
Learning it happened to close friends/family (violent/accidental)
Repeated/extreme exposure to aversive details of event (e.g. EMT, police)
What are the 4 overarching symptoms of PTSD?* What are their sub-parts? (Important)
Intrusion: Nightmares and flashbacks
Avoidance: Avoid things associated with trauma
Negative cognitions & mood: Detachment (pushing people away), Shame/Anger, Distorted blame (of self and others; blaming people who are not responsible)
Arousal & reactivity: Insomnia, difficulty concentrating, hypervigilance, and a high startle response
What are the most common trauma-triggering events?*
Combat
Assault (physical, sexual)
Natural disaster
Torture
What are the binary gender differences between men and women with PTSD? Why does this difference exist? What is the most common cause of PTSD in women?* (good grasp)
Though men have higher exposure to traumatic events, women have a higher 2x likelihood of developing PTSD.
This is likely because the ‘intent’ of the event is different. Women experience more sexual assault that is targeted at them, sometimes by someone they know. Assault (women) vs Accidents (men)
What factors influence whether someone has a serious psychological problem from a sexual assault?*
Past coping skills; stronger coping skills = less likely to have PTSD
Current psychological functioning
Some research has been done on disclosure: When you disclose sexual assault and have it positively recieved, it can decrease your negative reactions and increase your positive reactions (result in more post-traumatic growth, e.g. making meaning of the event, using it to inspire you to do good)
What is the mechanism that likely causes transgenerational trauma to perist?
Epigenetics - the HPA axis is activated and shifts how the genes are being read.
What is the biological etiology (the factors or causes that are responsible for, or related to, the development of disorders) of PTSD?* (Needs review)
Diathesis-stress model: PTSD is a combination of genetic and environmental factors. However, everyone is susceptible to PTSD!
Genes:
Account for ~33% of variance in symptom severity
e.g. Serotonin transporter gene (short vs long)
Evidence: Twin correlations of PTSD show that monozygotic (identical) twins have a higher correlation for PTSD than dizygotic (fraternal) twins
Neurobiological factors:
hyperactive limbic system
Increase in NE, which prepares the system for action
Decrease in 5-HT, which regulates mood
Decrease in endogenous opioids, which affects (lowers) ability to tolerate pain)
Women have higher cortisol levels and are more likely to develop PTSD
What is the psychological etiology (the factors or causes that are responsible for, or related to, the development of disorders) of PTSD?* (Needs review)
People with threat-related psychological processes are more attuned to danger. i.e. they are more likely to see danger everywhere.
Higher neuroticism = higher likelihood to experience negative emotions
Negative attributions/maladaptive appraisal (schema): the tendency to think things like “The world is a bad place”
Cognitive ability (IQ): Higher IQ is linked to a lower likelihood of PTSD. This is likely due to ‘cognitive flexibility’, or being able to change the way you think about things.
What is the social etiology (the factors or causes that are responsible for, or related to, the development of disorders) of PTSD?* (Needs review)
Previous experience of trauma increases likelihood of developing PTSD
Severity of current trauma affects likely to develop PTSD
Early experience with uncontrollable or unpredictable events (e.g. family stability)
Minoritized
Social support (more is better)
Education (more is better, back to the flexible thinking stuff)
What is the biological presentation of PTSD?* (Needs review)
Neurobiological factors:
Fear learning: Amygdala = increased threat perception
Memory & learning: Hippocampus cell death/reduced size. May be either a risk factor, consequence, or both.
What is the psychological presentation of PTSD?* (Needs review)
Remember to draw from the diagnosis-
Persistent reexperience: Nightmares, flashbacks
Avoidance and emotional numbing: Avoid thing associated with trauma, restricted range of affect
Increased arousal: Insomia, difficulty concentrating
What is the biological presentation of PTSD?* (Needs review)
From diagnosis:
bruh i ain’t even writ this card right…
Avoidance and emotional numbing:
aviod things associated with trauma
detachment from others
restricted range of affect (displayed emotions (socially)
What is the biological treatment of PTSD? What are its issues?* (Needs review)
beta blockers, e.g. propanolol
prohylactic: Decreases physiological response if knowing there will be a traumatic situation.
May have unwanted consequences:
Suppression of natural warning signs
Future reliance on medication
SSRIs:
decreases depression, intrusive thoughts, avoidance
What is the psychological treatment of PTSD?* (Needs review)
Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT): ~53% efficacy (for all empirically-based treatments).
Behavioural (exposure-based)
Prolonged exposure (PE): going through the details over and over
Eye movement desnsitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
Cognitive:
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT): Thoughts/feeling and how they affect your life
Other:
Build positive coping skills
How is PTSD prevented?* (Needs review)
Stress-inoculation training
Advanced preperation before combat (soldiers being yelled at)
Now trying with people facing stressful events (e.g. major surgery, relationship ending)
What is the social treatment of PTSD?* (Needs review) (OK)
Disclosing trauma (e.g. sexual assault)
Prevention of PTSD: increased social support
What are the main anxiety disorders?* (Needs review)
Specific phobias
Social anxiety disorder
Panic disorder
Agoraphobia
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
What are the commonalities in etiology, presentation, and treatment between anxiety disorders?* (Needs review)
Etiology:
Biological and psychological causes: Genes, neuroticism, conditioning, lack of perceived control
Influence of social factors can depend on culture
Presentation:
Unrealistic, irrational fears or anxieties
Disabling intensity: So bad that you can’t do stuff
Treatment:
Most effective treatments are similar; i.e. having exposure to the scary thing.
According to basic research in anxiety, what factors contribute to a) lower anxiety, and b) more fear/anxiety?* Needs review (slides 54-55)
a) Percieved controllability & Predictability both play a role in creating lower anxiety. i.e. Can I control or predict anything about the threat?
b) Having an interpretive bias toward the threat affects the percieved threat, which affects the fear and anxiety…which affects the intrepretive bias again (and round and round it goes).
i.e. When you have a bias to seeing the threat around more, you will percieve the threat more, which leads to more fear and anxiety, which leads to more of a bias towards seeing the threat more…
What is a specific phobia?* (Needs review)
A strong fear & avoiance of an object or situation
Out of proportion to the actual danger
Disruptive avoidance (Your avoidance of the fear disrupts your life, e.g. you can’t leave the house because you are afraid of snakes)
Recognized as unreasonable (“I know my fear is unreasonable, but I can’t help feeling afraid”)
What are common stypes of specific phobias? What is the occurrence of having multiple phobias when having a phobia?* Needs review
Animal
Natural environment
Blood-injection-injury (BII) (Having a phobia of things like blood, injections, and injury)
Situational
Other (choking, vomiting, etc.)
What is the biological etiology of phobia?* Needs review
Genes:
General:
Speed & strength of conditioning of the fear
64% of people with BII phobia have a first-degree relative with the same fear
Temperament (which is genetic)
Behaviourally inhibited temperament can lead to having a specific phobia.
Of 21-month-olds that were assessed to have behavioural inhibition, 32% of them went on to develop a phobia later in life.
Of 8-year-olds that were assessed to have behavioural inhibition, 5% of them went on to develop a phobia later in life.
The 21-month-old’s behavioural inhibitions is related to their temperament, while the 8-year-olds behavioural inhibition is related to environmental factors such as observational learning.
Since 21-month-olds who were behaviorally inhibited (due to their genes) had a much higher chance of developing a phobia than 8-year-olds who were behaviorally inhibited (due to gene-environment interaction), we can understand that phobias are linked to genetic factors.
Hyperresponsible limbic system? This is a potential biological explanation for the development of phobia.
What is the psychological etiology of phobia?* Needs review
Conditioning:
Prepared learning: e.g. you are more likely to be afraid of spiders than you are of grey hats. (evolutionary preparedness)
Traumatic conditioning of fear
Neuroticism:
People who “see themselves as someone who”…
Worries a lot
Is anxious and does not handle stress well
What is the social etiology of phobia? What can the monkey video experiment tell us aout it?* Needs review
Social conditioning through modelling and vicarious learning:
In an experiment, monkeys were shown a video of another monkey reacting to a snake with fear/no fear or a video of another monkey reacting to a flower with fear/no fear.
Monkeys who saw the snake paired with fear also showed fear of the snake. Monkeys who saw the snake paird with no fear did not show fear of the snake.
Interestingly, monkeys who saw the flower paired with either fear or no fear had no fear towards the flower.
This is because of prepared learning, the tendency to more easily fear things that could actually be dangerous. In this case, snakes are more dangerous for us than flowers.
Fear immunization againt later fear development:
Exposing a child to a potential fear-inducing stimulis or event regularly can help ‘immunize’ that person against traumatic experiences with that stimuli later on, preventing that person from developing a fear.
For example, exposing a child to dogs growing up can immunize them from a singular scary dog event down the road, allowing them to keep a healthy relationship to dogs.
Environment:
Twin studies
Parenting
To solve or not to solve? “Solving” a child’s problem or issue can increase a child’s anxiety - parents want to encourage risky behaviour. For example, trying to pull a child away from fireplace and acting scared can make the child believe they are unable to assess risk for themselves.
Inadvertent reinforcement: Reinforcing the fear can increase fear.
What is the biological presentation of a phobia?* Needs review
Autonomic arousal (pre-fight/flight)
In response to presence (or thought) of feared object or situation
NT functioning:
Decreased GABA (which decreases your inhibition of behaviour and emotions)
Decreased serotonin (which decreases mood regulation)
Increase in NE (norepinephrine) (which increases readiness for action)
What is the psychological presentation of phobia?* Needs review
Irrational fear of a stimulus
Disabling intensity
Heightened vigilance/attention
Negative mood (from always seeing the treat)
Worry about potential danger
Self-preoccupation “What’s going to happen to me?”
Decreased sense of self-efficacy “I can’t prevent this from happening”
Diminished internal locus of control (re: emotions & environment) “I can’t control my environment”
What is the social presentation of phobia/anxiety? What are the consequences of this behaviour? * Needs review
Avoidance of situations that elicit anxiety; prevents learning new associations, because you are unable to associate it with other things.
What is the biological treatment for phobia? What are some of their problems?* Needs review
SSRIs
Benzodiazepines: Problems include being highly addictive and biological avoidance. Since benzos prevent you from feeling the physiological symptoms to get over your fear, you are never able to get past the phobia.
Generally medication is NOT found helpful because it prevents habituation to the fear. The goal is to feel the fear, habituate to it, and eventually get over it.
What is the pychological treatment for phobia? How effective are these therapies? What is the desired/realistic outcome of these therapies* Needs review (OK)
Behaviour therapy
Exposure: Most effective
When exposed to an anxiety-inducing thing, anxiety initially spikes and eventually reduces.
Other exposure therapies:
Virtual reality (e.g. airplane travel)
Combining cognitive techniques (asking people to imagine or think about things
Clients hope that they won’t feel anxious, but the reality of cognitive treatment/prevention is that you can manage anxiety when it comes.
Explain extinction, habituation, systematic desensitization, and flooding.
Extinction:
Habituation:
Systematic desensitization: Getting closer and closer to the fear each time.
Flooding: Throwing the person into a very fearful situation all at once. This can work or it can be re-traumatizing.
What is the social treatment for phobia?* Needs review
Social modelling: Showing someone that their phobia is not scary
End Lecture 3 cards
Start Lecture 2 cards below
What is a paradigm of mental illness?* (Good grasp)
A viewpoint/set of assumption about how to understand, study, & treat psychological disorders
What are the 5 circles of First Nations Mental Wellness?* (Needs review)
Self-responsibility
Balance
Respect, wisdom, responsibility, relationships
Land community, family, nations
Social environmental, cultural, economic
S B R L S
Self-Balance-Respect-Land-Social
Explain the following First Nations mental wellness approaches:
Wellness across continuum
Foundation - cultural & traditional healing
Services appropriate to needs
Integrated services
Local Nation-based approaches
Enhance conditions that support wellness; address root causes of illness
Two-eyed seeing; include the Western perspective as appropriate.
Person and family-centered, trauma-informed, and humble
Addressing person’s whole needs (vs individual treatments for different needs)
Increase sense of cultural identity
What are the 5 major Western paradigms of mental illness?*
Biological
Learning/Behavioural
Cognitive
Psychoanalytic
Humanistic/Existential
What should you keep in mind when evaluating the Western paradigms of mentall illness?*
What is the function of the paradigm?
How is the paradigm useful?
Can it also interfere with understanding? How?
What is the biological paradigm of mental illness?* (Good grasp)
This paradigm believes that mental illness arises out of a problem in the body, such as a problem with the brain or a problem with neurotransmitters.
Mental illness results from dysfunctional biological processes: Biochemitry, behavioural genetics, and biological insults.
This paradigm believes that mental illness can be treated with medications.
What is temperament and the main 5 aspects of it?* (Good grasp)
An aspect of personality that is strongly influenced by genes.
The main 5 aspects of temperament are:
Openness, Contientiousness, Exraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism
What are neurotransmitters, what are the main NTs for this course, and what do each of them do?* (OK, 4/5 needs review)
These are chemical messengers in the brain that signal different parts of your brain to do certain things.
The main neurotransmitter for this course are:
NE (norepinephrine): Excitatory (arousal/readiness for action)
GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid): The ‘chill’ neurotransmitter; inhibitory (behaviour & emotion)
5-HT (serotonin): Regulates (mood, appetite, sleep, impulse control)
DA (Dopamine): Motivation & reward
GLU (Glutamate): Excitatory (learning & memory)
What is the psychoanalytic paradigm? What are the parts of classical Freudian theory?* (Good grasp)
According to this paradigm, the mind is structured by 3 unconcious drives: The Id (pleaure principle), Ego (mediator between id and superego; reality principle), and Superego (conscience)
What are the 8 defense mechanisms in psychoanalytic theory?* (OK, needs some review)
Repression: Bury your impulses
Denial: Pretending something ever happened
Projection: “I’m not mad, you’re mad!” Putting your emotion on someone else
Displacement: Putting the blame somewhere it doesn’t belong; e.g being mad at parent → yell at dog,
Rationalization: Coming up for a reason for your behaviour, e.g. “I lied because I didn’t want to upset you”
Reaction formation: Doing the opposite of what you want to do, for example reaching out for comfort from someone you are mad at
Regression: Going back to old habits, e.g. sucking your thumb.
Sublimation: Redirecting your energy to another task, e.g. turning anger into art
What is the Learning/Behavioural paradigm of mental illness? Explain Classical and Operant Conditioning the law of effect, and Mowrer’s two-factor theory* (good grasp)
All behaviour is learned → psychological disorders come from learning (Operant and Classical)
Classical: Association of unrelated elements due to repeated pairing
Operant: Based on law of effect. Pleasant consequences = increase in behaviour; unpleasant consequences = decrease in behaviour
What is the cognitive paradigm of mental illness? Explain what a schema is.* (Good grasp)
Psychological disorders come from cognitive (thinking) errors. We actively interpret situations, imposing meaning through perception, interpretation, judgment, memory, and reasoning. Maladaptive beliefs.
Schema: Organized network of accumulated knowledge that guides interpretation of events.
Examples:
depression = self-fulfilling (pessimistic) beliefs
social anxiety - jumping to conclusions causes anxiety
What is the humanistic/existential paradigm of mental illness?* (Needs review)
Core of human functioning = inner, subjective experiences
Emphasis:
Positive growth
Searching for meaning in life
Using agency & taking responsibility through choices and attitude
Living according to values
Shift focus to find meaning in one’s life
What are social factors that are linked to psychopathology?* (Good grasp)
Poverty
Parental stress
Minoritized status
Other factors: Culture’s approach to mental health; immigration stress; limited accessibility of services
What is the diathesis-stress model, and what are the interactive and additive models?*
This model concerns two major contributing factors to a mental disorder:
Diathesis: The susceptibilty one has for a disorder before the disorder develops.
Stress: The triggering situation or events that cause a disorder to form.
Interactive and active models:
Interactive: Diathesis and stress need to interact for a disorder to happen; someone had to have diathesis first. Most disorders, like depression, are interactive models.
Additive: Don’t need to have diathesis, diathesis and stress simply add together to result in a disorder. e.g. PTSD.
What are a) protective factors and b) resilience in diathesis-stress models?* (OK, do some review)
a) Influences that modify a person’s response
b) Ability to successfully adapt to very difficult circumstances
Explain the role of gene and environment in developing disorders.* (Needs review)
Genes:
Inhereited tendencies (diathesis)
create a vulnerability for the disorder
Most disorders are polygenic
Environment:
Can override genetic influence
Can turn on/off genes
Explain the role of bidirectional influences in gene-environment correlation.* (Needs review)
Genetic activity, neural activity, behaviour, and environment all influence each other.
For example, kids from the same parent will elicit different parenting based on their temperament.
Explain the rat adoption tudy and the twin divorce study, and what they each give evidence for.*
Aggressive rat babies were adopted by affectionate adult rats. Because they were in a nicer environment, the aggressive rat’s babies became gentle event though they were genetically predisposed to aggression. The aggressive gene was suppressed by the environment. This gives evidence for gene-environment interaction
There is a higher probability of divorce if:
Fraternal twin is divorced: 2x higher rate of divorce
Identical twin is divorced: 6x higher rate of divorce - suggests a genetic component of divorce
Possible that there is a “divorce” gene in the sense that temperament is genetic and people with similar temperaments might get divorced more often.
Lecture 2 content ends
Lecture 1 content below
Western principle of wellness*
Independence
Individual Rights
Logic
Productivity
Happiness as goal
Secular
Scientific support
What are the key factors abnormal psychology?*
Thoughts, behaviours, emotions, physiology
What is considered “abnormal” in psychology?*
Statistically rare and undesirable (text)
Dangerous: Harm to self and/or others
Maladaptive to society; culturally unacceptable
Violation of social norms
Irratationality or unpredictability
Subjective distress
How do we clasfficy abnormality?*
Standardized manuals:
US & CAN: APA: DSM-5
WHO: ICD-10
What i the DSM-5 definition of a mental disorder?* (Needs review)
Biological, pychological, or developmental dysfunction
Problem in behaviour, emotion regulation, or cognitive function
Distres or disability
What are the advantages of classifying mental disorders?*
Communicate (research and clinical)
Organize meaningfully (features of disorders)
Facilitate research (causes and treatment)
Define what is “abnormal”
What are 4 disadvantages of classification?*
Shorthand leads to loss of information
Stigma: How are people with psychological disorders treated differently when information is public?
Stereotyping
Labelling; diagnostic labels can be hard to shake even if a person makes a full recovery.
Social implications: How does a society address mental illness? (Rehab, treatment? Confinement, ostracism?)
How is the stigma of mental illness in Canada compared to a illness like cancer?*
While 72% of Cancer patients disclose their illness, only 50% of people with mental illness do.
30% of Canadians think mental illness hurts the economy.
82% of Canadians think mental illness requires professional treatment.
40% of Canadians would try to treat it themselves.
What is the lifetime prevalence of DSM-5 disorders?*
at least 46%
Define prevalence and give the types of prevalence.* (good grasp)
# active cases in a population in a given period of time
Types of prevalences:
Point prevalence
1-year prevalence
lifetime prevalence
Why is research conducted on abnormal psychology?*
To avoid misconception and error (adopting a scientific attitue and approach to the study of abnormal behaviour)
Good research design = good information
What are common sources of information for abnormal psychology research?* (Needs review)
Case study
Direct observation
self-report
implicit behaviour
Psychophysiological variables
What are inherent errors in research design?*
Sex, Gender: Data is binary
Sampling and generalization: Who should researchers include in a study? What are the groups that researchers usually use?* (good grasp)
Study participants that should be included:
Same behaviours
Similar to greater population
Large, randomly selected
Criterion and Comparison Groups
Comparison groups: Do not exhibit the disorder; are comparable in other major ways to the criterion group (people with the disorder) - an attempt to identify which behaviour is related only to the disorder
What are observational research designs, and what are they good for?* (good grasp)
Studying things as they are; good for correlation
Note 
Flashcard (43)