Abnormal Psychology, Test 1 (DeWitt, Cedarville University)

clinical interview: introduction

Introduce self

State credentials

Supervisor...clinical psychologist, faculty member

Nature of interview

Taping / Why? Who will see the tape? Signed consent?

Explain confidentiality and its limitations: knowledge of abuse against a child, elderly, or disabled; or thoughts of endangering yourself or others...I am mandated to report this.

I will be taking notes...

5 criteria for abnormal behavior

Societies' Norms

Statistical Rarity

Personal Discomfort

Maladaptive Behavior

Deviation From An Ideal

4 categories for pissible signs of mental disorder

Behavior is harmful to self or others

Poor reality contact

Inappropriate emotional reaction

Erratic behavior

4 reasons for the decline of moral therapy

Too many hospitals, not enough staff

Patient staff ratio - too large

No leaders to follow previous leaders

Medical model emerged (use of meds)

list of common neurotransmitters

- dopamine

- GABA

- glutamate

- norepinephrine

- serotonin

psychological disorder

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

phobia

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

abnormal behavior

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

psychopathology

scientific study of psychological disorders

scientist-practitioners

mental health professionals who are expected to apply scientific methods to their work. they must keep current in the latest research on diagnosis and treatment, they must evaluate their own methods for effectiveness, and they may 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 sometimes be a modification derived from the presenting problem

clinical description

details of the combination of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings of an individual that make up a particular disorder

prevalence

number of people displaying a disorder int he total population at any given time

incidence

number of new cases of a disorder appearing during a specific period

course

pattern of development and change of a disorder over time

prognosis

predictd future development of a disorder over time

etiology

cause or source of a disorder

exorcism

religious ritual that attributes disordered behavior to possession by demons and seeks to treat the individual by driving the demons from the body

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 to improve care of the mentally disordered by informing the public of their mistreatment

psychoanalysis

psychoanalytic assessment and therapy, which emphasizes exploration of, and insight into, unconscious processes and conflicts, pioneered by sigmund freud

unconscious

part of the psychic makeup that is outside the awareness of the person

catharsis

rapid or sudden release of emotional tension thought to be an important factor in psychoanalytic therapy

psychoanalytic model

complex and comprehensive theory originally advanced by sigmund freud that seeks to account for the development and structure of personality, as well as the origin of abnormal behavior, based primarily on inferred inner entities and forces

id

in psychoanalysis, the unconscious psychical entity present at birth representing basic sexual and agressive drives

ego

in psychoanalysis, the psychical entity responsible for finding realistic and practical ways to satisfy id drives

superego

in psychoanalysis the psychical entity representing the internalized moral principles of parents and society

intrapsychic conflicts

in psychoanalysis, the struggles among the id, ego, and superego

defense mechanisms

common patterns of behavior, often adaptive coping styles when they occur in moderation, observed in response to particular situations. in psychoanalysis, these are thought to be unconscious processes originating in the ego

psychosexual stages of development

in pychoanalysis, the sequence of phases a person passes through during development. each stage is named for the location on the body where id gratification is maximal at that time (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital)

castration anxiety

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

neurosis

obsolete psychodynamic term for psychological disorder thought to result from unconscious conflicts and the anxiety they cause

ego psychology/self-psychology

derived from psychoanalysis, this theory emphasizes the role of the ego in development and attributes psychological disorders to failure of the ego to manage impulses and internal conflicts

object relations

modern development in psychodynamic theory involving the study of how children incorporate the memories and values of people who are close and important to them

collective unconscious

accumulated wisdom of a culture collected and remembered across generations, a psychodynamic concept introduced by carl jung

free association

psychoanalytic therapy technique intended to explore threatening material repressed into the unconscious. the patient is instructed to say whatever comes to mind without censoring

dream analysis

psychoanalytic therapy method in which dream contents are examined as symbolic of id impulses and intrapsychic conflicts

psychoanalyst

therapist who practices psychoanalysis after earning either an MD or a PhD degree and receiving additional specialized postdoctoral training

transference

psychoanalytic concept suggesting that clients may seek to relate to the therapist as they do to important authority figures, particularly their parents

psychodynamic psychotherapy

contemporary version of psychoanalysis that still emphasizes unconscious processes and conflicts but is briefer and more focused on specific problems

self-actualizing

process emphasized in humanistic psychology in which people strive to achieve their highest potential against difficult life experiences

person-centered therapy

therapy method in which the client, rather than the counselor, primarily directs the course of discussion, seeking self-discovery and self-responsibility

unconditional postitive regard

acceptance by the counselor of the client's feelings and actions without judgment or condemnation

behavioral model/behaviorism

explanation of human behavior, including dysfunction, based on principles of learning and adaptation derived from experimental psychology

classical conditioning

fundamental learning process first described by ivan pavlov. an event that automatically elicits a response is paired with another event that does not (a neutral stimulus). after repeated pairings, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that by itself can elicit the desired response

extinction

learning process in which a response maintained by reinforcement in operant conditioning or pairing in classical conditioning decreases when that reinforcement/pairing is removed; also the procedure of removing that reinforcement/pairing

introspection

early, nonscientific approach to the study of psychology involving systematic attempts to report thoughts and feelings that specific stimuli evoked

systematic desensitization

behavioral therapy technique to diminish excessive fears, involving gradual exposure to the feared stimulus paired with a positive coping experience, usually relaxation

behavior therapy

array of therapy methods based on the principles of behavioral and cognitive science, as well as principles of learning as applied to clinical problems. it considers specific behaviors rather than inferred conflicts as legitimate targets for change

reinforcement

in operant conditioning, consequences for behavior that strengthen it or increase its frequency, positive reinforcement involved the contingent delivery of a desired consequence. negative reinforcement is the contingent escape from an aversive consequence. unwanted behaviors may result from their reinforcement or the failure to reinforce desired behaviors

shaping

in operant conditioning, the development of a new response by reinforcing successively more similar versions of that response. both desirable and undesirable behaviors may be learned in this manner

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 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules, the basic physical units of heredity that appear as locations on chromosomes. a single gene is a subunit of DNA that determines inherited traits in living things

diathesis-stress model

hypothesis that both an inherited tendency (a vulnerability) and specific stressful conditions are required to produce a disorder

vulnerability

susceptibility or tendency to develop a disorder

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 factors other than inherited DNA sequence, such as new learning or stress, that alter the phenotypic expression of genes

neuroscience

study of the nervous system and its role in behavior, thoughts, and emotions

neuron

individual nerve cell; responsible for transmitting information

synaptic cleft

space between nerve cells where chemical transmitters act to move impulses from one neuron to the next

neurotransmitters

chemicals that cross the synaptic cleft between nerve cells to transmit impulses from one neuron to the next. their relative excess or deficiency is involved in several psychological disorders

hormone

chemical messenger produced by the endocrine glands

brain circuits

neurotransmitter currents or neural pathways in the brain

agonist

chemical substance that effectively increases the activity or a neurotransmitter by imitating its effects

antagonist

in neuroscience, a chemical substance that decreases or blocks the effects of a neurotransmitter

inverse agonist

chemical substance that produces effects opposite those of a particular neurotransmitter

reuptake

action by which a neurotransmitter is quickly drawn back into the discharging neuron after being released into a synaptic cleft

glutamate

amino acid neurotransmitter that excites many different neurons, leading to action

gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)

neurotransmitter that reduces activity across the synapse and thus inhibits a range of behaviors and emotions, especially generalized anxiety

serotonin

neurotransmitter involved in processing of information and coordination of movement, as well as inhibition and restraint. it also assists in the regulation of eating, sexual, and aggressive behaviors, all of which may be involved in different psychological disorders. its interaction with dopamine is implicated in schizophrenia

norepinephrine

neurotransmitter active in the central and peripheral nervous systems, controlling heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration, among other functions. because of its role in the body's alarm reaction, it may also contribute generally and indirectly to panic attacks and other disorders

dopamine

neurotransmitter whose generalized function is to activate other neurotransmitters and to aid in exploratory and pleasure seeking behaviors (thus balancing serotonin).

cognitive science

field of study that examines how humans and other animals acquire, process, store, and retrieve information

learned helplessness

martin seligman's theory that people become anxious and depressed when they make an attribution that they have no control over the stress in their lives (whether or not they do in reality)

modeling (observational learning)

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

prepared learning

an ability that has been adaptive for evolution, allowing certain associations to be learned more readily than others

implicit memory

condition of memory in which a person cannot recall past events despite acting in response to them

flight or fight response

brain circuit in animals that when stimulated causes an immediate alarm and escape response resembling human panic

emotion

pattern of action elicited by an external event and a feeling state, accompanied by a characteristic physiological response

mood

enduring period of emotionality

affect

conscious, subjective aspect of an emotion that accompanies an action at a given time

equifinality

developmental psychopathology principle that a behavior or disorder may have several causes

clinical assessment

systematic evaluation and measurement of psychological, biological, and social factors in a person presenting with a possible psychological disorder

diagnosis

process of determining whether a presenting problem meets the established criteria for a specific psychological disorder

reliability

degree to which a measurement is consistent, for example, over time or among different raters

validity

degree to which a technique measures what it purports to measure

standardization

process of establishing specific norms and requirements for a measurement technique to ensure it is used consistently across measurement occasions. this includes instructions for administering the measure, evaluating its findings, and comparing these to data for large numbers of people

mental status exam

relatively brief preliminary test of a client's judgment, orientation to time and place, and emotional and mental state; typically conducted during an initial interview

behavioral assessment

measuring, observing, and systematically evaluating (rather than inferring) the client's thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the actual problem situation or context

self-monitoring

action by which clients observe and record their own behaviors as either an assessment of a problem and its change or a treatment procedure that makes them more aware of their responses. also called self-observation

projective tests

psychoanalytically based measures that present ambiguous stimuli to clients o the assumption that their responses will reveal their unconscious conflicts. such tests are inferential and lack high reliability and validity

personality inventories

self-report questionnaires that assess personal traits by asking respondents to identify descriptions that apply to them

intelligence quotient (IQ)

score on an intelligence test estimating a person's deviation from average test performance

neuropsychological test

assessment of brain and nervous system functioning by testing an individual's performance on behavioral tasks

false positive

assessment error in which pathology is reported (that is, test results are positive) when none is actually present

false negative

assessment error in which no pathology is noted (that is, test results are negative) when one is actually present

neuroimaging

sophisticated computer-aided procedures that allow nonintrusive examination of nervous system structure and function

psychophysiological assessment

measurement of changes in the nervous system reflecting psychological or emotional events such as anxiety, stress, and sexual arousal

electroencephalogram (eeg)

measure of electrical activity patterns in the brain, taken through electrodes placed on the scalp