Abnormal Psychology (Exam 1)

Continuum model of abnormal behavior

model of abnormal behavior that views mental disorders not as categorically different from experiences but as lying somewhere along a continuum from healthy, functional behaviors, thoughts, and feelings to unhealthy, dysfunctional behaviors, thoughts, and feelings

Psychopathology

the scientific study of psychological disorders which focuses on the assessment, treatment, and prevention of maladaptive behavior

Stigma

a mark of shame or discredit new definition

Cultural relativism

view that norms among cultures set the standard for what counts as normal behavior, which implies that abnormal behavior can only be defined relative to these norms and that no universal definition of abnormality is therefore possible; only definitions of abnormality relative to a specific culture are possible

biological theories

theories of abnormality that focus on biological causes of abnormal behaviors

supernatural theories

theories that see mental disorders as the result of supernatural forces, such as divine intervention, curses, demonic possession, and/or personal sins; mental disorders then can be cured through religious rituals, exorcisms, confessions, and/or death

psychological theories

theories that view mental disorders as caused by psychological processes, such as beliefs, thinking styles, and coping styles

trephination

procedure in which holes were drilled in the skulls of people displaying abnormal behavior, presumably to allow evil spirits to depart their bodies; performed in the Stone Age

psychic epidemics

phenomena in which large numbers of people begin to engage in unusual behaviors that appear to have a psychological origin

mental hygiene movement

movement to treat mental patients more humanely and to view mental disorders as medical diseases

moral treatment

type of treatment delivered in mental hospitals in which patients were treated with respect and dignity and were encouraged to exercise self-control

general paresis

disease that leads to paralysis, insanity, and eventually death; discovery of this disease helped establish a connection between biological diseases and mental disorders

mesmerism

Treatment for hysterical patients based on the idea that magnetic fluids in the patients bodies are affected by the magnetic forces of other people and objects; the patients are thought to be realigned by practitioner through his or her own magnetic force

psychoanalysis

form of treatment for psychopathology involving alleviating unconscious conflicts driving psychological symptoms by helping people gain insight into their conflicts and finding ways of resolving these conflicts

classical conditioning

form of learning in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a stimulus that naturally elicits a response, thereby making the neutral stimulus itself sufficient to elicit the same response

behaviorism

study of the impact of reinforcements and punishments on behavior

cognitions

thoughts or beliefs

self-efficacy beliefs

beliefs that one can engage in the behaviors necessary to overcome a situation

patients rights movement

movement to ensure that mental patients retain their basic rights and to remove them from institutions and care for them in the community

deinstitutionalization

Movement in which thousands of mental patients were released from mental institutions; a result of the patients rights movement, which was aimed at stopping the dehumanization of mental patients and at restoring their basic legal rights.

community mental health movement

movement launched in 1963 that attempted to provide coordinated mental health services to people in community-based treatment centers

community mental health centers

institutions for the treatment of people with mental health problems in the community; may include teams of social workers, therapists, and physicians who coordinate care

halfway houses

living facilities that offer people with long-term mental health problems the opportunity to live in a structured, supportive environment while they are trying to reestablish employment and ties to family and friends

day treatment centers

mental health facilities that provide more intensive psychiatric, occupational, and rehabilitative therapies for persons with mental illness during the day while clients live at home during recovery

managed care

health care system in which all necessary services for an individual patient are supposed to be coordinated by a primary care provider; the goals are to coordinate services for an existing medical problem and to prevent future medical problems

scientific method

systematic method of obtaining and evaluating information relevant to a problem

hypothesis

testable statement about two or more variables and the relationship between them

null hypothesis

alternative to a primary hypothesis, stating that there is no relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable

variable

measurable factor or characteristic that can vary within an individual, between individuals, or both

independent variable

factor that is manipulated by an experimenter or used to predict the dependent variable

dependent variable

factor that an experimenter seeks to predict

operationalization

specific manner in which variables in a study are measured or manipulated

case studies

in-depth analyses of individuals

generalizability

extent to which the results of a study generalize to, or inform us about, people other than those who were studied

correlational studies

method in which researchers assess only the relationship between two variables and do not manipulate one variable to determine its effects on another variable

continuous variable

factor that is measured along a continuum rather than falling into a discrete category (such as undiagnosed with depression)

group comparison study

study that compares two or more distinct groups on a variable of interest

cross-sectional

type of research examining people at one point in time but not following them over time

longitudinal

type of research evaluating the same group(s) of people for an extended period of time

correlation coefficient

statistic used to indicate the degree of relationship between two variables

statistical significance

likelihood that a study’s results have occurred only by chance

third variable problem

possibility that variables not measured in a study are the real cause of the relationship between the variables measured in the study

sample

group of people taken from a population of interest to participate in a study

external validity

extent to which a study’s results can be generalized to phenomena in real life

epidemiology

study of the frequency and distribution of a disorder, or a group of disorders, in a population

prevalence

proportion of the population who have a specific disorder at a given point or period in time

incidence

number of new cases of a specific disorder that develop during a specific period of time

risk factors

conditions or variables associated with a higher risk of having a disorder

experimental studies

studies in which the independent variables are directly manipulated and the effects on the dependent variable are examined

human laboratory study

experimental study involving human participants

internal validity

extent to which all factors that could extraneously affect a study’s results are controlled within a laboratory study

control group

in an experimental study, group of subjects whose experience resembles that of the experimental group in all ways except that they do not receive the key manipulation

experimental group

in an experimental study, group of participants that receive the key manipulation

random assignment

assignment of participants in an experiment to groups based on a random process

demand characteristics

factors in an experiment that suggest to participants how the experimenter would like them to behave

double-blind experiment

study in which both the researchers and the participants are unaware of which experimental condition the participants are in, in order to prevent demand effects

therapy outcome studies

experimental studies that assess the effects of an intervention designed to reduce psychopathology in an experimental group, while performing no intervention or a different type of intervention on another group

simple control group

consists of participants who do not receive the experimental therapy but are tracked for the same period of time as the participants who do receive the therapy

wait list control group

in a therapy outcome study, group of people that functions as a control group while an experimental group receives an intervention and then receives the intervention itself after a waiting period

placebo control group

in a therapy outcome study, group of people whose treatment is an inactive substance (to compare with the effects of a drug) or a nontheory-based therapy providing social support (to compare with the effects of psychotherapy)

efficacy

in therapy outcome research, how well a therapy works in highly controlled settings with a narrowly defined group of people

effectiveness

in therapy outcome research, how well a therapy works in real-world settings

single-case experimental design

experimental design in which an individual or a small number of individuals are studied intensively; the individual is put through some sort of manipulation or intervention, and his or her behavior is examined before and after this manipulation to determine the effects

ABAB (reversal) design

type of experimental design in which an intervention is introduced, withdrawn, and then reinstated, and the behavior of a participant is examined on and off the treatment

multiple baseline design

type of study in which an intervention is given to the same individual but begun in different settings or is given to different individuals but at different points in time and in which the effects of the intervention are systematically observed

animal studies

studies that attempt to test theories of psychopathology using animals

family history study

study of the heritability of a disorder involving identifying people with the disorder and people without the disorder and then determining the disorder’s frequency within each person’s family

monozygotic (MZ) twins

twins who share 100 percent of their genes because they developed from a single fertilized egg

dizygotic (DZ) twins

twins who average only 50 percent of their genes in common because they developed from two separate fertilized eggs

twin studies

studies of the heritability of a disorder by comparing concordance rates between monozygotic and dizygotic twins

concordance rate

probability that both twins will develop a disorder if one twin has the disorder

adoption study

study of the heritability of a disorder by finding adopted people with a disorder and then determining the prevalence of the disorder among their biological and adoptive relatives, in order to separate out contributing genetic and environmental factors

molecular genetic studies

studies of the structure and function of genes that help in understanding how genetic mutations can lead to disease

association studies

genetic studies in which researchers identify physical disorders associated with a target psychological disorder for which genetic abnormalities or markers are known; the DNA of individuals with the psychological disorder and their first-degree relatives is then examined to determine if they also have this genetic marker (one form of molecular genetic studies)

linkage analysis

genetic study that looks for associations between psychological disorders and physical disorders for which genetic causes are known

meta-analysis

statistical technique for summarizing results across several studies

sociocultural approach

approach to psychopathology focusing on the role of the environment, stress, and culture in producing psychopathology

biological approach

view that biological factors cause and should be used to treat abnormality

psychological approach

approach to abnormality that focuses on personality, behavior, and ways of thinking as possible causes of abnormality

theory

set of assumptions about the likely causes of abnormality and appropriate treatments

biopsychosocial approach

approach to psychopathology that seeks to integrate biological, psychological, and social factors in understanding and treating psychopathology

diathesis-stress model

model that asserts that only when a diathesis or vulnerability interacts with a stress or trigger will a disorder emerge

cerebral cortex

part of the brain that regulates complex activities, such as speech and analytical thinking

thalamus

structure of the brain that directs incoming information from sense receptors (such as vision and hearing) to the cerebrum

hypothalamus

component of the brain that regulates eating, drinking, sex, and basic emotions; abnormal behaviors involving any of these activities may be the result of dysfunction in the hypothalamus

limbic system

part of the brain that relays information from the primitive brain stem about changes in bodily functions to the cortex, where the information is interpreted

amygdala

structure of the limbic system critical in emotions such as fear

hippocampus

structure of the brain involved in memory and in the stress response

neurotransmitters

biochemicals, released from a sending neuron, that transmit messages to a receiving neuron in the brain and nervous system

synapse

space between a sending neuron and a receiving neuron into which neurotransmitters are first released (also known as the synaptic gap)

receptors

molecules on the membranes of neurons to which neurotransmitters bind

reuptake

process in which a sending neuron reabsorbs some of the neurotransmitter in the synapse, decreasing the amount left in the synapse

degradation

process in which a receiving neuron releases an enzyme into the synapse, breaking down neurotransmitters into other biochemicals

endocrine system

system of glands that produces many different hormones

hormone

chemical that carries messages throughout the body, potentially affecting a person’s mood, level of energy, and reaction to stress

pituitary

major endocrine gland that lies partly on the outgrowth of the brain and just below the hypothalamus; produces the largest number of different hormones and controls the secretions of other endocrine glands

behavioral genetics

study of the processes by which genes affect behavior and the extent to which personality and abnormality are genetically inherited

polygenic

combination of many genes, each of which makes a small contribution to an inherited trait

epigenetics

study of how environmental conditions can change the expression of genes without changing the gene sequence

antipsychotic drugs

drugs used to treat psychotic symptoms, such as delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thinking