Abnormal Psychology - David and Barlow

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST

concentrates on more severe psychological disorder.

CLINICAL DESCRIPTION

represents the unique combination of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings that make up specific disorder.

PREVALENCE

how many people in the population have mental disorders as a whole?

PROGNOSIS

Anticipated course of a disorder.

LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

study of abnormal behavior across the entire age span. Relatively new field but expanding rapidly.

ETIOLOGY

study of origins of a disorder includes biological, psychological, and social dimensions.

Dysfunction

Three weeks ago, Jane, a 35-year-old business executive, stopped showering, refused to leave her apartment, and started watching television talk shows. Threats of being fired have failed to bring Jane back to reality, and she continues to spend her days staring blankly at the television screen. Which definition of abnormality describes Jane's Behavior?

PSYCHOANALYTIC MODEL

the most comprehensive theory yet constructed in the development and structure of our personalities.

DEFENSE MECHANISM

unconscious protective processes that keep primitive emotions associated with conflicts in check so that the ego can continue its coordinating functions.

PSYCHODYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY

focuses on the psychological roots of emotional suffering. Its hallmarks are self-reflection and self-examination, and the use of the relationship between therapist and patient as a window into problematic relationship patterns in the patient's life.

HUMANIST THEORIST

These theorists have great faith in the ability of human relations to foster their growth.

UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE REGARD

the unconditional acceptance of most of the client's feelings and behaviors. "It means caring for the client, but not in a possessive way or in such a way as simply to satisfy the therapist's own needs," - Rogers

PSYCHODYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY

focuses on the psychological roots of emotional suffering. Its hallmarks are self-reflection, self-examination, and the relationship between therapist and patient as a window into problematic relationship patterns in the patient's life.

UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS

a stimulus that leads to an automatic response. In Pavlov's experiment, food was the unconditioned stimulus.

SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION

this a form of exposure therapy wherein the patients were gradually exposed to the objects or situations they feared so that their fear could extinguish; in this way, they could test reality and realize that nothing bad happened in the presence of the phobic object or scene.

ONE DIMENSIONAL MODEL OF CAUSALITY

attempts to trace that the origins of behavior are a single cause. This model, for example, suggests that schizophrenia or a phobia is caused by a chemical imbalance or by growing up surrounded by overwhelming conflicts among family members.

RELIABILITY

the consistency of a measure. the degree to which scores from a test are stable and results are consistent. A test is considered reliable if we get the same result repeatedly.

CONCURRENT VALIDITY or DESCRIPTIVE VALIDITY

a term used to denote assessments that give similar results when used in a short time frame.

Example. If the result of the standard, but long IQ test were the same as the result from a new, brief version, you can conclude that the brief version had concurrent validity.

STANDARDIZATION

process by which a certain set of standards or norms is determined for a technique to make its use consistent across different measurements.

Example: If you are a Filipina, 22 yrs. Your score on the psychological test should be compared with the scores of others like you and not to the scores of different people, such as Koreans in their mid-60s that is from a Higher middle-class background.

STRATEGIES THAT ARE USED BY CLINICIANS TO ACQUIRE INFORMATION TO UNDERSTAND THEIR PATIENTS AND ASSIST THEM

Clinical Interview - Mental Status Exam (Formal/Informal);
Physical Examination;
Behavioral Observation and Assessment;
Psychological Test (If needed)

PHOBIA

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

PSYCHOLOGICAL DYSFUNCTION

refers to a breakdown in cognitive, m emotional, or behavioral functioning.

PSYCHIATRIST

- investigates the nature and causes of psychological disorders, from biological point of view;

- make diagnoses and offer treatments.

- Most emphasize drugs or other biological treatments, although most use psychosocial treatment as well.

[PRESENTING THE PROBLEM] PRESENTS

a traditional shorthand way indicating why the person came to the clinic.

ID

the source of our strong sexual desires and aggressive feelings or energies. One of the 3 major parts of the mind according to FREUD. The animal within us; if left unchecked, it would make us killers or rapist.

LIBIDO

the energy or drive within the ID.

THANATOS

death instinct

EGO

Part of the mind that ensures that we act realistically and operate according to the pleasure principle. Its role is to mediate the conflict between id and the superego. Often referred to as the executive or manager of our minds.

CASTRATION ANXIETY

the fear of removal of one's penis as a punishment for lust impulses.

OBJECTS RELATION

the study of how children incorporate the images, memories, and sometimes the values of a person who was important to them and to whom they are emotionally attached.

FREE ASSOCIATION

Patients are instructed to say whatever comes to mind without the typical socially required censoring in order to uncover emotionally charged content that may have been suppressed because it is too painful or scary to bring into consciousness.

COUNTERTRANSFERENCE

the therapist project some of their own personal issues and feelings usually positive, onto their patients.

HUMANIST THEORIST

These theorists have great faith in the ability of human relations to foster their growth.

UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE REGARD

the unconditional acceptance of most of the client's feelings and behaviors. "It means caring for the client, but not in a possessive way or in such a way as simply to satisfy the therapist's own needs," - Rogers

BEHAVIORAL MODEL

is an alternative psychological model known as the cognitive-behavioral model or social learning mode that brought the systematic development of a more scientific approach to the psychological aspects of psychopathology.

UNCONDITIONED RESPONSE

the natural or the unlearned response to the stimulus. In Pavlov's experiment, this is salivation.

MARY COVER JONES

The first psychologist to use behavioral techniques to free a patient from a phobia. She thought that if fear could be learned or classically conditioned it can perhaps also be unlearned or extinguished.

OPERANT CONDITIONING

a method of learning studied by B.F. SKINNER; which employs rewards and punishments for behavior.

3 basics concepts help determine the value of assessment

Reliability, Validity, Standardization

INTERRATER RELIABILITY

This type of reliability is assessed by having two or more independent judges score the test.
One way a psychologist can improve reliability is by creating an assessment device and conducting research on it to ensure that two or more raters will get the right answer.

TEST-RETEST RELIABILITY

A type of reliability test to determine whether the assessment techniques are stable across time;
a measure of the consistency of a psychological test or assessment. Best used for things that are stable over time, such as intelligence.

PREDICTIVE VALIDITY

How well does your assessment tell you what will happen in the future.

Example: does it predict who will succeed in school and who will not? (Which is one of the goals of an IQ test.)

SUPEREGO

Represents the moral principles instilled in us by our parents and our culture. We call this our conscience.

PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

state five stages of human development: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital.

ABRAHAM MASLOW

He postulated a hierarchy of needs. He hypothesized that we cannot progress up the hierarchy until we have satisfied lower-level needs.

CONDITIONED STIMULUS

a stimulus that can eventually trigger a conditioned response.

INTROSPECTION

process involves looking inward to examine one's own thoughts and emotions.

JOHN B. WATSON

the founder of behaviorism. He conducted the infamous LITTLE ALBERT EXPERIMENT. In the experiment where they presented a stimulus to an 11-month-old named Albert and observed his reaction and then paired the stimulus which is a white rat with a loud bang every time Albert tries to reach it and eventually little Albert was conditioned to fear the rat.

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDER

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

[SITUATIONAL PROBLEM: try to identify the psychological disorder being described] Judy, a 16-year-old girl, was sent to an anxiety disorder clinic after experiencing an increase in fainting episodes. Judy felt faint and fled the room around 2 years ago after watching a very graphic film of a frog dissection in school with clear pictures of blood, tissues, and muscle. She has been tormented by those pictures ever since, and every time she recalls them, she feels lightheaded and nauseated. She began to avoid circumstances in which she might encounter blood or injury, as well as images of gory imagery, raw meat, or bandages, because they brought up feared images in her mind. Eventually, things that is related to blood or injury caused her to feel lightheaded. 6 months prior to her visit to the clinic she had an encounter with blood which made her faint. She was brough to their family doctor but the dr. cannot find anything wrong with Judy. And by the time she was referred to the clinic shea was fainting 5 to 10 times a week, often in class. This was considered as problematic and disruptive in school and the principal of the school conclude that she is being manipulative. Upon reading the Judy's situation, what do you think was the diagnosis of the anxiety clinic she was brought in?

Judy was suffering from blood-injection-injury phobia. Judy's reactions were quite severe, thereby meeting the criteria for PHOBIA.

PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

- the scientific study of psychological disorders.

Within this field are specially trained professionals Clinical and counseling psychologist, psychiatrists, psychiatric social workers and psychiatric nurses, marriage and family therapist and mental health counselors.

COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGIST

tend to study and treat adjustment and vocational issues encountered by relatively healthy individuals.

INCIDENCE

Statistics on how many new cases occur during a given period.

COURSE

Disorders individual patterns.

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Study of changes in behavior over time

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

study of changes in abnormal behavior over time.

Distress

[Dysfunction or Distress] Miguel recently began feeling sad and lonely. Although still able to function at work and fulfill other responsibilities, he feels down much of the time and worries about what is happening to him. What is Miguel feeling?

EMOTION CONTAGION

the experience of the emotion seems to spread to those around us.

FRANK ANTON MESMER

Father of Hypnosis

INTRAPSYCHIC CONFLICT

the clash of opposing forces within the psyche, such as conflicting drives, wishes, or agencies. Also called inner conflict; internal conflict; intrapersonal conflict; psychic conflict

NEUROSES

the formation of behavioral or psychosomatic symptoms as a result of the return of the repressed.

SELF-PSYCHOLOGY

focuses on the development of empathy toward the person in treatment and the exploration of fundamental components of healthy development and growth.

DREAM ANALYSIS

The therapist evaluates the contents of dreams that are said to mirror the ID's primary-process thinking and systematically connects the dreams to symbolic components of unconscious conflicts.

TRANSFERENCE

a phenomenon in which a patient develops feelings for the therapist in the same way as they did for important persons in their life, typically their parents. For example, if a patient resents the therapist but cannot articulate why, she may be reenacting her childhood resentment of her parents.

ABRAHAM MASLOW

He postulated a hierarchy of needs. He hypothesized that we cannot progress up the hierarchy until we have satisfied the needs at lower levels.

CARL ROGERS

- most influential humanist. He originated the client-centered therapy or the "PERSON-CENTERED THERAPY"

PERSON-CENTERED THERAPY

The therapist plays a passive role, interpreting as little as possible. The goal of this therapy is to allow the individual to develop during the course of therapy without being hampered by threats to self.

CARL ROGERS

- most influential humanist. He originated the client-centered therapy or the "PERSON-CENTERED THERAPY"

PERSON-CENTERED THERAPY

The therapist plays a passive role, interpreting as little as possible. The goal of this therapy is to allow the individual to develop during the course of therapy without being hampered by threats to self.

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

type of learning in which a neutral stimulus is paired with a response until it elicits that response. This process begins with a stimulus that would elicit a response in almost anyone and requires no learning.

CONDITIONED RESPONSE

an automatic response established by training to an ordinarily neutral stimulus.

EXTINCTION (PAVLOV'S EXPERIMENT)

gradual weakening of a conditioned response that results in the behavior decreasing or disappearing.

MULTIDIMENSIONAL MODEL OF CAUSALITY

is a perspective that states abnormal behavior forms from multiple influences such as behavioral, biological, emotional, social, and possibly developmental.

VALIDITY

the degree to which a technique measures what it is designed to measure. refers to how well a test actually measures what it was created to measure.