AP Psychology - Chapter 15

Abnormal Behavior

• behavior that is deviant, maladaptive, or personally distressful over a relatively long period of time.

Deviant

behavior that deviates from what is acceptable. This is context-specific. (ex. Blowing a whistle at someone to signal displeasure)

Maladaptive

• interferes with a person's ability to function (ex. Being afraid of hurting people's feelings, so you never speak at all)

Personal Distress

• The person finds their own behavior troubling (ex. Compulsively checking to make sure all the doors are locked repeatedly and feeling embarrassed about it)

Biological Approach

• Says that disorders are due to organic, physical, internal causes

• Focus is on the brain, genetics, and neurotransmitter function

• Medical Model - psychological disorders are medical diseases with a biological origin, treats psychological disorders like any other diagnosis

The Psychological Approaches

• Focuses on experiences, thoughts, emotions, and personality characteristics to explain psychological disorders

Behavioral

• rewards and punishers

Cognitive

• maladaptive cognitions and beliefs

Psychoanalytic

• unconscious thoughts and experience, often stemming from childhood

Humanistic

• lack of social support and blocked from reaching their full potential

The Evolutionary Approach

• The causes of mental disorders focus on behaviors and mental processes that reduce the likelihood of survival

The Sociocultural Approach

• Focuses on the social context in which a person lives, including culture

• This is helpful for deviance as culture sets up behavioral norms to compare against

• Can be problematic when the culture holds beliefs that are oppressive or prejudicial

• These norms can change overtime (ex. Civil rights movement)

• Many of our diagnoses are from a western viewpoint

The Biopsychosocial Model

• Abnormal behavior can be influenced by biological factors (genes), psychological factors (experiences), and sociocultural factors (gender)

• These can operate alone or in combination with each other

• Disorders often have multiple causes

• Vulnerability-Stress Hypothesis - AKA Diathesis-stress model. Preexisting conditions may put a person at risk of developing a disorder. The vulnerability, combined with stressful experiences can lead the disorder. Going through a high level of stress can "trigger" a development

Classifying Abnormal Behavior

• A common classification provides a common basis for communicating

• Naming a disorder can be helpful to those who are suffering

• Stigma can also occur

The DSM

• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

Critiques of the DSM

• Some think it over medicalizes disorders. Too much of the biological approach

• It only focuses on problems, not strengths

• It relies too much on social norms and subjective judgement

• Too many categories, some without enough research

• Loosening of standards will lead to overdiagnosis and more people on meds

• Insurance often only pays for DSM disorders

• Treating disorders with medication primarily

Autism Spectrum Disorder

• Range of neurodevelopmental disorders involving impaired social interaction and communication, repetitive behavior, and restricted interests

• No single identified cause. Genetic and neurological factors

• Cold parents and vaccines do not cause it

• It is a spectrum and abilities range widely

Somatic Symptom Disorder

• Formerly called somatoform disorder

• A person experiences one or more bodily (somatic) symptoms and experiences excessive thoughts and feelings about these symptoms

• Feeling a physical symptom when there is not a physical cause (ex. Someone who feels pain or loses an ability, but there is nothing physically causing it)

• DSM-5 now focuses on the psychological symptoms rather than the absence of physical symptoms

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

• A common psychological disorder in which the individual exhibits one or more of the following

• Inattention

• Hyperactivity

• Impulsivity

Anxiety and Anxiety-Related Disorders

• High anxiety that does not impair ability to function is not a disorder

• Disproportionate and uncontrollable fear

Anxiety Disorders

• disabling psychological disorders that feature motor tension, hyperactivity, and apprehensive expectations and thoughts

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

• Persistent anxiety for at least 6 months, and in which there is not a specific reason for the anxiety

• Nervous most of the time and worry a lot

• Can have: muscle tension, fatigue, stomach problems, difficulty sleeping

• Biological factors - genetic predisposition, not enough GABA, respiratory system abnormalities, problems regulating sympathetic nervous systemSociocultural and Psychological factors - harsh self-standards, overly critical/cold parents, automatic negative thoughts when stressed, history of uncontrollable traumas/stressors

Panic Disorder

• An individual experiences recurrent, sudden onsets of intense terror, often without warning and without a specific cause

• Can produce chest pains, shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, feeling helpless, feeling like having a heart attack

• Biological factors - genetic predisposition, higher levels of lactate, hormone regulation and various neurotransmitters are also being studies

• Psychological factors - classically conditioned cues between high levels of CO2 and fear. Overgeneralization of fear learning.

• Women are 2x as likely to have them

Specific Phobia

• A fear is a phobia with extreme avoidance that interferes with daily life

• Specific phobia - the individual experiences an irrational, overwhelming, persistent fear of a particular object or situation

• Fears are learned quickly for evolutionary reasons

• Could be classical conditioning or observational learning, genes could play a role as well

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)

AKA social phobia. An individual has an intense fear of being humiliated or embarrassed in social situations

Social Anxiety Disorder

• Possible causes - genes, thalamus, amygdalae, and the cerebral cortex, oxytocin, existing vulnerabilities, both nature and nurture.

• People often say it prevents them from being authentic with others

Agoraphobia

• This is an anxiety disorder that involves being fearful of public places

• This includes feeling trapped, helpless, or embarrassed

• They may have trouble riding public transit, going to the grocery store, etc.

• There is often a fear of leaving one's home alone

• It comes with the fear that there is no easy way to escape if their anxiety becomes overwhelming

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

• Not seen as an anxiety disorder anymore, but anxiety is a part of it

• OCD - anxiety-provoking thoughts that will not go away and/or urges to perform repetitive ritualistic behaviors to prevent or cause some future situation

Obsessions

recurrent thoughts

Compulsions

recurrent behaviors

Factors Contributing to OCD

• Genetic component

• Low levels of serotonin and dopamine, high levels of glutamate

• Hyperactive monitoring of behavior, brain may fail to get the "finished" message. Thalamus is overloaded

Vicious cycle

• could link to avoidance learning, avoiding a bad outcome

Hoarding disorder

• compulsive collecting. Poor organization, difficulty discarding. Cognitive deficits in info-processing speed, decision making, and procrastination. "might need it later"

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

• Not an anxiety disorder, but anxiety is part of it

• develops after a traumatic event, severely oppressive situation, cruel abuse, or disaster that overwhelms the ability to cope

PTSD Symptoms

• Flashbacks - reliving the event in one's mind, lose touch with reality

• Feelings of anxiety, nervousness, excessive arousal, inability to sleep

• Difficulties with memory and concentration

• Impulsive behavior

• These can occur immediately or set in after a period of months or years

• Previous trauma, genes, and cultural background can be factors

Disorders Involving Emotion and Mood

• Emotions tell us how we are doing on important life goals

• Some disorders feature dysregulation of emotional life

• Like depressive or bipolar

Depressive Disorders

• The individual suffers from depression - unrelenting lack of pleasure in life

• Common - 16 million Americans

• Depressive symptoms over 2 months - persistent depressive disorder

Major Depressive Disorder

• Significant depressive episodes and depressed characteristics (lethargy, hopelessness, etc) for at least 2 weeks

Major Depressive Disorder Symptoms

• Depressed mood most of the day

• Reduced interest in formerly enjoyed activities

• Significant weight/appetite change

• Too much or too little sleep

• Fatigue/loss of energy

• Feeling excessively worthless or guilty

• Problems thinking, concentrating, decision making

• Recurrent thoughts of death/suicide

• No history of manic episodes (euphoria)

Depressive Disorders - Biological Factors

• Genes, brain structure/function, neurotransmitters

• Vulnerability-Stress association

• Serotonin transporter gene - 5-HTTLPR

• Structure - decreased activity in prefrontal cortex area linked to actions. Also, areas associated with perceiving rewards in the environment

• Serotonin and norepinephrine and their transmitters may play a part too

Structure

decreased activity in prefrontal cortex area linked to actions. Also, areas associated with perceiving rewards in the environment

Behavioral (Depressive Disorders - Psychological Factors)

• learned helplessness - unable to change an aversive situation, leads to hopelessness

Cognitive (Depressive Disorders - Psychological Factors)

• automatic negative thought. Self-defeating, magnifies negative experiences. Dwelling on and reliving negative experiences over and over

Attributions (Depressive Disorders - Psychological Factors)

explanation of the cause of what happened

Pessimistic attributions (Depressive Disorders - Psychological Factors)

• blaming yourself for negative events and expecting it will happen again. Internal, stable, and global causes

Depressive Disorders - Sociocultural Factors

• Individuals with a lower socio-economic status have a higher risk of depression

• Depression has a negative correlation with employment and standards of living

• Women are 2x as likely

Bipolar Disorder

• Extreme mood swings that include at least one episode of mania (an overexcited overly optimistic state)

• Impulsive decisions may be made and someone may sleep very little

• Most experience cycles of depression interspersed with mania. Most have manic and depressive episodes 4+ times a year. Called bipolar cycling

• Equally common in men and women

• Genetics play a strong role

• Metabolic activity in the brain increases during mania

• High levels of norepinephrine and glutamate and low levels of serotonin are linked to bipolar

• Abusive childhood experiences are linked

• Diagnosis of children with depressive disorders is controversial

Bipolar I

• Extreme manic episodes, includes hallucinations

Bipolar II

milder version, less extreme euphoria