Exam One Study Guide

Major Contributions of Freud

• childhood experiences are related to psychopathology (Often so even later in life)

• Outcomes have multiple roots

True or False: Knowledge of normative development is critical to the study of developmental psychopathology

True

Psychological Disorders

Patterns of behavioural, cognitive, emotional, or physical symptoms linked with one or more of the following: Distress, Disability, Increased risk for further suffering or harm

Major Contributions of Watson

• Behaviourism

• Little Albert

Stigma

negative attitudes or beliefs directed towards certain individuals

Developmental Tasks: Infancy to Pre-School

• attachment to caregiver

• language

• differentiation of self from environment

Developmental Tasks: Middle Childhood

• Self-control and compliance

• School adjustment

• Academic Achievement (ex. learning to read)

• getting along with peers

• Rule-governed conduct

Developmental Tasks: Adolescence

• Successful transition to secondary schooling

• Academic achievement (ex. learning skills needed for work or higher education)

• Involvement in extracirricular activities

• Forming close friendships within and across gender

• Forming a cohesive sense of seld-identity

Equifinality

Similar outcomes stem from different early experiences and developmental pathways

Multifinality

various outcomes may stem from similar beginnings

Key Considerations in Developmental Pathways

• many contributors to disordered outcomes in each child

• contributors vary among children with the same disorder

• children express features of their disturbances in different ways

• pathways leading to disorders are numerous and interactive

Risk factor

procedes a negative outcome and increases the probability of negative outcome

Protective Factor

personal or situational variable that reduces the chances that a child will develope a disorder

Resilience

ability to fight off or recover from misfortune, adversity, stress, ect.

Protective triad

• strength of child

• strength of family

• strength of school/community

True or False: Chronic poverty is a major risk factor for developmental psychopathology

True

Impact of race and ethnicity

• minority children are overrepresented in the rates of some disorders

• multiple barriers to accessing services particularly services that are culturally-sensitive

• funneled into the justice system

True or False: 1 in 10 children has a mental health problem

False: 1 in 8 children has a mental health problem

The majority of children needing mental health services _______ receive them.

do not

The demand for children’s mental health services is expected to _____ over the next decade.

double

Theory

a language of science that allows us to assemble and communicate existing knowledge effectively, allows for educated guesses

Etiology

the study of the causes of childhood disorders

Transactional View

Both children and their environments are interdependent

Most common behaviour problems at different stages

adaptational failure

uncuccessful progress in Developmental milestones

developmental cascade

process by which a child’s previous interactions and experiences may spread across other systems and alter their course of development

Understand how development is organized

Development follows a patterned, predictable sequence where earlier skills/competencies provide the foundation for later ones. Progress depends on both biological maturation and environmental influences.

sensitive periods

times during which environmental influences on development are enhanced

Emotional Reactivty

the tendency to experience intense emotional responses to triggers, often leading to impulsive actions or behaviors that are out of proportion to the situation

Emotional Regulation

the ability of an individual to modulate an emotion or set of emotions

Temperment

an organized style of behaviour that appears early in development

Three dimension of temperment

• positive affect and approach

• Fearful or inhibited (known as behavioural inhibition)

• Negative affect or irritability

Operant conditioning and disordered behaviour

behaviour is determined by consequences

Classical conditioning and disordered behaviour

Neutral stimulus and unconditioned response = unconditioned response

after conditioning occurs: conditioned response = Conditioned response

Social learning and disordered behaviour

Children may model maladaptive behaviors seen in parents, peers, or media; reinforcement and lack of correction can strengthen these behaviors

basics of neural development

neurogenesis (neuron creation), migration, differentiation, and synaptogenesis (connection formation), followed by pruning of unused connections

neural plasticity

the ability of the brain to bounce back from injury or damage

Gene x environment interactions

a process where an individual's genetic makeup and environmental factors synergistically influence a trait or disease risk

Science

the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation, experimentation, and the testing of theories against the evidence obtained.

Pseudoscience

a collection of beliefs or practices mistakenly regarded as being based on scientific method.

Incidence rate

measures the speed or frequency with which new cases of a disease, condition, or event occur in a population at risk during a specific period

prevalence rate

the proportion of a population that has a specific disease, condition, or characteristic at a particular point in time or during a specified time period

correlates

Variables that are statistically linked with a behavior or disorder, but do not show direction or causality.

Risk factors

Characteristics or conditions that increase the likelihood of developing a problem or disorder.

Protective factors

Characteristics or conditions that reduce the likelihood of problems/disorders, or buffer against risk factors.

Causes

Direct influences that lead to the development of a disorder—changing the cause changes the outcome.

Moderator variable

A variable that affects the strength or direction of the relationship between two other variables (e.g., stress affects depression more strongly for teens than adults).

Mediator variable

A variable that explains how or why two variables are related (e.g., low social support → increases loneliness → leads to depression).

treatment efficacy

How well a treatment works under controlled, ideal conditions (e.g., clinical trials).

Treatment effectiveness

How well a treatment works in real-world settings (e.g., community clinics, everyday practice).

reliability

the consistency of answers

validity

the accuracy of answers

Experimental research disign

Involves random assignment to groups and manipulation of an independent variable to test cause-and-effect.

Quasi-Experimental Research Design

Involves manipulation of an independent variable but no random assignment; less control over confounding variables.

Correlational Research

Examines the association between variables without manipulation; shows relationships but not causation.

Retroscpective design

examines past experiences/records to study current outcomes.

Prospective Design

follows participants over time to see how earlier factors predict later outcomes.

Cross-sectional research

compares different groups at a single point in time

Longitudinal Research

Follows the same group over time to track change

Qualitative

non-numerica data

Quantitative

numeric data

Ethical Practices

Informed consent, assent from children, confidentiality, protection from harm, right to withdraw.

Idiographic

focuses on an individual case

Nomethic

Focuses on general patterns across groups

Goals of assessment

Understand child’s strengths/weaknesses, identify problems, plan treatment, monitor progress.

Semi-structured interview

Pros: reliable, consistent questions; Cons: less flexible, time-consuming.

Unstructured interview

Pros: flexible, conversational; Cons: less reliable, interviewer bias.

Behavior analysis

Identifies relationships between behaviors and their antecedents/consequences.

Reference group in rating scales

Child’s scores are compared to norms from a similar age/peer group.

Limitations for Behavioural Observation

Observer bias, artificial settings, limited sample of behavior, time-consuming.

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)

Measures overall intelligence, verbal comprehension, working memory, processing speed

Categorical

Places individuals into discrete categories

Dimensional

Rates behaviors/symptoms along continua

DSM - Criticisms

Overemphasis on categories, cultural bias, overlap of symptoms.

DSM - Pros

Standardized system, improves communication, guides treatment.

DSM - Cons

Stigmatization, may not capture individual differences, rigid cutoffs.

Common Treatment Approaches – Major Focus

• Behavioral: Modify behaviors through reinforcement.

• Cognitive: Change maladaptive thought patterns.

• CBT: Combine behavior + cognition.

• Family: Improve family interactions.

• Biological/Medical: Medication or physiological intervention.