Abnormal Psych 3230 Test 1 - UGA Miller (Maymester)

5 ways Wakefield explained how mental disorders cannot be defined as

1. value concept
2. what professionals treat
3. statistical deviance
4. biological disadvantage
5. causes distress or suffering

Wakefield's Harmful Dysfunction

disorders must have a mechanism that fails to function normally & cause impairment - hybrid of "value judgement" and "biological disadvantage"

DSM-5 definition of mental disorder

- breakdown in functioning
- personal distress or disability (functional impairment)
- atypical or unexpected in terms of culture

Widiger definition of mental disorder

1. dyscontrol - cannot control choices
2. maladaptivity - life suffers due to lack of control

Prevalence

The number or proportion of cases of a particular disease or condition present in a population at a given time.

Incidence

The number or rate of new cases of a particular condition during a specific time.

For treatment, keep in mind

1. Prevalence
2. Incidence
3. Course
4. Onset of disorder
5. Prognosis

Etiology

the study of the causes of diseases

Galenic-Hippocratic Tradition (biological)

- linked abnormality with brain chemical imbalances
- foreshadowed modern views of neurotransmitters

Psychological tradition - Plato & Aristotle believed

social & cultural influences & early learning impacted psychopathology

Psychoanalytic theory

A theory developed by Freud & Breuer that attempts to explain personality, motivation, and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behavior

Id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives (primary process).
The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification (toddler thinking)

Ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id & superego. The ego operates on the reality principle

Superego

conscious part of mind that represents moral ideals learned from society from rewards and punishments (adult thinking)

Affiliation (Defense Mechanism)

turning to other for support when presented with conflict - affiliate with others

Humor (Defense Mechanism)

the focus of amusing or ironic aspects of conflict/stressor

Sublimation (Defense Mechanism)

channeling threatening devices into acceptable outlets (e.g. working out)

Displacement (Defense Mechanism)

the transfer of feelings from one target to another that is considered less threatening

Intellectualization (Defense Mechanism)

use of excessive reasoning or logic to deal with situations rather than feeling their emotions

Reaction Formation (Defense Mechanism)

preventing unacceptable thoughts or behaviors from being expressed by exaggerating opposite thoughts or types of behaviors (e.g. gay conservatives)

Repression (Defense Mechanism)

involuntary blocking of unpleasant feelings and experiences from ones conscious awareness

Projection (Defense Mechanisms)

falsely attributing one's own thoughts, feelings, or motives to another

5 stages of psychosexual development (Freud)

1. Oral Stage - focus on food, mouth pleasure
2. Anal Stage - expulsion or retention of feces
3. Phallic Stage - notice genitals & differences, oedipus/electra complex
4. Latency Stage - nonsexual interest
5. Genital Stage - sexual interest

Psychoanalysis therapy goals (Freud)

analyze & resolve conflict cause through catharsis, dream analysis, & free association, restructure personality - less focus on reducing symptoms but finding their cause

Transference and Countertransference

- patient talks to therapist as if they are something from their past experience (good)

- therapist transferring own experience onto their patient (bad)

Psychodynamic theory

focus on affect, patient avoidance of topics/behaviors, patterns in behavior & thoughts, past experience, interpersonal experience. large therapeutic alliance

some exploration of fantasies/dreams

Humanistic theory (Maslow & Rodgers)

people are inherently good and continue to strive to make themselves better to reach self-actualization

Client-centered therapy (Carl Rodgers)

- minimal therapist intervention
- therapist conveys empathy
- belief that patients have the resources within themselves to solve their own problems with support

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

1. physiological - food & water
2. safety - safe home
3. social - sense of belonging
4. esteem - sense of achievement
5. self-actualization

Classical Conditioning (Pavlov & Watson)

pairing neutral stimuli with unconditioned response

Operant Conditioning (Thorndike & Skinner)

behaviors shaped by rewards and punishments (Thorndike's Law of Effect)

Positive & Negative Reinforcement

+ the addition of positive experience
- the removal of a negative experience

Positive & Negative Punishment

+ the addition of a negative experience
- the removal of a positive experience

Shaping behavior

reinforcing successive approximations of desired behaviors

Wolpe

systematic desensitization (exposure therapy)

Beck

cognitive therapy

Bandura

social learning, cognitive behavior therapy, vicarious learning

Perl's Gestalt Therapy

emphasis on body language, questioning patient, pushes to find root of problem

Ellis' Rational-Emotive Therapy

high therapist involvement & interpretation of client's words

Aspects of Multidimensional Approach to Psychopathology

1. biological factors
2. behavioral & cognitive factors
3. emotional factors
4. social factors
5. developmental factors

Diathesis-stress Model

a diagnostic model that suggests a disorder may develop when an underlying genetic vulnerability (diathesis) is coupled with a particular environment (stress)

Gene-environment Correlation

genes can increase probability that an individual will experience certain environmental events

Passive Gene-environment Correlation

genes are correlated to the environment raised in

Evocative Gene-environment Correlation

genes may lead to behaviors that evoke a certain response from the environment

Proactive Gene-environment Correlation

genes make the selection of a certain environment more likely

Non-Genomic Inheritance of Behavior

genes are not the whole story, environmental influences may override genetics

Agonist neurotransmitter

increase activity by mimicking effects

Antagonist neurotransmitter

decrease or block a neurotransmitter

Inverse Agonist neurotransmitter

produce effects opposite to those produced by neurotransmitter

Serotonin

affects behavior, mood, & cognition
- treated with SSRIs (prozac)

Glutamate

excitatory neurotransmitter (exciting)

GABA

inhibitory neurotransmitter (calming)
- increase GABA w/ benzodiazepines (valium, xanax)

Norepinephrine

increase heart rate, blood pressure (fight or flight reaction)
- beta-blockers reduce anxiety response

Dopamine

switch that impacts the effects of other neurotransmitters
- implicated w/ schizophrenia & Parkinson's (low)

Learned helplessness

a condition that occurs after a period of negative consequences where the person begins to believe they have no control

Social learning

learning through observing others (modeling)

Prepared learning

learning that occurs without extensive training because of an evolved predisposition to the behavior

Cognitive science & unconscious in psychopathology

behavior may be impacted without direct knowledge, implicit beliefs

Emotional Dysregulation

an inability to control negative emotions in response to stressful life events or feeling too much of an emotion without cause

Emotion

short lived state of mind

Mood

persistent, enduring state of mind

Affect

non-verbal behavior that goes with mood (or mismatches mood)

Principal of Equifinality

psychological disorders can take many paths that lead up to the same outcome (the disorder)

Multi-finality

the same experience can lead to many different outcomes

Central Nervous System (CNS)

brain and spinal cord

Soma

cell body of a neuron

Dendrites

receive messages from other neurons

Axon

part of neuron that sends chemical messages

Synapses

small gaps that separate neurons

3 divisions of brain

hindbrain, midbrain, forebrain

3 parts of the hindbrain

medulla, pons, cerebellum

Medulla

controls heart-rate, blood pressure, and breathing

Pons

sleep stages

Cerebellum

physical coordination

Midbrain

sensory information, reticular activating system (RAS- sleep cycles)

Forebrain (cerebral cortex)

sensory, emotional, and cognitive processing

4 lobes of cerebral cortex

frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal

Frontal Lobe

thinking, reasoning, & memory

Parietal Lobe

touch recognition

Occipital Lobe

visual input

Temporal Lobe

recognition of sights, smells, & sounds - long term memory & complex stimuli

Limbic System

emotion, motivation, & memory

Thalamus (Limbic System)

conveys sensory information to cortex

Hypothalamus (Limbic System)

eating, drinking, aggression, sex

The somatic branch of the peripheral nervous system

controls voluntary muscle movement

The autonomic branch of peripheral nervous system

regulates cardiovascular system & temp, endocrine system & digestion

Sympathetic nervous system (autonomic branch)

mobilizes body during stress (fight or flight)

Parasympathetic nervous system (autonomic branch)

restore equilibrium & energy when not stressed

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

the degree to which a measure is stable and consistent over time

Test-restest Reliability

the consistency in results every time a measure is used (across time)

Inter-rater Reliability

a measure of how similarly two different test scorers (raters) would score a test.

Internal Consistency Reliability

items are consistent with measuring one construct

Validity

the extent to which a test captures the construct

Content Validity

the extent to which a test measures full conceptualization of a construct

Convergent Validity

scores on the measure are related to other measures of the same construct

Criterion & Discriminant Validity

is the measure related to other constructs that are thought to be related and not related to those thought to be not related

Face Validity

extent to which respondents can tell what the items are measuring, does it appear to test what it is testing

Predictive Validity

the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict