Exceptional Children Midterm - Flashcards

Developmental norms

Describe the typical rates of growth, sequences of growth, and forms of physical skills, language, cognition, emotion, and social behaviour

Culture

A way of life that is transmitted from generation to generation

Ethnicity

Common customs, values, language, or traits that are associated with national origin or geographic area

Race

A distinction based on physical characteristics, can also be associated with shared customs, values, etc.

Gender norms

Expectations based on gender. Significantly influence development, affecting emotions, behaviours, opportunities, and choices

Situational norms

What is expected in specific settings of social situations

Demonology

The belief that behaviour results from a person's being possessed or otherwise influenced by evil spirits or demons

Somatogenesis

The belief that mental disorder can be attributed to bodily malfunction or imbalance

Psychogenesis

Belief that mental problems are caused by psychological variables

Social learning (cognitive-behavioural perspectives)

Approaches that emphasize the combination of learning principles and the social context and/or cognition

Mental hygiene movement

Aimed to increase understanding, improve treatment, and prevent disorder from occurring at all

Child guidance movement

Freudian theory integrated with educational, medical, and religious approaches

Therapeutic alliance

Forge a trusting personal bond and collaboration on treatment between the mental health worker and the client

Informed consent

Request that the client consent to participate with full understanding of the rationale for treatment, how treatment will proceed, and the potential benefits and risks

CPA definition of disorder

Atypical behaviours that cause a pattern of distress, impairment, or increased risk of death, pain, disability, or loss of freedom

Gender stereotypes

Males = aggressive, dominant, active, adventurous

Females = passive, dependent, quiet, sensitive, and emotional

Prevalence

Measure of the total number of cases of a psychopathology in the population

Paradigm

A view, approach, or cognitive set that includes assumptions and concepts, as well as ways to evaluate these

Theory

Formal, integrated set of principles or propositions that explains phenomena

Interactional models

Numerous factors can influence the development of psychopathology, and these influences are not likely to act independently, but rather to interrelate to produce an outcome

Vulnerability-stress model

Conceptualizes the multiple causes of psychopathology as the working together of a vulnerability factor and a stress factor

Transactional models

Development is the result of ongoing, reciprocal transactions between the individual and the environmental context. The individual is viewed as an active agent who brings a history of past experience that has shaped their current functioning

Systems models

Incorporate several levels, or systems, of functioning in which development is viewed as occurring over time as the systems interact or enter into ongoing transactions with each other

Developmental psychopathology perspective

Integrates the understanding and study of normal developmental processes with those of child and adolescent psychopathology

Medical model

Considers disorders to be discrete entities that result from specific and limited biological causes within the individual and tend to ignore context

Direct effect

Variable X leads straight to the outcome

Indirect effect

Variable X influences one or more other variables that, in turn, lead to the outcome

Mediator

A factor or variable that explains or brings about an outcome, more specifically, by indirect means

Moderator

Variable that influences the direction or the strength of the relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable

Necessary cause

Must be present in order for the disorder to occur

Sufficient cause

Can, in and of itself, be responsible for the disorder

Contributing causes

Factors that may contribute by adding or multiplying their effects to reach a threshold to produce the problem

Equifinality

Diverse factors can be associated with the same outcome

Multifinality

An experience may function differently depending on a host of other influences that may lead to different outcomes

Risks

Variables that precede and increase the chance of psychological impairments

Resilience

Relatively positive outcome in the face of significantly adverse or traumatic experiences

Promotive/Protective factors

Wide range of influences that contribute to variations in outcomes among children exposed to adversities

Heterotypic continuity

Expression of a problem may change in form with development

Homotypic continuity

How a problem is expressed may be relatively stable over time

Attachment

Special social-emotional bond that develops gradually and becomes evident when the child is 7 to 9 months of age

Temperament

Early-emerging basic dispositions that are the product of complex interactions between biological and environmental factors over time

Goodness-of-fit

How the child's behavioural tendencies fit with parental characteristics and other environmental circumstances

Emotion expressiveness

The ability to respond to circumstances with a full range of emotions that communicate effectively, flexibly, and appropriately

Emotion understanding

Skills that involve the knowledge of ones own and others' emotions

Emotion regulation

Behaviours, skills, or strategies that modulate, inhibit, or enhance emotional experiences and expressions

Stable adaptive life path

Good the whole way

Stable maladaptive life path

Poor the whole way

Decline in maladaptive life path

Poor and then increases to good

Decline in adaptive life path

Good and then decreases to poor

Temporal maladaptation

Good then decreases to poor, then increases to good

Risk factors

Increases the likelihood of developing a clinically significant challenge or psychopathology

Individual characterisitcs

Good intellectual functioning

Good temperament

Self-efficacy, self-confidence, high self-esteem, talents

Family characteristics

Close relationships with caregivers

Authoritative parenting, warm, structure

Socioeconomic advantages

Supportive family network

Social and community characteristics

Mentors (adults) outside of the family

Engagement in community-based programs

Effective schools

Secure attachment child’s behaviours

Uses parent as secure base, is upset at separation, seeks parent at reunion, and is easily soothed by the parent

Insecure/avoidant attachment child’s behaviours

Readily separates to explore, avoids or ignores the parent, does not prefer the parent to the stranger

Insecure/resistant attachment child’s behaviours

Does not separate to explore, is wary of the stranger even when the parent is present. is extremely upset at separation, is not soothed by the parent and resists the parent’s attempts to soothe

Disorganized/disoriented attachment child’s behaviours

Goes to parent reluctantly, perhaps looking away from parent, may express fear when with parent, may seem to “freeze” their behaviour and expressions for short periods

Secure attachment parent’s behaviours

Is more responsive and sensitive to child’s signals, is affectionate and expressive, initiates frequent close contact with the child

Insecure/avoidant attachment parent’s behaviours

Is insensitive to child’s signals, avoids close contact and rejects child’s bids for close contact, may be angry, irritable, or impatient

Insecure/resistant attachment parent’s behaviours

Is inconsistent or awkward in reacting to child’s distress, sseems overqhelmed with tasks of caregiving

Disorganized/disoriented attachment parent’s behaviours

Is intrusive, is emotionally unavailable, may dissociate or be in a trance-like state, confuses or frightens the child, may be harsh or abusive

Easy temperament

Easy to soothe, typical eating and sleeping patterns

Slow-to-warm temperament

Withdrawn from new situations, takes time to adjust

Difficult temperament

Very emotional, fussy, irregular schedules

Elements of emotion regulation

Recognition, understanding, responses, regulation/dysregulation

Neurons

Specialized to chemically transmit impulses within the nervous system and to and from other body parts

Myelin

A white substance that increases the efficiency of communication in the brain

Pruning

Unneeded cells and connections are eliminated

Central nervous system

Brain and spinal cord

Peripheral nervous system

Nerves outside the central nervous system that transmit messages to and from it

Endorine system

A collection of glands intricately involved in bodily functions through the release of hormones

Hindbrain

Includes the pons, medulla, and cerebellum

Midbrain

Contains fibers that connect the hindbrain and the upper brain regions

Forebrain

Consists chiefly of two cerebral hemispheres, the outer surface of which is referred to as the cortex

Major parts of a neuron

Cell body, dendrites, axon

Synapse

Small gap between neurons

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

Adverse consequence of prenatal exposure to alcohol

Plasticity

Flexibility of the brain

Genotype

Individual genetic endowment

Phenotype

The observable characteristics of the person

Epigenetics

Changes in gene expression that are environmentally mediated

Linkage analysis

Aims to reveal the location of a problematic gene

Association analysis

Tests whether a particular form of a gene is associated with a trait or disorder in the population

Gene-environment interaction

Interdependence of genetic and environmental factors with regard to impact on the expression of a trait

Gene-environment correlation

Genetic differences affect exposure to environments

Operant learning

Positive consequence of a behaviour will strengthen the behaviour while a negative consequence will weaken it

Observational learning

Acquiring behaviours by observing others perform them

Cognitive-behavioural perspective

Behaviours are learned and maintained by the interaction of internal cognitions and emotions with external environmental events

Parenting behaviours

Particular actions employed by parents that can facilitate or hinder adaptive development

Parenting styles

Sets of attitudes, goals, and patterns of parenting practices that affect outcomes for children and adolescents

Treatment foster care

Prior to being placed in their care, foster parents understand that the child requires mental health services and that that they will serve as agents of change

Acculturation

Modifications in culture resulting from cultures coming into contact with each other

Random selection

Choosing each participant by chance

Operational definition

Observable and measurable operation selected to define the behaviour or concept

Validity

An accurate indicator of the attribute of interest

Reliable

The data would be similar, or consistent, if measurements were taken again under similar circumstances

Naturalistic observation

Directly observing individuals in their "real world", at times simply to describe naturally occurring behaviour and at other times to answer specific questions or to test hypotheses

Interobserver reliability

Behaviours are coded in a consistent way by independent coders

Internal validity

The extent to which the explanation is judged to be correct or sound