Abnormal Psychology Exam 1

Define abnormal psychology

the scientific study of abnormal behavior undertaken to describe, predict, explain, and change abnormal patterns of functioning.

Deviance, distress, dysfunction, danger

4 D's of abnormality

Deviance

variance from common patterns of behavior.

outside or edges of the normal curve

Distress

causes stress of daily life

having signs of which two of the four D's is considered a slam dunk

Deviance and distress

Dysfunction

behavior inhibits client from functioning normally

it is fairly a reliable indicator of pathology

Who defines dysfunction?

the patient

family who could often be wrong

sometimes clinicians

Danger

behavior causes a risk to client or others- only one that can be diagnosed al

which of the four D's that is legal to report?

danger

how can underestimating mental illness be dangerous?

might hold people morally responsible for behaviors they can not control

how can overestimating mental illness be dangerous?

might lead to excusing abnormal or illegal behaviors bc they are "illness" beyond a persons control.

Trephination

removal of a circular piece of bone, especially of the skull, by a trephine.

treatment

procedure designed to change abnormal behavior into a more normal behavior

3 essential features of therapy

1. sufferer seeking relief

2. Healer accepted by sufferer and his social group

3. series fo contacts during which the healer tries to produce changes in sufferers emotional state, attitudes, and behaviors

out of 100 people how many have a substance abuse problem?

11

Out of 100 people how many have an anxiety disorder?

18

Out of 100 people how many have major depression?

10

Out of 100 people how many have personality disorders?

5

Out of 100 people how many have schizophrenia?

1

Out of 100 people how many have Alzheimers?

1

600,000

suicide attempts per year

500,000

rapes per year

3,000,000

cases of child abuse per year

in ancient times abnormality was due to what?

evil spirits or the devil who will directly cause illness of his own power and by natural means

how would someone treat a person who was demonically made ill?

exorcism or trephination

Mania

a state or episode of euphoria or frenzied activity in which people may have an exaggerated belief that the world is theirs for the taking

dementia

An abnormal condition marked by multiple cognitive defects that include memory impairment.

delusions

a strange false belief firmly held despite evidence to the contrary

hysteria

a term once used to describe what are now known as conversion disorder, somatization disorder, and pain disorder associated with psychological factors

hallucinations

the experiencing of imagined sights, sounds, or other perceptions in the absence of external stimuli

mania and irritability is a result of __ and can cause __

too much yellow bile; choleric personality

Melancholia (definition)

a condition described by early greek and philosophers and physicians as consisting of unshakable sadness. known today as depression

melancholia is a result of ___ and can lead to__?

to much black bile; melancholic personality (despondent, sleepless, irritable.

phlegm

phlegmatic - calm, unemotional

Blood

sanguine: courageous, hopeful, amorous

trephination

the treatment of ancient times in which people cut holes into skulls to let the evil spirits out

Phillipe Pinel unchained the men at?

La Bicetre

Phillipe Pinel unchained the women at?

La Salpetriere

Jean Esquirol did what?

founded many hospitals with the new "moral" treatment and emphasized moral guidance and humane, respectful techniques.

William Tuke is the founder of

York retreat

york retreat is a

rural estate where ~30 mental patients lived as guests in quiet country houses where they were treated with rest, talk, prayer, and manual labor.

Benjamin Rush did what

set standards for attendants

Dorothea Dix did what

reformed prison and asylum conditions and helped establish a system of state hospitals

what do clinical researchers do?

look for lawful (nomothetic) relationships between the variables and nature, causes, and treatments of abnormality; search for generalized laws

Multicultural Psychology

understanding how culture, race, ethnicity, gender, and other factors affect mental health and treatment response.

scientific method

systematic and reproducible way of collecting and evaluating information

three primary types of research

• case study

• correlations

• experiments

case study

a detailed description (and explicit or implicit interpretation of presumably significant events related to a clinical problem

experiment

best kind of research

limitation of case studies

authors may be bias

subjective data

poor internal validity

poor external validity

Correlation model uses research procedures to determine what?

how much events or characteristics vary along with each other

data type of correlation models

the research hypothesizes that certain variables are related such as..

Depression and stress

calculate the correlation

correlation is the degree to which variability in one variable predicts variability in the other.

the experimental method

a variable (independent) is manipulated and the effect is measured in the dependent variable.

story

data type of case study

high external validity

merits of correlation model

low internal validity

limitation of correlation model

Epidemiological research

form of correlation model that measures the incidence and prevalence of a disorder in a given population

incidence

number of new cases of a disorder or disease in a year

prevalence

number of all cases of a disorder or disease per unit of time

longitudinal studies

form of correlation model that observes the same participants on many occasions over a long period of time

Experimental Method

research procedure in which an independent variable is manipulated and the effect is measured in the dependent variable

confounds

variables other than the independent variable that can have an effect on the dependent variable

three ways to get rid of confounds

1. use a control group

2. perform random assignment

3. Blind everyone you need to

single blind

subject don't know what's being done to them

double blind

neither subject not experimenters know whats being done to subjects

What are advantages and disadvantages of the experimental method

• good internal and external validity

• challenging to design and preform

• may be difficult to recruit for

• May need larger samples to achieve statistical significance

Good internal validity

Good external validity

merits of experimental design

Quasi-experimental Designs

an experiment (form of experimental design) in which investigators make use of control and experimental groups that already exist in the world at large. aka mixed design

natural experiment

nature manipulates an independent variable

is a type of quasi experiment

analogue experiment

an experiment (form of experimental design) in which the experiments produces abnormal-like behavior in laboratory participants and then conducts experiments on the participants

single-subject

an experiment (form of experimental design) in which a single participant is observed and measures both before and after the manipulation of an independent variable

The Institutional Review Board

group of people that assures that research is done in a way that subjects are protected and that the value of the research justifies any risk to human subject

usual minimal requirements for participant protection during a research project

1. participation is voluntary

2. informed consent

3. Benefits outweigh risks

4. protect form physical or psychological harm

5. Part. have access to info about the study

6. Participants privacy is protected by confidentiality or anonymity

purposes of models of abnormality

they tell us whats important, where to look for answers, and they tell us what stories we like to tell.

biological model

sees abnormality as an illness to be cured