Psychopathology Final Exam Deck

3 major areas of interest in psychology

Affect Behavior Cognition

Affect

Feelings, what’s normal? What’s abnormal? For myself? For another person?

Behavior

What’s normal? What’s abnormal? Considered for myself? For another person?

Cognition

Thinking

Social deviance

Behavior that deviates from norms of society, different from expectations for behaviors.

Norms

Can change depending on time (i.e. style of dress in cultures) Violating it tends to make others uncomfortable Criteria must be considered along with others, cannot be used alone.

Out of touch with reality

Almost always indicative of abnormality, thinking is so disordered/disorganized that person isn’t functional

Delusions

Firmly held false beliefs that have no basis in reality

Hallucinations

False sensory perceptions

Caveats to delusions and hallucinations

Possible reasons that allow these to occur for a certain period of time (i.e., grieving people “see” those the person who had pass away)

Distress

Extreme to the point that level of feelings are inappropriate/impair ability to function, leans towards being abnormal

Maladaptive/Self-defeating

Continuing to engage in behaviors that lead to inability/unhappiness (i.e. drinking every day)

Dangerous

Typically considered abnormal, causing harm, being aggressive, behavior that violates rights/safety of others

Intensity (normal vs abnormal determination)

How intense are the feelings? Mild, moderate, severe? Anxiety, sadness, anger all exist on continuum, the more intense is the more distressing

Frequency (normal vs abnormal determination)

How often does it happen? Every single day, couple times a year?

Duration (normal vs abnormal determination)

How long does it last?

4 D’s of Abnormality

Deviance, Distress, Dysfunction, Danger

Culture

One’s ethnicity, groups you belong to, region grew up in, immediate community, family

Language

Different words that have different meaning for different things

Diversity competence

Understanding actions/customs of other cultures (ways of grief, celebration, etc.)

Cultural norms

Different behavior and actions based on culture (i.e., how often is a person to talk about feelings?)

Context

Stress and feelings can be expressed in many different ways

Demonological Model

Model that all abnormal psychology was the work of evil spirits, something had invaded the individual, all events of the individual was a result of something magical

Trephining

“treatment” using a pointed instrument to create a hole in the persons head so the evil spirit could be “released”

Hippocrates

Father of modern medicine, proposed origins of modern medicine

Four “Humors” theory

Idea that disease arose from internal physical problems, causing abnormal behavior. Brain pathology resulted from imbalance of bodily fluids, the four humors, imbalance could be linked to abnormal behavior.

Element of blood

Air

Too much blood…..

Makes one sanguine (lively, sociable but also highly changeable, those with too much blood are irresponsible)

Treatment for blood

cutting, leaches, etc. to reduce amount in body

Element of Yellow Bile

fire

Too much yellow bile…..

makes one choleric (violent, vengeful, excitable, impulsive, reckless)

Treatment for yellow bile

cool the person down (ice/cold water to body)

Element of phlegm

water

Too much phlegm…..

makes one phlegmatic (sluggish, cowardly, overly sensitive, inwardly direct, private, clumsy, hesitant, oversensitive)

Treatment for phlegm

be in cool/moist environments

How to balance excess humors in general?

Change diet/environment to counter-act effects

Element of Black Bile

Earth

Too much black bile….

makes you melancholic (serious, sad, moodiness, depression)

Treatment for black bile

Provide a quiet life, decreased pressure/responsibility, increase exercise

Overall beliefs of the medieval times

Power of clergy increased, church rejected scientific investigation, controlled education, religious beliefs were suspicious of science, abnormal behaviors believed to be caused by Satan and demons

Believed cause of abnormal behavior in medieval times

overbalance of evil

Solution for abnormal behavior in medieval times

Remove evil spirits, done through exorcism (praying, chanting, beating to eject evil spirits)

Witchcraft

Women accused of being witches with certain behaviors (hallucinations, abnormal behavior, those who were “mouthy”, expressed opinions, fought against constructs of society), now seen as symptoms of mental illness.

Floatation test

If woman floated, she was a witch, if she sunk, she drowned

Conditions of asylums (late 1400s to early 1500s)

Hospitals and monasteries were converted to asylums, intended to care for those with mental illness. People didn’t get better due to no effective treatment and lack of knowledge, only did custodial care. People kept there under poor conditions (chained in bondage, beaten, filthy living conditions)

Phillipe Pinel

Argued that people with abnormal behavior had illnesses, and should be treated with sympathy and kindness. Had much more humane conditions in his buildings (no chains/bondage, sunlight and well-ventilated in rooms, able to walk around, treated with kindness and compassion)

Downside of Pinel’s methods

Some people were able to be released, but no real treatment was still applied.

William Tuke

Owned rural estate retreat where those with mental illnesses lived. Used methods of rest, prayer, kindness, and manual work

Benjamin Rush

Father of American psychiatry, used humane approaches, hospital must hire individuals with concern and compassion to work closely with patients

Dorthea Dix

Concerned with conditions of patients in asylums, went to state legislatures speaking about horrors in asylums, intent on working for reform. New laws passed on governmental responsibility on these institutions, government funding provided to make these better

Demise of moral treatment movement

Even with these improved conditions, people were still not properly treated and still did not get better. People still stayed in asylums the rest of their lives, and still resulted in overcrowding.

Stigma/fear and bias of asylums

Prejudices developed, moral treatment movement had stopped by early 1900s, only custodial care without treatments provided. Long-term institutionalization remained the norm.

Psychotic

a person with a disorder who is out of touch with reality

Community Mental Health Act of 1963

Residents in mental hospitals increased continually from 1900-1960. Introduction of antipsychotic drugs, people with severe illnesses, medication was effective and reduced need for institutionalized care, shift from hospitals to community-based methods (community health centers, residential living, group homes, etc.). Resulted in severe decrease of residents in mental hospitals from 1960 until now.

Describe (research)

What symptoms and behaviors are there? What course does it take (lifelong, remit with treatment)?

Explain (research)

What causes symptoms when they occur?

Predict (research)

How will the progression go? What will they experience in the future?

Control (research)

Developing interventions to help people feel better, be more functional

Research process

Form question → develop hypothesis → test hypothesis → draw conclusions

Form question (research)

Area of interest (i.e., does increased activity affect level of depressive symptoms?)

Develop hypothesis (research)

Based on past research/readings/experience (i.e., increasing activity decreases severity of depressive symptoms)

Test hypothesis (research)

Method of research design

Draw conclusions (research)

Collect and analyze data, come to conclusion, determine if hypothesis is validated or not. There can be more questions drawn out, and process starts over again

Observation (research)

Design must match the answers that are being sought out

Natural observation

Observing people in natural environment, provide information on how people behave, can tell you what people do, but not why they do it

Limits of natural observation

People don’t behave same way when they know they’re being watched, potential bias concerns (i.e., researcher wants to see a certain result can result in bias with interpretation)

Laboratory observation

Participants observed in a lab setting, experimenter has more control of environment

Limit of Laboratory observation

Person is not in natural element, cannot equate behavior in lab to behavior in another setting

Correlation

The relationship among variables

Correlation coefficient

Tell strength and direction of the relationship between the two variables

Positive correlation

two variables change in same way

Negative correlation

Variables change in opposite way

Random assignment

Participants are as likely to be in experimental group as in control group, ensures that effect is due to IV and not due to another potential variable, enhances internal validity

Representative sample and random sampling

Choose randomly from population interested in, researcher can be more confident in generalizing result to larger population, enhances external validity

Single Case Experimental Design process

Baseline (A) → Treatment (B) → Baseline (reversal) → Treatment (B)

Single Case Experimental Design

Observe person’s behavior, give treatment at Point B, measure new baseline to see if behavior would change, take treatment away and measure behavior again.

Example of Single Case Experimental Design

How often a child gets out of their seat in one class (baseline A), giving them a sticker if they stay in their seat, (treatment at Point B), see if now child will stay in their seat (reversal), now no longer giving stickers, does child still stay in seat?

Monozygotic

one egg with one sperm, twins with identical genetic material, identical twins

Dizygotic

two eggs with two sperms, fraternal twins

Environmental Influence

Note how alike an adopted child is to their adopted parent

Incidence

Number of people who develop a disorder at a particular time period, focusing on new cases

Prevalence

Total number of cases in a given time

Incidence example

How many people developed social anxiety disorder during 2019?

Prevalence example

How many people were diagnosed with social anxiety disorder during 2019? Looks at new cases added to existing cases

Institutional Review Boards (IRB)

Group of people who are well-versed in conducting research and research ethics, reviews proposed experiments to make sure it meets ethical standards. Researcher must demonstrate to any publication that they have been approved.

Adequate understanding

Researcher’s responsibility that any participant/potential participant can and does understand what the study is about, the nature of the research, any factors that may influence their willingness to participate.

Informed consent

Provides information to the participant about nature of research, why it’s being done, any necessary background, what they will be asking you to do. Also provides information about the risks and benefits of the study, allows participant to withdraw from study at any time without any negative repercussions, researcher must also determine that participant truly understands what is happening.

Confidentiality

Any data gathered and stored about an individual must be coded so that participant cannot be identified (name not associated with data, given designation of A1, total data is aggregated, etc.), reported results do not distinguish participants from each other.

Protect from harm

Go over risks and benefits of the study, physical and psychological harm considered, any potential harm or risks must be adequately justified in proposal. Right to refuse or withdraw participation, participants can leave anytime they feel uncomfortable or in danger

Use of deception

Can be approved but can only be used when doing so is necessary to gather valid data or possibly affect willingness to participate. Participants must be debriefed after the data has been collected.

Example of deception in research

Solomon Ashe Study: told participants they were studying visual perception, was in fact studying participants’ conformity

Inpatient treatment

Patient always remains in the facility/institution/hospital

Why is there less Inpatient treatment now?

Deinstitutionalization movement, limited resources, insurance companies gaining more power, determination of what is medically necessary.

Individual psychotherapy

single person meeting with single therapist/mental health provider, how often this occurs depends on the person and their recommendation/insurance

Group psychotherapy

multiple people seeing either a single or multiple therapists, often focused on a single disorder (members of group shares similar diagnosis). Tends to be less expensive, can be more effective than individual psychotherapy in certain disorders (i.e. social anxiety)

Family therapy

family members meet with therapist to work on issues in the family (i.e., conflict, communication issues, relationship counseling)

Clinical Psychologists (Ph.D. or Psy. D)

Works with people with less severe psychopathology Cannot prescribe medications

Counseling Psychologists (Ph.D. or Psy. D)

Externships, medical residency 1 year Trained with more severe psychopathology Cannot prescribe medications

PhD.

Doctorate in philosophy, not including specific field, based on research practitioner model

Psy.D.

Doctor of Psychology, practitioner scholar model