Abnormal Psychology Exam 1

4 D’s of abnormality

Distress, Danger, Dysfunction, Deviation

What does distress refer to in the context of abnormal behavior?

Emotional suffering, such as a patient crying due to hallucinations.

How does danger relate to abnormal behavior ?

Behavior that may be harmful to oneself or others, though it’s the exception rather than the rule

What does dysfunction mean in abnormal psychology?

Disturbance in an individual’s cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning.

what is mean by deviation from social norms

Behaviors, thoughts, or emotion that differ from what is considered normal in society.

What percentage of Americans are diagnosed with a mental health disorder?

50%

What is psychopathy?

The study of mental disorders and the reasons behind unexpected behaviors.

What is the difference between point prevalence and lifetime prevalence?

Point prevalence refers to active cases at a specific time, while lifetime prevalence refers to individual who have had the characteristics at any point in their life.

Comorbidity

The occurrence of two or more mental disorders simultaneously in the same person.

Etiology of a disorder

the cause of the disorder

What is the course of a mental disorder?

The particular pattern or anticipated progression of the disorder.

What were early treatments fro mental illness in ancient times?

Trephination and exorcism

Who believed that abnormality had natural causes?

Hippocrates

What is the significance of the term lunacy?

Odd behaviors attributed to misalignment of the moon and stars.

What was the primary purpose of asylums in the renaissance?

To care for and confine the mentally ill.

What issues led to the decline of moral treatment in the 19th century?

Money and staff shortages, overcrowding, and declining recovery rates.

What is deinstitutionalization?

The decline in the number of public mental hospitals.

Hydrotherapy

A treatment that involved strapping a person in a bathtub for days.

Lobotomy

A surgical procedure that disconnects the prefrontal cortex from other brain areas, often leading to severe cognitive impairments.

Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory

Human behavior is determined by unconscious forces and conflicts rooted in early childhood

Id/ ID

the unconscious part that operates on the pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification

Cognitive therapy

How individuals think about themselves and their experiences, aiming to change maladaptive thoughts.

Systemic desensitization

A behavioral therapy technique used to treat phobias by gradually exposing patients to feared stimuli.

reinforcement in behaviorism

Behaviors followed by satisfying consequences are strengthened, while those followed by unsatisfying consequences are discouraged.

principle of modeling in psychology

Learning by imitating others behavior, which can occur without reinforcement.

Psychogenic

Refers to mental illness caused by psychological factors, such as trauma.

Somatogenic

That physical or biological factors are causing the mental illness

What was the impact of psychotropic medications discovered in the 1950s?

They shifted the focus of mental health care from therapy to medication.

Paradigm

Conceptual framework that specifies what questions to ask and how to go about answering them.

Genetic Paradigm

Focuses on genes as carriers of genetic information (DNA) passed from parent to child.

Heritability

Extent to which variability in a particular behavior or disorder can be accounted for by genetic factors; only relevant on a population level.

Gene Expression

Process by which genes are activated to produce proteins

Polygenic Transmission

Multiple gene pairs turn on and off; likely more than one gene contributes to a trait.

Genotype

Total genetic makeup of an individual.

Phenotype

Observable behavioral characteristics of an individual.

Gene-Environment

A person’s sensitivity to their environment is determined by their genes.

Neuroscience Paradigm

Links mental illness to aberrant processes in the brain and related structures.

Neurotransmitter

Chemicals that transmit signals across synapses in the brain.

Agonist

Substance that stimulates activity antidepressants stimulating serotonin activity.

Antagonist

Substance that dampens or reduces activity.

Reductionism

The view that whatever is being studied can be reduced to its most basic elements or components.

Cognitive Behavioral Paradigm

Focuses on the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Positive Reinforcement

Behaviors followed by pleasant stimuli are reinforced.

Negative Reinforcement

Behavior that stops or removes a negative stimulus is strengthened

Cognition

Mental processes of perceiving, recognizing, judging, and reasoning.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy(CBT)

Therapy that focuses on changing patterns of thinking to change feelings and behaviors.

Schema

Framework or network of already accumulated knowledge.

Emotions

Brief experiences comprised of different components, including expression, experience, and physiological arousal.

Mood

Longer lasting emotional states that may be caused by a variety of factors.

Affect

Experience or interaction with emotion; not always the same as mood or emotion.

Diathesis- Stress Paradigm

Links genetic, neurobiological psychological, and environmental factors in the development of disorders.

Clinical Diagnosis

Determination that a set of symptoms indicates the presence of a particular disorder.

Structured Interview

Prescribed questions for all patients to standardize data collection

Reliability

Consistency of measurements across different tests or observations.

Validity

Extent to which a measure accurately reflects what it is supposed to measure.

DSM-5

Based on categorical classification; requires a minimum number of symptoms for diagnosis

Comorbidity

Presence of two or more diagnoses in an individual.

Personality Test

Self-reports or inventories that assess personality traits.

Intelligence Test

Assess language skills, abstract reasoning, and other cognitive abilities.

Brain Imaging

Techniques like CT and MRI used to visualize brain structure and function.