Abnormal Psychology, Test 1 (DeWitt, Cedarville University)

clinical interview: introduction

Hi, my name is ____ ____, I'm a student of Cedarville University. I'm working with my psychology professor, Dr. DeWitt. What we discuss in our time together is confidential and will stay between us, with a few exceptions that I am mandated to report for your safety: If you bring up the abuse of a child, elderly person, or disabled person. Or if you speak about plans to hurt yourself or others. The goal of this interview is for me to get to know you better, so I will be asking you a lot of questions, and because of that, I will probably have to take a few notes, just to make sure I remember everything we discuss.

clinical interview: family life questions (be able to list 2)

- what was it like growing up in your family?

- describe your mother to someone who has never met her.

- describe your father to someone who has never met him.

- how would you describe your parents' relationship?

- if you did something you were not supposed to do, what would happen?

- who was primarily responsible for punishment?

- did you ever have welts or bruises after being punished?

- did you or your siblings ever get treated differently? how so?

- whom did you have to confide in?

clinical interview: social/peer/childhood experiences questions (be able to list 2)

- were you ever in special classes?

- what were your grades in school? were you satisfied with them?

- were you ever bullied or severely teased as a child?

- if you felt like talking to someone, who would that be?

- in case of an emergency, whom could you depend on?

- as a child, were you ever approached in a way that made you feel uncomfortable?

- did any adult or child ever approach you in a sexual manner?

- as an adult, has anyone ever approached you sexually in a way that made you feel uncomfortable?

clinical interview: intimate relations questions (be able to list 2)

- what attracted you to your partner

- describe your partner

- how well do the two of you communicate? what is some evidence of that?

- how do the two of you deal with conflicts?

- how important is sexual activity in your life?

clinical interview: children/grandchildren questions (be able to list 2)

- have you ever been pregnant?

- what are your feelings about being pregnant?

clinical interview: education/employment questions (be able to list 2)

- what is your level of education?

- what is your employment history?

- how do you feel about retirement?

- do your current finances meet your needs?

- describe your living situtation

clinical interview: interests/beliefs questions (be able to list 2)

- what do you do for fun or relaxation?

- do you ascribe to a particular faith or spiritual belief?

- describe the role it plays in your life

clinical interview: psychiatric/substance abuse questions (be able to list 2)

- prior psychological/psychiatric treatment

- inpatient or outpatient... reason, length, outcome

- family history of psychological/psychiatric treatment?

- past/current substance abuse and treatment, including withdrawal history?

- family history of substance abuse?

- current substance use including frequency, duration, last use?

- have you ever seen a counselor or therapist?

- what was the experience like for you?

- have you ever had thoughts of harming yourself? plans?

- have you ever had thoughts of harming others? plans?

- do you use alcohol? how much? how often?

- have you ever been intoxicated? how do you know when you are drunk?

- have you ever ended up somewhere without knowing how you got there after drinking?

- have you ever experimented with any non-prescription drugs?

- has anyone in your family ever had emotional difficulties?

- has anyone in your family ever been to a therapist or counselor?

- has anyone in your family ever had problems with alcohol or drugs?

- have you ever used prescription drugs in a manner other than prescribed?

- have you ever heard things that other people couldn't?

- have you ever seen things that other people couldn't?

clinical interview: legal questions (be able to list 2)

- have you been in trouble with the law?

- any pending lawsuits?

clinical interview: military questions (be able to list 2)

- branch?

- enlistment vs. draft?

- length?

- job rank?

- type of discharge?

- disciplinary actions?

clinical interview: medical questions (be able to list 2)

- how would you describe your health at the present time?

- are you on any medications? list them

- have you ever had any serious illnesses or injuries

clinical interview: miscellaneous questions (be able to list 2)

- tell me a little about your sleeping habits/eating habits

- what is the most traumatic event that stands out in your life

- what is the happiest, most satisfying event that stands out in your mind

5 criteria for abnormal behavior

4 categories for pissible signs of mental disorder

4 reasons for the decline of moral therapy

list of common neurotransmitters

- dopamine

- GABA

- glutamate

- norepinephrine

- serotonin

prescriptions used to treat disorders and how they influence neurotransmitters

SSRI - serotonin reuptake inhibitor

what does too little of ____ neurotransmitter do?

too little dopamine - parkinson's disease

what does too much of ____ neurotransmitter do?

too much dopamine - schizophrenia (maybe)

psychological disorder

psychological dysfunction associated with distress or impairment in functioning that is not a typical or culturally expected response

phobia

psychological disorder characterized by marked and persistent fear of an object or situation

abnormal behavior

a psychological dysfunction within an individual that is associated with distress or impairment in functioning and a response that is not typical or culturally expected

psychopathology

scientific study of psychological disorders

scientist-practitioners

mental health professionals who are expected to apply scientific methods to their work. they must keep current in the latest research on diagnosis and treatment, they must evaluate their own methods for effectiveness, and they may generate their own research to discover new knowledge of disorders and their treatment

presenting problem

original complaint reported by the client to the therapist. the actual treated problem may sometimes be a modification derived from the presenting problem

clinical description

details of the combination of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings of an individual that make up a particular disorder

prevalence

number of people displaying a disorder int he total population at any given time

incidence

number of new cases of a disorder appearing during a specific period

course

pattern of development and change of a disorder over time

prognosis

predictd future development of a disorder over time

etiology

cause or source of a disorder

exorcism

religious ritual that attributes disordered behavior to possession by demons and seeks to treat the individual by driving the demons from the body

psychosocial treatment

treatment practices that focus on social and cultural factors (such as family experience), as well as psychological influences. these approaches include cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal methods

moral therapy

psychosocial approach in the 19th century that involved treating patients as normally as possible in normal environments

mental hygiene movement

mid-19th-century effort to improve care of the mentally disordered by informing the public of their mistreatment

psychoanalysis

psychoanalytic assessment and therapy, which emphasizes exploration of, and insight into, unconscious processes and conflicts, pioneered by sigmund freud

unconscious

part of the psychic makeup that is outside the awareness of the person

catharsis

rapid or sudden release of emotional tension thought to be an important factor in psychoanalytic therapy

psychoanalytic model

complex and comprehensive theory originally advanced by sigmund freud that seeks to account for the development and structure of personality, as well as the origin of abnormal behavior, based primarily on inferred inner entities and forces

id

in psychoanalysis, the unconscious psychical entity present at birth representing basic sexual and agressive drives

ego

in psychoanalysis, the psychical entity responsible for finding realistic and practical ways to satisfy id drives

superego

in psychoanalysis the psychical entity representing the internalized moral principles of parents and society

intrapsychic conflicts

in psychoanalysis, the struggles among the id, ego, and superego

defense mechanisms

common patterns of behavior, often adaptive coping styles when they occur in moderation, observed in response to particular situations. in psychoanalysis, these are thought to be unconscious processes originating in the ego

psychosexual stages of development

in pychoanalysis, the sequence of phases a person passes through during development. each stage is named for the location on the body where id gratification is maximal at that time (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital)

castration anxiety

in psychoanalysis, the fear in young boys that they will be mutilated genitally because of their lust for their mothers

neurosis

obsolete psychodynamic term for psychological disorder thought to result from unconscious conflicts and the anxiety they cause

ego psychology/self-psychology

derived from psychoanalysis, this theory emphasizes the role of the ego in development and attributes psychological disorders to failure of the ego to manage impulses and internal conflicts

object relations

modern development in psychodynamic theory involving the study of how children incorporate the memories and values of people who are close and important to them

collective unconscious

accumulated wisdom of a culture collected and remembered across generations, a psychodynamic concept introduced by carl jung

free association

psychoanalytic therapy technique intended to explore threatening material repressed into the unconscious. the patient is instructed to say whatever comes to mind without censoring

dream analysis

psychoanalytic therapy method in which dream contents are examined as symbolic of id impulses and intrapsychic conflicts

psychoanalyst

therapist who practices psychoanalysis after earning either an MD or a PhD degree and receiving additional specialized postdoctoral training

transference

psychoanalytic concept suggesting that clients may seek to relate to the therapist as they do to important authority figures, particularly their parents

psychodynamic psychotherapy

contemporary version of psychoanalysis that still emphasizes unconscious processes and conflicts but is briefer and more focused on specific problems

self-actualizing

process emphasized in humanistic psychology in which people strive to achieve their highest potential against difficult life experiences

person-centered therapy

therapy method in which the client, rather than the counselor, primarily directs the course of discussion, seeking self-discovery and self-responsibility

unconditional postitive regard

acceptance by the counselor of the client's feelings and actions without judgment or condemnation

behavioral model/behaviorism

explanation of human behavior, including dysfunction, based on principles of learning and adaptation derived from experimental psychology

classical conditioning

fundamental learning process first described by ivan pavlov. an event that automatically elicits a response is paired with another event that does not (a neutral stimulus). after repeated pairings, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that by itself can elicit the desired response

extinction

learning process in which a response maintained by reinforcement in operant conditioning or pairing in classical conditioning decreases when that reinforcement/pairing is removed; also the procedure of removing that reinforcement/pairing

introspection

early, nonscientific approach to the study of psychology involving systematic attempts to report thoughts and feelings that specific stimuli evoked

systematic desensitization

behavioral therapy technique to diminish excessive fears, involving gradual exposure to the feared stimulus paired with a positive coping experience, usually relaxation

behavior therapy

array of therapy methods based on the principles of behavioral and cognitive science, as well as principles of learning as applied to clinical problems. it considers specific behaviors rather than inferred conflicts as legitimate targets for change

reinforcement

in operant conditioning, consequences for behavior that strengthen it or increase its frequency, positive reinforcement involved the contingent delivery of a desired consequence. negative reinforcement is the contingent escape from an aversive consequence. unwanted behaviors may result from their reinforcement or the failure to reinforce desired behaviors

shaping

in operant conditioning, the development of a new response by reinforcing successively more similar versions of that response. both desirable and undesirable behaviors may be learned in this manner

multidimensional integrative approach

approach to the study of psychopathology that holds psychological disorders as always being the products of multiple interacting causal factors

genes

long deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules, the basic physical units of heredity that appear as locations on chromosomes. a single gene is a subunit of DNA that determines inherited traits in living things

diathesis-stress model

hypothesis that both an inherited tendency (a vulnerability) and specific stressful conditions are required to produce a disorder

vulnerability

susceptibility or tendency to develop a disorder

gene-environment correlation model

hypothesis that people with a genetic predisposition for a disorder may also have a genetic tendency to create environmental risk factors that promote the disorder

epigenetics

the study of factors other than inherited DNA sequence, such as new learning or stress, that alter the phenotypic expression of genes

neuroscience

study of the nervous system and its role in behavior, thoughts, and emotions

neuron

individual nerve cell; responsible for transmitting information

synaptic cleft

space between nerve cells where chemical transmitters act to move impulses from one neuron to the next

neurotransmitters

chemicals that cross the synaptic cleft between nerve cells to transmit impulses from one neuron to the next. their relative excess or deficiency is involved in several psychological disorders

hormone

chemical messenger produced by the endocrine glands

brain circuits

neurotransmitter currents or neural pathways in the brain

agonist

chemical substance that effectively increases the activity or a neurotransmitter by imitating its effects

antagonist

in neuroscience, a chemical substance that decreases or blocks the effects of a neurotransmitter

inverse agonist

chemical substance that produces effects opposite those of a particular neurotransmitter

reuptake

action by which a neurotransmitter is quickly drawn back into the discharging neuron after being released into a synaptic cleft

glutamate

amino acid neurotransmitter that excites many different neurons, leading to action

gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)

neurotransmitter that reduces activity across the synapse and thus inhibits a range of behaviors and emotions, especially generalized anxiety

serotonin

neurotransmitter involved in processing of information and coordination of movement, as well as inhibition and restraint. it also assists in the regulation of eating, sexual, and aggressive behaviors, all of which may be involved in different psychological disorders. its interaction with dopamine is implicated in schizophrenia

norepinephrine

neurotransmitter active in the central and peripheral nervous systems, controlling heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration, among other functions. because of its role in the body's alarm reaction, it may also contribute generally and indirectly to panic attacks and other disorders

dopamine

neurotransmitter whose generalized function is to activate other neurotransmitters and to aid in exploratory and pleasure seeking behaviors (thus balancing serotonin).

cognitive science

field of study that examines how humans and other animals acquire, process, store, and retrieve information

learned helplessness

martin seligman's theory that people become anxious and depressed when they make an attribution that they have no control over the stress in their lives (whether or not they do in reality)

modeling (observational learning)

learning through observation and imitation of the behavior of other individuals and consequences of that behavior

prepared learning

an ability that has been adaptive for evolution, allowing certain associations to be learned more readily than others

implicit memory

condition of memory in which a person cannot recall past events despite acting in response to them

flight or fight response

brain circuit in animals that when stimulated causes an immediate alarm and escape response resembling human panic

emotion

pattern of action elicited by an external event and a feeling state, accompanied by a characteristic physiological response

mood

enduring period of emotionality

affect

conscious, subjective aspect of an emotion that accompanies an action at a given time

equifinality

developmental psychopathology principle that a behavior or disorder may have several causes

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

degree to which a measurement is consistent, for example, over time or among different raters