Final Exam: Psych of Everday Life

Abnormal Behavior: NEW UNIT****

• Psychological Disorders→a clinical significant disturbance found in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior

• Effects thoughts, emotions, or behaviors are dysfunctional or maladaptive

• Interferes with normal day-to-day life

• Medical Model→ proposes that it is useful to think of abnormal behavior as a disease and has become the main way of thinking about mental illness today.

• This is in stark contrast to how mental illness used to be perceived. It’s brought much-needed improvement in patient care

• Medical perspective→suggests that when a person displays symptoms of abnormal behavior, the root cause will be found in a physical examination of the individual

• There could be a… Hormonal Imbalance, Chemical Deficiency, or Brain Injury

• Diagnosis→involves distinguishing one illness from another

• Etiology→refers to the apparent causation and developmental history of an illness

• Prognosis→ is a forecast about the probable course of an illness

Criteria of Abnormal Behavior:

1. Deviance→ The behaviors must be significantly different from what society deems acceptable 

2. Maladaptive Behavior→the behavior interferes w/ the person’s ability to function

3. Personal Distress→the behavior is troubling to the individual 

• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual→the American Psychiatric Association (APA) uses it; currently on the 5th edition. DSM-5; is used to classify disorders; it provides detailed info about various mental illnesses that allows clinicians to make more consistent diagnoses.

• Dimensional Approach→ describes disorders in terms of how people score on a limited number of continuous dimensions. (ex: the degree to which they exhibit anxiety)

Anxiety Disorders and OCD

• Anxiety Disorders→are class of disorders marked by feelings of excessive apprehension and anxiety

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder→marked by a chronic, high level of anxiety that is not tied to any specific threat

• Phobic Disorder→marked by a persistent and irrational fear of an object of situation that presents no realistic danger

• Panic Disorder→ is characterized by recurrent attacks of overwhelming anxiety that usually occur suddenly and unexpectedly 

• Agoraphobia→a fear of going out to public places

• Agoraphobia might result in severe panic attacks in which people “hide” in their homes out of fear of the outside world. In the DSM-5 it is listed as a separate disorder

• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) →marked by persistent, uncontrollable intrusions of unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and urges to engage in senseless rituals (compulsions)

• Common obsessions include fear of contamination, hammering others, suicide or sexual acts. 

• Compulsions are highly ritualistic; they temporarily reduce anxiety when the act is executed 

• True OCD disorder only occurs in approximately 2 of 3% of the population

Anxiety Disorders and OCD: Etiology 

• Biological Factors→ Inherited temperament may be a risk factor for anxiety disorders

• The brain’s neurotransmitters or “chemicals that carry signals from one neuron to another” may underline anxiety 

• GABA suggests that these chemical circuits may be involved in anxiety disorders 

• Conditioning and Learning→ Classical conditioning may cause one to fear a particular object or scenario 

• Then avoiding fear stimulus is negatively reinforced, through operant conditioning, by making the person feel less anxious 

• Seligman (1971) adds we are biologically prepared to fear some things more than others, however.

• Cognitive Factors→some people are more likely to experience anxiety disorder because they: misinterpret harmless situations as threatening; focus excess attention on perceived threats; selectively recall info that seems threatening 

Dissociative Disorders:

• Dissociative Disorders→ class of disorder in which people lose contact w/ portions of their consciousness or memory, resulting in disruptions in their sense of identity

• Dissociative Amnesia→a sudden loss of memory for important personal info that is too extensive to be due to normal forgetting

• Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)→the coexistence in one person of 2 or more largely complete and usually very different, personalities

• Also known as “multiple personality disorder” in which each personality has its own name, memories, traits, and physical mannerisms.

• Transitions between identities can be sudden and the differences between them can be extreme (different races or genders)

• Etiology of dissociative disorders: psychogenic amnesia and fugue are usually the result of extreme stress. 

• DID is a fascinating and bizarre disorder and its causes are largely unknown. However many clinicians suspect that DID may result from severe emotional trauma that occurs in childhood.

Mood Disorders: Bipolar and Depressive Disorders 

• Major Depressive Disorders→show constant feelings of sadness and despair and a loss of interest in previous sources of pleasure. 

• Onset can occur at any time but most cases occur before the age of 40

• Lifetime prevalence is estimated to be around 13 to 16%

• Prevalence is tied to gender: women are 2x more likely to be diagnosed w/ depression. Isn’t connected to biological differences between men and women. This could result from greater stress and abuse that women experience. 

• Bipolar Disorder→ (once known as manic-depressive disorder) is marked by the experience of both depressed and manic periods.

• Manic Periods: a bout of extreme abnormal behavior and feeling of invincibility. But then it’s met with random bouts of depression 

• 90% of people who complete suicide suffer from some type of psychological disorder.

• Bipolar and depressive disorders account for about 50 to 60% of completed suicides

Women are 3x more likely to attempt suicide, but men “complete” 4x as many suicides.

• Concordance Rates→the percentage of twin pairs or other pairs of relatives that exhibit the same disorder, suggests there is a genetic basis or mood disorders.

• Concordance rates for identical twins are 65 to 72% whereas it is only 14 to 19% for fraternal twins who share fewer genes but the same environment 

Mood Disorders: Etiology-Neurochemical and Neuroanatomcal Factors:

• Mood disorder are correlated with low levels of two neurotransmitters in the brain:

1. Norepinephrine

2. Serotonin

• It’s unclear whether changes in these chemicals are the cause, or result, of the onset of mood disorders

• Depression is also correlated with a decrease in hippocampal volume.

• The hippocampus is smaller in depressed subjects that in normal ones

• New theories suggest that neurogenesis may play a central role in the regulation of mood and depression.

• Cognitive Factors: Seligman (1974) proposes that depression is caused by “learned helplessness,” in which people become passive and “give up” in times of difficulty

• Learned helplessness is also related to the “pessimistic explanatory style” in which people attribute setbacks to personal flaws.

• Nolen-Hoeksema (1991, 2000) also asserts that those who ruminate about problems put themselves at risk for depression 

• Depression may be cause by negative thinking as shown inLauren alloy’s (1999) studies.

• Interpersonal Roots:

• Depression has also been correlated with interpersonal factors, such as poor social skills 

• It is unclear what the direction of cause and effect is, with regard to this correlation 

• Precipitating Stress:

• There is also a link between stress and the onset of mood disorders

• Neurodevelopment Hypothesis→schizophrenia is caused in part by various disruptions in the normal maturational processes of the brain before or at birth 

• Child might have experienced malnutrition during prenatal development

• Expressed emotion→the degree to a relative of a schizophrenic patient displays highly critical or emotionally overinvolved attitudes toward the patient.

• Autism Spectrum Disorder→profound impairment of social interaction; developmental delays; about 1% of children presently diagnosed w/ autism or autism spectrum disorder

• Echolalia→ repeating someone’s else’s words

Personality Disorders:

• Personality Disorders→marked by extreme, inflexible, personality, traits that cause subjective distress or impaired social and occupational functioning.

• 10 personality disorders are divided into 3 groups:

• Anxious/Fearful

• Odd/Eccentric

• Dramatic/Impulsive

• Antisocial personality disorder→marked by impulsive, mean, manipulative, aggressive and irresponsible behavior

• Borderline Personality disorder→instability in social relationships, self image and emotion functioning 

• Narcissistic Personality Disorder→grandiose sense of self-importance, a sense of entitlement and an excessive need for attention and admiration.

• Eating Disorders→severe disturbances in eating behavior characterized by preoccupation of food.

• Anorexia Nervosa→don’t maintain a normal weight, can’t see that their true size; constantly thinking they’re overweight; there’s binge eating/purging, or restrictive eating; 

• Amenorrhea→menstrual cycle stopping 

• Dental problems; Low blood pressure; Could trigger cardiac arrest and gastrointestinal problems.

• Bulimia Nervosa→habitually engaging in out-of-control overeating followed by purging, fasting, abuse of laxatives and diuretics

• Binge-eating disorder→overeating; distressing by excessive eating.

• Bulimia became common in the 70’s; age of onset tends to be around late adolescents

• Anorexia existed throughout history; age of oneset tends to be earlier

• Personality factors of people with eating disorders→ rigid, neurotic, emotionally restrained

• Family roles… adolescents may use eating as a way to gain control in their life, particularly when they feel that their parents are controlling.

• “I must be thin to be accepted”
  
  

Chapter 15: Elements of the Treatment Process

• Psychoanalytic Perspective→abnormal behaviors stems from childhood conflicts over opposing wishes related to sex

• Behavioral Perspective→looks at the rewards and punishments in the environment that determine abnormal behavior 

• Cognitive Perspective→People’s thoughts and beliefs are central component of abnormal behavior  

• Humanistic Perspective→Emphasizes an individual’s responsibility to their own behavior, even when such behavior is abnormal 

• Sociocultural Perspective→People’s behavior, both normal and abnormal, shaped by the society and culture in which they live

1. Insight

2. Behavior 

3. Biochemist

• Who seeks therapy?

• Clients in treatment do not necessarily have an indentifiable psychological disorder.

• People seek treatment for the milder problems such as making a career decision

• Women, people w/ medical insurance and people with more education are more likely to seek treatment

• Common barriers to seeking treatment include: lack of health insurance. The “stigma” associated w/ recieving mental health services 

Who provides treatment: Psychologists and Psychiatrists arw the most common providers of the treatment.

• Psychiatric social workers; Psychiatric nurses, counselors 

• Clinical psychologists and counseling psychologists→ specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and everyday behavioral problems

• Both Ph.D and Psy.D pr Ed.D require a doctoral degree

• Psyhologists are more commonly to use behavioral methods over psychoanalysis

• Psychologists also conduct psychological testing carry out research.

• Psychiatrists→physicians who specialize in the treatment of psyhological disorders; they focus on more severe disorders; they earn their M.D. and typically emphasize drug therapies (psychologists can’t prescribe medication); they are more likely to use psychoanalysis.

• Psychiatric Social Wokers→work as a part of a treatment “team” w/ a psychologists or psychiatrist

• Psychiatric nurses→earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree and usually work with hospitalized patients 

• Insight therapies→ verbal interactions intended to enhance clients’ self-knowledge and thus promote healthful changes in personality and behavior

• Insight therapies include: Psychoanalysis; Client centered therapy; Group Therap

• Sigmund Freud→ developed psychoanalysis and emphasize the recovery of unconscious conflicts, motives, and defenses through techniques such as free association, dream analysis and transference.”

• Newer dynamics of psychoanalysis are used and are referred to a psychodynamic approaches

• Probing The Unconscious→therapists use 2 techniques to probe the unconscious in attempt to identify unresolved conflicts casuing the client’s neurotic behavior 

• Free Association →clients spontaneously express their thoughts and feelings exactly as they occur, w/ as a little censorship as possible 

• Dream Analysis→the therapists interprets the symbolic meaning of the client’s dreams

• Interpretation→involves the therapist’s attempts to explain the inner signifiance of the client’s thoughts, feelings, memories, and behaviors.

• Resistance → unconscious defensive maneuvers intended to hinder the progress of therapy. Clients may be “forgetting” appts. Or being hostile toward the therapist

• Transference→when clients start relating to their therapists in way tht mimic critical relationships in their lives.

Therapeutic Climate

1. Genuine 

2. Unconditional 

3. Empathy

• Help the clients see more clearly 

• Help them be more aware of their genuine selves

• They don’t have to constantly worry about validation from other people 

• They clarify other people’s feelings 

• Group Therapy→treatment for several clients at a time 

• Particpants help one another; work as therapists for each other

• Providing emotional support for fellow members

• Advantgaes of Group therapy:

1. Clients realize problems aren’t unique

2. Practice an opportunity to promote socializes

• Couples Therapy→focus is on bettering the relationship 

• Family Therapy→seeing the dynamics and communication; different roles that they play;

• Allegiance Effect→ researcher often find the most support for the therapeutic approach they use

• Can solve this through classical and behavioral conditioning: 

• Behavior is a product of learning

• What has been learned can be unlearned

• Systematic Dsensitization→ behavior therapy used to reduce clients anxiety responses by counterconditioning; useful for phobias, anxiety disorders, OCD

• Redirects the conditioned response to a stimulus.

• Social skills training→designed to improve social skills that emphasize modeling, behavioral rehearsal and shaping; used for clients with anxiety, depression or autism

• Cognitive Behavioral Treatments→blend verbal and behavioral interventions

• Cognitvie Therapy→ treatment that uses strategies for habitual thinking errors that underlie various types of disorders.

• Beck says that depression is caused by errors in thinking and people who experience depression are more likely to:

1. Blame setbacks on themselves

2. Focus selectively on negative events

3. Pessimism 

Reality Therapy:

• Developed by William Glasser

• Considered a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Based on Choice therapy 

• Emphasize development of internal lous of control 

• Generally these therapies are very effective

• Biomedical Therapies→a physiological intervention used to reduce mental health symptoms

• Consists of 2 treatments: Pills (medication) and

• Psychopharmacotherapy→medication use to reduce or relieve mental health disorders

• Antianxiety medication: Xanax and Valium 

• Antipsychotic Medication→ helps prevent illusions and hallucinations; typically used to treat people with schizophrenia

• May experience, trimmers, dry mouth, problems with coordination, drowsiness

• Tardive Dyskinesia→a neurological disorder that causes chronic tremors and involuntary spastic movements which is irreversible 

• Antidepressant Drugs→gradually elevate mood and help bring people out of depression

• They are a frequnetly prescribed medication in the U.S.

• Most commonly used antidpressiants are SSRI’s

• Side effects of SSRI’s: weight gain, sleeping problems, sexual dysfunction; may increase the risk of suicude especially in adolescents

• Mood Stabilizers→typically used: lithium; used to control mood swings in patients w/ bipolar mood disorders

• Benefits: these drugs cn provide relief from severe disorders that can’t be helped with therapy

• Critics Argue: drugs are over prescribed

• They can treat symptoms not underlyng causes

• Side effects might be worse than the symptoms

• Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) →eletric shock is used to produce a cortical seizure by convulsions

• ECT claim it is very effective for depression in patients that do not respond 

• Risks: ECT proponentsadmit that memory loss impaired attention are mild, temporary side effects of the treatment 

• Critics argue that these cognitive problem are more serious than the symptoms 

• Light therapy

• Increasing Multicultural Sensitivity→minority groups are more unlikely to seek and utlize therapy 

1. Culutral Barriers: some cultures have difficulty trusting the medical system

2. Language Barriers

3. Institutional Barriers

• What can be done… more minorities in these line of work 

Positive Psychology

• Positive Psychology→focusing on the human strengths instead of 

• Martin Selgiman; positive psychologist; serves as a counter-weight for the negative view of psychology

• Flourishing→having high levels of well being and low levels of mental illness

• Floundering→low levels of well being coupled with high levels of mental illness

• Struggling→high levels of both well being and mental illness

• Languishing→low levels of both well being and mental illness

• Similar in humanistic psychology which has been present since the 1950’s

1. Positive subjectieve experiences→the positive but private feelings and thoughts that people have about themselves

• Successes in relationships, good health and finances, past memories

2. Positive Indiviudal Traits→character traits, strengths and virtues

3. Positive institutions→families, schools, and supportive work environments

• Positive Moods→global, pervasive responses to experiences; being in a good mood has beneficial effects; promotes creative solutions

• Emotions→ powerful largely uncontrollable feelings accompanied by physiological changes.

• Negative Emotions→ unpleasant responses to potential threats or dangers, including subjective states lik sadness, disgust, anger quilt and fear. Part of the fight or flight response

• Barbara Fredrickson developed the broaden and build model→ positive emotions to explain how they benefit us

• She also coined the undoing hypothesis→ positive emotions help to restore the effects of negative situations by giving the individual a better outlook

• Flow→the state of being in which a person become fully involved and engaged in the presnet time by some interesting, challenging, and intrinsically rewarding activity.

• We find flow when we enjoy solving challenges; helps us achieve goals 

• Mindfullness→people are sensitive to context and focused on the present; can improve student learning; help women overcome gender stereoypes.

• Behave in an less scripted way; be more spontaneous

• We can also become more mindfull through mediating 

• Savoring good moments can help combat stress; more time of savoring the better;

• Positive Individual Traits→dispostional qualities that vary 

• Positive Individual Traits→ dispositional qualities that account for why soem people are happier than others

• Hope→ people’s expectations that their goals can be achieved in the future

• Snyder created a hope as a trait scale. The range of scores is between 8-64

• Hopeful people reap many benefits

• Agnecy→ a person’s judgment that his or her goals can be achieved

• Pathways→realstic roadmaps to achieving the goal

• Trait Hope Scale→asssesses each and indicates a person’s degrees of hope.

• Resilinece→person’s ability to recover from a troubling situation

• Posttraumatic Growth→growth that happens after a traumatic event

• Grit→having an optimistic view on a negative situation; passion for achieving long-term goals 

• Graditude→being thankful no matter the situation 

• Positive Instituions→organizations that cultivate civic virtues, encouraging people to behave like good citizens while promoting the collective good 

• Positive Wokrplaces→ there is a new movement known as positive organizational behavior (POB), dedicated to improving worker performance.

• Wrzensniewski (1997) found that workers view their occupations in one of three ways

1. Just a job

2. A career

3. A calling 

• School satisfaction→students judgments about their holistic school experiences is comprised of:

• Cognition→what students believe about their educational experiences 

• Affect→students positive and negative emotions in educational settings

• Problems: Positve Psychology has been criticized on the following…

• Is this really new ideas?

• Is this the standard that people see the world 

• Prospects: The research findings that are uncovered. The success of the applications emerge

• Sharing good news capitalizing with others…

• Capitalizing→ Telling people good news about what’s happening in your own life

• Prosocial Spending to make you happy→according to Dunn, Gilbert, and Wilson (2011), we can “buy” happiness by choosing to spend our money: buying more experiences, buying small pleasures, and using money to help others.