(psych 271) module 2 notes extended

MODELS OF ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate uni- and multi-dimensional models of abnormality.

• Describe how the biological model explains mental illness.

• Describe how psychological perspectives explain mental illness.

• Describe how the sociocultural model explains mental illness.

2.1. UNI- VS. MULTI-DIMENSIONAL MODELS OF ABNORMALITY

Models

• Definition of Models: A representation or imitation of an object to help us understand something.

Uni-Dimensional Model

• Definition: A single factor explanation for why someone has a mental disorder.

• Problem: Mental disorders are not typically caused by a solitary factor.

Multi-Dimensional Model

• Definition: A model that integrates multiple causes of psychopathology and affirms that each cause comes to affect other causes over time.

• Components of the Multi-Dimensional model include:

  • Biological: genetics, chemical imbalances, nervous system functioning.

  • Psychological: learning, personality, stress, cognition, self-efficacy, early life experiences.

  • Sociocultural: gender, religious orientation, race, ethnicity, culture.

2.2. BIOLOGICAL MODEL

• Definition: Views mental illness as a result of a bodily malfunction.

The Nervous System

• Peripheral Nervous System (PNS): Deals with the central nervous system’s input/output.

• Somatic Nervous System: Controls voluntary movement, sends sensory information to the CNS and controls skeletal muscles.

• Autonomic Nervous System: Regulates bodily functioning and internal organs.

  • Sympathetic Nervous System: Fight, flight, or freeze system.

  • Parasympathetic Nervous System: Rest and restore system.

• Central Nervous System (CNS): Composed of the brain and spinal cord; receives, processes, interprets, and stores sensory information.

Neurons

• Definition: The fundamental unit of the nervous system.

• Components of Neurons:

  • Nucleus: Control center of the neuron body.

  • Soma: The cell body that allows the neuron to send and receive information.

  • Axon: Sends signals to neighboring neurons.

  • Dendrites: Receive signals from neighboring neurons.

  • Myelin sheath: The white, fatty covering on the axon that provides insulation and increases the speed of transmission.

  • Axon terminals: The end of the axon where the electrical impulse becomes a chemical message passed to an adjacent neuron.

Glial Cells

• Serve at least five functions:

  • Act as glue and hold the neurons in place.

  • Form the myelin sheath.

  • Provide nourishment for the neuron.

  • Remove waste products.

  • Protect the neuron from harmful substances.

• Note: Not neurons, but still important.

How Does the Brain Communicate?

1. Step One: Receptor cells in each of the five sensory systems (vision, hearing, smell, touch, taste) detect energy.

2. Step Two: Information is passed to the nervous system through transduction and sensory (afferent) neurons (part of the PNS).

3. Step Three: Information is received by brain structures (CNS) and perception occurs.

4. Step Four: Once interpreted, commands are sent out telling the body how to respond, also via the PNS.

Neural Impulse

• Resting Potential: Neurons waiting to fire are polarized; negative charge inside (-70 mV) and positive charge outside.

• Action Potential: If adequately stimulated, the neuron experiences depolarization when positively charged particles (sodium Na+) enter the neuron.

• The action potential passes through the axon, and previous segments begin to repolarize.

• Absolute Refractory Period: After firing, the neuron cannot fire again regardless of the stimulation.

• Relative Refractory Period: After the absolute refractory period, the neuron can fire again but requires greater than normal levels of stimulation.

Ions in Neurons

• Na+ and K+ Ions: Charged particles found both inside and outside the neuron.

  • Na+ (Sodium Ions): Positive ions that cause depolarization.

  • K+ (Potassium Ions): Positive ions that exit the neuron, returning it to a polarized state.

The Synapse

• Definition: The area where neurotransmitters are transmitted between neurons.

• Components of the Synapse:

  • Axon of the sending neuron.

  • Synaptic space/gap/cleft.

  • Dendrite of the receiving neuron.

• Neurotransmitter: The chemical code that binds to specific receptor sites like a lock and key.

  • If not picked up, neurotransmitters go through reuptake (saved for later) or enzymatic degradation (destroyed).

Neurotransmitters and Their Functions

• Dopamine: Controls voluntary movements; associated with the reward mechanism.

• Serotonin: Regulates mood, pain, sleep cycle; low levels lead to depression.

• Endorphins: Reduce pain, promote calmness and happiness.

• Norepinephrine: Increases heart rate, blood pressure; regulates mood.

• GABA: Blocks excitatory neurotransmitters linked to anxiety.

• Glutamate: Associated with learning and memory.

The Brain and Its Functions

• Medulla: Regulates breathing, heart rate, blood pressure.

• Pons: Connects cerebellum and medulla; message transfer between brain and spinal cord.

• Reticular Formation: Responsible for alertness and attention.

• Cerebellum: Coordinates balance, movement, and learns reflexes.

• Thalamus: Major sensory relay center (except for smell).

• Hypothalamus: Regulates survival drives and autonomic nervous system functions.

• Amygdala: Evaluates sensory information for emotional importance.

• Hippocampus: Gateway to memory and spatial recognition.

• Cerebrum: Divided into four lobes:

  • Frontal Lobe: Motor cortex, emotions, planning.

  • Parietal Lobe: Somatosensory cortex.

  • Occipital Lobe: Visual processing.

  • Temporal Lobe: Memory, perception, emotions, auditory functions.

Genetic Issues and Explanations

• Genes: Basic physical units of heredity.

• Recent research has linked genetic roots to disorders such as:

  • Autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder, major depression, and schizophrenia.

• Family studies show first-degree relatives of individuals with OCD or borderline personality disorder are at higher risk for developing these disorders.

• Note: Individuals inherit susceptibility but require environmental stressors to develop mental illnesses.

Hormonal Imbalances

• Hormones are part of the endocrine system, slower than the nervous system.

• Pituitary Gland: Master gland regulating others.

• Pineal Gland: Controls sleep-wake cycles.

• Thyroid Gland: Regulates metabolism.

• Adrenal Glands: Release cortisol, influencing stress response, with side effects like weight gain.

Bacterial and Viral Infections

• Infections can lead to brain damage and the development of mental illnesses.

• Example: Strep infection can result in PANDAS, causing OCD and Tourette’s syndrome in children.

• Influenza has been weakly linked to schizophrenia risk.

Depression and the Brain

• See additional resources from Harvard Health on the link between depression and brain function.

Treatments: Psychopharmacology and Psychotropic Drugs

• Antidepressants: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Citalopram, Paroxetine, Fluoxetine.

• Anti-anxiety Medications: Benzodiazepines like Clonazepam, Alprazolam, Lorazepam.

• Stimulants: Increase attention for ADHD (e.g., Lisdexamfetamine).

• Antipsychotics: Used in severe depression, PTSD, OCD (e.g., Chlorpromazine, Quetiapine).

• Mood Stabilizers: Treat bipolar disorder and some depression (e.g., Lithium).

Other Treatments

• Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT): Treats severe depression and other disorders but controversial.

• Psychosurgery: Treats severe mental disorders; controversial.

Evaluation of the Biological Model

• Many medications have side effects.

• Biological model overlooks other factors that may play a role in mental illness.

2.3. PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

2.3.1. Psychodynamic Theory

• Definition: Focused on unconscious processes. Key figures: Sigmund Freud, Josef Breuer.

• Psychoanalysis and Symptoms: Originated from Breuer and Freud's work with patients exhibiting symptoms relieved by hypnosis.

The Structure of Personality

• Levels of Consciousness:

  • Conscious: Current awareness.

  • Preconscious: Thoughts not currently in awareness but accessible.

  • Unconscious: Contains thoughts unavailable to individual.

• Personality Components:

  • Id: Unconscious, impulsive part focusing on pleasure (pleasure principle).

  • Ego: Balances id's desires and reality (reality principle).

  • Superego: Develops morals and societal rules (conscience).

Defining Terms

• Libido: Psychic energy driving pleasurable behaviors.

• Eros: Life instincts maintaining existence (food, sex).

• Thanatos: Death instinct directing aggressive behaviors.

Stages of Personality Development

1. Oral Stage (0-24 months): Focus on mouth; fixation linked to confidence issues.

2. Anal Stage (2-3 years): Focus on anus; can lead to organization or messiness depending on how potty training is handled.

3. Phallic Stage (3-5/6 years): Focus on genitals; leads to Oedipus/Electra complex.

4. Latency Stage (6-12 years): Sexual interests minimize.

5. Genital Stage (puberty onward): Sexual impulses reawaken.

Dealing with Anxiety: Ego-Defense Mechanisms

• Repression: Blocking unacceptable ideas from consciousness.

• Reaction Formation: Expressing the opposite of an impulse (e.g., acting friendly when angry).

• Displacement: Redirecting impulses to a safer target (e.g., yelling at someone else).

• Projection: Attributing one’s unacceptable motives to others.

• Sublimation: Finding socially acceptable ways to express desires (e.g., exercising when angry).

• Denial: Refusing to accept the reality of a situation.

• Identification: Modeling behavior of someone meeting social norms.

• Regression: Reverting to childlike behaviors under stress.

• Rationalization: Justifying actions with acceptable reasons instead of real motives.

• Intellectualization: Focusing on facts to avoid emotional aspects of a situation.

Psychodynamic/Psychoanalysis Techniques

• Free Association: Patient describes thoughts until subject changes, revealing underlying issues.

• Transference: Patients project feelings from childhood onto the therapist.

• Dream Analysis: Interpreting dreams to uncover unconscious desires.

Evaluating the Psychodynamic Theory

• Lacks systematic research; largely reliant on individual case studies.

• Difficult to study unconscious phenomena; can be time-consuming and expensive.

• Advanced our understanding of unconscious processes and developed therapeutic techniques.

2.3.2. The Behavioral Model

• Definition: Focuses on observable behaviors and learning through experience.

• Key Figures: Watson, Skinner, Bandura, Rotter.

Learning and Conditioning

• Types of Learning:

  • Associative Learning: Linking environmental stimuli.

  • Observational Learning: Learning by observing behavior of others.

• Conditioning Forms:

  • Respondent Conditioning: (Pavlovian conditioning) Linking stimuli with reflexive responses.

  • Operant Conditioning: Associating behavior with consequences (reinforcements and punishments).

  • Counterconditioning: Aims to reduce fear responses through exposure to the feared stimulus in a controlled way.

Properties of Respondent Conditioning

• Generalization: Similar stimuli elicit the same conditioned response (CR).

• Discrimination: Specific stimuli elicit a CR.

• Extinction: The conditioned stimulus (CS) no longer results in the conditioned response.

• Spontaneous Recovery: The return of CR after extinction.

Neobehaviorism & Operant Conditioning

• Law of Effect: Behaviors that produce favorable consequences are more likely to recur.

• Operant Conditioning Components:

  • Reinforcement: Increases likelihood of behavior.

  • Punishment: Decreases likelihood of behavior.

• Types of Reinforcement:

  • Positive Reinforcement: Adding a rewarding stimulus.

  • Negative Reinforcement: Removing an aversive stimulus.

  • Positive Punishment: Adding an aversive stimulus.

  • Negative Punishment: Removing a positive stimulus.

Primary vs Secondary Reinforcers/Punishers

• Primary: Innately satisfying or punishing (e.g., food, warmth).

• Secondary: Learned satisfaction or punishment (e.g., money, praise).

Reinforcement Schedule

• Types of schedules include:

  • Fixed Ratio: Set number of responses.

  • Variable Ratio: Changing number of responses.

  • Fixed Interval: Set time duration.

  • Variable Interval: Changing time duration.

Properties of Operant Conditioning

• Extinction: When a behavior is no longer reinforced, it diminishes.

• Spontaneous Recovery: Previous behavior returns when reinforcement returns.

• Generalization: Similar stimuli lead to same responses.

• Discrimination: Responses occur only to specific stimuli.

Socio-Behaviorism & Social Learning Theory

• Observational Learning Importance: Humans model behaviors that lead to positive outcomes.

• Bobo Doll Experiment: Children observed aggressive/non-aggressive behavior towards a doll and mirrored the corresponding reactions.

Evaluating the Behavioral Model

• Effective at modifying maladaptive behaviors, but oversimplifies complex human behavior and disregards inner psychological processes.

2.3.3. The Cognitive Model

• Definition: Focuses on internal thought processes rather than observable behavior.

• Key Figures: George Miller, Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck, Ulrich Neisser.

Schemas and Cognitive Errors

• Social Cognition: Process of gathering and interpreting information about others.

• Schemas: Sets of beliefs and expectations about a group, can be inaccurate.

Attributions and Cognitive Errors

• Attribution Theory: People perceive behavior causal links to dispositional or situational factors.

• Fundamental Attribution Error: Overemphasis on dispositional factors when explaining others' behavior.

• Self-Serving Bias: Attributing personal successes to internal factors and failures to external factors.

Maladaptive Cognitions

• Overgeneralizing: Forming broad conclusions from single events.

• Blaming and Personalizing: Attributing negative outcomes to external or internal sources respectively.

• Cognitive Distortions: Various forms that emphasize irrational or negative thinking.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Definition: Explore the interrelations of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

• CBT Techniques:

  • Cognitive restructuring to replace maladaptive thoughts with adaptive ones.

  • Cognitive coping skills training focused on social skills.

  • Acceptance techniques to mitigate anxiety.

Evaluating the Cognitive Model

• Offers a balance to the behavioral model's shortcomings; however, concepts can be difficult to assess empirically, and social desirability may influence reporting.

2.3.4. Other Perspectives

Humanistic Perspective

• Emerged in 1960s-70s, focusing on human potential and self-actualization.

• Key Figures: Abraham Maslow (hierarchy of needs), Carl Rogers.

• Unconditional Positive Regard: Acceptance of individuals regardless of behavior, promoting personal growth.

Existential Perspective

• Stresses self-awareness and personal growth.

• Acknowledges life’s inherent anxieties but focuses on free will and meaning-making.

Evaluating the Perspectives

• Humanistic and Existential concepts are often abstract, challenging empirical research and best suited for adjustment issues rather than severe mental health concerns.

2.4. THE SOCIOCULTURAL MODEL

• Definition: States that factors like race, ethnicity, gender, religious orientation, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation impact mental illness.

Socioeconomic Factors

• Low socioeconomic status correlates with increased mental/physical illness and associated stress levels leading to conditions like anxiety and depression.

Gender Factors

• Gender influences mental health but is not the direct cause. Specific disorders show varying prevalence across genders, e.g., higher depression rates in women and higher autism rates in men.

Environmental Factors

• Child trauma links to various disorders, along with substance exposure during pregnancy affecting disorders such as ADHD.

Multicultural Factors

• Racial and ethnic minorities face additional societal stressors affecting their mental health and require culture-sensitive therapies to acknowledge these issues.

Evaluation of the Model

• Sociocultural model enriches understanding of mental illness across different populations but has limitations in establishing causal relationships and relies heavily on qualitative data.

Review Questions

Module 2.1

1. What is the problem associated with a uni-dimensional model of psychopathology?

2. Identify important models in understanding psychopathology.

Module 2.2

1. Outline how communication in the nervous system occurs.

2. Describe synaptic actions during neural transmission and their implication for psychopathology.

3. Discuss the brain's anatomy relevance in psychopathology assessment.

4. Assess the effects of genes, hormones, and viruses on mental disorder development.

5. List available treatments reflecting the biological model.

6. What critiques arise regarding the biological model?

Module 2.3

1. What are Freud's three parts of personality?

2. Outline Freud's five psychosexual stages.

3. Define Freud's ten defense mechanisms.

4. Identify Freud's three assessment techniques.

5. Define learning and its forms. Describe respondent conditioning.

6. Describe operant conditioning, observational learning, and modeling.

7. Compare cognitive, humanistic, and existential perspectives addressing psychopathology.

Module 2.4

1. How do socioeconomic, gender, environmental, and multicultural factors affect mental health and its treatment?

2. Evaluate the efficacy of the sociocultural model regarding psychopathology.