Untitled Flashcards Set

Emotion and Motivation

Motivation: The force that moves people to behave, think. And feel as they do.

• It energizes, directs, and sustains behavior.

• Theories of Motivation

Theories of Motivation

Evolutionary Approach

• Instincts

Optimum Arousal Theory

• Yerkes-Dodson law

Self-Determination Theory

Three Basic Needs

1. Competence: Self-efficacy, mastery, expectations for success.

2. Relatedness: Warm relations with others, need to belong.

3. Autonomy: Independence and self-reliance.

Self-Regulation
The process by which an organism controls behavior to pursue important objectives.

Effective Goal Setting

• Specific

• Moderately challenging

• Long-term purpose

• Short-term accomplishment

Procrastination

• Related to impulsivity

Emotion

A feeling, or affect, that can involve physiological arousal, conscious experience, and behavioral expression.

Physiological Arousal

• Autonomic Nervous System

  • Sympathetic Nervous System → Arouses

  • Parasympathetic Nervous System → Calms

Measuring Physiological Arousal

Polygraph

• Measures heart rate, breathing, and skin conductance.

• Compares responses to neutral vs. target questions.

• Results do not reliably detect deception.

• Employee Polygraph Protection Act (1988) prohibits polygraph use for employment screening in most cases.

Limbic System: Amygdala

• Direct Route: Quick processing of stimuli.

• Indirect Route: Detailed processing via sensory cortex.

Theories of Emotion

• James-Lange Theory

  • Perceive external stimulus → Physiological arousal → Emotion

  • Emotion results from perception of physiological changes.

• Cannon-Bard Theory

  • Perceive external stimulus → Physiological arousal + Emotion occur simultaneously and independently.

Emotion: Behavioral Factors

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

• Facial expression can influence emotions.

• Example: Holding a pencil in your mouth activates facial muscles, impacting emotion.

• Supports James-Lange theory of emotions.

Emotion: Cognitive Factors

Two-Factor Theory of Emotion (Schachter/Singer)

1. Physiological Arousal: Response to external stimuli.

2. Cognitive Labeling: Interpreting external cues to determine emotion.

Example Study (Dutton & Aron, 1974):

• Male participants interviewed by an attractive female experimenter on a high, wobbly suspension bridge or a solid bridge.

• Participants on the wobbly bridge were 4x more likely to call the experimenter afterward, linking physiological arousal with attraction.

Classifying Emotions

• Valence: Positive vs. negative affect.

• Arousal Level: Active/engaged vs. passive/calm.

Adaptive Function of Emotions

• Negative Emotions: Help take immediate corrective action.

• Positive Emotions: Broaden-and-build model—encourage exploration and creativity.

• Resilience:

  • Positive outlook.

  • Emotional wisdom.

Pursuit of Happiness

• Biological Factors:

  • Genetics (50-80% heritable).

  • Set point (baseline level of happiness).

• Obstacles:

  • Hedonic treadmill: Pleasure is short-lived.

  • Direct pursuit of happiness can backfire.

• Happiness Activities & Goal Striving:

  • Altruism, physical activity, positive self-reflection.

  • Investment in personally meaningful goals.

Reading Emotions

• Thoughts, feelings, and intentions are private but can be inferred through behavior, expression, and gaze.

• Humans have evolved skills to interpret others' emotions (e.g., empathy).

Empathy:
The ability to understand and share the feelings of others.

Empathy and Simulation Theory

• Simulation Theory: Cognitive resources are shared between action/emotion perception and production.

  • Watching someone experience emotion activates similar responses in us.

  • For example, observing someone being touched activates our own somatosensory system.

Mirror Neurons

• Specialized neurons that respond to both observing and performing an action or emotion.

Is Simulation Enough? ‘Theory of Mind’

• Simulation alone may not explain all aspects of "mind-reading."

• Theory of Mind involves understanding that:

  • Other people have mental states distinct from our own.

  • These mental states can differ from reality (e.g., false beliefs).

Meta-Representation

• The ability to comprehend that others' beliefs and perspectives may differ from one's own and the true state of the world.

Example Scenarios

1. Stone et al. (1998)

   • Scenario: Jeanette bought Anne a crystal bowl for a wedding. A year later, Jeanette accidentally broke the bowl at Anne’s house. Anne remarked, “Don’t worry, I never liked it anyway.”

   • Interpretation: Anne’s statement reveals her hidden feelings about the gift.

2. Fernhaven Elementary School

   • Scenario: Christine entered a story competition but didn’t win. Her classmate, Jake, won first prize. Later, Jake made dismissive comments about the competition, and Christine asked where he would place his trophy.

   • Interpretation: Subtle social cues and emotions are inferred in the dialogue.

Complex Situations

Example Interpretation of Shapes:

• A scenario featuring geometric shapes (triangles, rectangles, and circles) could evoke interpretations like a bully-victim dynamic or a neutral mechanical description.

• Individuals may attribute human-like emotions and intentions to abstract animations, demonstrating varied emotional or cognitive processing.

What Does Autism Look Like?

1. Qualitative Impairments in Social Interaction

2. Qualitative Impairments in Communication

3. Restricted, Repetitive, and Stereotyped Patterns of Behavior, Interests, or Activities

• Autism is a developmental condition evident before age 3 and persists throughout life.

• Characteristics can change over time, and autism is now viewed as a spectrum disorder (Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD).

A Failure of Theory of Mind?

• Alternative Possibilities:

  1. Difficulty with Theory of Mind tasks may reflect other cognitive issues, such as failures in executive functioning (e.g., inhibiting reality-based responses).

  2. Theory of Mind deficits might be one symptom of a broader cognitive processing style difference:

     • Weak Central Coherence: Preference for local over global processing.

     • Systemizing vs. Empathizing: A focus on systems and rules rather than emotional understanding.

Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task

• This task measures the ability to interpret emotional states based on expressions seen in the eyes.

• Participants view images of eyes and select the emotion or thought being expressed.

Conclusion

• The study of emotion and motivation ties physiological, cognitive, and social factors together.

• Key concepts include the role of autonomic responses, theories of emotion, empathy, and cognitive interpretations of others’ mental states.

Thinking and Intelligence

Cognition: How information is processed and manipulated when remembering, thinking and knowing

• What is the computer analogy?

• In the 1950’s psychology focused on the “mind” and mental processes

How does the brain organize information?

• Concepts: categories of linguistic information, images, ideas or memories. Used to see relationships among different elements of experience. These can be complex adn abstract or concrete.

• Prototypes : The best example or representation of a concept

Natural and artificial concepts

• Natural concepts: created naturally through either direct or indirect experience

  • EX: concept of snow

• Artificial concepts: defined by a specific set of characteristics

  • EX: properties of geometric shapes (squares, triangles etc.)

Schema

Schema: a mental construct consisting of a collection of related concepts

Role schema: makes assumptions about how individuals in certain roles will behave

Event schema (cognitive script): a set of routine or automatic behaviors

• Why are event schema difficult to change?

Reasoning

Reasoning: evaluating alternatives and making choices among them and attempting to maximize outcome. 

• What is inductive reasoning vs deductive reasoning?

• What is the difference between System I/Automatic and System II/Controlled?

Representativeness Heuristic: Tendency to make judgements about membership based on stereotype of group rather than base rates

Decision-Making Biases

What is intelligence?

There are lots of different ways to define intelligence

• How did Charles Spearman define intelligence?

• How did Raymond Cattell define intelligence?

  • Crystallized intelligence: acquired knowledge and the ability to retrieve it. 

    • EX: knowing facts

  • Fluid intelligence: the ability to see complex relationships and solve problems

    • EX: knowing how to do something

• How did Robert Sternberg’s theory (triarchic theory of intelligence) define intelligence? (analytical, creative, practical)

• What is Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory?

  • What are the 8 types of intelligence according to this theory?

    • Inter and intrapersonal intelligence are often combined and called emotional intelligence

    • Emotional intelligence: the ability to understand the emotions of yourself and others, show empathy, understand social relationships and cues, and regulate your own emotions and respond in culturally appropriate ways.

Creativity: the ability to generate, create, or discover new ideas, solutions and possibilities

• Divergent thinking: thinking “outside the box”

• Convergent thinking: ability to provide a correct or well-established answer or solution to a problem

How is intelligence measured?

• What is IQ and how does the IQ Bell Curve work?

• What is the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale?

  • Standardization: the manner of administration, scoring and interpretation of results is consistent

  • Norming: giving a test to a large population so data can be collected comparing groups, such as age groups.

• What is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)?

• What is the Flynn Effect?

Source of intelligence:

• How do nature and nurture perspectives differ when it comes to intelligence?

• Range of reaction: theory that each person responds to the environment in a unique way based on his or her genetic makeup. Genetic makeup is a fixed quantity and reaching full intellectual potential is dependent on environmental factors.

Learning Disabilities: Cognitive disorders that affect different areas of cognition, particularly language or reading

• These are neurological impairments

• Often affect children with average to above-average intelligence

• Exhibit comorbidity with other disorders

Dysgraphia: A learning disability resulting in a struggle to write legibly

Dyslexia: An inability to correctly process letters

Personality

Personality: an individual’s characteristic style of behaving, thinking and feeling ( thoughts emotions and behaviors) 

• that characterize the way an individual adapts to the world

Historical Views

• Ancient Greeks: Bodily humors - each humor is a bodily humor, and they thought that an excess of one might cause certain illnesses and personality traits.

  • - Examples of treatments that were used by the greeks: bloodletting, releasing fluids and cutting 

• Victorian era: Phrenology - used the bumps on one’s head as an indication of a person’s character, personality traits

Psychodynamic Perspectives

• Theoretical view that personality is primarily unconscious 

• “Unconscious” as motivated suppression 

• Early childhood experiences sculpt the individuals personality 

• Freud’s psychoanalysis: sex-drive is main determinant of personality development

Personality Structure

• Id : (developed around 1)the part of the mind containing the drives present at birth; the source of our bodily needs, wants, desires, and impulses, particularly our sexual and aggressive drives

  • Pleasure principle

  • not having a very strong filter

  • do what they want to do

• Ego: (developed around age 1-2) the component of personality, developed through contact with the external world, that enables us to deal with life’s practical demands

  • reality principle

• Superego: (developed around the age 5-6) the mental system that reflects the internalization of cultural rules, mainly learned as parents exercise their authority 

  • Social/Moral

  • follow rules and do what you're supposed to to

*Note: the Id and the Superego is always ‘fighting’ or ‘battling’ and that comes through the Ego

Defense Mechanisms

• Conflict between the id, ego, and superego results in anxiety

• Defense Mechanisms

  • reduce anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

  • not necessarily unhealthy

• Denial: disbelieve present reality

• Displacement: shift feelings to new object

• Sublimation: transform vile to valuable

• Projection: attribute own faults to others

• Repression: forget the unacceptable

Psychodynamic View

• Oral stage: First year

  • Id

  • Drive = hunger

    • Mouth = erogenous zone

  • Nursing

    • mother satisfies that pleasure through nursing, the mother is the source of love -  she is satisfying the hunger needs and gratifying the erogenous zone

  • Drive for oral stimulation must be satisfied

  • By 12 months: Ego established

• Anal stage: 1 to 3 years

  • Anus = erogenous zone

    • defecting yields pleasure

  • Conflict with the parents

  • times when parents try to control when and where children are allowed to defecate ( potty training)

• Phallic Stage: 3-6 years 

  • Erogenous zone = genitals

  • Oedipus or Electra complex

    • when the the dev child becomes romantically attracted, sexually attracted even, to the opposite sex parent

    • Resolved by identification with same-sex parent and take on that parent’s values and behaviors

  • Superego develops

• Latency period: age 6-12 years

  • Sexual urges are repressed  (no erogenous zone)

  • Comes out as acceptable pursuits

    • academics, sports, games, making friends, etc

• Genital stage: 12 years and beyond

  • Sexual energy re-emerges

  • Ego

    • should be able to walk the line to satisfy both the Id and the superego

 Dissenters and Revisionists

• Horney’s Sociocultural Approach:

  • Both sexes envy the attributes of the other.

  • The need for security, not sex, is the primary motivator.

• Jung’s Analytical Theory:

  • Introduced the concept of the collective unconscious and archetypes.

• Adler’s Individual Psychology:

  • Emphasized perfection, not pleasure, as the key motivator.

Evaluating Psychodynamic Perspectives

Contributions:

• Highlights the importance of childhood experiences.

• Suggests that development occurs in stages.

• Emphasizes how individuals transform experiences into meaning.

• Recognizes the role of unconscious processes.

• Addresses conflicts between internal and external worlds.

• Establishes personality and adjustment as essential topics in psychology.

Criticisms:

• Places too much emphasis on early experiences.

• Overemphasizes the unconscious mind's control.

• Focuses excessively on sexuality.

• Historically considered untestable; modern tests of the theory are undervalued.

Humanistic Perspectives

• Emphasizes a person’s capacity for personal growth and positive human qualities.

• Key ideas:

  • People are essentially good.

  • Innate tendency to improve lives.

  • Inner directedness.

  • Unconditional positive regard: Being accepted, valued, and treated positively regardless of actions.

Evaluating Humanistic Perspectives

Contributions:

• Self-perception is key to personality.

• Considers the positive aspects of human nature.

• Emphasizes conscious experience.

Criticisms:

• Too optimistic about human nature.

• Could promote self-love, narcissism, and unaccountability for negative behaviors.

Trait Perspectives

• Trait: An enduring disposition that leads to characteristic responses.

• Trait Theories:

  • People can be described by their typical behavior.

  • Traits are seen as strong or weak tendencies.

Five Factor Model of Personality (OCEAN)

• Openness

  • Imaginative vs. Practical

  • Variety vs. Routine

  • Independent vs. Conforming

  • Openness to experience is linked to living longer.

Five Factor Model of Personality

• Conscientiousness

  • Organized vs. Disorganized

  • Careful vs. Careless

  • Disciplined vs. Impulsive

  • Conscientiousness is associated with higher GPA, better work performance, health, stress levels, and friendships.

Five Factor Model of Personality 

• Extraversion

  • Sociable vs. Retiring

  • Fun-loving vs. Somber

  • Affectionate vs. Reserved

  • Extraversion is linked to well-being.

Five Factor Model of Personality 

• Agreeableness

  • Softhearted vs. Ruthless

  • Trusting vs. Suspicious

  • Helpful vs. Uncooperative

  • Agreeableness is associated with satisfying romantic relationships.

Five Factor Model of Personality 

• Neuroticism / Stability

  • Calm vs. Anxious

  • Secure vs. Insecure

  • Self-Satisfied vs. Self-Pitying

  • Neuroticism is linked to more health problems.

Happiness

• Life events explain very little about a person’s overall well-being.

• Extraversion and Stability (low neuroticism) are the best predictors of happiness.

Evaluating Trait Perspectives

Contributions:

• Traits influence health, cognition, career success, and interpersonal relationships.

Criticisms:

• Ignores the role of situational factors in behavior.

• Does not account for the nuances of an individual’s personality.

Personological Perspectives

• Focus on an individual’s life history or life story.

Henry Murray:

• Developed personology, the study of the whole person.

• Believed motives are largely unconscious.

Dan McAdams:

• Emphasized that our life story is our identity.

• Focused on intimacy motivation.

Evaluating Life Story Approach

Contributions:

• Provides a rich record of an individual’s experiences.

Criticisms:

• Difficult and time-consuming to gather and analyze.

• Prone to bias and not easily generalized.

Social Cognitive Perspectives

• Emphasizes conscious awareness, beliefs, expectations, and goals.

• Incorporates principles from behaviorism when exploring:

  • Reasoning

  • Beliefs about the past, present, and future

  • Self-reflection

  • Interpretation of situations

Social Cognitive Perspectives 

• Delay of Gratification

  • Predicts academic performance in high school and college.

  • Predicts self-regulation in the 40s.

• Regulating Emotional Reactions

  • Emotional regulation is key to personal and professional success.

Evaluating Social Cognitive Theory

Contributions:

• Focuses on the interaction between individuals and their environments.

• Suggests people can control their environment.

Criticisms:

• Too focused on change and situational factors.

• Ignores the role of biology.

• Specific predictions hinder generalization.

Biological Perspectives

• Personality and the Brain

  • Brain damage can alter personality.

  • Brain responses correlate with personality traits.

Biological Perspectives 

Role of Neurotransmitters:

• The growth of dopamine receptors is stimulated by warm caregivers, making a person more sensitive to rewards (linked to extraversion).

• Less serotonin in circulation is associated with negative moods (linked to neuroticism).

Biological Perspectives 

Behavioral Genetics:

• Twin studies reveal a substantial genetic influence on the Big Five traits.

• Some genes individually influence multiple traits.

• Most traits are influenced by multiple genes.

Evaluating the Biological Perspective

Contributions:

• Ties personality to animal learning, brain imaging, and evolutionary theory.

Criticisms:

• Biology may be the effect, rather than the cause, of personality traits.

Personality Assessment

Projective Tests:

• Used in the psychodynamic approach, these tests involve projecting one's own meaning onto ambiguous stimuli.

Rorschach Inkblot Test:

• Personality is scored based on descriptions of inkblots.

• There are concerns about the reliability and validity of the test.

Personality Assessment 

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT):

• Participants view a series of ambiguous pictures one at a time.

• The stories they create in response reveal their personality.

Social Psychology

• Social Psychology: The study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people

• Prosocial behavior: we behave in social ways toward the people around us

  • What is altruism and egoism?

  • What are predictors of prosocial behavior?

• What is the bystander effect?

  • How is the diffusion of responsibility related to the bystander effect?

• How do people select, interpret, remember and use social information?

  • How do we perceive people?

• What is the stereotype threat?

• Attributions: Explanations for why people behave the way they do

  • What is the attribution theory?

    • Internal vs external, stable vs unstable, controllable vs uncontrollable

• What are some examples of attribution errors and biases?

  • Fundamental Attribution Error: When the importance of internal traits is overestimated and the importance of external causes is underestimated

  • Actors explaining behavior in terms of external causes

  • Self-serving bias: tendency to take credit for success and deny responsibility for failure

• Can attitudes predict behavior?

• Can behavior predict attitudes?

• What is the cognitive dissonance theory? 

  • How does someone reduce dissonance?

• What was the result of the $1 or $20 boring task study?

• What is the self-perception theory?

  • How do cognitive dissonance and self-perception relate to this?

• What are predictors of aggression?

What impacts attraction?

• Proximity (mere exposure effect and promise of acquaintanceship)

• We like those who like us

• Similarity

• What are the types of love?

• What is the social exchange theory?

• What is the investment model?

• How are social influence and conformity related? (Asch 1956 confederates study)

• How are social influence and obedience related? (Milgram’s experiments)

• What are examples of group influences and how do they work? (deindividuation, social contagion and group performance)

• What is social identity and the social identity theory?

  • What makes up social identity? (ethnicity, relationships etc.)

What is ethnocentrism?

• Prejudice: an unjustified negative attitude toward a group and its members

  • Explicit vs implicit racism?

  • Explanations for Prejudice

    • Competition between groups

    • Cultural learning

    • Motivation to enhance self-esteem

    • Limitations in cognitive processes

• How can we combat prejudice or improve intergroup relations?

Psychological Disorders

• Psychopathology: the study of psychological disorders, including their symptoms, etiology (causes), and treatment 

• Psychological disorder: a condition characterized by abnormal thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

  • Behaviors, thoughts, and inner experiences that are atypical, dysfunctional, or dangerous are signs of psychological disorders.

  • However, there is no single definition of psychological abnormality or normality.

  • Just because something is atypical, does not mean it is disordered. Red hair is considered unusual, but not abnormal

Theoretical Approaches

• Biological Approach: Medical Model

  • disorders with biological origins

• Psychological Approach 

  • experiences, thoughts, emotions, personality

• Sociocultural Approach

  • social context

• Biopsychosocial Model

  • interaction of biological, psychological and sociocultural factors

  • Vulnerability-Stress Hypothesis (Diathesis-Stress Model)

Biological Perspectives

• Views psychological disorders as linked to biological phenomena 

• Genetic factors, chemical imbalances, and brain abnormalities are all examples of biological reasoning for a psychological disorder 

• This is supported by evidence that most psychological disorders have a genetic component. For example if you have ever heard that XYZ is hereditary 

  • A person is at a higher risk for developing schizophrenia if a relative has it. Furthermore, the closer the relationship with that person is, the higher the risk for developing schizophrenia is. 

Psychosocial Perspective 

• Emphasizes the importance of learning, stress, faulty and self-defeating thinking patterns, and environmental factors.

• Views the cause of psychological disorders as a combination of biological and psychosocial factors.

Diathesis-Stress Model

• Diathesis-stress model: People with an underlying predisposition for a disorder (diathesis) are more likely than others to develop a disorder when faced with adverse environmental or psychological events.

  • Integrates biological and psychosocial factors to predict the likelihood of a disorder 

  • A diathesis can be a biological or psychological vulnerability.

  • you are more likely to develop a disease if a first degree relative (parents, your kids and your sib) also has this disease.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

• Diagnosis: Appropriately identifying and labeling a set of defined symptoms

• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders:

  • Published by the American Psychiatric Association.

  • First published in 1952 and has since undergone numerous revisions to get to our current DSM-5, which is the classification system used by most mental health professionals

  • The DSM is created to categorize and describe each disorder:

    • Diagnostic features – overview of the disorder.

    • Diagnostic criteria – specific symptoms required for diagnosis.

    • Prevalence – percent of population thought to be afflicted.

    • Risk factors

  • Provides information about comorbidity ( Co-occurrence of two or more disorders in a single individual )

DSM-5 Classification System

• Advantages

  • provides a common basis for communication

  • helps clinicians make predictions

  • naming the disorder can provide comfort

• Disadvantages

  • stigma (shame, negative reputation)

  • medical terminology implies internal cause

  • focus on weaknesses, ignores strengths

  • promotes over-diagnosis

Anxiety Related Disorders

• Anxiety: uncontrollable fears that are disproportionate and disruptive

• Anxiety Disorder: the class of mental disorder in which anxiety is the predominant feature 

  • Anxiety can be adaptive or maladaptive, when it is disproportionate to real threats and challenges 

• Generalized Anxiety disorder (GAD): a disorder characterized by chronic excessive worry for at least 6 months accompanied by inability to specify reasons for anxiety

  • Etiology

    • biological factors

      • genetic predisposition, GABA deficiency, respiration

  • psychological and sociocultural factors

    • harsh self-standards, critical parents, negative thoughts, trauma

• Panic Disorder: a disorder characterized by recurrent, sudden onsets of stark terror that often occur without warning; panic attacks 

  • Etiology

    • biological factors: genetic predisposition

    • psychological factors: conditioning

How might common disorders manifest differently? 

• Social phobia

  • In North America, one seeks to portray one’s true self and have it be positively evaluated

  • In East Asia, fear of causing discomfort to others, perhaps by inappropriately ’revealing’ a true self

• Depression

  • For Euro-Americans, depression -> dampened emotional reactivity (heart-rate, etc.) in response to emotional films 

  • For Chinese-Americans, depression -> greater reactivity to emotional films (including positive films)

Cultural differences

• Bulimia is so rare outside of Western countries 

• Taijin Kyofusho (TKS) is a disorder unique to Japan, and is the fear of interpersonal relationships and dispensing / embarrassing others with body or appearance which leads to avoiding social outings and is more prevalent in men.

Schizophrenia

• Schizophrenia: a disorder characterized by the profound disruption of basically psychological processes, a distorted perception of reality, altered or blunted emotion, and disturbances in thought, motivation, and behavior 

• highly disordered thought

  • split from reality (psychotic)

  • typically diagnosed in early adulthood

  • high suicide risk

• Symptoms

  • Positive Symptoms

    • hallucinations and delusions

    • thought disorders

    • disorders of movement

  • Negative Symptoms

    • social withdrawal, behavior deficits

    • flat affect (decreased outward expression of emotional state)

  • Cognitive Symptoms

    • attention difficulties and memory problems

    • impaired ability to interpret information and make decisions

• Etiology of Schizophrenia

  • Biological Factors

    • genetic predisposition

    • structural brain abnormalities

    • regulation of neurotransmitters

  • Psychological Factors

    • vulnerability-stress hypothesis

  • Sociocultural Factors

    • influence how disorder progresses

Personality disorders

• Personality Disorder: disorder characterized by the deeply ingrained, inflexible patterns of thinking, feeling, or relating to others or controlling impulses that cause distress or impaired functioning

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 

• Neurodevelopmental disorders – involve developmental problems in personal, social, academic, and intellectual functioning.

• ADHD - constant pattern of inattention and/or hyperactive and impulsive behavior that interferes with normal functioning.

•  

• Prevalence

  • Occurs in about 5% of children.

  • Boys are 3 times more likely to have ADHD than girls.

• Life Problems

  • Low educational attainment, low socioeconomic status, unemployment, low wages,

  • substance abuse problems, and relationship problems

• Genetics

  • Inattention – 71% heritable.

  • Hyperactivity – 73% heritable.

• Neurotransmitters

  • Dopamine:

    • Genes involved are thought to include at least two that are important in the regulation of dopamine.

    • Individuals with ADHD show less dopamine activity in key brain regions (especially those

    • associated with motivation and reward).

    • Medications have stimulant qualities and elevate dopamine activity.

• Brain Anatomy

  • Studies show smaller frontal lobe volume and less activation when performing mental tasks.

  • Frontal lobe inhibits behavior – may explain hyperactive, uncontrolled behavior of ADHD.

Therapy and Treatment

Treatment in the Past

• Exorcism: – involving incantations and prayers said over the individual’s body by a priest/religious figure

• Trephining: a hole was made in the skull to release spirits from the body. This often lead to death

• Execution or imprisonment: many mentally ill people were burnt at the stake after being accused of witchcraft

18th Century

• Asylums: the first institutions created for the specific purpose of housing people with psychological disorders

  • Focus was on ostracization instead of treatment

• Who was Phillippe Pinel (Late 1700s) and what did he argue for?

19th Century

• Who was Dorothea Dix?

• What were American Asylums like?

20th Century

• 1954

  • Antipsychotic medication was introduced and were successful in threatening symptoms of psychosis

  • Psychosis: hallucinations and delusions, indicating a loss of contact with reality

• 1975

  • Mental Retardation Facilities & Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act

Mental Health Treatment Today

• How has mental health treatment changed? (psychiatric hospitals, short-term stays etc.)

Involuntary treatment: therapy that is not the individuals choice

• EX: weekly counseling sessions might be a condition of parole

Voluntary treatment: the person chooses to attend therapy to obtain relief from symptoms. Sources of psychological treatment: community mental health centers, private or community practitioners, school counselors, school psychologists or school social workers, group therapy

Types of treatment

Psychoanalysis Terms: 

Free association: patient relaxes and then says whatever comes to mind

Dream analysis: therapist interprets the underlying meaning of dreams

Transference: patient transfers all the positive or negative emotions associated with their other relationships to the psychoanalyst

Psychodynamic psychotherapy: Talk therapy based on belief that the unconscious and childhood conflicts impact behavior.

Play Therapy:

Sandplay or sandtray therapy - children can set up a three dimensional world using various figures and objects that correspond to their inner state (Kalff, 1991)

Nondirective play therapy: children are encouraged to work through problems by playing freely while therapist observes

Directive play therapy: therapist provides structure/guidance by suggesting topics, asking questions, and playing with the child.

Behavior therapy terms: 

Classical Conditioning: conditioning principles are applied to recondition clients and change their behavior

Counterconditioning : Client learns a new response to a stimulus that has previously elicited an undesirable behavior. Includes aversive conditioning and exposure therapy

• Aversive conditioning: uses unpleasant stimulus to stop an undesirable behavior.

  • Client is repeatedly exposed to something unpleasant, such as a mild electric shock or bad taste while they engage in a specific behavior → client learns to associate the unpleasant stimulus and unwanted behavior.

  • Antabuse (substance that causes negative side effects such as vomiting when combined with alcohol) has been used effectively to treat alcoholism

• Exposure therapy – seeks to change the response to a conditioned stimulus. 

Operant Conditioning

• Based on the principle that behaviors become extinguished when not reinforced

• Applied behavior analysis: Operant conditioning technique designed to reinforce positive behaviors and punish unwanted behaviors

• Token economy: Individuals are reinforced for desired behaviors with tokens (e.g., a poker chip), that can be exchanged for items or privileges

Cognitive therapy

• Based on the idea that how you think determines how you feel and act - cognitive therapy focuses on how thoughts lead to feelings of distress. Clients are helped to change dysfunctional thinking patterns by challenging irrational beliefs, focusing on their illogical basis, and correcting them with more logical and rational thoughts/beliefs.

• Overgeneralizing: taking a small situation and making it huge. 

• Polarized (“black & white”) thinking: Seeing things in absolutes, ”I am either perfect, or a failure”

• Jumping to conclusions – assuming that people are thinking negatively about you or reacting negatively to you, without evidence

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

• Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses more on present issues rather than on a patient’s past

• Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET): one of the first forms of cognitive-behavioral therapy, founded by Albert Ellis. 

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) – works to change cognitive distortions and self-defeating behaviors. (Aims to change both how people think and how they act)

Exposure therapy

• An unconditioned stimulus is presented over and over just after the presentation of the conditioned stimulus

• What was the Jones’ Study (1924) about?

Systematic desensitization: type of exposure therapy wherein a calm and pleasant state is gradually associated with increasing levels of anxiety-inducing stimuli

Virtual reality exposure therapy: uses a stimulation to help conquer fears when it’s too impractical, expensive or embarrassing to recreate anxiety-inducing situations.

Humanistic Therapy

• Focuses on helping people achieve their potential. It increases self-awareness and acceptance through focus on conscious thoughts 

• Rogerian/Client-centered Therapy: Emphasized the importance of the person taking control of his own life to overcome life’s challenges. 

• Non-directive therapy: therapist does not give advice or provide interpretations but helps client identify conflicts and understand feelings

• Active listening: therapist acknowledges, restates, clarifies what client expresses

• Unconditional positive regard: therapist does not judge clients and simply accepts them for who they are

• Genuineness, empathy, and acceptance towards clients: Rogers felt that therapists should demonstrate these because it helps the client become more accepting of themselves, which results in personal growth

Biomedical therapies

Psychotropic medications: medications that treat the symptoms of psychological disorders but do not cure the disorder

Antipsychotics: treat positive psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia by blocking dopamine

Atypical antipsychotics: treat the negative symptoms of schizophrenia such as withdrawal and apathy, by targeting both dopamine and serotonin receptors

Anti-depressants: alter levels of serotonin and norepinephrine

Anti-anxiety agents: depress central nervous system activation

Mood stabilizers: treat episodes of mania as well as depression (Bipolar disorder)

Stimulants: improve ability to focus on a task and maintain attention (ADHD)

Electroconvulsive therapy: induces seizures to help alleviate severe depression

Transcranial magnetic stimulation: magnetic fields stimulate nerve cells to improve depression symptom

Treatment modalities

• How do individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy and couples therapy differ?

Intake: once an individual seeks treatment, therapists will arrange an intake to assess the client’s clinical needs

Confidentiality: the therapist cannot disclose confidential communications to any third party unless mandated or permitted to do so by law

Treatment goals and plans: working with patient to develop these

Addiction

• How does chronic substance use alter the brain?

Relapse: individual returns to abusing a substance after a period of improvement: about 40%-60% of individuals relapse.

• How do drugs and/or alcohol interact with other psychological disorders?

• What does substance-related treatment look like? (long-term treatment)

• How is medication used for substance-related treatment?

Behavior therapy: can help motivate the addict to participate in the treatment program and teach strategies for dealing with cravings and how to prevent relapse

The sociocultural model

Cultural competence: mental health professionals must understand and address issues of race, culture, and ethnicity and use strategies to effectively address needs of various populations.

• How does multicultural counseling and therapy work?

Treatment barriers

• What are examples of each?

• Access and availability of mental health services

• Ethical disparities

• Perceptions and attitudes