Chapter 14
How is stress defined?
Any circumstance that threatens (or is thought to threaten) the course of a person’s physical or psychological functioning.
Define Social Psychology.
The field of psychology pertaining to how people think about other people and interact in relationships and groups.
What is the DSM-5?
DSM-5: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; The Official diagnostic classification system of the APA (American psychiatric association).
What are the two type of Therapists?
Therapist
Someone with training or skills to help you with a problem
Psychotherapist
Someone who helps with psychological problems
What is a Schema? And an Example?
An organized set of beliefs and expectations.
Describe what a stressor and stress reaction are, and their relationship.
Stressor: the event and situations to which people must react.
Stress Reactions: the physiological, emotional, behavioral responses people display in the face of stress.
Describe Social Comparison and provide an Example.
Social Comparison: An Individual uses others as a basis for comparison.
Example: Evaluate your physical attractiveness by comparing it to others of a similar age and situation (reference group).
Briefly describe Major Depressive Disorder. How may they Act?
Depressed Mood and Loss in pleasure.
May be accompanied by sleep disturbance, appetite disturbance, suicidal thoughts, hopelessness or worthlessness.
What are the types of Psychotherapists?
Psychiatrists: Physicians (have M.D.) who specialize in the treatment of people with psychological disorders.
Clinical Psychologists: Assess, diagnose, and treat individuals with psychological disorders.
Counseling psychologists: Help people improve their quality of life by diagnosing and treating mental health conditions.
What are the mediating factors of stress?
Predictability: Predictable stressors have less of an effect.
Control: Stressors are ineffective if a person can control them.
Social Support: May not remove a problem.. Relieves anxiety, brings optimism, and people have a sense of control
Interpretation of Stressor: Finding humor in a situation.
Briefly describe General Adaptation Syndrome.
Long lasting stressors can cause a longer sequence of bodily reactions:
Stage 1: Alarm Reaction – Flight or Fight Response.
Stage 2: Resistance – Alarm reaction diminishes, body prepares to resist stressors on a long-term basis.
Stage 3: Exhaustion – The energy of the body is used up, leading to high blood pressures, heart disease. Etc
What are the three biases in Attribution.
• Fundamental Attribution Error: A widespread tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal factors (something wrong with them)
• Actor-Observer Bias: Others have internal causes, but attribute your own behavior to external causes
• Self-Serving Bias:People take credit for their successes (internal), but blame external causes for failures.
Briefly describe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Psychological disorder characterized by a maladaptive reaction to traumatic events or stressors.
re-experiences event: person flashbacks to trauma
Heightened arousal: aggressive, or reckless behavior, hyper vigilant
Avoidance: Avoids thoughts, feelings or external reminders of events.
Negative thoughts: distorted and persistent sense of self or others.
What is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy? What does it involve.
The blending of Behavioral Therapy with Cognitive
Therapy;
A cognitive therapist often uses “homework
assignments” that focus on patterns of behavior
Briefly Describe and characterize Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Give an Example.
One has an exaggerated sense of self-importance and a lack of empathy for others.
Example: Regina George (Mean Girls).
Describe the four types of Stressors.
Frustration: A frustrating situation is when some obstacle stands between a person and his or her goals.
Conflict: Occurs when two or more incompatible options or motivations compete with one another.
Pressure: Expectation or demands that a person behave in a certain way.
Life Events: Dealing with alterations to your daily life can be a major stressor.
Briefly explain Milgram's Study.
Stanley Milgram's 1963 study on obedience investigated how far individuals would go in following orders from an authority figure, even if it meant harming another person. Participants were instructed to administer increasingly severe electric shocks to a "learner" (who was actually an actor) whenever they answered a question incorrectly. Despite the learner's apparent distress, many participants continued to administer shocks when urged by the experimenter. The study revealed that ordinary people are likely to obey authority figures, even when it conflicts with their personal morals.
Briefly describe Schizophrenia and the two types.
Schizophrenia: A split from reality, two types; positive and negative.
Positive: Delusions – false beliefs of the world, Hallucinations – false perceptions in the absence of sensory information, Movement – appear as agitated body movements.
Negative: Little to No emotion, Lack of pleasure in everyday life, disruption to normal emotions and behavior.
Briefly Describe two Behavioral Techniques.
What are the two approaches to classifying Abnormal Behavior, Briefly explain.
Statistical Approach:Abnormal Behavior is Defined as behavior deviating from whatever most people do (or in other words, behavior that deviates from what the average person does).
Practical Approach: Abnormal Behavior is defined based on its content, context, and subjective consequences.
Content – what a person does
Context – when a behavior occurs and where it does.
Subjective consequences – describes how much stress or suffering it causes
Describe the three conflict approaches.
Approach-Approach Conflict: Need to choose between two equally attractive goals.
Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict: Need to choose between two aversive alternatives. “A no win situation”
Approach-Avoidance Conflict: One goal which has both positive and negative components.
What is Compliance and what are the three techniques toward this.
Compliance - Occurs when people adjust their behavior because of a direct request from someone
who has no authority over them.
Foot-in-the-Door Technique: Beginning with a small request and working up to larger ones.
Door-in-the-Face Technique: Begins with a very large request that is likely to be denied. The person making the request admits it is too much and suggests a lesser alternative.
Low-Ball Technique: Getting someone to commit to an idea before revealing higher costs.
Briefly describe the following disorders:
Conversion Disorder, Hoarding Disorder, Dissociative Amnesia
Conversion Disorder: Psychological problems manifest themselves by suffering from neurological symptoms such as blindness, deafness, paralysis.
Hoarding Disorder: Persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions due to perceived need to save the items.
Dissociative Amnesia: Sudden memory loss, due to stress or trauma.
What are three examples of Biomedial Therapies, can you briefly describe what they're used for.
[Refer to powerpoint]
What are the psychoanalytic methods?
Free Association
A patient says whatever comes to mind; Therapist interprets the train of thought.
Dream Analysis
Therapist studies the content of a patient’s dream in order to determine unconscious thoughts.