Knowledge is justified as...
A justified true belief
Define psychopathology.
Patterns of thought, feeling or behaviour that are problematic and disrupt well-being, social or occupational functioning.
What factors are NOT predictors of happiness? (low correlation)
Attractiveness, intelligence, parenthood (causes fulfilment but also stress), age, perceived amount of choice in life, wealth
What are the two simple mechanisms of acquiring knowledge?
1. Authority - Relying on experts/Info from other people
2. Intuition - relying on common sense or gut feelings, also known as heuristic reasoning (mental shortcuts to reduce cognitive load)
Why is cultural context important for psychopathology?
Societies define normal or abnormal differently, based on social norms, consider 'normal' in context, and categorise/define mental illness differently, Cultures give rise to different experiences eg. having delusions or visions is either accepted or seen as ‘crazy’
Give some examples of mindfulness based practices.
SOBER, Surfing the urge, Soles of the feet, Mindfulness-based stress-reduction, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
What is rationalism? What are its traits?
Using reason and logic to acquire knowledge (aka logic or deductive reasoning)
Examples: maths, armchair philosophy, syllogism
Traits: conclusions always follow from premisses, A Priori (not based on experience), top-down processes
What does labelling theory argue?
There is an original diagnosis and then all abnormal behaviour is categorised under that label (confirmation bias, interpretation errors) - supported by Rosenhan study.
What are some obstacles to happiness?
Hedonic treadmill, evolutionary competition with others, a changing world, physical illness/pain, fear of death, negative emotions
Relying on observation to acquire knowledge (Inductive reasoning) is known as...
Empiricism
What does "a clinically recognisable set of symptoms and behaviours which usually need treatment to be alleviated (a serious departure from normal functioning)" define?
Mental Disorder
What is the hedonic treadmill?
A fast desensitisation to pleasures and slow desensitisation to pain and discomfort
(eg. always wanting more money because they are used to their current amount, this continues with every promotion)
What is testability and falsification?
Features of the scientific method
Testability: the assumption that explanations can be tested, and those tests can come back false.
Unfalsifiable claims are as good as false (they have no effect on our lives)
According to the psychodynamic approach, what are the three stages of psychopathology?
Neurosis: issues in living that involve anxiety (phobias) or interpersonal conflict
Personality disorders: chronic and severe disturbances that alter the capacity to work and to love
Psychoses: marked disturbances of contact with reality
What are some issues with scientific laws?
Scientific law: a universal statement that describes a phenomenon
They only describe rather than explain, take lots of time to develop, they only describe what has been observed so far, and they can be broken (laws of gravity not applying to small gravitational fields)
"an interrelated set of concepts or assumptions that attempt to explain a phenomenon" describes what term?
Theories
What are the 3 features of a good hypothesis?
Testable: observation can demonstrate that a hypothesis is false (i.e., falsifiable)
Specific: more precise predictions are more likely to be falsified.
Directional: Directional hypotheses not only say that things are related, but also how they are related.
What are the hallmarks of pseudoscience?
What are the 2 major components of happiness/wellbeing?
Cognitive: contentment or life satisfaction
Affective: positive and negative emotions - we can not experience each simultaneously
What is the equation to happiness?
Happiness= Contentment + positive affect - negative affect
How can hedonic happiness (pure pleasure) be achieved?
Liking’ without ‘wanting’ (state of contentment) - meditation can help balance our pleasure and desire
Excessive ‘wanting’ creates internal tension and decreases pleasure and happiness - related to dopamine, ‘wanting’ can be trained
Wanting more than you have decreases happiness
What are the reliable predictors of happiness?
Past happiness, high religiousness, altruism, compassion, social relationship, physical health
What are the two stages of minfulness?
Mindfulness is the ______ that emerges through _____ _____ on purpose, in the _____ ______, and ______-_______ to the unfolding of ______ moment by moment
Awareness, paying attention, present moment, non-judgementally, experience