Ch. 1 Examples & Definitions
Give an example of how we define abnormality changes based on culture.
No universal rules for what is normal/abnormal.
Ex: Collectivist cultures emphasize community, camaraderie. Introversion, or maybe a lack of extroversion, might not be seen as “abnormal” in these societies compared to individualistic cultures.
Explain the difference between equifinality and multifinality.
Equifinality- many routes to same disorder (“equi” same, “finality" end)
Multifinality- same event, different outcomes (not all veterans develop PTSD)
Define placebo effect
improvement in condition produced without experimentor’s intervention
FREE! What’s your favorite part about class so far?
Free points!
Define the following terms: incidence, prevalence, and lifetime prevalence
Incidence- # new cases of a disorder over time
Prevalence- proportion of population with disorder/# of active cases over specified period of time
Lifetime prevalence- proportion of population who have ever experienced the disorder
Name the 4 traditional paradigms used to explain mental illness
biological (biological abnormalities lead to abnormal behavior)
psychodynamic (abnormal behavior rooted in subconscious, early childhood conflicts)
cognitive-behavioral (abnormal behavior is learned)
humanistic (human behavior product of free will)
Name 2/4 treatment types for mental illnesses
biological (based on medical model: ID & treat), psychodynamic (uncovering subconscious dilemmas), cognitive-behavioral (reframing/learning new ways to think, act, & feel), and humanistic (client-centered, unconditional positive regard)
Why do we need to classify abnormal behavior?
-insurance companies won’t pay for what can't be diagnosed, people go untreated w/o diagnoses
-useful for clinicians in matching patient to appropriate treatment
-helps focus research, guide learning
> common in women: major depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, etc.
> common in men: alcoholism, antisocial personality disorder, etc.
= prevalence: bipolar disorder, etc.
What kind of evidence can twin studies provide about biological factors underlying mental health?
genetic and environmental information
Identical twins (1 egg, split) share 100% of the same DNA. Dizyogotic twins (2 eggs) share ~50% DNA. If a disorder was purely genetic, you’d see 100% of identical twins sharing the experience, and ~50% of fraternal twins sharing the experience.
Give an example of how systematic desensitization (CBT) might be used to treat a phobia of spiders
1. progressive muscle relaxation (tighten then relax all muscles to induce calmness)
2. have patient create a hierarchy of fears
3. have patient experience fears ranking from mild to intense while remaining calm, allows them to unlearn fear
Name two costs of classifying people:
-people from disadvantaged backgrounds > likely to be given severe diagnoses (is there racial/SES bias in play?)
-stigma sets people with diagnoses apart from others
-how can we be sure we’re accurately defining the boundary between normal and abnormal?
-don’t have a surefire way of measuring impairment (subjective distress? clinician’s judgement?)
Historically, the terms insanity, nervous breakdown, and crazy have been used to define abnormality. How were these terms defined?
Insanity- used to refer to mental dysfunction, now a legal term used to determine fitness for trial/responsibility for criminal behavior
Nervous breakdown- aka incapacitating, unspecified mental disorder. Doesn’t provide any explanatory details about person’s difficulties.
Crazy- informal, derogatory term with harmful implications
What role do holism and recipricol causality play in the Systems Theory?
Systems theory- integrates interdependence of multiple contributions to causes of disorders/phenomenon (ex: multiple potential factors lead to psychological disorder development)
Holism- whole > sum of parts, abnormal behavior viewed in context of environment, personality, interpersonal relationships etc.
Recipricol causality- causality could be bidirectional (ex: do children grow up anxious due to genetics from anxious parents and/or anxious upbringing?)
What are 2 shared features between Interpersonal therapy (from the psychodynamic approach) and Cognitive-Behavioral therapy?
-focus on making changes in present
-strong evidence from research
(Interpersonal therapy- focuses on interactions between client and people in their environment. Main idea: changing how they interact with others may change their experience)
What is the difference between reliability and validity?
Validity- are you assessing the construct of interest? (ex: is the arrow hitting the target or the wall around it?)
Reliability- are you consistent in your measurement? (ex: are the arrows hitting the same general area?)
Modern-day attempts to define abnormality include which two approaches?
Subjective discomfort- individual’s personal experience of distress.
Statistical norms- commonness/rarity of behavior in general population.
Name 3/6 categories of psychological factors that affect mental health.
human nature- think about evolutionary psychology (what drives us?)
temperament- how we relate to the world (think of the Big 5 OCEAN)
emotion- internal feeling states (range from basic/universal to complex)
learning & cognition- think operant/classical conditioning
sense of self- takes identity, self-control, self-esteem into account
human development- consider developmental stages (synaptic pruning, learning about self in relation to others/the world)
Humanistic psychotherapy was a reaction to which two treatment types?
psychodynamic & cognitive-behavioral. This approach wants to center essential human qualities (free will, positive human potential, underlying goodness).
Emphasizes client-therapist relationship (relationship is the treatment) vs in other 2 types, relationship is vehicle to treat underlying disorder
Name the two approaches to classifying disorders and explain the difference between them
categorical- difference in kind (quality), not amount (quantity). different from the statistical approach to determining what is abnormal. Ex: humans are different from other primates, either an organism is a human or isn’t.
dimensional- doesn’t create bins (yes/no), views disorder/quality on a spectrum. How much of the quality do people have, not do people have the quality.