History Context
The symptoms and signs of mental disorder
What is psychopathology?
This approach states that diagnoses are treated as discrete categories. There is presumed to be a natural threshold between normal and abnormal.
What is the categorical approach to classification?
An observational methods where situations are created which are designed to elicit the problem behavior.
What are controlled observations?
A variable associated with possible increased risk for a disease or disorder.
What is a risk factor?
An in-depth look at the symptoms and circumstances surrounding one person
What is a case study?
A federal agency established after WII.
What is the VA?
The notion that symptoms lay on a
continuum, ranging from non-existent to mild to
moderate to severe.
What is a dimensional approach to classification?
The consistency of a test’s results when given to the same person at different times
What is test-retest reliability?
The cause of something, typically a disease or disorder.
What is etiology?
A method where participants are observed without interference from the research team.
What is naturalistic observation?
A mental health professional who can do research, provide mental health treatment, assessment and supervision/teaching.
What is a psychologist.
One limitation is that it takes a categorical approach rather than a dimensional approach to defining mental disorders.
What is one of the limitations of the DSM?
[A] is an immediate, direct cause of an event or behavior, while [B] is an indirect or underlying factor that contributes to an event or behavior, rather than an immediate trigger.
What is the difference between proximal cause [A] and distal cause [B]?
This model explains how mental disorders develop through the interaction of two factors. The first factor is a predisposition to a disorder. The second factor is can be an external life event or environmental factors.
What is the Diathesis-Stress Model?
The study of prevalence and distribution of a disorder or disease.
What is epidemiology?
What is a clinical psychology PhD?
A framework presented in a matrix where researchers are encouraged to identify and apply unites of analysis and basic dimensions of functioning.
What is RDoC?
They don't allow for inquiry into potentially clinically relevant topics. Moreover, they can be very long and may not always be necessary.
What are some disadvantages of structured interviews?
Treat behaviors themselves as the problem that needs to be addressed directly
What is one of the core principles of behavioral therapy?
Empirical approach lends credibility to the
field. Moreover, data helps build professional consensus by resolving disputes/ differences of opinions
Why is scientific research important?
A doctoral degree primarily focused on the treatment of mental disorders.
What is a PsyD?
Considering behaviors that are uncommon and gross deviations from societal expectations as psychopathological.
What does it mean to define psychopathology in terms of statistical infrequency/violation of social norms?
An approach which determines the ABCs of behavior to learn the contexts in which they occur and the consequences that reinforce them.
What is functional analysis?
A chemical signal released by a neuron.
What is a neurotransmitter?
This type of question must be testable in scientific inquiry.