Abnormal Psychology Ch. 1 - 6

Front 1

Statistical definition of abnormality

Back 1

Behavior is abnormal if it is rare (but also, what about heroism?)

Front 2

Disease vs. disorder

Back 2

Disease implies biological causation, disorder implies psychological causation

Front 3

Cultural definition of abnormality

Back 3

Behavior is abnormal if it deviates from the social norms

Front 4

Functional definition of abnormality

Back 4

Behavior is abnormal if it interferes with important life functions, like anorexia

Front 5

Purposes of classification

Back 5

Brings order to the domain, suggests a degree of relatedness, guides interventions

Front 6

Problems with classification

Back 6

Loss of information (labeling, stereotyping, etc.), self-fulfilling prophecies, people are more than just their label

Front 7

Levels of classification

Back 7

Signs/symptoms
Syndromes
Disease/disorder

Front 8

Syndrome

Back 8

Collection of signs and symptoms that go together greater than chance

Front 9

Incidence

Back 9

Number of NEW cases in any given interval

Front 10

Prevalence

Back 10

Total number of active cases in any given interval

Front 11

Lifetime prevalence of any disorder

Back 11

48%

Front 12

Early Supernatural period

Back 12

Abnormal behavior was attributed to supernatural forces, people possessed by spirits or gods, and treatment was left to religious leaders (prayers, sacrifices, exorcisms)

Front 13

Greek Natural Science period

Back 13

Hippocrates, rejected supernatural theories, treatments were largely physical (rest, diet, etc.), hysteria (uterus wandering around the body looking for a child) and the humoral theory

Front 14

Humoral theory of psychopathology

Back 14

Hippocrates' idea during Greek Natural Science period, mental illness was a consequence of imbalances in bodily fliuds

Front 15

Medieval Supernatural period

Back 15

Return to supernatural ideas and treatment reverts to religious leaders, Papal Bull that witches do exist and Malleus Maleficarum (Witches' Hammer - first diagnostic manual), corporal possession (unwilling) and spiritual possession (willing = witch)

Front 16

Renaissance and the rise of Modern Natural Science

Back 16

Paracelsus (influence of planetary bodies), Kraeplin, general paresis linked to syphilis, and early psychogenic theories (Mesmer, Charcot, Freud, Pavlov, Skinner, Watson)

Front 17

Emil Kraeplin

Back 17

Father of modern classification, distinguished dementia praecox (schizophrenia) from manic-depression, "masturbatory insanity"

Front 18

General paresis

Back 18

Progressive mental deterioration linked to syphilis (Krafft-Ebbing inoculated paretic patients with the syphilis virus and they didn't get infected because they already were!)

Front 19

Mesmer

Back 19

"Mesmerism", animal magnetism theory which later became hypnotism

Front 20

Charcot

Back 20

Believed that mental illness was the result of reversible lesions in the brain

Front 21

Freud

Back 21

Focused on repressed conflicts, most important aspects of life are unconscious

Front 22

Behaviorists

Back 22

Watson - changed focus of psychology to behavior
Pavlov - classical conditioning (cues are conditioned)
Skinner - operant conditioning (based on consequences)

Front 23

Causal processes

Back 23

Necessary - must be there
Sufficient - all you need
Contributory - ups the odds

Front 24

Proximal vs. distal

Back 24

Proximal = causal processes that occur later in time and closer to onset
Distal = causal processes that occur earlier in time and further from onset

Front 25

Diathesis-stress

Back 25

Preexisting causal risk triggered by a subsequent event

Front 26

Biological causal factors

Back 26

Neurotransmitters, hormones, genes, temperament

Front 27

Causality - behavioral perspective

Back 27

Consequence of what you learn:
Classical - cues are conditioned
Operant - consequences shape behaviors

Front 28

Causality - dynamic perspective (Freud)

Back 28

Unconscious conflicts locked away in infancy

Front 29

Causality - cognitive perspective

Back 29

What you believe to be true influences how you feel and what you do (not necessarily events or situations, but how you perceive them)

Front 30

Causality - humanistic perspective

Back 30

Psychopathology as a consequence of not following your internal guide (people are free to make choices, but sometimes we choose wrong)

Front 31

Causality - sociocultural perspective

Back 31

Cultural factors influence what disorders develop and what form they take (rates of anorexia for example)

Front 32

Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM)

Back 32

Revised 5 times since the 50s, 5 axes:
Axis I - specific disorders
Axis II - personality disorders
Axis III - medical comorbidity
Axis IV - life stress
Axis V - global functioning

Front 33

Stress

Back 33

Effects within organism of being forced to deal with demands

Front 34

Stressor

Back 34

Event or situation putting demands on an organism

Front 35

Coping strategies

Back 35

Efforts by the organism to deal with stress

Front 36

General adaptation syndrome (stress)

Back 36

Alarm - mobilization of resources
Resistance - adaptive capabilities maximized
Exhaustion - resources depleted

Front 37

Stress and the sympathetic nervous system

Back 37

Sympathetic-adrenomeduallry system (SAM) - fight/flight response, mobilizes the body for a rapid response
HPA axis also a part of the sympathetic systems

Front 38

Stress and immune system

Back 38

Escape first and heal later, depression as an emotional immune response

Front 39

Adjustment disorders

Back 39

Reactions to common life stressors, usually resolved within months

Front 40

Acute stress disorder

Back 40

Severe stress syndrome, occurs within 4 weeks and lasts no more than a month

Front 41

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Back 41

Persistent reexperiencing of traumatic event (flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive thoughts), avoid stimuli associated with the trauma, chronic arousal and tension (anxiety)

Front 42

Treatment and prevention of stress disorders

Back 42

Stress-inoculation training, prediction and control are important, direct exposure and "reliving" strategies

Front 43

Neurotic behavior

Back 43

Distress and avoidance behaviors but no loss of contact with reality

Front 44

Fear vs. anxiety

Back 44

Psychodynamic view was that they were the same thing, but now we differentiate fear/panic from anxiety since the patterns of biology and anatomy differ

Front 45

Fear/panic - biology

Back 45

The activation of emergency response system (fight/flight) - amygdala and locus coeruleus, norepinephrine

Front 46

Anxiety - biology

Back 46

Chronic apprehensive arousal (more diffuse and future oriented than fear) - limbic system and stria terminals, GABA and CRH

Front 47

Fight or flight response

Back 47

Activation of the sympathetic portion of the autonomic nervous system, readies the body for coordinated action to respond to threat, amygdala triggers firing of the locus coeruleus (NE to the HPA axis)

Front 48

Prevalence of anxiety disorders

Back 48

Overall - 25%
Specific phobia - 11%
Social phobia - 13%
Panic disorder and agoraphobia - 3.5%
GAD - 5%
OCD - 2.5%

Front 49

Specific phobias

Back 49

Fear in presence of specific object or situation, persistent over time, involves sympathetic arousal (except for blood-injection-injury phobia)

Front 50

Social phobias

Back 50

Fear of negative evaluation by others, can be specific or general, worsens with stress, adolescent onset and modest gender split

Front 51

Panic disorder

Back 51

Defined as overwhelming sense of imminent danger without an obvious precipitant (unlike specific phobias), onset is rapid and intense, amygdala/locus coeruleus/fight or flight response

Front 52

Agoraphobia

Back 52

Avoidance of situations from which escape would be difficult or help not forthcoming, typically linked to panic disorder, onset in early adulthood but linked to earlier school phobia

Front 53

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

Back 53

Nonspecific chronic and excessive worry (restless, fatigued, concentration problems, insomnia, etc.), early onset and often co-morbid

Front 54

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Back 54

Obsessions (unwanted intrusive thoughts) and compulsions (repetitive behaviors or acts a person feels driven to perform), adult onset is typical but it can also be found in children, anxiety is the primary affect and responsibility is the primary concern - acting on compulsion briefly reduces the anxiety

Front 55

Drug treatment of anxiety disorders

Back 55

Minor tranquilizers - work quickly but don't last and can be addictive
Antidepressants - useful for panic/anxiety disorders
MAOI's and SSRI's - useful for social phobia
Drugs that act on serotonin - useful for OCD

Front 56

Psychosocial treatment for anxiety disorders

Back 56

Dynamic treatment - not very effective
Behavior therapy - does reduce symptoms
Systematic desensitization - works for specific phobias
Exposure + response prevention - works for phobias and OCD
CBT with exposure - good for ALL!! (especially panic and GAD)