Psychopathology Chapter 3, Lecture 4

Front 1

What is classification?

Back 1

To delineate into patterns (of behaviors, feelings, etc.)

Front 2

What are 5 pros of classification?

Back 2

Taxonomy - organization
Nomenclature - between professionals
Treatment & Insurance - claims, know how to treat
Research and grants - for info get money
Social/political - able to help specific labels

Front 3

What are 3 cons of classification?

Back 3

Labeling - a person is not a label
Stigma - media representation/personal experience
Stereotyping - not everyone the same

Front 4

What are the two approaches to classification?

Back 4

Categorical and dimensional

Front 5

What is the idea behind categorical approach?

Back 5

There are unique pathological causes for disorders that don't overlap

Front 6

What are the pros of the categorical approach

Back 6

Ease of communication and succinct
familiar to doctors since medical model
clinical decisions are categorical
easy research participation - either yes or no

Front 7

What are the cons of categorical approach?

Back 7

not deep enough into individuals
heterogeneity issues - lots of comorbidity
what are the boundaries? implications for prevalence rates
are there really unique pathological causes?

Front 8

What is the dimensional approach?

Back 8

individual rates symptoms on a scale to indicate severity

Front 9

What are the pros of the dimensional approach?

Back 9

Deeper information
Eliminate boundary disputes & comorbidity issues
diagnostic reliability and stability over time
allow for better treatment?

Front 10

What are the cons of dimensional approach?

Back 10

still in essence have to make boundaries and decide what are the criteria for a disorder to be rated
need to retrain employees, lots of time and money
lack of agreement on which dimension and how many

Front 11

What is the DSM?

Back 11

diagnostic and statistical information on mental disorders. NOT theoretical

Front 12

What type of approach does the DSM use?

Back 12

A prototypical approach - essential characteristics and variations

Front 13

True or False: The DSM is only for adults.

Back 13

False, it is for children too

Front 14

True or False: The ICD is used for mental and physical diseases.

Back 14

True, both are talked about

Front 15

What are some criticisms of the DSM?

Back 15

The DSM "creates" disorders with its criteria. A subtle change of criteria could mean a person who today doesn't have disorder could have the label tomorrow.

Front 16

Explain the multiaxial system of DSM IV

Back 16

Axis I: current symptoms
Axis II: lifelong problems
Axis III: general condition
Axis IV: environment
Axis V: 0-100 Global Assessment of Functioning

Front 17

What are the notable changes of DSM IV?

Back 17

No longer multi-axial
Also small differences (e.g. depression/grief not exclusion & PTSD is its own category of trauma disorders)

Front 18

What are the strength of the DSM?

Back 18

Reflects current knowledge, user friendly, not theory biased

Front 19

What are the unresolved issues about DSM classification?

Back 19

disagreement about:
the validity and reliability of categories (not natural boundaries since co-morbidity)
the use of medical model at all
dimension vs. categories?

Front 20

Why assess at all?

Back 20

Formulate diagnosis and predict behavior. Create treatment plan and evaluate it. Can help client understand so it's not a mystery

Front 21

What are the 3 things assessment tools are evaluated by?

Back 21

Reliability - consistency (inter rater, test retest)
Validity - measurement accuracy
Standardization - measurement implementation

Front 22

What are the purpose of physical exams?

Back 22

Suspected underlying biological reason (e.g. hypothyroidism)

Front 23

Describe neuropsychological testing:

Back 23

Tests receptive/expressive language, motor abilities, memory, perception, attention/concentration, learning/abstraction
For screening before further tests

Front 24

What are behavioral assessments?

Back 24

Often in environment, sometimes in lab
Look at what led up to behavior and consequences

Front 25

What are projective tests?

Back 25

TAT or Roscharch. Theory that client's interpretation of ambiguous stimuli gives insight into psychological condition. Very reliant on interpretation

Front 26

What is the MMPI?

Back 26

550 questionnaire, long tests, reliable and valid
Relies on empirical evidence, NOT interpretation
Although number can be interpreted by therapist based on past experience with number

Front 27

What is IQ?

Back 27

Mental age / chronological age
only compare to people same age

Front 28

What is a major concern with intelligence testing?

Back 28

Cultural bias

Front 29

What is the difference between neuroimaging and psychophysiological?

Back 29

Neuroimaging looks at brain strictly biologically and anatomically. Psychphysiological looks at cognitive processing

Front 30

What is the difference between EEG and ERP?

Back 30

ERP is in response to a stimulus. EEG is just a report of general electrical activity

Front 31

What is nosology?

Back 31

Making terms

Front 32

In a prototypical approach to diagnosis how long must symptoms be present?

Back 32

All day, everyday for at least 2 weeks

Front 33

When is a disorder subthreshold?

Back 33

When it does not interfere with daily life

Front 34

Compare and contrast structured/unstructured/semi structured interviews

Back 34

Unstructured: spontaneous
Structured: rigid schedule, can appear cold
Semi structured: some guideline, but let conversation flow