Abnormal Psychology Exam 1 Study Guide

Abnormal Psychology Exam 1 Study Guide Chapter 1 What is Psychological Abnormality? Abnormal psychology: the scientific study of abnormal behavior undertaken to describe, predict, explain and change abnormal patterns of functioning. Norms: a society’s states and unstated rules for proper conduct Culture: a people’s common history, values, institutions, habits, skills, technology and arts. Psychopathology: patterns of thinking and behaving that are maladaptive, disruptive, or uncomfortable for the affected person or for others. 4 D’s of Abnormality Deviance o Different, extreme, unusual, perhaps even bizarre o Social norms: behaviors, thoughts and emotions that differ markedly from a society’s ideas about proper functioning o Judgement of abnormality vary. Dysfunction o Abnormal behavior tends to be dysfunctional  Interfering with the person’s ability to conduct daily activities in a constructive way. o Dysfunction alone does not necessarily indicate psychological abnormality. Distress o According to many clinical theorists, behavior, ideas or emotions usually have to cause distress before they can be labeled abnormal. o Unpleasant and upsetting to the person, not always the case. Danger o Abnormal behavior may become dangerous to oneself or others. o Although often cited as a feature of psychological abnormality, research suggests that dangerousness is the exception rather than the rule. The Elusive Nature of Abnormality A society selects general criteria for defining abnormality and then uses those criteria to judge particular cases. Few categories of abnormality are as clear-cut as they seem; most continue to be debated by clinicians. What is Treatment? Treatment: a systematic procedure designed to change abnormal behavior into more normal behavior, also called therapy. Assessment: the process of gathering information about people’s symptoms and the possible causes. Diagnosis: a label for a set of symptoms that often occur together. All forms of therapy have three essential features: o A sufferer who seeks relief from the healer/ o A trained, socially accepted healer, whose expertise is accepted by the sufferer and his or her social group. o A series of contact between the healer and the sufferer, through which the healer tries to produce certain changes in the sufferer’s emotional state, attitudes and behavior. Moral treatment: 19th century approach to treating people with mental dysfunction that emphasized moral guidance and human and respectful treatment. Characteristics of Assessment Tools To be useful, assessment tools must have three characteristics o Standardization  To standardize a technique is to set up common steps to be followed whenever it is administered.  One must standardize administration, scoring and interpretation.  “Norm reference test” o Reliability  The consistency of an assessment measure  To yield the same results from the same situation  Test-retest: test produced similar results when given at two points in time.  Alternate Form: two versions of the same test produce similar results.  Internal Consistency: extent to which a measure is consistent within itself.  Inter-rater: two or more raters or judgers who administer a test to an individual and score it come to similar conclusions. o Validity  The accuracy of a tool’s results  Face validity: test appears to measure what it is supposed to measure  Construct validity: test measures what it is supposed to measure and not something else.  Content validity: test assesses all important aspects of phenomenon.  Concurrent validity: test yields the same results as other measures of the same behavior, thoughts or feelings.  Predictive validity: the tool accurately predicts future characteristics or behavior. Clinical Assessment: How and why does the client behave abnormally? Hundreds of clinical assessment tools have been developed and fall into three categories: Clinical Interviews, Clinical Tests & Clinical Observations. Clinical Interviews Used to collect detailed information Assessing a wide range of topics, but interviewer focuses on topics that revolve around what they want to focus on. Three Types of Clinical Interviews o Unstructured Interview: clinician asks open-ended questions. (quantity of info depends on how client feels and if they are leading the conversation) o Semi-structured Interview: clinician has framework of themes to explore depending on situation. Still allows client to have freedom but also explore different topics without getting off track. o Structured Interview: clinician asks prepared questions, often from a publisher’s interview schedule. No deviation from prepared questions. Limitations o May lack validity or accuracy  Can intentionally be dishonest to seek drugs  Might be ashamed of why they are coming so they aren’t as open o Interviewers may be biased or may make mistakes in judgement or in the way the interviewer asks a question o Interviews, particularly unstructured ones, may lack reliability. Clinical Tests Tests are devices for gathering information about a few aspects of a person’s psychological functioning, from which broader information can be inferred. More than 500 clinical tests are currently in use. Projective Tests o Presentation of an ambiguous stimulus to a client who then projects unconscious motives and issues onto the stimulus in his or her interpretation of its content. o Ex: Rorschach Inkblot Test  Originally created to produce a profile of people with schizo based upon score frequencies  Consists of 10 inkblots printed on cards o Thematic Apperception Test  Assessment of an individual’s perception of interpersonal relationships.  31 pictures, write a story about each with a beginning, middle and end.  Helps identify dominant drives, emotions, sentiments, conflicts and complexities of a client’s personality. o Strengths: Helping for providing “supplementary” information o Weaknesses: have rarely demonstrated much reliability or validity, may be biased against minority ethnic groups. Personality Inventories: assess people’s typical ways of thinking, feeling and behaving. o Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory  Consists of more than 500 self-statements that can be answered “true”, “false” or “cannot say”.  Statements describe physical concerns, mood, morale, attitudes towards religion, sexy and social activities and psychological systems.  Strengths: Appear to have greater validity than projective tests Objectivity scored and standardized Easier, cheaper and faster than projective tests.  Weaknesses Measured traits often cannot be directly examined. Fails to allow for different responses. Response Inventories o Sometimes referred to as symptom questionnaires  Assess a variety of emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and physical symptoms. o Affective inventory: measures severity of experienced emotions o Social skills: ask how a person would respond in a variety of different social situations o Cognitive inventories: typical reveal a person’s thoughts and assumptions, focus on someone’s attitude based on the way they think. o Strengths:  strong face validity  used frequently o Weaknesses:  Rarely includes items to assess careless of inaccurate responding.  Not all have been subject to standardization, reliability and or validity procedures. Psychophysiological Tests o A test that measures the physical responses (such as heart rate and muscle tension) as possible indicators of psychological problems. o Polygraph o Neurological test: directly measures brain structure or activity. o Strengths:  Most useful when asking about specific events o Weaknesses:  Requires expensive equipment that must be tuned and maintained, can be inaccurate and unreliable.  Lack of theoretical support and standardization. Clinical Observations Systematic observations of behavior Types of clinical observation: o Naturalistic: clinicians observe clients in everyday environments o Analog: they observe clients in an artificial setting such as clinical office or lab.  Focus on children interacting with parents.  Not always reliable.  Observers may make errors that effect validity.  Observer bias: observer’s judgements may be influenced by information and expectations he or she already has about the person.  Behavior may be effected by presence of observer. o Self-monitoring: clients are instructed to observe themselves  People do not always record observations accurately, may change behaviors unintentionally. Challenges in Assessment Resistance and inability to provide information Evaluating children Evaluating individuals acrtoss cultures Ethics in Assessment Standard 9: Assessment o Must use psychologically valid and reliable instruments. o Interpret test ethically o Unethical for unqualified person to administer assessment o Unethical to use outdated tests. Diagnosing Abnormality: Key Terms Does the client’s syndrome match a known disorder? o Syndrome: a cluster of symptoms that usually occur together. o Diagnosis: determination that a person’s problems reflect a particular disorder. o Classification system: list of categories, disorders and symptom descriptions, with guidelines for assignment  Ex: DSM-V DSM-V Describes criteria for diagnoses, key clinical features and related features that are often but not always present. Categorical information refers to the name of the category indicated by the client’s symptoms. Dimensional information is a rating of how severe a client’s symptoms are and how dysfunctional the client is across various diemntsions of personality. Reliability o Different clinicians would give the same diagnosis to a client. Validity o Accuracy of the information that its diagnostic categories provide. Models of Abnormality The Biological Model (Medical Model) o How do biological theorists explain abnormal behavior?  Adopts medical perspective  Main focus is that psychological abnormality is an illness brought about by malfunctioning parts of the organism. o Biological Treatments  Psychosurgery (neurosurgery) Historical roots in trephination Lobotomies o First US – Walter Freeman 1936 o First ever – Antonio Moniz 1935  Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Procedure where controlled electric currents are passed through the brain while the person is under general anesthesia. How does it work? o Unclear at this time, but researchers propose two theories of how ECT works. o Neurotransmitter theory o Anticonvulsant theory  Drug Therapy/Psychopharmacology Four Major Drug Groups o Antidepressants  Psychotropic medications used for treatment of depression; often major depressive disorder.  Three classes: Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) Tricyclic antidepressants Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) o Mood Stabilizers  Psychotropic medications that minimize the lows of depression and the highs of mania.  Often used to treat bipolar disorder; some side effects  Anticonvulsants may also be used to reduce symptoms of mania; some may increase risk of suicide. o Antipsychotic  Psychotropic medication in the treatment of psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions.  Dopamine Antagonists  Two kinds of medications Traditional and atypical antipsychotics. o Antianxiety  Psychotropic medications used for treating the symptoms of anxiety disorders, including panic disorders, social phobias and generalized anxiety disorders.  Most are benzodiazepines which are fast acting but addictive. o Strengths of Biological Model  Enjoys considerable respect in the field  Constantly produces new valuable information  Treatments bring great relief. o Weaknesses  Can limit, rather than enhance, our understanding  Too simplistic  Treatments produce significant undesirable (negative) effects. The Psychodynamic Model o Focuses on unconscious forces o Abnormal symptoms are the result of comflict among unconscious forces o Shaped by three unconscious forces  ID: operates in accordance with pleasure principle, always seeks gratification. Instincts tend to be sexual, libido or sexual energy fuels the ID. Produces instinctual needs, drives and impulses.  The EGO: unconsciously seeks gratification, but does so in accordance with the reality principle, the knowledge we acquire through experience. Employs reason and operates in accordance with the reality principle. Ego defense mechanism: controls unacceptable impulses and avoids the risk of anxiety they arouse.  The SUPEREGO: grows from the ego, has a sense of what is right and wrong. Represents a person’s values and ideals.  Fixation: condition in which the three forces do not mature properly and are frozen at an early stage of development.  Ego Theory: psychodynamic theory that emphasizes the role of the ego and considers it an independent force.  Self-Theory: psychodynamic theory that emphasizes the role of the self. o Psychodynamic Treatments  Psychodynamic therapies All seek to uncover past trauma and inner conflicts  How does one uncover unconscious material? Free association: patient describes any thought, feeling or image that comes to mind, even if it seems unimportant. Therapist interpretation o Dream Analysis – ideas and images that form during sleep… being analyzed. o Resistance – an unconscious refusal to participate fully in therapy. o Transference – the redirection toward the psychotherapist of feelings associated with important figures in a patient’s life, now or in the past. Catharsis: a reliving of past and repressed feelings, if they are to settle internal conflicts and overcome their problems. Working through: patient and therapist examines same issues over and over in the course of many sessions, each time with greater clarity. o Strengths:  First to recognize importance of psychological theories and treatment  Saw abnormal functioning as rooted in the same processes as normal functioning  First to apply theory and techniques systematically to treatment – monumental impact on the field. o Weaknesses:  Unsupported ideas; difficult to research The Behavioral Model o Focuses on behaviors and environmental factors. o Our actions are determined largely by our experiences. o Behaviorists believe that abnormality is the results from the development of behavior patterns that are considered maladaptive for the individual.  Operant Conditioning Learning through reward and punishment Positive and negative reinforcement  Modeling (Social Learning) Individuals learn responses by observing and repeating behavior Abnormal behavior is learned by observing another person acting in that way o Identification and imitation  Classical Conditioning All behavior is learned, temporal association Abnormal behavior is learned by faulting learning o Paired association o Behavioral Treatments  Aim to identify the behaviors that are causing problems and replace them with more appropriate ones  Classical conditioning treatments may be used to change abnormal reactions to stimuli. o Strengths:  Powerful force in the field Can be tested in the lab  Significant research support for behavioral therapies o Weaknesses  Too reductionist  Is limited  Only symptoms of the illness are treated, not the underlying cause. The Cognitive Model o Focuses on cognitive processes o Abnormal behavior is the result of faulty or irrational conditions o How you think about a problem is the problem  Illogical thinking processes  Faulty assumptions and attitudes (The Cognitive Triad) o Cognitive Treatments  Becks Cognitive Theory Aka Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) Goal: to recognize and restructure thinking  Albert Ellis Basic irrational assumptions  Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) Reframing o Strengths:  Focus on human thought  Teaches the individual that they have agency over their own life  Empirically supported o Weaknesses  Precise role of cognition in abnormality has yet to be determined  Narrow in scope Research in Clinical Psychology Clinical researchers face certain challenges that make their work very difficult Clinical researchers try to discover universal laws, or principles or abnormal psychological functioning Research Methodologies o Clinical researchers utilize three main methods of investigation to form and test hypotheses and to draw broad conclusions  Case Studies Involves detailed examination of individual or small group Includes large amount of data on one particular person or group Is especially useful in unique cases Disadvantages o Cannot be used to support or refute hypotheses o Generalizability: unique phenomenon will not generalize to a whole population o Researcher bias: getting all info but what researcher focuses on can vary from researcher to researcher o Difficult to replicate  Correlational Studies Correlation is the degree to which events or characteristics vary with each other o The correlational method is a research procedure used to determine the “corelationship” between variables. Special forms of Correlational Research o Epidemiological Studies  Reveal the incidence and prevalence of a disorder in a particular population. Incidence: number of new cases that emerge in a given period Prevalence: total number of cases in a given period o Longitudinal Studies  Researchers observe the same individuals on many occasions over a long period. Strengths: o High external validity  Can generalize findings o Can replicate studies on other samples Weaknesses: o Lack internal validity  Results describe but do not explain relationship The Experimental Method An experiment is a research procedure in which a variable is manipulated and the manipulation’s effect on another variable is observed. o Manipulated variable= IV o Variable being observed= DV Researchers must try to eliminate all confounds o Variables other than the independent variable that may also be affecting the dependent.  The Control Group A group of research participants who are not exposed to IV but whose experience is similar to that of the experimental group.  Random Assignment Researchers must also watch out for differences in the makeup of the experimental and control groups Any selection procedure that ensures that every participant in the experiment is as likely to be places in one group as another.  Blind Design To avoid bias by the participant experimenters, employ a blind design. o Participants are not aware of their condition To avoid bias by the experimenter experimenters employ a double-blind design. o Experimenters and the participants are kept from knowing which condition of the study participants are in. Alternative Experimental Designs: Quasi-Experimental Designs o Investigators do not randomly assign participants to groups, but make use of groups that already exist. (Ex: children with a history of child abuse) o Confounds? – use matched control groups Alternative Experimental Design: Natural Experiments o Nature manipulates the independent variable and the experimenter observes the effects o Limitations?  Cannot be replicated at will  Broad generalizations cannot be made Alternative Experimental Designs: Single Subject Designs o Single participant is observed both before and after manipulation o ABAB  Reactions measures at baseline  Reactions measured after IV  Reactions measures after IV removed  Reactions measures after IV is reintroduced o Similar to case studies Ethical Issues in Research Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval Informed consent Debriefing Confidentiality Deception Integrative Approach to Psychopathology One-Dimensional Models o Explain behavior in terms of a single cause o Tend to ignore information from other areas  Cognitive perspective with ignore biological perspective Multidimensional Models o Interdisciplinary, eclectic and integrative o “system” of influences that cause and maintain suffering o Drawn upon information from several sources  Biopsychosocial – explainations that attribute to the cause of abnormality to an interaction of genetic, environmental, biological, developmental, emotional, behavioral, cognitive, social and cultural influences. Interaction of Genetic and Environmental Effects Diathesis-stress model: disorders are the result of underlying risk factors combining with life stressors o Risk factor – intolerance to stress, sensitivity o Diathesis:  Genes  Abnormalities of the brain structure or functioning  Neurotransmitters o Stressors  Losing a job  Trauma  Neglect o Diathesis Stress & Alcoholism  Stressor: long bouts of drinking in college  Diathesis: genetic tendency to become alcoholic o Reciprocal gene-environment model: outcomes are a result of interactions between genetic vulnerabilities and experience.  Genetics may make people more likely to seek out certain environments thus affecting their experience.