Prepare for your exams
Get points
Guidelines and tips
Sell on Docsity
Docsity AI

Prepare for your exams

Study with the several resources on Docsity

Earn points to download

Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan

Guidelines and tips

Sell on Docsity

Docsity AI

Log in Sign up

Prepare for your exams

Study with the several resources on Docsity

Find documents

Prepare for your exams with the study notes shared by other students like you on Docsity

Search for your university

Find the specific documents for your university's exams

Docsity AINEW

Summarize your documents, ask them questions, convert them into quizzes and concept maps

Explore questions

Clear up your doubts by reading the answers to questions asked by your fellow students

Earn points to download

Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan

Share documents

20 Points

For each uploaded document

Answer questions

5 Points

For each given answer (max 1 per day)

All the ways to get free points

Get points immediately

Choose a premium plan with all the points you need

Study Opportunities

Choose your next study program

Get in touch with the best universities in the world. Search through thousands of universities and official partners

Community

Ask the community

Ask the community for help and clear up your study doubts

Free resources

Our save-the-student-ebooks!

Download our free guides on studying techniques, anxiety management strategies, and thesis advice from Docsity tutors

Midterm abnormal psych, Exams of Psychology

Harvard University Psychology

Midterm abnormal psych Midterm abnormal psych

Typology: Exams

2024/2025

Available from 12/04/2024

DrShirley 🇺🇸

3.3

(4)

4.6K documents

1 / 18

This page cannot be seen from the preview

Don't miss anything!

Midterm abnormal psych

What is abnormal psychology? -

area of scientific study aimed at describing, explaining, predicting, and modifying

behaviors that are considered unusual or strange.

abnormal psychology used psychodiagnosis to...? -

attempts to describe, assess, and systematically draw inferences about psychological

disorders

how to modify abnormal behavior ? -

therapy is one of the ways to help modify abnormal behavior

therapy -

program of systematic intervention aimed at improving client's behavioral,

emotional, and/or cognitive state.

To determine abnormality psychologists use? -

the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (most current version is

DMS-5). It is the most widely used classification system of mental illness.

The DSM-5 defines abnormal behavior as...? -

"a behavior or psychological syndrome or pattern that reflects an underlying

psychobiological dysfunction, that is associated with distress or disability and is not merely

an expectable response to common stressors or losses." (www.dsm5.org)

What are the limitations of DSM-5 definition? -

DSM definition is quite broad and raises questions.

- When is a syndrome or pattern of behavior significant enough to have meaning?

- What constitutes "present distress" and "painful symptoms"?

- What criteria are to be used in assessing symptoms?

Four major means of judging abnormal behavior...? -

- Distress

- Deviance/deviation (an example is IQ.)

- Dysfunction (what can you do? are you able to do certain things?)

- Dangerousness

Culture (abnormal behavior in context) -

shared learned behavior transmitted from generation to generation.

how does culture affect abnormal behavior? -

powerful determinant of how behavior is defined and treated.

cultural universality -

origins, processes, and manifestation of disorders are the same across cultures

cultural relativism -

1 | P a g e

Discover Exams of Psychology Harvard University

Partial preview of the text

Download Midterm abnormal psych and more Exams Psychology in PDF only on Docsity!

Midterm abnormal psych

What is abnormal psychology? - area of scientific study aimed at describing, explaining, predicting, and modifying behaviors that are considered unusual or strange. abnormal psychology used psychodiagnosis to...? - attempts to describe, assess, and systematically draw inferences about psychological disorders how to modify abnormal behavior? - therapy is one of the ways to help modify abnormal behavior therapy - program of systematic intervention aimed at improving client's behavioral, emotional, and/or cognitive state. To determine abnormality psychologists use? - the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (most current version is DMS-5). It is the most widely used classification system of mental illness. The DSM-5 defines abnormal behavior as...? - "a behavior or psychological syndrome or pattern that reflects an underlying psychobiological dysfunction, that is associated with distress or disability and is not merely an expectable response to common stressors or losses." (www.dsm5.org) What are the limitations of DSM-5 definition? - DSM definition is quite broad and raises questions.

When is a syndrome or pattern of behavior significant enough to have meaning?
What constitutes "present distress" and "painful symptoms"?
What criteria are to be used in assessing symptoms? Four major means of judging abnormal behavior...? -
- Distress
Deviance/deviation (an example is IQ.)
Dysfunction (what can you do? are you able to do certain things?)
Dangerousness Culture (abnormal behavior in context) - shared learned behavior transmitted from generation to generation. how does culture affect abnormal behavior? - powerful determinant of how behavior is defined and treated. cultural universality - origins, processes, and manifestation of disorders are the same across cultures cultural relativism -

what is normal/abnormal may vary from culture to culture mental illness as a sociopolitical construction - must be sensitive to individual value systems, societal norms and values, and potential sociopolitical ramifications multicultural limitations - how does culture affect our understanding of human behavior? Two key questions to consider: -

what is universal in human behavior that is also relevant to understanding psychopathology?
what is the relationship between cultural norms, values, and attitudes and the incidence and manifestations of behavior disorders? psychiatric epidemiology - study of the prevalence of mental illness in a society prevalence - percentage of people in a population who suffer from a disorder at a given point in time (or period of time). lifetime prevalence - the percentage of people in the population who have had a disorder at some point in their life ex. if anyone had depression in 2007 but not in 2015 they're still counted. incidence - onset or occurrence of a given disorder over a period of time. ex. how many people were newly diagnosed in that period of time.
helps give a prevention model. common myths of mentally disturbed -
mentally disturbed people can always be recognized by their abnormal behavior
mentally disturbed people can always be recognized by their abnormal behavior. biopsychosocial model - mental disorder are the result of an interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors prehistoric and ancient beliefs - demonology treated by trephining or exorcism naturalistic explanations (Greco-Roman) -
naturalistic explanations supplanted supernaturals
hippocrates believed deviant behavior caused by brain pathology, the dysfunction of the brain

--- develop culturally relevant therapy approaches neuroanatomy - role of neurotransmitters in mental disorders Psychopathology - Clinical term meaning abnormal behavior Psychopathology model -

An analogy used by scientists, usually to describe or explain a phenomenon or process that they cannot directly observe
Model, theory, viewpoint, and perspective are often used interchangeably Etiology - Causes of disorders biopsychosocial model - the following are limitations to what model?
provides little information about how factors interact to produce illness
allows practitioners to do everything without guidance
fails to consider the equally powerful influence of culture multipath model - An integrative and interacting means of viewing disorders and their causes multipath models - The following dimensions belong to what models?
Biological factors
Psychological factors
Social factors
Sociocultural factors Biological pathway relies on certian assumptions -
Genetics help make people who they are
Human thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are associated with nerve cell activity of brain and spinal cord
Change in thought, emotion, or behavior will be associated with change in activity or structure of brain
Mental disorders are highly correlated with some form of brain or other organ dysfunction
Mental disorders can be treated by drugs or somatic intervention the human brain - these all belong to?
Neurons:
Nerve cells that transmit messages throughout the body and that make-up the brain
Two hemispheres control opposite sides of the body:
Right hemisphere:
Visual-spatial abilities and emotional behavior
Left hemisphere:

Language functions main parts of the brain -
- Forebrain
Midbrain
Hindbrain forebrain - Controls all the higher mental functions, such as learning, speech, thought, and memory thalamus - "Relay station;" transmits nerve impulses throughout brain Hypothalamus - Regulates bodily drives and body conditions Limbic system - What system involves experiencing/expressing emotions and motivation Midbrain -
- Involved in vision and hearing (along with hindbrain) and controls sleep, alertness, and pain
Manufactures serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine Hindbrain -
- Controls heart rate, sleep, and respiration
Manufactures serotonin Basic premise - Chemical imbalances underlie mental disorders Dendrites - Receive signals from other neurons Axons - Send signals to other neurons Synapse - Gap between axon of sending neuron and dendrites of receiving neuron Neurotransmitters - Chemicals involved in transmission of neural impulses Genetic explanations -
- Genetic makeup plays an important role in developing abnormal conditions
Autonomic nervous system reactivity may be inherited
Hereditary factors are implicated in alcoholism, schizophrenia, and depression

Present from birth
Operates on the pleasure principle
Impulsive, pleasure-seeking aspect of being; immediate gratification of instinctual needs Ego -
Realistic, rational part of mind
Operates on reality principle
Awareness of environmental demands and need to adjust behavior to meet these demands 0 consider reality while meeting the needs of the id Superego -
Moral judgments/moralistic considerations involve conscience & ego ideal, which rewards moral behavior with pride dominant human instincts - sex and aggression Freud - who believed that although most impulses are hidden from consciousness, they determine human actions Psychosexual stages -
Sequence of stages through which personality develops:
Oral (first year of life)
Anal (second year of life)
Phallic (beginning ages 3-4)
Latency (approximately ages 6-12)
Genital (beginning in puberty) Oral (first year of life) - dependency first psychosexual development stage where in the mouth of the infant is his or her primary erogenous zone. Anal (second year of life) -
Appropriate praise and rewards
competent and creative
Too lenient --- messy, destructive and wasteful
Too strict (anal retentive) --- controlled and obsessive Phallic (beginning ages 3-4) -
Fixation at this stage - sexual deviance and confusion about sexual identity
He believed girls had penis envy too the third stage of psychosexual development, spanning the ages of three to six years, wherein the infant's libido (desire) centers upon his or her genitalia as the erogenous zone. Latency (approximately ages 6-12) -

Children play with children of same gender fourth phase of Freud's psychosexual development. The latency stage is characterized by the following: Begins sometime between the ages of 5 and 7 and endures until puberty. Genital (beginning in puberty) - If all stages completed normally - then this will be balanced Its the final stage of human psychosexual development. The individual develops a strong sexual interest in people outside of the family. Fixation - Emotional development gets stuck at a particular psychosexual stage Psychoanalysis has three main goals - The following are three main goals of?

Uncovering repressed material
Helping clients achieve insight into desires and motivations
Resolving childhood conflicts that affect current relationships Traditional psychodynamic therapy - The following are four methods to achieve goals, what type of therapy is this?
Free association
Dream analysis
Resistance
Transference Contemporary psychodynamic theory -
- Post-Freudian theories place less emphasis on sex and more emphasis on:
Freedom of choice and future goals
Ego autonomy
Social forces
Object relations (past interpersonal relations)
Treatment of seriously disturbed people Frued's psychodynamic models - the following are criticims for?
Freud's observations made under uncontrolled conditions
Theory deprecates female sexuality while legitimizing male sexuality
Models do not apply to a wide range of disturbed people
best suited to well-educated people in middle and upper SES with anxiety (not psychotic) disorders Behavioral models - Concerned with the role of learning in abnormal behavior Three models behavioral models -
- Classical conditioning (Ivan Pavlov)
Operant conditioning (B. F. Skinner)
Observational learning (Albert Bandura)

B. F. Skinner developed this initial idea by Thorndike and made "reinforcement" central concept Operant behavior - A voluntary and controllable behavior that "operates" on an individual's environment Operant conditioning - Voluntary behaviors are controlled by the consequences that follow them How does operant conditioning model differ from classical conditioning? -
- Operant conditioning is linked to voluntary, not involuntary, behaviors
In operant conditioning, behaviors are controlled by consequences that follow behavior, rather than precede it Operant conditioning in psychopathology - Maladaptive behaviors linked to environmental reinforcers (e.g., head banging) Positive reinforcers - Which type of reinforcment (reinforcers) give pleasurable feelings; lower anxiety? Negatice reinforcers - what type of reinforcer is based on escape/ avoidance The observational learning paradigm - Behaviors are acquired by watching other people perform those behaviors Modeling - Learning by observing models and later imitating them (also called vicarious conditioning) Observational learning in psychopathology -
- Assumes that abnormal behavior is learned in the same way as normal behavior
Exposure to disturbed models is likely to produce disturbed behaviors behavioral models - The following are criticisms of what models?
Often neglects importance of inner determinants of behavior
Overextends animal studies to human behavior
Mechanistic: ignores human values Cognitive models - The following statemet defines what model? Conscious thought mediates or modifies a person's emotional state and/or behavior in response to a stimulus Schemas - Sets of underlying assumptions influenced by experiences, values, and perceived capabilities

Beck and Ellis - ? and?

Psychological problems produced by irrational thought patterns stemming individual's belief system
Unpleasant emotional responses result from one's unrealistic and irrational thoughts about an event, not the event itself. Distortions of thought processes - Humans are born with the capacity for both rational and irrational thinking A-B-C theory of personality - describes the process by which individuals acquire irrational thoughts through interactions with significant others Cognitive approaches to therapy -
- Highly specific learning experiences to teach clients to:
Monitor negative, automatic thoughts (cognitions)
Recognize connections between cognition, affect, and behavior
Examine evidence for and against distorted automatic thoughts
Substitute reality-oriented interpretations
Identify and alter beliefs that predispose them to distort their experiences Criticisms of cognitive models -
- Skinner: Cognitions are not observable, so they cannot form the foundation of empiricism
Human behavior is more than thoughts and beliefs
Therapist, as teacher, expert, and authority figure is direct and confrontational and may intimidate client and misidentify the disorder Reality - The product of our unique experiences and perceptions of the world; the subjective universe is more important than the events themselves Humanistic and existential models - The following models are representative of what models?
We have free choice/personal responsibility
A person's "wholeness" is critically important
We have the ability to become what we want to be Humanistic perspective -
- Carl Rogers best known of humanists
Positive view of the individual
Humanity is basically "good," forward-moving, and trustworthy Actualizing tendency - People motivated to meet not only biological needs, but also the self Self-actualization - Inherent tendency to strive toward realization of one's full potential

Aimed at helping couples understand and clarify their communication, needs, roles, and expectations Group therapy -

Initially strangers
Focus on interrelationships and dynamics of interaction among members Criticisms of social-relational models -
Studies have generally not been rigorous in design
Groups tend to operate on culture-bound definitions
Family systems models may have negative consequences:
Parental influence may not be a factor in an individual's disorder but are burdened with guilt Past cultural models - The following model are what?
Inferiority model
Deficit model
The universal shamanic tradition Inferiority model - Contends that minorities are inferior to majority population Deficit model - Minority groups lacked "right" culture The universal shamanic tradition - Nonwestern indigenous psychologies assume special healers have power to act as intermediaries between the human and spirit worlds Multicultural model -
Recognizes differences in cultures, and that each culture has its own strengths and limitations
Assumes all theories of human development arise from a particular cultural context
Suggests that sociocultural stressors reside within the social system - not within the person
Appropriate treatment, therefore, may be served through teaching self-help skills and strategies to negotiate client's social situation Criticisms of multicultural model -
Operates from relativistic framework: normal and abnormal behavior must be evaluated from a cultural perspective
Critics argue "a disorder is a disorder," regardless of cultural context
Lacks empirical validation concerning its assumptions
Based on Western worldview Reliability -
Yields the same results repeatedly under the same circumstances
The degree to which a measure or procedure repeatedly yields the same results Test-retest reliability -

Same results when given at two different points in time Internal consistency - Various parts of measure yield similar or consistent results Interrater reliability - Consistency of responses when different raters administer measure Validity -

Performs the function it was designed to perform
Measuring what is intended to be measured Predictive validity - Is measure able to predict how a person will behave, respond, or perform Criterion-related validity - Is measure related to phenomenon in question Construct validity - the degree to which a test measures what it claims, or purports, to be measuring Content validity - Is a measure representative of measured phenomenon refers to the extent to which a measure represents all facets of a given construct Standardization -
Crucial to reliability and validity of tests
Administration of all testing requires that common rules and procedures are followed
Requires a comparison group to which an individual's test performance can be compared Assessment - Process of gathering information and drawing conclusions about an individual's traits, skills, abilities, emotional functioning, and psychological problems Principal means of assessment -
Observations
Interviews
Psychological tests and inventories
Neurological tests Observations - types of _________________________?
Controlled (analogue) observations
Naturalistic observations
Usually in conjunction with an interview
Observe appearance and behavior Controlled (analogue) observations - the following statement decribes what type of observation? Made in laboratory, clinic, or other contrived setting

Increase diagnostic accuracy when coupled with psychological tests psychological test -

Electroencephalograph (EEG)
X-ray studies
Computerized axial tomography (CT) scan
Positron emission tomography (PET) scan
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Classification system - Provides distinct categories, indicators, and nomenclature for different patterns of behavior, thought processes, and emotional disturbances. DSM-5 -
Dimensional system: disorders lie on a continuum with "normality" at one end
"Risk syndromes": milder forms of disorders
Ratings: "none," "slight," "mild," "moderate," "severe"
Clear diagnostic and categorizing guidelines
Comorbidity: the concurrence of different disorders suffered by a patient at one time Objections to classification and labeling -
Can lead to overgeneralization, stigmas, and stereotypes
Can lead to treating someone differently
Individuals who are labeled tend to believe they have those characteristics
Labels may not provide precise, functional information Replication - Results must be repeated in multiple studies to reduce the chance of findings due to experimenter bias, methodological flaws, or sampling errors Scientific method - Provides systematic collection of data, controlled observation, and the testing of hypotheses Hypothesis - Conjectural statement that usually describes a relationship between two variables A statement you make of what you think the relationship is between two variables. Theory - Group of principles and hypotheses that together explain some aspect of a particular area of inquiry Characteristics of Clinical Research - The following are characterstics of?
Clear, systematic statement of hypotheses
Potential for self-correction
Hypothesize the relationship between variables Operational definition - Clearly stated definition of variable studied

Base rates - The rates of natural occurrence of phenomena in the population being studied Statistical significance - The likelihood that a relationship is not due to chance alone Clinical significance - Whether a statistically significant finding is meaningful Experiments - Perhaps best tool for testing cause-and-effect relationships Four part of an experiment in the simplest form -

Experimental hypothesis
Independent variable
Dependent variable
Random assignment Experimental hypothesis - Prediction concerning how an independent variable will affect dependent variable Independent variable - (Possible cause) experimenter manipulates to determine effect on dependent variable Dependent variable - Expected to change as a result of changes in independent variable Two primary concerns of any experiment - Eliminating extraneous or confounding variables promotes internal validity Internal validity - A high degree of certainty that change to dependent variable is due to an independent variable External validity - Findings can generalize to other groups or conditions Experimental group - Subjected to independent variable Control group - Similar in every way to experimental group except not subjected to manipulation of independent variable Placebo control - Induces expectancy without actual treatment (no manipulation at all) Blind design -
Those helping with the study are not aware of research

Midterm abnormal psych, Exams of Psychology

Related documents

Partial preview of the text

Download Midterm abnormal psych and more Exams Psychology in PDF only on Docsity!

Midterm abnormal psych