Adaptations = Adjusting to new information & experiences
- Help us grow and cope with change
- Poor, adequate, optimal
Adaptation ≠ smooth sailing
Struggles ≠ presence of disorder
- Challenges are inevitable
Abnormal Psychology
Stigma - Stereotype, prejudice & discrimination
- Public, personal, self (internalized)
- Media creates this and should ideally be:
- Responsible, accurate + balanced
Prevalence & incidence Prevalence → proportion of the population with a disorder (# of current cases)
Incidence → rate at which new cases arise (# of new cases at a given time period)
What is normal? About emotion cognition & behavior
1. Statistical divergent (over or under normalcy)
2. Sociocultural standards (does not conform to norms & expectations)
3. Mental health care (judgments of distress & disfunction)
, Dependent on:
- Observer
- Instrument
- Situation
Healthy individuals ● The positive quality of life
● Good functioning (daily life & society)
● No abnormal symbols of psychopathology
Abnormal individuals The four D’s
1. Dysfunction (interfere with daily life function)
2. Distress (emotional pain to others or self)
3. Deviance (ex. Hearing voice, influenced by norms)
4. Danger (harm to individuals or themselves)
Theoretical Models
Warning: Not mutually exclusive!
- Organizing information
- Answering the question of: What is etiology in terms of biological psychological & contextual process?
Types
Continuous Discontinuous
- Normal feels gradually become - A clear distinction between
diagnosable disorders “normal” and “abnormal”
- Scale - Discrete and qualitative
differences
Physiological models = Emphasis on the physiological basis of all physiological processes and events
● Structural
● Biological
● chemical
- Current models emphasize the combination of various physiological factors
& stress (Ex. Diathesis-stress model)
Diathesis-stress model
- Combination of psychological factors & stress
- Diathesis: psychological factors (ex Genetics, structural pathology &
biochemistry)
- Stress: physiological or environmental
- The interaction may lead to the development
- Predispositions can be triggered by stressful life
- Example: low disposition= high levels of stress to trigger the disorder
- Explains why some people may develop disorder due to stress and others
don't
Connectome: Diagram of the brain's neural connections
- A holistic view of the brain
- Localization vs holistic view of the brain
- Typical development: an abundance of brain cells & neural connections →
, neural pruning due to environment, making the network more efficient and
tuned
- Experience-dependent brain plasticity
Gene-by-Environment (G*E) Effects & interactions
● Passive correlations: environment provided by genetically related parents
(Ex. musical parents = more opportunities to learn an instrument)
● Active correlations: children select their own environments (Ex. extroverted
children seek other children)
● Evocative correlations: Different reactions due to genetically influenced
emotions evoke responsiveness in the environment (Ex. more anxious =
situations with low stress will still stress you)
● Gene-by-environment interactions: differential sensitivity or
susceptibility to environments or experiences (Ex.
Psychodynamic models = Emphasis in current models
● Subconscious cognitive, affective, and motivational processes
● Mental representations of themselves others and relationships
● Meaning of individuals subjective experiences
● Development of personality problems and childhood psychological
challenges
Fixation regression model
- Individuals who fail to work through issues make you stuck in the past
- Rooted in trauma
Behavioral and cognitive = Emphasis on
models ● Outward actions: observable behavior
● Core concepts of learning theories:
○ Normal and abnormal behaviors are acquired through learning
(classical conditioning, operant conditioning, observational learning)
● Observable behavior is specific to the environment
● Focus on components of processes of the mind and mental development
Piaget stages cognitive development
- Sensorimotor: 0-2 years of age
- Preoperational period: 2-7
- Concrete operational period: 7-11
- Formal operational period: 11 years or old
Humanistic models = Emphasis on
● Personal meaningful experiences
● Congenital motivation for healthy growth
● Creation of self-image by the child
● Linked to positive psychology: group
Family or systemic models = Emphasis on
● The best way to understand a child is to understand family dynamics
● Shared and unshared surroundings of family members
○ Shared: family function with all children, not explained by biology
○ Unshared: aspects of family function that are specific and distinct for
each child, contribute to dissimilarity
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