Exam (elaborations)
Abnormal Psychology
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Abnormal Psychology Abnormal Psychology Abnormal Psychology
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Abnormal Psychology5 Criteria for Psychological Disorders - ANS 1) "clinical significance," meaning that the behavior involves
a measurable degree of impairment and "diagnostic validity" meaning that the diagnoses predict future
behavior or responses to treatment
2) the behavior reflects a dysfunction in psychological, biological, or developmental processes
3) the behavior usually is associated with significant distress or disability in important realms of life
4) the individual's behavior cannot be socially "deviant" as defined in terms of religion, politics, or
sexuality
5) conflicts between the individual and society are not counted as psychological disorders unless they
reflect a dysfunction within the individual
Biological Causes - ANS The biological domain includes genetic and environmental influences on physical
functioning. Of particular interest are inherited factors that alter the functioning of the nervous system.
There are also physiological changes that affect behavior, which other conditions in the body cause, such
as brain damage or exposure to harmful environmental stimuli.
Genetic inheritance
Physiological changes
Exposure to toxic substances
Psychological Causes - ANS Psychological causes of abnormal behavior involve disturbances in thoughts
and feelings.
Past learning experiences
Maladaptive thought patterns
Difficulties coping with stress
,Sociocultural Causes - ANS The term sociocultural refers to the various circles of influence on the
individual ranging from close friends and family to the institutions and policies of a country or the world
as a whole. Discrimination, whether based on social class, income, race and ethnicity, or gender, can
influence the development of abnormal behavior.
Social policies
Discrimination
Stigma
Stigma - ANS A stigma is a label that causes us to regard certain people as different, defective, and set
apart from mainstream members of society
Biopsychosocial - ANS the interaction in which biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors play a
role in the development of an individual's symptoms.
The Biopsychosocial Perspective - ANS The biopsychosocial perspective incorporates a developmental
viewpoint. This means that individuals must be seen as changing over time. Biopsychosocial factors
interact to alter the individual's expression of behavioral patterns over time.
Spiritual Explanations - ANS regard abnormal behavior as the product of possession by evil or demonic
spirits
Humanitarian Explanations - ANS view psychological disorders as the result of cruelty, stress, or poor
living conditions.
Scientific Explanations - ANS look for causes that we can objectively measure, such as biological
alterations, faulty learning processes, or emotional stressors.
trephining - ANS a process wherein a "patient" would have a hole cut into their skull to release the
assumed evil spirit trapped inside.
,exorcism - ANS An ancient practice performed by a shaman, priest, or medicine man wherein the
"patient" wpuld undergo a physically and mentally painful form of torture to drive evil spirits away.
Malleus Maleficarum - ANS an indictment of witches written by two Dominican monks in Germany in
1486, became the Church's justification for denouncing witches as heretics and devils whom it had to
destroy in the interest of preserving Christianity. The Church recommended "treatments" such as
deportation, torture, and burning at the stake. Women were the main targets of persecution.
Dorothea Dix - ANS a Boston schoolteacher and reformer who sought to improve the treatment of
people with psychological disorders in the mid-1800s. Dix appealed to the Massachusetts Legislature for
more state-funded public hospitals to provide humane treatment for mental patients. From
Massachusetts, Dix spread her message throughout North America and Europe.
The Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Center Construction Act - ANS A 1963
governmental act initiated a series of changes that would affect mental health services for decades to
come. Legislators began to promote policies designed to move people out of institutions and into less
restrictive programs in the community, such as vocational rehabilitation facilities, day hospitals, and
psychiatric clinics. After their discharge from the hospital, people entered halfway houses, which
provided a supportive environment in which they could learn the necessary social skills to re-enter the
community. proposed patient treatment in clinics and treatment centers outside of mental hospitals.
This legislation paved the way for the deinstitutionalization movement and subsequent efforts to
continue to improve community treatment.
Claudius Galen (a.d. 130-200) - ANS a Roman physician who developed a system of medical knowledge
based on anatomical studies.
Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) - ANS the founder of American psychiatry, rekindled interest in the scientific
approach to psychological disorders. In 1783, Rush joined the medical staff of Pennsylvania Hospital.
Appalled by the poor hospital conditions, he advocated for improvements such as placing
psychologically disturbed patients in their own wards, giving them occupational therapy, and prohibiting
visits from curiosity seekers who would visit the hospital for entertainment. Rush also supported the use
of bloodletting and purging in the treatment of psychological disorders as well as the "tranquilizer"
chair, intended to reduce blood flow to the brain by binding the patient's head and limbs. Rush also
, recommended submerging patients in cold shower baths and frightening them with death threats. He
thought that fright inducement would counteract the overexcitement that he believed was responsible
for the patients' violent behavior
Wilhelm Greisinger - ANS German psychiatrist who published The Pathology and Therapy of Mental
Disorders in 1845, which proposed that "neuropathologies" were the cause of psychological disorders.
Emil Kraepelin - ANS German psychiatrist who promoted a classification system much like that applied to
medical diagnoses. He proposed that disorders could be identified by their patterns of symptoms.
Ultimately, this work provided the scientific basis for current diagnostic systems.
Hippocrates (ca. 460-377 b.c.) - ANS considered the founder of modern medicine, believed that there
were four important bodily fluids that influenced physical and mental health, leading to four personality
dispositions. To treat a psychological disorder would require ridding the body of the excess fluid.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) - ANS a Viennese neurologist who in the early 1900s developed
psychoanalysis, a theory and system of practice that relied heavily on the concepts of the unconscious
mind, inhibited sexual impulses, and early development. By the time of his death in 1939, Freud had
articulated a vision for psychological disorder cause and treatment with the basic tenet that most
symptoms had roots buried deep within an individual's past.
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) - ANS Russian physiologist known for his discovery of classical conditioning,
became the basis for the behaviorist movement begun in the United States by John B. Watson (1878-
1958). B. F. Skinner (1904-1990) formulated a systematic approach to operant conditioning, specifying
the types and nature of reinforcement as a way to modify behavior.
Positive Psychology - ANS movement which emphasizes the potential for growth and change throughout
life. The movement views psychological disorders as difficulties that inhibit the individual's ability to
achieve highly subjective well-being and feelings of fulfillment. In addition, the positive psychology
movement emphasizes prevention rather than intervention. Instead of fixing problems after they occur,
it would benefit people more if they could avoid developing symptoms in the first place.
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