Term
| List the two components Wakefield identified when he described mental disorders as “harmful dysfunctions.” Do you find his description compelling or not, and why do you think what you do on the subject? |
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Definition
-The two components are that (a) a behavior is “viewed by society as producing impairment for the individual, others, or both and (b) failures or breakdowns of an evolutionarily selected psychological system.”
-The description is compelling because it encompasses both cultural and physical definitions of a disorder. Without a cultural background to use as comparison, a behavior would be very difficult to define as “harmful.” To consider a person who is say, psychotic, and take them out of a social setting, who is to say that swathing one’s home with tin foil to keep out the Martian thought-control rays is harmful? The second component is equally necessary to include those disorders that are harmful cross-culturally or clearly represent a behavior that is taken to an extreme, such as depression leading to suicide. In this instance (taking the social risk hypothesis of depression), the behavior that has been developed to reduce one’e social burden (a generally beneficial adaptation) has been taken to the extreme of simply eliminating oneself from the group. Clearly this behavior was not very beneficial for the individual. |
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Term
| Describe one mental health condition that seems to be strongly socially constructed, and one that seems relatively removed from social construction. How strong of an influence do you feel social construction has in the majority of mental illnesses we treat in the United States? |
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Definition
-Anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa both are strongly socially constructed. In our culture, having a thin body is considered attractive, and having a heavier body can make one an object of social derision. In order to be thought of as attractive, a person may starve themselves to obtain the ideal body weight. That this disorder is not nearly as prevalent in cultures where a heavier body type is preferred lends credence to the argument that anorexia nervosa is socially constructed. On the other hand, a disorder like schizophrenia is relatively removed from social construction, due to its highly genetic basis. One cannot develop schizophrenia without a genetic predisposition, thus it does not effect the presence or absence of the disorder if society is well aware of its symptoms.
-In general, I believe that while certain disorders like anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa are clearly products of our culture, the majority of disorders are caused by biological or environmental means. While I do not discount the influence public awareness of a mental disorder has on the disorder’s prevalence, I think that the instances where a person’s “disorder” is entirely due to his or her malingering, it will be found as such. |
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Term
| _______________ is the process of maintaining stability in the face of environmental change. |
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Definition
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Term
| _____________ ___________(two words) is a term that describes changes in behavior based on illness, which can be very adaptive. |
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Definition
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Term
| ______________ is the body's response to any agent that seriously threatens ongoing stability. |
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Definition
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Term
| _______ ____________(two words) is a theory that body functioning can be explained entirely by physical mechanisms. |
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Definition
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Term
| Sick animals are _______ motivated to avoid aversive stimuli than healthy animals. |
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Definition
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Term
| A ____________ is a predisposition to develop a specific disorder. |
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Definition
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Term
| Thomas Szasz argues, "Mental disorder is a ___________" |
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Definition
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Term
| ________ -__________ __________ (three words) are locality-specific aberrant behaviors that reflect community beliefs. |
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Definition
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Term
| The _____________________ _____________ (two words) of Dissociative Identity Disorder suggests that DID results from inexpert therapist cueing, media influences, and broader cultural expectations. |
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Definition
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Term
| Prevalence of eating disorders is _____________ (increasing or decreasing) internationally. |
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Definition
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Term
| What is a brief explanation of factor analysis? |
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Definition
| Comparing variable correlations |
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Term
| What term defines transient emotional experience often dependent on outside events? |
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Definition
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Term
| What trait anchors the opposite end of the dimension from spontaneity? |
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Definition
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Term
| What are the levels of analysis from most to least general? |
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Definition
-Social connections
-Social challenges
-Thoughts/behaviors
-Heritability
-Neural pathways
-Specific neural receptors |
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Term
| In regards to levels of analysis, what changes at the same time with a given disorder? |
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Definition
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Term
| The term for reconciling levels of analysis is... |
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Definition
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Term
| Present and describe the four tenets that underlie the conceptual framework of cognitive neuroscience. |
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Definition
-The brain is an organ designed by natural selection to process information. The way that information is processed changes potential behaviors.
-Mental events arise directly from physical events in the brain. Electro-chemical messages go from one neuron to another in order to eventually form thoughts and behaviors.
-All human mental events are the result of neural information processing. In order for a thought to occur, thousands of neurons must fire and the thought that emerges is dependent on which neurons fire when and how often.
-The brain's structure and function are largely determined by genes and the protein products they produce. Thus thoughts and behavior have a genetic component as well as being influenced by how well their body produces and synthesizes proteins. |
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Term
| Describe why changes happen in the brain. |
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Definition
| Brains physically become different in response to experiences (making new neural pathways, etc) |
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Term
| What are two ways a brain can change? |
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Definition
-Changes in stimulation between neurons (neuronal firing)
-Changes in connections between neurons (neural synapses) |
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Term
| Why is clinical neuroscience perspective useful? |
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Definition
-Gives a clinician enhanced credibility
-There is a decrease in the mental health stigma (it's not me, it's my brain)
-Enhanced treatment efficacy |
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Term
| Describe how an early developmental process can help someone understand a mental disorder like borderline personality disorder. |
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Definition
-First, a person is predisposed to the disorder by having a sensitive temperament
-That person is then exposed to a disconfirming environment (e.g. having parents that just tell the person to "buck up" whenever the person is upset)
-These combine into the development of the disorder |
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Term
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Definition
| Characteristics associated with an increased likelihood of developing patterns of maladaption, which could lead to a disorder |
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Term
| What are promotive factors? |
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Definition
| Characteristics associated with an increased likelihood of developing patterns of successful adaptation, leading to to a healthy outcome |
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Term
| List and discuss four levels of complexity in developmental processes that we must study in order to begin to understand psychopathology. |
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Definition
-Normal developmental processes (so that we can compare their characteristics to abnormal characteristics and thus build a foundation of what is and what isn’t a disorder)
-Individual differences in pathways of adaptations to normative tasks. Not everyone will reach a destination by the same path, and taking a different path is not a disorder if that person arrives at a healthy outcome.
-Associations between individual pathways and development of psychopathology. Once it is understood that a certain set of pathways can arrive at a healthy outcome, one can begin to determine which pathways CANNOT arrive at a healthy outcome and are actually disorders in the making.
-Interplay among genetic, neurobiological, psychological, and environmental factors that influence development over time. The contributors to a disorder are legion, and each needs to be understood in order to get a clear picture of a disorder and how to properly treat it. |
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Term
| Name and describe two different approaches to the Mind-Body Problem. Which do you find more convincing, and why? |
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Definition
| The first approach is biological reductionism, which is the idea that body functioning can be explained entirely by physical mechanisms. The second approach is the biopsychosocial framework, which explains how biological, psychological, and social factors combine and interact to influence physical and mental health. Both approaches have merit, but I find that the biopsychosocial framework is more convincing. While arguably since every behavior is based ultimately on neurons firing back and forth, biological reductionism fails to fully encompass social and environmental factors as contributors to behavior. It is a valid solution to take every depressed person and put them on medication to treat them, but that disregards other methods of treatment based on the idea that a particular disorder develops in multiple ways. Some of the other treatment options biological reductionism would ignore may have different benefits or fewer side effects that would ultimately be more beneficial to a person. |
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Term
| Describe three components of sickness behavior, and discuss how the utility of sickness behavior varies between a cat and a human, and how this variance can drive mental and physical health challenges. |
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Definition
| The three components are decreased appetite, increased sleeping, and a tendency to stay in a safe place. The main variance between the sickness behaviors of a cat and a human are the sources of stressors. Cats exhibit sickness behaviors strictly due to natural occurrences, like having an illness or being physically threatened by a bigger animal. Humans, on the other hand, are able to CREATE stressors (like concerns about work performance or social rejection). That humans are subject to both natural and man-made stressors can increase the amount of sickness behavior we experience. This presents a problem as our bodies are not meant to deal with prolonged states of exhibiting sickness behavior but our brain have created situations where this occurs. This can develop into a variety of mental or physical problems for a person that a cat would never encounter (e.g. Depression, anxiety). |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea that there is more than one way to get to the same outcome |
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Term
| What is an example of a prenatal influence on behavior? |
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Definition
| Differences in brain development based on intrauterine stress hormone exposure |
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Term
| What do you call characteristics associated with an increased likelihood of developing patterns of successful adaptation, leading to health outcomes? |
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Definition
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Term
| What do you call a variable that affects the direction or the strength of the relationship between the predictor and the outcome? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is meant by "Cartesian Dualism?" |
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Definition
| The mind (psyche) and body (soma) are completely separate and one does not affect the other |
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Term
| What is biological reductionism? |
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Definition
| The idea that body functioning can be explained entirely by physical mechanisms |
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Term
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Definition
| Maintaining stability in the face of environmental change |
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Term
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Definition
| An agent that affects homeostasis |
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Term
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Definition
| A physical response to a stressor |
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Term
| What are some examples of sickness behavior? |
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Definition
-Loss of appetite
-Staying at home
-Sleeping more |
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Term
| What is a culture-bound syndrome? |
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Definition
| Recurrent patterns of locality specific distress that reflect community beliefs about the condition |
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Term
| The _____________ _____________(two words) occurs when Western categories of mental illness are uncritically assumed to meet the needs for diagnostic systems for people of every culture. |
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Definition
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Term
| The ____________ approach (one word) assumes that psychopathology is embedded in and shaped by cultural beliefs and practices. |
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Definition
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Term
| _____________ research approaches focus on culture-bound and culture specific aspects of psychological distress. |
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Definition
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Term
| Western countries are often characterized as being proponents of _______________, an approach to culture that maintains that autonomy, even in the context of relationships with others, is a very important value. |
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Definition
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Term
| Development of eating disorders seems to be mediated by cultural models of ________________. |
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Definition
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Term
| How do we reconcile the theories that underlie cognitive views and biological views of depression? Name one of each type of theory, describe it, and explain how the two theories can both be accurate at the same time for the same person. |
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Definition
One way to look at depression is with hopelessness theory: because of chronic, depressive environments a person eventually learns to think depressive thoughts. The best treatment for this, then, is to “unlearn” this, which is the goal of cognitive behavioral therapy.
Another way of looking at depression is the Catecholamine hypothesis, which essentially claims that depression is caused from a lack of serotonin transmission. The best way to treat a lack of chemicals is to give that person more of them, which is what antidepressants do.
However what both treatment methods have in common is that they explain the same phenomena but are customized to how that phenomena developed. Not having enough serotonin and being exposed to a depressive environment both result in the brain making new neural pathways that make the person more depressed, and both treatments work in different ways to correct those pathways. Thus the depression that developed due to the environment results in a lack of serotonin that an antidepressant can treat, and the lack of serotonin can be treated with CBT because CBT teaches a person to form new neural pathways and that release more serotonin. |
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Term
| Define the differences between a moderator and a mediator, and give an example of each. |
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Definition
| A mediator is a variable that accounts for all or part of the relation between the predictor and the outcome (the "how" or the "why") while a moderator is a variable that affects the direction or the strength of the relationship between the predictor and outcome (the "when" or "under what conditions"). The example given in class of a mediator was a person who received a brand new guitar. The guitar encouraged the person to practice, which in turn allowed the person to be good enough at guitar to land a record deal. An example of a moderator, then, would be the practice that took place. The guitar was the impetus, but the practice moderated the conditions so that a record deal was more likely. |
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Term
| According to Shakow, we should be ________________ first and clinical psychologists second. |
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Definition
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Term
| Sechrest's view that "psychotherapy is the practice of _______________" emphasizes the importance of therapists being knowledgeable about basic scientific processes in psychology and how they apply to clinical phenomena. |
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Definition
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Term
| The ____________ model of psychological training says clinical psychologists should be trained to be "psychological scientists." |
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Definition
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Term
| The ____________ model of psychological training says clinical psychologists should be trained to be "scholars." |
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Definition
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Term
| Quine's notion of the "__________ of belief" points out that beliefs are interconnected, and belief in one part of an individual's intellectual system can profoundly influence beliefs in other parts of the system. |
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Definition
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Term
| True or false: culture bound syndromes address universal concerns. |
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Definition
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Term
| Is mental illness socially constructed? |
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Definition
| It depends on the illness in question. |
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Term
| True or false: Part of Wakefield's view of mental disorders as "harmful dysfunctions" is that mental disorders occur because of the culture in which they appear. |
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Definition
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Term
| Differential schizophrenia OUTCOMES based on nationality most strongly support which perspective? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Systems of shared meaning, values, customs, beliefs, as well as social institutions and physical products |
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Term
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Definition
| Discrete groups sharing nationality, culture, and language, often a minority group in a larger culture |
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Term
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Definition
| Within an ethnic group by country of origin |
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Term
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Definition
| Physical characteristics of a person (skin color, eye shape, etc) |
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Term
| Define "cultural relativism" |
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Definition
| Judgements are based on experience, and experience is interpreted by each individual in terms of his own enculturation |
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Term
| Define "cultural universalism" |
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Definition
| "Some truths are self evident...;" When a person assumes certain aspects of his or her culture are not unique just to their own culture, but apply to all |
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Term
| Define "category fallacy" |
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Definition
| Over-identification of cultural universals and omission of cultural differences |
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Term
| Describe three important implications of cultural variation in the practice of clinical psychology. What is a useful way to address each issue in clinical practice? |
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Definition
-Cultural factors related to psychosocial environment and level of functioning: Like in cases of certain Mexican-American women, females are supposed to live with their parent’s or husband, but sometimes this isn’t healthy (like in cases where both the husband and a parent is physically abusive). Generally the solution of “move out on your own” is used, but in cases where the solution is not culturally viable, one may have to think outside the box in order to resolve the issue (for the example above, perhaps the woman has a non-abusive sibling with whom she can get an apartment).
-Cultural elements in relationship between client and therapist: The best way to deal with cultural differences a clinician may not be aware of is just to make the mistake then apologize. Oftentimes the client won’t be offended and the clinician can more effectively learn about the client’s cultural which may in turn allow the clinician to better understand the client’s disorder of the client’s point of view.
-Cultural assessment for diagnosis and care: There are instances where the symptoms may be very similar to a Western condition such as say, anxiety, but to a person living in China, the disorder is thought to be primarily physical and not mental. Thus therapy may not be as effective as prescribing a drug to treat the physical symptoms of the disorder. |
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Term
| Define emic and etic research approaches. Give an example of how depression could be studied with each approach. |
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Definition
Emic research is based on indigenous concepts and instruments while etic research is based on Western concepts and instruments and adapted for a non-Western context.
Typically Westerners study depression using the etic approach, using scales like the Beck Depression scale that correlates certain behaviors like thoughts of suicide and withdrawal from social relationships with a depressive disorder. An emic approach would take into consideration what the particular culture thinks about depression, which can create great differences. For example, Western thinking associates depression with emotional issues, while the Chinese associate depression with physical symptoms. Thus a Western scale may not consider a depressed Chinese person depressed because they do not manifest the disorder in the same way. So to study Chinese depression, then, one would need to construct a scale incorporating more physical symptoms. |
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Term
| Lee Sechrest stated, “psychotherapy is the practice of psychology.” What did he mean by this statement, and what is the most important implication of the statement for clinical practice of psychotherapy? |
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Definition
| That a good therapist is aware of any new material in the broader field of psychology and will incorporate those new ideas and techniques into his or her own practice. The implication is that once a clinician is done with his or her training, he or she cannot develop tunnel vision and focus only on his or her practice. The field of psychology is advancing all the time, and a clinician must keep abreast of current research and practices in order to better help the clients he or she treats lest the clinician stagnate with outmoded treatments that have been shown to be less effective than others. |
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Term
| List and describe three reasons why the study of science is crucial to the practice of clinical psychology. |
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Definition
- It can lead to the development of new treatment or theories. Science gives us a means to test out ideas or measure certain aspects of treatment that can further develop an understanding of disorders and how best to treat them.
- Allows a clinician to be informed enough to weigh the validity of certain procedures in terms of their possible benefits or harm. Comparative studies can demonstrate how certain treatments are more beneficial to certain types of disorders and why, which in turn leads to a more informed decision on the clinician’s part as to which treatment would benefit their client the most.
- Informs clinician to biases they may bring to their work and provides means to compensate for these biases. Without an outside source confirming a clinician’s work, the clinician might have no idea that he or she has not chosen the optimum way to treat a disorder. |
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