Unit 12, Abnormal Psychology Notes
(2011 update for use with Chapter 16 in 2007 Myers text)
Perspectives on Psychological Disorders 563
Definition
1. harmful
2. atypical
3. disturbing
4. maladaptive
5. unjustifiable
Is ADHD a disorder? 563
The text provides no answer. The debate continues.
B. Understanding Psychological Disorders 564
What perspectives can help us understand psychological disorders?
The Medical Model
a. medical model: diagnose the sickness and cure it
1.Etiology: Causation and developmental of the disorder.
2.Diagnosis: Identifying (symptoms) and distinguishing one disease from
another.
3.Treatment: Treating a disorder in a psychiatric hospital.
4.Prognosis: Forecast about the disorder.
2. Bio-psycho-social approach
a. interaction of nature and nurture
How and
clinicians
Classifying
Disorders 565
why do
classify
psychological
disorders?
3. DSM-IV
a. Used to classify disorders
b. Not used to explain causes
4. neurotic disorders: distressing but still can function
5. psychotic disorders: debilitating
Table 16.1 page 645
Axis I Is a Clinical Syndrome Present?
Axis II Is a Personality Disorder Present?
Axis III Is a General Medical Condition also Present?
Axis IV Are Psychosocial or Environmental Problems Present?
Axis V What is the Global Assessment of their functioning?
Labeling Psychological Disorders 567
Why do some psychologists criticize the use of diagnostic labels?
6. David Rosenhan (1973) study revealed the power of labeling
the mentally ill
7. stigmatizing
8. stereotyping
Labels can serve as “self-fulfilling prophecies”.
Insanity and responsibility 569
9. Legal definitions
a. wrongfulness of actions
b. ability to participate in legal defense
c. danger to self or others
10. Hinckley case, 1981
11. Dahmer case, 1991
12. Unabomber case
13. Andrea Yates case, 2002
II.
Anxiety Type Disorders 569
What are anxiety disorders, and how do they differ from ordinary worries and fears?
A. Generalized anxiety
1. State of tension, apprehension, ANS arousal
B. Panic disorder
1. sudden, intense dread episode
C. Phobias
1. persistent, intense, irrational fear of specific thing
ex: agoraphobia—fear of being outside
D. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
1. unwanted thoughts constantly preoccupying you
ex: taking ten showers a day to stay clean
E. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
1. Nightmares, insomnia and painful memories
2. Post traumatic growth: finding positive strengths while dealing with PTSD
Understanding Anxiety Disorders 574
1. Learning Perspective
Fear conditioning: stimulus generalization after the initial fear
producing event, followed by reinforcement to maintain the
phobia or compulsion.
Observational learning: Susan Minetka (1985) found monkeys
transmit their fear of snakes
2. The biological perspective
Natural selection: we are prepared to face certain risks
Genes: Some studies point to an anxiety gene; other studies
implicate glutamate overabundance making the brain more
sensitive
The Brain: the anterior cingulate cortex is hyperactive in those
with OCD
Somatoform disorders 576
What are somatoform disorders?
•Physical ailments that cannot be explained by organic causes
•Psychosomatic diseases
•Have a psychological origin
•Symptoms are more imaginary than real
Types
•1. Somatization disorder: affects mainly women; a list of minor complaints that may
accompany depression or anxiety
•2. Conversion disorder: loss of function of a specific organ
•3. Hypochondriasis: excessive worry about developing a physical illness (Howard
Hughes)
Dissociative disorders 577
1. Sudden loss of memory or change in identity
2. Dissociative identity disorder (DID)
a. Two or more identities that control a person’s behavior
b. evidence includes changes in brain and body states and handedness
c. Skeptics counter that it is a cultural phenomenon with few cases outside America
3. Dissociation: a sense of being separated from your body and watching yourself with a
sense of detachment
4. Some psychologists find physical evidence for personality changes.
a. Massive dissociation of self from ordinary consciousness
b. role playing occurs: suggestions and leading by the therapist
c.Nick Spanos (1986): dissociation is essentially role playing; Paul McHugh (1995) says
the phenomenon is manufactured out of the patient-therapist relationship.
III.
Mood Disorders 579
What are mood disorders, and what forms do they take?
Lethargic, withdrawn, feeling worthless or unlovable
Major Depressive Disorder
1. personal worthlessness
2. Dysthymic disorder: less disabling form of depression
3. low levels of norepinephrine
4. more females
5. last less than 3 mos.
6. therapy not need most times to recover
7. research: it’s increasing
8. Reduction of norepinephrine and serotonin has been implicated
in depression.
Drugs that alleviate mania reduce norepinephrine.
Bipolar Disorder
9. alternating between lethargy and overexcitement
10. manic episode: overexcitement, hyperactivity, wild optimism
Understanding Mood Disorders 582
What causes mood disorders, and what might explain the Western world’s rising
incidence of depression among youth and young adults?
Close Up: Suicide 584
1. Higher rates among men
2. Highest rates among older men
3. Depressed have 5x higher rate
4. Few who talk of actually commit
5. Most who commit have talked of it
6. Whites more than blacks
7. Women more likely to attempt
11. The biological perspective
a. Genetic influences; heritability of depression is 35 to 40
percent
Linkage analysis searchers for the genes responsible
b. The Depressed Brain
c. neurotransmitters: lower levels of norepinephrine and/or
serotonin
d. The hippocampus is vulnerable to stress related damage
e. The left frontal lobe is less active during depression
12. The socio cognitive perspective
a. self-blaming attributions,
b. negative thoughts and negative moods interact; women tend to
overthink leading to higher rates than men (Susan Nolen-Hoeksema,
2003)
c. maladaptive explanations of failure, your explanatory style: stable,
internal and global thinkers display this negative approach
d. Martin Seligman has describe this pessimistic style of thinking
(1991).
IV.
Schizophrenia 589
What patterns of thinking, perceiving, feeling, and behaving characterize schizophrenia?
A. Symptoms
1. disorganized and delusional thinking
Ex: thinking you’re “King of the Universe” (when you’re not)
Ex: disordered speech (word salad)
2. Hallucinations: perceiving things that are not there; frequently such hallucinations are
auditory and lesser visual, somatosensory, olfactory or gustatory.
3. Inappropriate emotions and actions
A schizophrenic person may laugh at the news of someone dying, or show
no emotion at all (apathy).
Patients with schizophrenia can continually rub an arm or rock a chair or
remain motionless for hours (catatonia).
Positive and Negative symptoms
+ Delusions
+ Hallucinations
+ Disorganized speech
+ Disordered behavior
- Lack of expression
- Lack of speech
- Lack of direction
C. Understanding Schizophrenia 592
What causes schizophrenia?
1. Brain abnormality: excess receptors for dopamine
2. Abnormal brain activity and abnormality: Schizophrenia patients
may express morphological changes in the brain like enlargement of
fluid filled ventricles.
Maternal virus during pregnancy: Schizophrenia has also been
observed individuals who contracted viral infection (flu) during the
middle of their fetal development.
Genetics: predisposition for
The likelihood of individuals suffering from schizophrenia is 50% if their identical twins
have the disease (Gottesman, 1991).
Early warning sign: early physical maturation
4. Psychological factors: early warning signs include emotional
issues, poor peer interaction, separation from parents, disruptive
behavior, and mother with the disorder.
John Nash from A Beautiful Mind as an example
V.
Personality Disorders 596
What characteristics are typical of personality disorders?
Personality disorders: disruptive, enduring behavior patterns that interfere with normal
social functioning
•A. Antisocial Personality Disorder
–1. Disorder in which the person (usually man) exhibits a lack of conscience for
wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members
–2. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist
Understanding Antisocial Personality Disorder
Genes put these people at risk
A biology based on fearlessness.
B. Narcissistic
1. preoccupied with self importance
C. Avoidant
i. being withdrawn
D. Schizoid
i. eccentric and social disengaged
E. Histrionic
1. Attention getting behavior; seeking praise
F. Murderous minds
1. frontal cortex has reduced activation failing to check impulses and/or aggression
2. PET scans of 41 murderers revealed reduced activity in the frontal lobes. In a
follow-up study repeat offenders had 11% less frontal lobe compared to normals
(Raine et al., 1999; 2000).
VI.
Rates of Psychological Disorders 599
How many people suffer, or have suffered, from a psychological disorder?
Key terms: 602 (see study guide)
AP Quiz: 602-603