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Abnormal Psychology DOL Study Guide
IB HL Psychology Y2 Abnormal Psychology Study Guide
42
Psychology
Intermediate
02/20/2023

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Term
How should we draw the line between normality and disorder?
Definition
According to psychologists and psychiatrists, a psychological disorder is a syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior.
Term
Why is there some controversy over attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder?
Definition
By age 7 a child with extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity may be diagnosed with ADHD. The controversy centers on whether the growing number of ADHD cases reflects overdiagnosis or increased awareness of the disorder. The long-term effects of stimulant drug treatment for ADHD are not yet known.
Term
How do the medical model and the biophysical approach understand psychological disorders?
Definition
The medical model assumes that psychological disorders are mental illnesses with physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured through therapy, sometimes in a hospital. Biological, psychological, and social-cultural influences interact to produce specific psychological disorders.
Term
How and why do clinicians classify psychological disorders?
Definition
the DSM-5 contains diagnostic labels and descriptions that provide a common language and shared concepts for communication and research. Some critics believe the DSM editions have become too detailed and extensive.
Term
Why do some psychologists criticize the use of diagnostic labels?
Definition
Other critics view DSM diagnoses as arbitrary labels that create preconceptions that bias perceptions of the labeled person's past and present behavior. The legal label, "insanity", raises moral and ethical questions about whether society should hold people with disorders responsible for their violent actions. Most people with disorders are nonviolent and are more likely to be victims than attackers.
Term
How many people suffer, or have suffered, from a psychological disorder? Is poverty a risk factor?
Definition
Psychological disorder rates vary, depending on the time and place of the survey. In one multinational survey, rates for any disorder ranged from less than 5 percent (Shanghai) to more than 25 percent (the United States). Poverty is a risk factor: conditions and experiences associated with poverty contribute to the development of psychological disorders. But some disorders, such as schizophrenia, can drive people into poverty.
Term
Which of the following describes the idea that psychological disorders can be diagnosed and treated?
Definition
The medical model
Term
Which of the following is the primary purpose of the DSM?
Definition
Diagnosis of mental disorders
Term
Which of the following disorders do Americans report most frequently?
Definition
Mood disorders
Term
Name and describe the two major approaches to understanding psychological disorders
Definition
1. The medical model, which is an attempt to first diagnose then treat psychological disorders.
2. The biophysical approach, which is an attempt to understand psychological disorders as an interaction of biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors.
Term
What are different anxiety disorders?
Definition
Anxious feelings and behaviors are classified as an anxiety disorder only when they form a pattern of distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety. People with generalized anxiety disorder feel persistently and uncontrollably tense and apprehensive for no apparent reason. In the more extreme panic disorder, anxiety escalates into periodic episodes of intense dread. Those with a phobia may be irrationally afraid of a specific object, activity, or situation. Two other disorders, OCD and PTSD, involve anxiety even though they are classified separately from the anxiety disorders.
Term
What is obsessive-compulsive disorder? (OCD)
Definition
Persistent and repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and actions (compulsions) characterize OCD.
Term
What is post traumatic stress disorder?
Definition
Symptoms of PTSD include four or more weeks of haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, and sleep problems following some traumatic experience.
Term
How do the learning and biological perspectives explain anxiety disorders, OCD, and PTSD?
Definition
the learning perspective views anxiety disorders, OCD, and PTSD as products of fear conditioning, stimulus generalization, fearful-behavior reinforcement, and observational learning of others’ fears and cognitions (interpretations, irrational beliefs, and hyper vigilance).
The biological perspective considers the role that fears of life-threatening animals, objects, or situations played in natural selection and evolution; genetic predispositions for high levels of emotional reactivity and neurotransmitter production; and abnormal responses in the brain’s fear circuits.
Term
What do we call an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation?
Definition
Phobia
Term
A person troubled by repetitive thoughts or actions is most likely experiencing which of the following?
Definition
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Term
The key difference between obsessions and compulsions is taht compulsions involve repetitive…
Definition
Behaviors
Term
Name the two contemporary perspectives used by psychologists to understand anxiety disorders. Then explain how or what psychologists study within each perspectives.
Definition
1. The learning perspective: Psychologists using the learning perspective study fear conditioning, observational learning, or cognitive processes.
2. The biological perspective: Psychologists using the biological perspective study natural selections, genes, or the brain.
Term
What are mood disorders? How does major depressive disorder differ from bipolar disorder?
Definition
Mood disorders are characterized by emotional extremes.
A person with major depressive disorder experiences two or more weeks of seriously depressed moods and feelings of worthlessness, and takes little interest in, and derives little pleasure from most activities
A person with the less common condition of bipolar disorder experiences not only depression but also mania - episodes of hyperactive and wildly optimistic, impulsive behavior
Term
How do the biological and social-cognitive perspectives explain mood disorders?
Definition
The biological perspective on depression focuses on genetic predispositions and on abnormalities in brain structures and function (including those found in neurotransmitter systems).
The social-cognitive perspective views depression as an ongoing cycle of stressful experiences (interpreted through negative beliefs, attributions, and memories) leading to negative moods and actions and fueling new stressful experiences.
Term
What factors affect suicide and self-injury, and what are some of the important warning signs to watch for in suicide-prevention efforts?
Definition
Suicide rates differ by nation, race, gender, age group, income, religious involvement, marital status, and (for gay and lesbian youth) social support structure.
Those with depression are more at risk for suicide than others are, but social suggestion, health status, and economic and social frustration are also contributing factors.
Environmental barrie’s (such as jump barriers) are effective in preventing suicides
Forewarnings of suicide may include verbal hints, giving away possessions, withdrawal, preoccupation with death, and discussing one’s own suicide.
Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) does not usually lead to suicide but may escalate to suicidal thoughts and acts if untreated.
People who engage in NSSI do not tolerate stress well and tend to be self-critical, with poor communication and problem-solving skills.
Term
Which is not a symptom of major depressive disorder?
Definition
Auditory hallucinations
Term
Which of the following is true of suicide?
Definition
In the United States, suicide is more common among Whites than Blacks
Term
Based on brain scans, which of the following is true of brain function and mood?
Definition
The brain is more active during manic episodes and less active during depressive episodes.
Term
Xavier, who has a negative explanatory style, is most likely to get depressed after failing a math test if he believes that he failed because…
Definition
He is not good at math and will never be
Term
Christina became depressed after being laid off from her job. Her therapist thinks it’s because she has a stable, global, and internal explanatory style. Illustrate each of these three attributes by writing a possible through Christina might have for each one.
Definition
Stable thought (e.g. “I have always had trouble holding down a job”)
Global thought (e.g. “Everything in my life is messed up”)
Internal thought (e.g. “It’s all my fault I lost this job”)
Term
What patterns of thinking, perceiving, and feeling characterize schizophrenia?
Definition
Schizophrenia is a disorder that typically strikes during late adolescence, affects men slightly more than women, and seems to occur in all cultures.
Symptoms are disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and diminished or inappropriate emotions.
Delusions are false beliefs; hallucinations are sensory experiences without sensory stimulation.
Term
How do chronic and acute schizophrenia differ?
Definition
Schizophrenia symptoms may be positive (the presence of inappropriate behaviors) or negative (the absence of appropriate behaviors)
In chronic (or process) schizophrenia, the disorder develops gradually and recovery is doubtful
In acute (or reactive) schizophrenia, the onset is a sudden in reaction t o stress, and the prospects for recovery are brighter.
Term
How do brain abnormalities and viral infections help explain schizophrenia?
Definition
People with schizophrenia have increased dopamine receptors, which may intensify brain signals, creating positive symptoms such as hallucinations and paranoia
Brain abnormalities associated with schizophrenia include enlarged, fluid-filled cerebral cavities and corresponding decreases in the cortex
Brain scans reveal abnormal activity in the frontal lobes, thalamus, and amygdala
Interacting malfunctions in multiple brain regions and their connections may produce schizophrenias symptoms
Possible contributing factors include viral infections or famine conditions during the mother’s pregnancy and low weight or oxygen deprivation at birth.
Term
Are there genetic influences on schizophrenia? What factors may be early warning signs of schizophrenia in children?
Definition
Twin and adoptions studies indicate that the predisposition to schizophrenia is inherited, and environmental factors influence gene expression to enable this disorder, which is found worldwide.
No environmental causes invariable produce schizophrenia
Possible early warning signs of later development of schizophrenia include both biological factors (a mother with severe and long-lasting schizophrenia; oxygen deprivation and low weight at birth; short attention span and poor muscle coordination) as well as psychological factors (disruptive or withdrawn behavior; emotional unpredictability; poor peer relations and solo play).
Term
Which of the following is the best term or phrase for a false belief, often of persecution, that may accompany psychotic disorders?
Definition
Delusion
Term
Which of the following is true?
Definition
Fetuses exposed to flu virus are more likely to develop schizophrenia later in life
Term
According to research, which of the following has been identified as an early warning sign of schizophrenia?
Definition
Poor peer relations and solo play
Term
Name three possible warning signs of schizophrenia
Definition
A mother whose schizophrenia was severe and long lasting
Birth complications, often involving oxygen deprivation and low weight
Separation from parents
Short attention span and poor muscle coordination
Disruptive or withdrawn behavior
Emotional unpredictability
Poor peer relations and solo play
Term
What are somatic symptom and related disorders?
Definition
Somatic symptom disorder presents a somatic (bodily) symptom - some physiologically unexplained but genuinely felt ailment
With conversion disorder (also called functional neurological symptom disorder), anxiety appears converted to a physical symptom that has no reasonable neurological basis
The more common illness anxiety disorder is the interpretation or normal sensations as a dreaded disorder
Term
What are dissociative disorders, and why are they controversial?
Definition
Dissociative disorders are conditions in which conscious awareness seems to become separated from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings.
Skeptics note that dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder, increased dramatically in the late twentieth century, that it is rarely found outside North America, and that it may reflect role-playing by people who are vulnerable to therapists’ suggestions. Others view this disorder as a manifestation of feelings of anxiety, or as a response learned when behaviors are reinforced by anxiety-reduction
Term
How do anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder demonstrate the influence of psychological and genetic forces?
Definition
In these eating disorders, psychological factors may overwhelm the homeostatic drive to maintain a balanced internal state
Despite being significantly underweight, people with anorexia nervosa (usually adolescent females) continue to diet because they view themselves as fat
Those with bulimia nervosa (usually females in their teens and twenties) secretly binge and then compensate by purging, fasting, or excessively exercising.
Those with binge-eating disorder binge but do not follow bingeing with purging, fasting, or exercise.
Cultural pressures, low self-esteem, and negative emotions interact with stressful life experiences and genetics to produce eating disorders.
Term
What are the three clusters of personality disorders? What behaviors and brain activity characterize the antisocial personality?
Definition
Personality disorders are disruptive, inflexible, and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning.
These disorders form clusters, based on three main characteristics: (1) anxiety; (2) eccentric or odd behaviors; and (3) dramatic or impulsive behaviors.
Antisocial personality disorder is characterized by a lack of conscience and, sometimes, by aggressive and fearless behavior. Genetic predispositions may interact with the environment to produce the altered brain activity associated with antisocial personality disorder.
Term
Adela regularly interprets ordinary physical symptoms like stomach cramps and headaches as serious medical problems. Her doctor is unable to convince her that her problems are not that serious. Adela suffers from…
Definition
Illness anxiety disorder
Term
Which of the following is the diagnosis given to people with multiple personalities?
Definition
Dissociative identity disorder
Term
Which of the following is the defining characteristic of antisocial personality disorder?
Definition
Lack of conscience
Term
Name and briefly describe three eating disorders.
Definition
Anorexia nervosa is a disorder in which the individuals starve themselves despite being significantly underweight
Bulimia nervosa is a disorder in which the individual alternates between bingeing and purging.
Binge-eating disorder is a disorder in which the individual binges without purging.
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