Classification and Research

Question 1

Abnormal Psychology

Answer 1

deals with understanding the nature, causes, and treatment of mental disorders

Question 2

what is abnormality?

Answer 2

• involves suffering
  
  • for longer, more extreme, or in different situations than most would feel suffering
  • could be suffering of others, esp in cases of substance abuse or manic people
• maladaptive
  
  • definition of maladaptive is contextual
  • ex PTSD, alert behaviors that are good in war are not at home
• deviant, unusual, or rare
  
  • abnormalities always are, but just because something is rare, doesn’t make ie abnormal (ie left handedness)
  • society may label things that are not harmful as abnormal
• violates societal standards and rules
  
  • varies a lot depending on culture
• social discomfort
  
  • abnormalities usually cause this, but just because this is there doesn’t make something abnormal
• irrationality and unpredictability
  
  • bound by culture to define these
  • the amount of each of these can vary by disorder
• dangerousness
  
  • to self or others

Question 3

The 4 Ds of Abnormality

Answer 3

• Dysfunctional
• Distress
• Deviant
• Dangerous

Question 4

Culture can affect abnormality

Answer 4

• geographical differences
• generational differences - what is normal for each generation may not be the same
• beauty standards

Question 5

Culture Specific Disorders

Answer 5

• disorders may present differently in different cultures
  
  • depression shows a lot of psychological symptoms in US, but much more somatic symptoms in China
• some disorders may be relatively culture specific
  
  • eating disorders are found in the US but not found in third world countries

Question 6

DSM 5

Answer 6

• came out May 2013
• controversy: pharmaceutical companies had too much say in it
• confusion: lots of diseases added, eliminated, separated, and combined
  
  • what are physicians and patients to do if you had a disease that doesn’t exist anymore?
• only field where number of diseases grows, not shrinks
  
  • easier to diagnose more people who are not ill
  • easier to correctly diagnose people and get specific treatment

Question 7

Pros of Classification

Answer 7

• structures what we know
• common language: guidance in how to study and treat disorders
• suggests what different mental health professionals can treat, insurance reimbursements

Question 8

Cons of Classification

Answer 8

• lose information about individual
• stigma and stereotyping
• labels are difficult to shake

Question 9

Ways to Reduce Stigma

Answer 9

Y: increase mental health literacy - mental health diagnoses do not mean these people are violent
Y: increase contact with people with psychiatric diagnoses - better understanding reduces stigma
N: education about neurobiological contributions: this has increased stigma because it make people out ot be the “others” and harder to relate to

Question 10

Prevalence vs Incidence

Answer 10

P: number of active cases in a population during a certain time
-point prevalence: number of people at this exact time
-1 year prevalence: in a given year, how many people
- lifetime prevalence: how many people have it in their lifetime, good for episodic disorders like depression
I: number of new cases that occur during a certain time

Question 11

Comorbidity

Answer 11

• having multiple disorders at one time
• people with one disorder are more likely to abuse substances, and people who abuse substances tend to have another disorder
• 50% of people with very severe disorders have more diagnosable disorders than 7% with milder forms

Question 12

Why do research in abnormal psych?

Answer 12

• to understand symptoms,prodromes, and residual problems
  
  • prodromes: warning signs before full blown disorder or episode
  • residual problems: rarely are people in full remission
• to determine prevalence
• to suggest etiology
• to develop treatments

Question 13

Case Study

Answer 13

• do for things you can’t manipulate
• ex: phineas gage got a rail rod through his frontal lobe and lived
• very rare - individual is very diff from general population, not sure how generalizable the data is, cannot replicate

Question 14

Self-Report Data, surveys

Answer 14

• we suck at honestly taking these
• depressed people report more negative things because of their condition - biased report
• get around this by asking people to answer mood questions on the spot several times a day - phone app

Question 15

Observational Approaches

Answer 15

• real world
• measure biological variables
  
  • ex: cortisol is a stress hormone, brain imaging
• Two types: correlational design and …

Question 16

Correlational Designs

Answer 16

• how related are these things, measure multiple variables
• don’t manipulate anything
• Directionality: positive or negative
  - positive correlation: two things increase together, directly related
  - negative correlation: one thing increases as the other decreases, inversely related
• coefficient r, ranges from -1 to 1
  
  • value measures strength, sign measures direction
• correlation does not imply causation

Question 17

Third Variable Problem

Answer 17

• is a third variable causing the results? confounding variables
• like the relationship between ice cream sales and drowning. third variable is summer

Question 18

Experimentation

Answer 18

• develop a testable hypothesis
  
  • operational variable
  • how will we measure it?
• what are our variables? independent and dependent
• clarify the groups
  
  • experimental - manipulation
    - control - placebo? double blind?

Question 19

Random Sampling

Answer 19

• chose a sample randomly so that it matches the population
• very hard to pick randomly bc of external constraints
• bias: those will will try experimental meds or treatments are those who are uninsured, the worst cases, or cannot get treatment any other way

Question 20

Random Assignment

Answer 20

• put patients randomly in conditions

- or evenly distribute patients who may bias the results - ie put even number of men and women in each group

Question 21

Single Subject Experimental Design

Answer 21

• one individual studied extensively over time
• can be especially useful for
  
  • rare conditions
  • a new or expensive intervention strategy

Question 22

ABA design

Answer 22

• A: baseline
• B: treatment - see behavior/symptoms go down
• A: baseline - some return of behavior, but its diminished