Abnormal Psychology - Chapter 1 Flashcards

Psychological Disorders and Concepts

• Psychological disorders involve dysfunction in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning.
• Symptoms often cause distress or impairment in daily life and may not conform to cultural expectations.
• Phobias represent anxiety disorders characterized by irrational fear and avoidance of specific situations or objects.
• The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) lists criteria for diagnosing psychological disorders.

Mental Health Practitioners

• Counseling psychologists focus on adjustment and vocational issues in relatively healthy individuals.
• Clinical psychologists generally address more severe psychological disorders.
• Mental health practitioners must stay updated on psychopathology developments and evaluate their treatment effectiveness.

Disorder Characteristics

• Prevalence measures how widespread a disorder is within a population.
• Incidence refers to the rate of new cases arising in a specific time period.
• Disorders can have chronic (long-term), episodic (temporary but recurring), or time-limited (improving without treatment) courses.
• Onset can be acute (sudden) or insidious (gradual).

Historical Context and Theories

• The supernatural model attributes dysfunction to external spiritual forces.
• Hippocrates introduced the humoral theory, linking mental health to bodily fluids: blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm.
• Dorothea Dix championed moral therapy, advocating for compassionate treatment of the mentally ill.
• Freud's psychoanalytic theory links abnormal behavior to unconscious motives and conflicts between id, ego, and superego.

Treatment Approaches

• Psychosocial treatment emphasizes social and cultural factors in addressing psychological issues.
• Electroconvulsive therapy and insulin shock therapy are considered biomedical approaches for severe disorders.
• Behavior therapy utilizes learning principles to modify undesirable behaviors, employing techniques like systematic desensitization.

Important Figures

• Emil Kraepelin developed a comprehensive classification system for psychological disorders.
• B.F. Skinner is notable for his work on operant conditioning, focusing on the effects of rewards and punishments on behavior.

Psychological Mechanisms

• Defense mechanisms protect the ego from anxiety by distorting reality, including denial, displacement, and projection.
• Catharsis in psychoanalysis involves emotional purging of tensions.

Learning and Conditioning

• Classical conditioning involves associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus, leading to conditioned responses.
• Operant conditioning reinforces or punishes behavior to strengthen or diminish it.

Neuroses and Psychotic Disorders

• Neuroses are psychological disorders characterized by anxiety or tension, while psychosis involves a disconnect from reality, including delusions and hallucinations.

Unconscious Mind and Internal Conflicts

• The unconscious mind is crucial in understanding behavioral motivations, while intrapsychic conflicts arise from the interactions of the id, ego, and superego.

Conceptual Models

• The psychoanalytic model posits that abnormal behavior stems from inner tensions.
• Object relations theory studies how personal relationships shape psychological development and dysfunction.

Test your knowledge on the key concepts of Abnormal Psychology with this set of flashcards from Chapter 1. Learn about psychological disorders, definitions, and terms such as phobia. Perfect for students preparing for exams or reviewing core material.