Summary Development & Mental Health 2

D&H2 Summary
Chapter 1: looking at abnormality
 Abnormality
o Mental illness
o Cultural norms
 Cultural relativism: there are no universal standards or rules for
labeling a behavior abnormal (only relative to cultural norms)
o Four D’s of abnormality
 Dysfunction
 Distress
 Deviance (hearing voices)
 Dangerousness
 History
o Biological theories
o Supernatural theories
o Psychological theories
o Mental hygiene movement: separated from nature, stress from rapid
social changes
o Moral treatment movement: restore dignity and tranquility
 Modern perspectives
o Biological perspectives: general paresis (paralysis due to syphilis)
o Psychoanalytic perspective: mesmerism (hypnosis and unconscious)
o Behaviorism: classical conditioning and reinforcements
o Cognitive revolution: cognitions and self-efficacy beliefs (can I do it?)

Chapter 3: assessing and diagnosing abnormality
 Face validity: test appears to measure what it’s supposed to measure
 Content validity: test assesses all important aspects of phenomenon
 Concurrent/convergent validity: test yields same results as other measures
of same behavior, thoughts or feelings
 Predictive validity: test predicts the behavior it is supposed to measure
 Construct validity: test measures what it’s supposed to measure, not
something else

 Test-retest reliability: test produces similar results when given at two points
in time
 Alternate form reliability: two versions of same test produce similar results
 Internal reliability: different parts of same test produce similar results
 Interrater/interjudge reliability: 2 or more judges who administer and score a
test come to similar conclusions.

Chapter 2: theories and treatment of abnormality
 Biopsychosocial approach:
o Transdiagnostic risk factors: increase risk or multiple types of
psychological problems
 Diathesis-stress model: risk factors + experiences


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,  Biological approaches:
o Brain dysfunction:
 Hindbrain: cerebellum
 Midbrain: sensory info, controls movement, reward responses
 Forebrain
 Cerebral cortex: outer layer cerebrum, most advanced thinking
process
 Frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal lobes
 Subcortical structures
 Thalamus: info from sense receptors to cerebrum
 Hypothalamus: eating, drinking, sexual beh, processing
basic emotions
 Limbic system: instinct
o Biochemical imbalances:
 Neurotransmitters
 Endocrine system: produces hormones
 Pituitary gland
 HPA-axis
o Genetic abnormalities:
o Drug therapies:
 Antipsychotic drugs -> psychosis (phenothiazines)
 Antidepressant drugs -> SSRI’s and SNRI’s
 Lithium -> mood stabilizer -> bipolar
 Anticonvulsants -> mania
 Antianxiety drugs -> barbiturates (-), benzodiazepines
o Electroconvulsive therapy -> mood disorders, seizures, rTMS
o Psychosurgery: destroy part of brain

 Psychological approaches:
o Behavioral approaches:
 Classical conditioning: US, UR, CS, CR
 Operant conditioning: best = continuous reinforcement schedule
 Modeling: observing behavior and imitating it
 Systematic desensitization therapy
o Cognitive approaches
o Psychodynamic approaches: unconscious processes
 Catharis: recounting painful memories under hypnosis and
releasing the connected emotions
 Freud:
 Id (pleasure principle), ego (reality principle), superego
(moral standards)
 Psychosexual stages:
o Oral stage: mistrust & fear of abandonment
o Anal stage: overly controlling
o Phallic stage: genitals (Oedipus complex and
Electra complex)
o Latency stage: socialize
 Ego psychology: regulating defenses for healthy functioning
 Object relations perspective

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,  Self-psychology and Relational psychoanalysis
 Collective unconscious: wisdom of spiritual, religious + sexual
drives stored in memories of individuals
 Psychodynamic theories:
 Free association: client’s resistance and transference are
clue
 Interpersonal therapy
o Humanistic approaches:
 Self-actualization
 Client-centered therapy -> reflection
o Family systems approaches
o Third-wave approaches: poor regulation of emotions, meditation
 Dialectical behavior therapy: controlling impulsive beh
 ACT
 Sociocultural approaches:
o Socioeconomic transdiagnostic risk factor, disintegration, social norms
and policies, implicit and explicit rules of what is normal
o Cultural issues: individual vs collective, expression of emotion, initiative
vs authority, tension socioeconomic groups
 Primary prevention (no disorder), secondary prevention (disorder at
earliest stages), tertiary prevention (reduce impact)
 Common components effective treatments:
o Positive relationship therapist, explanation or interpretation of why
suffering, confront painful emotions

Chapter 4: the research endeavor
 Correlation coefficient: r = -1 till +1
 Statistical significance: p < 0.05 occurred by chance
 Epidemiology: frequency and distribution of disorder
o Prevalence: proportion of pop who has disorder
o Incidence: number of new cases that develop during that time
o Risk factors
 Demand characteristic: participants guess what the study is about
 Therapy outcome studies:
o Simple control groups: no therapy but tracked at same time
o Wait list control groups: receive therapy at later time
o Placebo control group: same as experimental group, but fake
o In lab its efficacy, in real world its effective
 Single-case experiment designs:
o Reversal design: ABAB
o Multiple baseline design
 Genetic studies:
o Family history study: probands (those that clearly have disorder)
o Monozygotic twins (100%) dizygotic twins (+-50%)
o Concordance rate: for MZ if one has it other also has it if only
determined by genetics
o Adoption studies: you can find big difference in genetics and
environment

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