What does abnormality mean? - Exam 1

1. Name the four D's of abnormality and explain what they mean.

2. What kind of theory of abnormality could the old Chinese theory of the life-air breath be labeled?

1. A biological theory

2. A supernatural theory

3. A psychosocial theory

3. Which term is described here? Behavior that is followed by positive consequences will be repeated more often than behavior that is followed by negative consequences.

1. Classical conditioning

2. Operant conditioning

3. Learning through observation

4. Learning through punishment and rewarding

4. What does 'cultural relativism' mean?

1. That there are no universal standards or rules to classify behavior as abnormal, behavior can only be abnormal according to prevailing standards.

2. That in different cultures very different disorders can occur, which you have to take into account in the assessment.

Answers

1. Dysfunction, Distress, Deviance and Dangerousness

• Behavior and feelings are dysfunctional when they interfere with someone's functioning in daily life. The more dysfunctional the behavior, the greater the chance that this is labeled as abnormal.

• Behavior and feelings that distress causeto the individual and the persons around him are also often regarded as abnormal.

• Strongly deviant (deviant) behaviors, such as chronic lying and stealing, lead to assessments of abnormality.

• Behaviors that are dangerous (dangerous) to the individual, such as self-harm, or to others, such as serious aggression, are also seen as abnormal.

1. A. A biological theory. This theory assumes that human emotions were controlled by internal organs. When the life air flowed through one of these organs, a certain emotion belonging to that organ was experienced.

1. B. Operant conditioning

2. A

Which theories and treatments of abnormality exist? - Exam 2

1. Which approach to explaining psychological complaints is based on a person's convictions, life experience and relationships?

1. The biological approach

2. The psychological approach

3. The sociocultural approach

2. Which of the subcortical structures deals with memory?

1. Thalamus

2. Hypothalamus

3. Hippocampus

4. Amygdala

3. Which statement is correct?

1. Behaviors are taught the fastest with the help of a continuous reinforcement schedule

2. Behaviors learned with a partial reinforcement schedule are the fastest to learn again

1. Only claim I is correct

2. Only claim II is correct

3. Both statements are correct

4. Both statements are incorrect

4. With which form of prevention is attempted to inhibit a disorder that is in a very early phase?

1. Primary prevention

2. Secondary prevention

3. Tertiary prevention

5. In general, lower levels of

Chapter 1. What is abnormality?
 

• The study of abnormal psychology is the study of people who suffer from mental, emotional and often physical pain. This is often called psychopathology.
   
• Cultural relativism states that behavior can only be abnormal according to current cultural norms and not through universal standards.
   
• The distress-criterium states that behavior can be viewed as abnormal when a person experiences distress as a consequence of that behavior.
   
• Modern judgments of abnormality are not based on a single criteria, but are influenced by an interplay of the four D’s: dysfunction, distress, deviance and dangerousness.
   
• There are three types of theories that try to describe the causes of abnormal behavior: biological, supernatural and psychosocial theories.
   
• A psychological epidemic is a phenomenon in which a large number of people show abnormal behavior that seems to have a psychological cause.
   
• Franz Anton Mesmer developed mesmerism. This is a method based on animal magnetism. His treatments took patients into a state of trance that later would be called hypnosis.
   
• Classical conditioning refers to connecting a conditioned response to a stimulus that before caused another response. Operant conditioning states that behavior that is followed by positive consequences is more likely to be repeated than behavior that is followed by negative consequences.

Chapter 2. What are the theories of and treatments for abnormality?
 

• A theory is a set of ideas that offers a framework upon which questions can be asked about a certain phenomenon and upon which information can be gathered and interpreted about that phenomenon.
   
• A therapy is a treatment, often based on a theory about a disorder, that deals with the factors that according to that theory cause the disorder.
   
• There are several approaches for explaining psychological complaints: the biological, psychological and sociocultural approach.  Besides these there is also the biopsychosocial approach, which acknowledges that a disorder often cannot be explained by only one approach and which combines the three approaches.
   
• Three possible biological causes of abnormality are brain dysfunction (damage to a part of the brain), biochemical imbalance (imbalance in the neurotransmitters) and genetic abnormality (abnormalities caused by genes, such as Down syndrome). Treatment of biological abnormality consists of medication or psychosurgery.
   
• Treatments in psychosocial approaches are based on conditioning, behavioral therapies and cognitive therapies, and sometimes psychotherapy.
   
• Psychoanalysis (by Freud) is a theory of personality and psychopathology. It is a method to investigate the mind as a form of treatment of psychopathology.
   
• According to Freud there are psychosexual phases through which each child has to go. These are the oral phase, the anal phase, the phallic phase, the latent phase and the genital phase.
   
• Primary prevention tries to combat disorders before they start.

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