Download Ch 12

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Oakdale High School
Advanced Placement Psychology
Mr. Simoncini
Chapter 12 Reading Response Questions
PP. 483-491
1. Briefly discuss the statistics listed on p. 485 regarding psychopathology.
2. List and briefly discuss the three classic symptoms of severe psychopathology that
clinicians look for in patients.
3. Be prepared to discuss the spectrum of mental disorder, including labels and symptoms
of each label.
4. Hippocrates taught his students to interpret the symptoms of psychopathology as an
imbalance among the four humors. What were the humors?
5. Discuss the medical model of psychological disorders: what it was, what it became, and
how modern psychologists regard it.
6. Provide a brief overview of the social-cognitive-behavioral approach to psychology.
7. How does the behavioral perspective view abnormal behaviors?
8. How does the cognitive perspective view abnormal behaviors?
9. How is Albert Bandura’s theory of reciprocal determinism typical of the social-cognitivebehavioral approach?
10. What is the main assumption of modern biopsychology?
11. What has modern research determined about the role of the brain in psychological
disorders?
12. Define each of the following “subtle signs that may also indicate psychological
disturbances, ranging from mild to severe:” distress, maladaptiveness, irrationality,
unpredictability and unconventionality and undesirable behavior.
13. Is the presence of just one of the above indicators enough to demonstrate abnormality?
Discuss.
14. What is DSM-IV?
15. The last paragraph on p. 491 discusses a situation, a form of which some people term
“Medical Students’ Disease.” What is it and why might you experience a similar situation
with regard to psychological disorders as you study this chapter?
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pp. 492-501
16. How does the DSM-IV help psychologists and psychiatrists? What is the name for that
process and how is it applied by mental health professionals?
17. What major changes in terminology were incorporated into the fourth edition of the
DSM? Discuss them.
18. Define the term “mood disorder.”
19. What is major depression?
20. Why does Martin Seligman refer to depression as the “common cold” of psychological
problems?
21. If you are presently feeling down, be sure to do the “Depression Check” on p. 495.
22. Briefly discuss the linkage between depression and suicide.
23. What do cross-cultural studies reveal about depression?
24. What evidence presented in the textbook “leads some observers to believe that
depression is really a collection of disorders having a variety of causes?”
25. What is seasonal affective disorder (SAD)?
26. How can depression be a vicious cycle? In your discussion incorporate Martin
Seligman’s concept of “learned helplessness.”
27. What does the cognitive approach to depression suggest as being an appropriate
therapy for depression?
28. Why do depression rates tend to be higher in men than in women?
29. According to the textbook: “In the mid-1900s, most casualties of depression were
middle-aged women, but now depression is more often a teenage problem. . .”
According to Seligman, to what factors can we attribute that change?
30. Discuss bipolar disorder—particularly its symptoms and causes.
31. What percentage of the general population has experienced, at one time or another,
symptoms of some form of anxiety disorder?
32. What is generalized anxiety disorder?
33. What is panic disorder?
34. What appear to be the main causes of panic disorder?
35. Define agoraphobia.
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36. About what percent of the general population suffers from panic disorder or agoraphobia
and what do indications show may be the best therapy for those disorders?
37. What are phobias?
38. What percentage of Americans suffers from a phobic disorder at some time in their
lives? According to the textbook, what are the most common phobic disorders?
39. Discuss what the textbook says are the causes of phobias.
40. Define obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In your definition, discuss what
obsessions and compulsions are.
41. What evidence indicates that there is a genetic link to OCD?
42. How is Behaviorism applied in the treatment of OCD?
pp. 501-506
43. What are somatoform disorders? How widespread are somatoform disorders?
44. What is conversion disorder? In your response please also discuss glove anesthesia.
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45. What is the Freudian linkage to conversion disorder?
46. Why do the authors say conversion disorder was more common a century ago in Europe
and the U. S. than it is today?
47. Discuss hypochondriasis. Where do hypochondriacs often end up going for treatment?
48. What is the common denominator for dissociative disorders?
49. Discuss dissociative amnesia. To what other disorder that we have previously
discussed is dissociative amnesia similar?
50. Discuss dissociative fugue. What type of substance abuse may predispose a person to
dissociative fugue? What might that finding suggest?
51. Discuss depersonalization disorder.
52. What is dissociative identity disorder, what gender does it primarily, when does it usually
appear and what situation do victims frequently report being exposed to?
53. What interesting facts are discussed in the textbook about the personalities that emerge
in people suffering from dissociative identity disorder?
54. What explanations as to the causes of dissociative identity disorder are favored by
practitioners of the various schools of psychological thought?
55. As a review, what is anorexia nervosa and what are the causes?
56. As a review, what is bulimia nervosa?
57. What other forms of psychopathology are eating disorders commonly associated?
pp. 506-510
58. Define schizophrenia. What generally happens to a person suffering from
schizophrenia?
59. When does schizophrenia typically appear? In your answer, differentiate between males
and females.
60. Discuss the various types of schizophrenia within that “constellation of separate
disorders.” Also discuss the typical symptoms of each type.
61. What is the emerging consensus among psychiatrists and psychologists regarding the
causes of schizophrenia? Discuss the various facts that support such a finding.
62. What facts does the textbook provide to indicate evidence for the effect of environment
in schizophrenia?
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63. The textbook states, “Apparently, schizophrenia requires a biological predisposition plus
some unknown environmental agent to ‘turn on’ the hereditary tendency.” What could
that agent be?
64. What is the diathesis-stress hypothesis with regard to schizophrenia?
pp. 510-517
65. What are the typical symptoms of personality disorders?
66. Discuss narcissistic personality disorder.
67. Discuss antisocial personality disorder.
68. Discuss borderline personality disorder.
69. What are the symptoms of autism? What is the frequency of autism spectrum disorder?
70. Discuss dyslexia.
71. Discuss attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.