Download Chapter 16 Answers to Before You Go On Questions Define and

Chapter 16
Answers to Before You Go On Questions
1. Define and explain the “four Ds” of abnormal behaviour. (1) Deviance—behaviour,
thoughts, and emotions are considered abnormal when they differ from society’s ideas about
proper functioning. (2) Distress—to be considered abnormal, behaviours, ideas, or emotions
usually must also cause distress or unhappiness. (3) Dysfunction—abnormal behaviour also
tends to interfere with daily functioning as opposed to behaviour that is simply eccentric but
a part of a person’s life. (4) Danger—some people with psychological dysfunction become
dangerous to themselves and others.
2. What is the DSM-IV-TR? The DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th Edition,
Text Revision) is the leading classification system in North America for listings of
psychological disorders, including descriptions of the symptoms and guidelines for
determining when individuals should be assigned to categories. It is published by the
American Psychiatric Association and has been revised several times since it was first
published in 1952. It lists and describes the symptoms of approximately 400 mental
disorders.
3. What are the major models used by psychologists to explain abnormal functioning? The
perspectives that scientists use to explain phenomena are known as models, or paradigms
(Kuhn, 1962), and the major models used to explain this abnormal functioning phenomena
are (1) the neuroscience model, (2) the cognitive-behavioural model, (3) the psychodynamic
model, (4) the sociocultural model, and (5) the developmental psychopathology model.
4. What major types of brain problems are linked to abnormal functioning? Neuroscientists
have linked some mental disorders to deficient or excessive activity of different
neurotransmitters in the brain. Depression, for example, seems to be related to insufficient
activity of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and serotonin (Beck & Alford, 2009).
Another such disorder is Huntington’s disease, a disorder marked by violent emotional
outbursts, memory loss, suicidal thinking, involuntary body movements, and absurd beliefs,
and has been linked to the loss of cells in a particular brain region. Studies suggest that
genetic inheritance plays a key role in disorders such as schizophrenia, mental retardation,
Alzheimer’s disease, and others. Another possible source of abnormal brain structure or
biochemical abnormal functioning appears to be viral infections. Some research suggests
that, for example, schizophrenia, a disorder marked by hallucinations and other departures
from reality, may be related to exposure to certain viruses before birth or during childhood
(Fox, 2010).
5. In the view of cognitive-behavioural theorists, what kinds of problems can lead to abnormal
functioning? Cognitive-behavioural theorists believe that abnormal functioning can be linked
to problematic learned behaviours or dysfunctional cognitive processes.
6. How are the humanistic and existential models similar, and how do they differ? Humanistic
and existential models are usually grouped together because of their common focus on the
broader dimensions of human existence. Humanists tend to be the most optimistic of the two
groups, believing that we are all born with a natural inclination to fulfill our potential for
goodness and growth. To do so, we need to be able to honestly appraise and accept our
strengths and weaknesses and find positive personal values to live by. While existentialists
agree with humanists that human beings must have an accurate awareness of themselves and
live subjectively meaningful lives in order to be well adjusted, they do not believe that people
are naturally inclined to live constructively. In fact, they believe that from birth we have the
freedom either to confront our existence and give meaning to our lives or to run away from
that responsibility.
7. What social and cultural factors have been found to be related to abnormal functioning?
Researchers have found relationships between abnormal functioning and factors such as
widespread social change, socio-economic class membership, cultural background, social
networks, and family systems (Cardemil, 2011). When a society undergoes major change, the
mental health of its members can be greatly affected (including rapid urbanization, for
example). In terms of cultural factors affecting abnormal functioning, many theorists believe
that human behaviour is understood best by examining an individual’s unique cultural
context, including the values of that culture and the external pressures faced by members of
the culture. Ethnic minorities and racial groups, along with economically disadvantaged
persons, women, and homosexual individuals, face special pressures in society that may help
produce feelings of stress and, in some cases, abnormal functioning.
8. What is learned helplessness, and what is its role in depression? Learned helplessness is
when individuals learn (and believe) that they are helpless to do anything to change negative
situations in their lives. Late in life, this causes the individuals to continue to act in helpless
ways to situations in which they have the power to escape or change. Seligman proposed that
people become depressed after developing a general belief that they have no control over the
rewards and punishments in their lives (Seligman, 1975).
9. What is the cognitive triad? Beck’s cognitive triad is a pattern of thinking in which
individuals repeatedly interpret their experiences, themselves, and their futures in negative
ways that lead them to feel depressed.
10. How does bipolar disorder differ from major depression? People with a bipolar disorder
often describe their lives as an emotional rollercoaster. They shift back and forth between
extreme moods, experiencing both the lows of depression and the highs of mania. Unlike
people sunk in the gloom of depression, those in a state of mania experience dramatic and
inappropriate rises in mood.
11. What are six types of anxiety disorder? (1) Generalized anxiety disorder, (2) social anxiety
disorder, (3) phobias, (4) panic disorder, (5) obsessive-compulsive disorder, and (6)
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
12. How and why might generalized anxiety disorder be related to uncertainty? According to
some theories, certain individuals consider it unacceptable that negative events may occur,
even if the possibility of occurrence is very small. Given that life is filled with uncertain
events, such individuals may come up against several “unacceptable” events each day.
Worrying constantly that unacceptable events are on the verge of happening, the individuals
are particularly vulnerable to the development of generalized anxiety disorder (Dugas, Buhr,
& Ladouceur, 2004).
13. What role do conditioning and modelling play in the development of phobias? According to
behaviourists, classical conditioning is one way of acquiring fear reactions to objects or
situations that are not really dangerous. For example, a lightning strike (unconditioned
stimulus) may naturally elicit a reaction of fear (unconditioned response) in an individual. In
such a situation, it is possible that a harmless object, such as raindrops (conditioned
stimulus)—an object that had simply accompanied the frightening event—will come to also
elicit a fear reaction (conditioned response) in the person. Another way of acquiring a fear
reaction is through modelling—that is, through observation and imitation (Bandura &
Rosenthal, 1966). A person may observe that others (e.g., a parent) are afraid of certain
objects (e.g., dogs) or events and develop fears of the same things.
14. What individual factors affect who will develop posttraumatic stress syndrome? To more
fully explain the onset of PTSD, researchers from various models of abnormality have
pointed to individuals’ biological processes, personalities, childhood experiences, social
support systems, and cultural backgrounds. These factors can play a role in all stress
disorders.
15. What is a psychosis? Psychosis is a loss of contact with reality. An individual’s ability to
properly perceive and respond to the environment becomes so disturbed that he or she may
no longer be able to function properly at home, with friends, in school, or at work.
16. What are the positive symptoms of schizophrenia? The negative symptoms? The psychomotor
symptoms? Positive symptoms of schizophrenia, or symptoms that seem to represent
pathological excesses in behaviour, include delusions, disorganized thinking and speech,
hallucinations, and inappropriate affect. The negative symptoms of schizophrenia are those
that seem to be pathological deficits, or characteristics that are lacking in an individual.
These include poverty of speech, flat affect, loss of volition, and social withdrawal.
Psychomotor symptoms are the awkward movements or odd grimaces and gestures
sometimes made by people with schizophrenia. The psychomotor symptoms may take
extreme forms collectively called catatonia. These include catatonic stupor, catatonic rigidity,
and catatonic posturing. They may also exhibit “waxy flexibility,” in which they maintain
indefinitely postures into which they have been placed by someone else.
17. What biochemical abnormalities and brain structures have been associated with
schizophrenia? Over the past four decades, researchers have developed the so-called
dopamine hypothesis to help explain schizophrenia: certain neurons that use the
neurotransmitter dopamine fire too often and transmit too many messages, thus producing the
symptoms of the disorder (Busatto et al., 2009). During the past decade, researchers have
also linked many cases of schizophrenia to abnormalities in brain structure. Using brain
scans, they have found that many people with schizophrenia have enlarged ventricles (the
brain cavities that contain cerebrospinal fluid), relatively small temporal lobes and frontal
lobes, and abnormal blood flow in certain areas of the brain. In addition, some studies have
linked schizophrenia to structural abnormalities of the hippocampus, amygdala, and thalamus
(Leube, 2009).
18. What distinguishes a pain disorder associated with psychological factors from a conversion
or a somatization disorder? In somatoform disorders (conversion disorder, somatization
disorder), there is an actual change in physical functioning. In other psychological forms
(hypochondriasis and body dysmorphic disorder), people who are healthy mistakenly worry
that there is something physically wrong with them.
19. List and describe three dissociative disorders. (1) Dissociative amnesia—people are unable
to recall important information, usually of an upsetting nature, about their lives (APA, 2000).
(2) Dissociative fugue—people not only forget their personal identities and details of their
past lives, but also flee to an entirely different location. (3) Dissociate identity disorder—
previously known as multiple personality disorder, people develop two or more distinct
personalities—called subpersonalities or alternate personalities—each with a unique set of
memories, behaviours, thoughts, and emotions.
20. Which disorder discussed in this section is most closely linked to adult criminal behaviour?
Antisocial personality disorder is a personality disorder characterized by extreme and callous
disregard for the feelings and rights of others. Aside from substance-related disorders, this is
the disorder most closely linked to adult criminal behaviour. Most people with antisocial
personality disorder display some patterns of misbehaviour before they are 15, including
truancy, running away, physical cruelty to animals or people, and destroying property. Thirty
percent of individuals in Canadian prisons would meet the diagnostic criteria for antisocial
personality disorder (as opposed to 2% to 3.5% of the general population).