1
EXAM ONE STUDY GUIDE
1. Psychological disorder – describes behavioral, psychological or biological
dysfunctions that are unexpected in their cultural context and associated with
present distress or impairment in functioning or with increased risk of
suffering, death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom.
• Psychological dysfunction – refers to a breakdown in cognitive,
emotional or behavioral functioning
• Distress – the criterion is satisfied if the individual is extremely upset.
This alone does not indicate abnormal behavior (i.e. if someone close
to you dies, you will be distressed).
• Impairment – Useful, but not entirely satisfactory. (i.e. many people
are shy, but it only impairs you if you are so shy that you find it
impossible to interact with other people).
• Statistical deviance – at times, something is considered abnormal
because it occurs infrequently, or deviates from the average.
• Cultural inappropriateness – if you are violating social norms, even if
people are sympathetic to your point of view. This is useful in
considering cultural differences (i.e. believing you are possessed
reflects a psychological disorder in most Western cultures, but not in
other societies where the behavior is accepted and expected).
2. Science in the field of abnormal psychology – Many mental health
professionals take a scientific approach to their clinical work and therefore
are called scientist-practitioners. Three ways:
• Keep up to date with latest scientific developments in their field and
therefore use the most current diagnostic procedures
• Evaluate their own assessments or treatment procedures to see whether
they work. They are accountable not only to patients, but to the
government agencies and insurance companies that pay for their
treatments, so they must clearly demonstrate that they work.
• Conduct research, often in clinics or hospitals that produces
information about disorders or their treatment, thus becoming
immune to fads that plague our field at the expense of patients and
their families. (i.e. miracle cures for psychological disorders)
3. Psychologist vs. psychiatrist vs. social worker –
• Psychologist – clinical and counseling psychologists receive a PhD and
follow a course of graduate-level study, lasting approximately 5 years,
that prepares them to conduct research into the causes and treatment
of psychological disorders and to diagnose, assess, and treat these
disorders.
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• Psychiatrist – first earn an MD and then specialize in psychiatry
during residency training that lasts 3-4 years. Psychiatrists also
investigate the nature and causes of psychological disorders, often
from a biological point of view; make diagnoses; and offer treatments.
Many psychiatrists emphasize drugs or other biological treatments,
although most use psychosocial treatments as well.
• Social worker – typically earn a Master’s degree in social work as
they develop expertise in collecting information relevant to the social
and family situation of the individual with a psychological disorder.
Social workers also treat disorders, often concentrating on family
problems associated with them.
4. Presenting problem – original complaint reported by the client to the
therapist. The actual treated problem may be a modification derived from the
presenting problem.
5. Incidence – number of new cases or a disorder appearing during a specific
period
6. Prevalence – number of people displaying a disorder in the total population at
any given time
7. Etiology – cause or source of a disorder
8. Prognosis – predicted development and change of a disorder over time
9. Freud, Dix, Galen, Kraeplin, Skinner, Pinel –
• Freud – says the mind has three parts (id, ego, superego).
• Dix – started the “Mental Hygiene Movement” which crusaded for
humane treatment of patients. She placed an emphasis on moral
guidance and counseling, as opposed to medical treatment. This was
not as affective as people hoped, but it led to alternative psychological
models that were sometimes in conflict with each other and explained
mental illness in very different ways.
• Galen – a Roman physician associated with the humoral theory, which
stated that normal brain functioning was related to four bodily fluids,
or humors (blood from heart, black bile from spleen, yellow bile from
liver, and phlegm from brain). The theory believed that diseases were
from too much or too little of the four humors.
• Kraeplin – was the fist to derive a classification system for mental
disorders. He is the father of today’s classification system.
• Skinner – associated with behaviorism, explanation of human behavior,
including dysfunction, based on principals of learning and adaptation
derived from experimental psychology. Operant conditioning –
voluntary behavior is controlled by the consequences that follow the
behavior. The main concept is that people do things for rewards and
only engage in voluntary behaviors because they are reinforced.
This study source was downloaded by 100000852681095 from CourseHero.com on 11-07-2022 05:31:32 GMT -
https://www.coursehero.com/file/12790932/exam-1-study-
EXAM ONE STUDY GUIDE
1. Psychological disorder – describes behavioral, psychological or biological
dysfunctions that are unexpected in their cultural context and associated with
present distress or impairment in functioning or with increased risk of
suffering, death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom.
• Psychological dysfunction – refers to a breakdown in cognitive,
emotional or behavioral functioning
• Distress – the criterion is satisfied if the individual is extremely upset.
This alone does not indicate abnormal behavior (i.e. if someone close
to you dies, you will be distressed).
• Impairment – Useful, but not entirely satisfactory. (i.e. many people
are shy, but it only impairs you if you are so shy that you find it
impossible to interact with other people).
• Statistical deviance – at times, something is considered abnormal
because it occurs infrequently, or deviates from the average.
• Cultural inappropriateness – if you are violating social norms, even if
people are sympathetic to your point of view. This is useful in
considering cultural differences (i.e. believing you are possessed
reflects a psychological disorder in most Western cultures, but not in
other societies where the behavior is accepted and expected).
2. Science in the field of abnormal psychology – Many mental health
professionals take a scientific approach to their clinical work and therefore
are called scientist-practitioners. Three ways:
• Keep up to date with latest scientific developments in their field and
therefore use the most current diagnostic procedures
• Evaluate their own assessments or treatment procedures to see whether
they work. They are accountable not only to patients, but to the
government agencies and insurance companies that pay for their
treatments, so they must clearly demonstrate that they work.
• Conduct research, often in clinics or hospitals that produces
information about disorders or their treatment, thus becoming
immune to fads that plague our field at the expense of patients and
their families. (i.e. miracle cures for psychological disorders)
3. Psychologist vs. psychiatrist vs. social worker –
• Psychologist – clinical and counseling psychologists receive a PhD and
follow a course of graduate-level study, lasting approximately 5 years,
that prepares them to conduct research into the causes and treatment
of psychological disorders and to diagnose, assess, and treat these
disorders.
This study source was downloaded by 100000852681095 from CourseHero.com on 11-07-2022 05:31:32 GMT -
https://www.coursehero.com/file/12790932/exam-1-study-
, 2
• Psychiatrist – first earn an MD and then specialize in psychiatry
during residency training that lasts 3-4 years. Psychiatrists also
investigate the nature and causes of psychological disorders, often
from a biological point of view; make diagnoses; and offer treatments.
Many psychiatrists emphasize drugs or other biological treatments,
although most use psychosocial treatments as well.
• Social worker – typically earn a Master’s degree in social work as
they develop expertise in collecting information relevant to the social
and family situation of the individual with a psychological disorder.
Social workers also treat disorders, often concentrating on family
problems associated with them.
4. Presenting problem – original complaint reported by the client to the
therapist. The actual treated problem may be a modification derived from the
presenting problem.
5. Incidence – number of new cases or a disorder appearing during a specific
period
6. Prevalence – number of people displaying a disorder in the total population at
any given time
7. Etiology – cause or source of a disorder
8. Prognosis – predicted development and change of a disorder over time
9. Freud, Dix, Galen, Kraeplin, Skinner, Pinel –
• Freud – says the mind has three parts (id, ego, superego).
• Dix – started the “Mental Hygiene Movement” which crusaded for
humane treatment of patients. She placed an emphasis on moral
guidance and counseling, as opposed to medical treatment. This was
not as affective as people hoped, but it led to alternative psychological
models that were sometimes in conflict with each other and explained
mental illness in very different ways.
• Galen – a Roman physician associated with the humoral theory, which
stated that normal brain functioning was related to four bodily fluids,
or humors (blood from heart, black bile from spleen, yellow bile from
liver, and phlegm from brain). The theory believed that diseases were
from too much or too little of the four humors.
• Kraeplin – was the fist to derive a classification system for mental
disorders. He is the father of today’s classification system.
• Skinner – associated with behaviorism, explanation of human behavior,
including dysfunction, based on principals of learning and adaptation
derived from experimental psychology. Operant conditioning –
voluntary behavior is controlled by the consequences that follow the
behavior. The main concept is that people do things for rewards and
only engage in voluntary behaviors because they are reinforced.
This study source was downloaded by 100000852681095 from CourseHero.com on 11-07-2022 05:31:32 GMT -
https://www.coursehero.com/file/12790932/exam-1-study-
