PSY3100 Models Of Abnormality - Student Outline PDF

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Ramani Durvasula - Models Of Abnormality...

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Chapter Two Models of Abnormal Behavior One-Dimensional Models of Mental Disorders •  Psychopathology: – Clinical term meaning abnormal behavior •  Model: – An analogy used by scientists, usually to describe or explain a phenomenon or process that they cannot directly observe – Model, theory, viewpoint, and perspective are often used interchangeably One-Dimensional Models of Mental Disorders (cont’d.) •  Etiology: – Causes of disorders •  In the past, different pathways of thought were used exclusively without taking into consideration aspects of other viewpoints •  Such a narrow view of complex issues and conditions undermined understanding and treatment One-Dimensional Models of Mental Disorders (cont’d.) •  Two main views of the past were: – Mental disorders are caused primarily by biological problems – Abnormal behavior is essentially psychosocial One-Dimensional Models of Mental Disorders (cont’d.) •  These two views are overly simplistic: – Set up a false “either/or” dichotomy between nature and nurture – Fail to recognize the reciprocal influences of one on the other – Mask the importance of acknowledging the biological, psychological, social, and sociocultural dimensions in the origin of mental disorders A Multipath Model of Mental Disorders

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•  Biopsychosocial model attempts to integrate biological, psychological, and social factors but has limitations: – Provides little information about how factors interact to produce illness – Allows practitioners to do everything without guidance – Fails to consider the equally powerful influence of culture A Multipath Model of Mental Disorders (cont’d.) •  Multipath model: – An integrative and interacting means of viewing disorders and their causes – Assumptions – Multipath model consists of following dimensions: • Biological factors • Psychological factors • Social factors • Sociocultural factors A Multipath Model of Mental Disorders (cont’d.) Figure 2-1 The Multipath Model Each dimension of the multipath model contains factors found to be important in explaining abnormal behavior. Dimension One: Biological Factors •  Biological pathway relies on certain assumptions: – Genetics help make people who they are – Human thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are associated with nerve cell activity of brain and spinal cord – Change in thought, emotion, or behavior will be associated with change in activity or structure of brain – Mental disorders are highly correlated with some form of brain or other organ dysfunction – Mental disorders can be treated by drugs or somatic intervention Dimension One: Biological Factors (cont’d.) •  The human brain:

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– Neurons: • Nerve cells that transmit messages throughout the body and that make-up the brain – Two hemispheres control opposite sides of the body: • Right hemisphere: – Visual-spatial abilities and emotional behavior • Left hemisphere: – Language functions Dimension One: Biological Factors (cont’d.) •  Human brain has three main parts: – Forebrain – Midbrain – Hindbrain Dimension One: Biological Factors (cont’d.) Figure 2-4 The Internal Structure of the Brain A cross-sectional view of the brain reveals the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. Some important brain structures are identified within each of the divisions. Dimension One: Biological Factors (cont’d.) •  Forebrain: – Controls all the higher mental functions, such as learning, speech, thought, and memory • Thalamus: – “Relay station;” transmits nerve impulses throughout brain • Hypothalamus: – Regulates bodily drives and body conditions • Limbic system: – Involves experiencing/expressing emotions and motivation Dimension One: Biological Factors (cont’d.) •  Midbrain:

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– Involved in vision and hearing (along with hindbrain) and controls sleep, alertness, and pain – Manufactures serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine •  Hindbrain: – Controls heart rate, sleep, and respiration – Manufactures serotonin Dimension One: Biological Factors (cont’d.) •  Biochemical theories: – Basic premise: • Chemical imbalances underlie mental disorders – Dendrites: • Receive signals from other neurons – Axons: • Send signals to other neurons Dimension One: Biological Factors (cont’d.) Figure 2-5 Major Parts of a Neuron The major parts of a neuron include dendrites, the cell body, the axon, and the axon terminals. Dimension One: Biological Factors (cont’d.) •  More biochemical theories: – Synapse: • Gap between axon of sending neuron and dendrites of receiving neuron – Neurotransmitters: • Chemicals involved in transmission of neural impulses Dimension One: Biological Factors (cont’d.) •  Genetic explanations: – Genetic makeup plays an important role in developing abnormal conditions – Autonomic nervous system reactivity may be inherited

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– Hereditary factors are implicated in alcoholism, schizophrenia, and depression Dimension One: Biological Factors (cont’d.) •  More genetic explanations: – Genotype: • Genetic makeup – Phenotype: • Observable physical and behavioral characteristics Dimension One: Biological Factors (cont’d.) •  Human Genome Project – Perhaps the greatest breakthrough in field of genetics – Human genome: • All the genetic material in an individual’s chromosomes (our basic “blueprint”) – May offer a solution for understanding the causes, prevention, and treatment of many diseases – Pharmacogenomics

Dimension One: Biological Factors (cont’d.) •  Biology-based treatment techniques: – Psychopharmacology: • Study of effect of drugs on mind and behavior – Electroconvulsive therapy: • Application of electric voltage to the brain to induce convulsions – Psychosurgery: • Brain surgery for the purpose of correcting mental disorder Dimension One: Biological Factors (cont’d.) •  Multipath implications: – Biological explanations alone are one-dimensional and linear

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– Science increasingly rejects idea of “one gene for one disease” • Diathesis-stress theory: holds that people do not inherit a particular abnormality but rather a predisposition to develop illness • Environmental forces (stressors) may activate the predisposition, resulting in a disorder Dimension One: Biological Factors (cont’d.) •  More multipath implications: – Gene-environment interactions appear more complex than simply having a “predisposition” • Epigenetics: reciprocal gene-environment interactions that modify genome expression – Different forms of same genes and critical development periods in life of individual may determine when, how, and what occurs – Environment affects biochemical and brain activity, as well as structural neurological circuitry Dimension Two: Psychological Factors •  Psychodynamic models: – Adult disorders arise from childhood traumas or anxieties – Childhood-based anxieties operate unconsciously and are repressed through defense mechanisms because they are too threatening to face • Defense mechanism: – Ego-defense mechanisms that protect the individual from anxiety operate unconsciously and distort reality Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Personality structure: – Id: • Present from birth • Operates on the pleasure principle

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– Impulsive, pleasure-seeking aspect of being; immediate gratification of instinctual needs – Ego: • Realistic, rational part of mind • Operates on reality principle – Awareness of environmental demands and need to adjust behavior to meet these demands 0 consider reality while meeting the needs of the id Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Personality structure: – Superego: • Moral judgments/moralistic considerations involve conscience & ego ideal, which rewards moral behavior with pride • In theory ego should be stronger than id and superego – Instincts give rise to thoughts and actions and fuel their expression Freud and the Psyche Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Personality structure: – Dominant human instincts: • Sex and aggression – Freud: • Although most impulses are hidden from consciousness, they determine human actions Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Psychosexual stages: – Sequence of stages through which personality develops: • Oral (first year of life) – dependency • Anal (second year of life)

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– Appropriate praise and rewards – competent and creative – Too lenient – messy, destructive and wasteful – Too strict (anal retentive) – controlled and obsessive • Phallic (beginning ages 3-4) – Fixation at this stage – sexual deviance and confusion about sexual identity – He believed girls had penis envy too • Latency (approximately ages 6-12) – Children play with children of same gender • Genital (beginning in puberty) – If all stages completed normally – then this will be balanced – Fixation: • Emotional development gets stuck at a particular psychosexual stage Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Traditional psychodynamic therapy: – Psychoanalysis has three main goals: • Uncovering repressed material • Helping clients achieve insight into desires and motivations • Resolving childhood conflicts that affect current relationships Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Traditional psychodynamic therapy: – Four methods to achieve goals • Free association • Dream analysis • Resistance • Transference Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Contemporary psychodynamic theory:

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– Post-Freudian theories place less emphasis on sex and more emphasis on: • Freedom of choice and future goals • Ego autonomy • Social forces • Object relations (past interpersonal relations) • Treatment of seriously disturbed people Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Criticism of psychodynamic models: – Freud’s observations made under uncontrolled conditions – Theory deprecates female sexuality while legitimizing male sexuality – Models do not apply to a wide range of disturbed people – best suited to well-educated people in middle and upper SES with anxiety (not psychotic) disorders Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Behavioral models: – Concerned with the role of learning in abnormal behavior – Three models: • Classical conditioning (Ivan Pavlov) • Operant conditioning (B. F. Skinner) • Observational learning (Albert Bandura) Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Classical conditioning model: – Classical conditioning: • Learning principle in which involuntary responses to stimuli are learned through association – Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): • Elicits an unconditioned response – Unconditioned response (UCR): • The unlearned response made to an unconditioned stimulus Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.)

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•  Classical conditioning model: – Conditioned stimulus (CS): • Neutral stimulus acquires some properties of another stimulus with which it is paired – Conditioned response (CR): • The learned response made to a previously neutral stimulus that has acquired some properties of another stimulus with which it was paired Operant Conditioning •  Positive Reinforcement •  Negative Reinforcement •  Punishment •  Extinction Classical Conditioning – Reinforcement Schedules •  Continuous Reinforcement – every time •  Partial reinforcement – (more resistant to extinction) – Fixed ratio (every third time) – Variable ratio (slot machine) – Fixed interval (every 30 seconds) – Variable interval (random drug testing) Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) Figure 2-8 A Basic Classical Conditioning Process Dogs normally salivate when food is provided (left drawing). With his laboratory dogs, Ivan Pavlov paired the ringing of a bell with the presentation of food (middle drawing). Eventually, the dogs would salivate to the ringing of the bell alone, when no food was near (right drawing). Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Classical conditioning in psychopathology: – John B. Watson: • Demonstrated acquisition of a phobia (exaggerated, seemingly illogical fear) using classical conditioning

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paradigm – Classical conditioning helps explain acquisition of phobias, unusual sexual attractions, and other extreme emotional reactions Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Operant conditioning model: – Operant behavior: • A voluntary and controllable behavior that “operates” on an individual’s environment – Operant conditioning: • Voluntary behaviors are controlled by the consequences that follow them – B. F. Skinner developed this initial idea by Thorndike and made “reinforcement” central concept Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Operant conditioning model: – Differs from classical conditioning: • Operant conditioning is linked to voluntary, not involuntary, behaviors • In operant conditioning, behaviors are controlled by consequences that follow behavior, rather than precede it Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Operant conditioning in psychopathology: – Maladaptive behaviors linked to environmental reinforcers (e.g., head banging): • Positive: pleasurable feelings; lower anxiety • Negative: escape/ avoidance Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  The observational learning paradigm: – Behaviors are acquired by watching other people perform those behaviors – Modeling: • Learning by observing models and later imitating them

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(also called vicarious conditioning) Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Observational learning in psychopathology: – Assumes that abnormal behavior is learned in the same way as normal behavior – Exposure to disturbed models is likely to produce disturbed behaviors Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Criticisms of behavioral models: – Often neglects importance of inner determinants of behavior – Overextends animal studies to human behavior – Mechanistic: ignores human values Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Cognitive models: – Conscious thought mediates or modifies a person’s emotional state and/or behavior in response to a stimulus – Schemas: • Sets of underlying assumptions influenced by experiences, values, and perceived capabilities Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Beck and Ellis: – Psychological problems produced by irrational thought patterns stemming individual’s belief system – Unpleasant emotional responses result from one’s unrealistic and irrational thoughts about an event, not the event itself. Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Distortions of thought processes: – Humans are born with the capacity for both rational and irrational thinking

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– Ellis: • A-B-C theory of personality describes the process by which individuals acquire irrational thoughts through interactions with significant others Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) Figure 2-9 Ellis’s A-B-C Theory of Personality The development of emotional and behavioral problems is often linked to a dysfunctional thinking process. The cognitive psychologist is likely to attack these problematic beliefs using a rational intervention process, resulting in a change in beliefs and feelings. Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Cognitive approaches to therapy: – Highly specific learning experiences to teach clients to: • Monitor negative, automatic thoughts (cognitions) • Recognize connections between cognition, affect, and behavior • Examine evidence for and against distorted automatic thoughts • Substitute reality-oriented interpretations • Identify and alter beliefs that predispose them to distort their experiences Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Criticisms of cognitive models: – Skinner: Cognitions are not observable, so they cannot form the foundation of empiricism – Human behavior is more than thoughts and beliefs – Therapist, as teacher, expert, and authority figure is direct and confrontational and may intimidate client and misidentify the disorder Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.)

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•  Humanistic and existential models: – Reality: • The product of our unique experiences and perceptions of the world; the subjective universe is more important than the events themselves – We have free choice/personal responsibility – A person’s “wholeness” is critically important – We have the ability to become what we want to be Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Humanistic perspective: – Carl Rogers best known of humanists – Positive view of the individual – Humanity is basically “good,” forward-moving, and trustworthy Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Humanistic perspective: – Actualizing tendency • People motivated to meet not only biological needs, but also the self – Abraham Maslow’s actualizing tendency: • Self-actualization: – Inherent tendency to strive toward realization of one’s full potential • Self-concept: – Assessment of one’s value and worth Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Humanistic perspective: – Development of abnormal behavior • Rogers: – If left unencumbered by societal restrictions, we would become fully functioning people • Imposition of conditions of worth, transmitted via

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conditional positive regard, results in disharmony, or incongruence, between one’s potential and one’s selfconcept • Unconditional positive regard: Value and respect a person, separate from one’s actions Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Humanistic perspective: – Person-centered therapy • Emphasizes therapist’s attitudes in therapeutic relationship rather than the precise techniques used • Therapist communicates understanding of client’s subjective world by reflecting feelings Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Existential perspective: – Shares with humanistic psychology emphasis on individual uniqueness – Also differs in following ways: • Less optimistic than humanistic therapy • Individual must be viewed in context of human condition • Stresses not only individual responsibility but also responsibility to others Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Criticisms of humanistic and existential approaches: – “Fuzzy,” ambiguous, nebulous nature – Applied to a restricted population – Creative in describing human condition, but not in constructing theory – Not suited to scientific or experimental investigation Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  More criticisms of humanistic and existential approaches: – Subjective, intuitive, and empathic; not empirically based – Effective with intelligent, well-educated, relatively “normal” clients, not severely disturbed clients

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Dimension Two: Psychological Factors (cont’d.) •  Multipath implications of psychological explanations: – All psych theories have strengths/weaknesses; none has “whole truth” – Multipath model suggests we best understand abnormal behavior only by evidence-based integration of the various approaches Dimension Three: Social Factors •  Social relational models: – Healthy relationships are important for human development and functioning – These relationships provide many intangible healthy benefits – When relationships are dysfunctional, individuals may be more prone to mental disturbances Dimension Three: Social Factors (cont’d.) •  Family, couples, and group perspectives: – Family systems model: • behavior of one family member affects entire family system – Characteristics: • Personality development ruled by family attributes • Abnormal behavior is a reflection of unhealthy family dynamics and poor communication • Therapist must focus on family system, not just the individual Dimension Three: Social Factors (cont’d.) •  Social-relational treatment approaches: – Conjoint family therapeutic approach: • Stresses importance of teaching message-sending and message-receiving skills to family members – Strategic family approach: • Deals with family power struggles by shifting to more...