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Nevid Pptch2 QBS
Nevid Pptch2 QBS
Nevid Pptch2 QBS
Chapter 2
Contemporary Perspectives on
Abnormal Behavior and
Methods of Treatment
Cerebral Cortex
Each hemisphere is divided into four lobes.
Occipital lobe Primarily involved in processing visual
stimuli.
Temporal lobe Involved in processing sounds or
auditory stimuli.
Parietal lobe Involved in processing sensations of
touch, temperature, and pain.
Frontal lobe Controls muscle movement and includes
the prefrontal cortex that regulates higher mental functions
such as thinking, problem-solving, and use of language.
Psychodynamic Models
Psychoanalytic theory The theoretical model developed by Sigmund
Freud that is based on the belief that the roots of psychological problems
involve unconscious motives and conflicts that can be traced back to
childhood.
also called psychoanalysis.
Conscious To Freud, the part of the mind that corresponds to our
present awareness.
Preconscious To Freud, the part of the mind that contains memories not
in awareness but can be brought into awareness by focusing attention on
them.
Unconscious To Freud, the part of the mind that lies outside the range
of ordinary awareness and that contains instinctual urges.
Defense Mechanisms
Defense mechanisms The reality-distorting
strategies used by the ego to shield the self from
awareness of anxiety-provoking impulses.
These mechanisms enable us to constrain impulses
from the id as we go about our daily business.
Freud believed that slips of the tongue and ordinary
forgetfulness could represent hidden motives that are
kept out of consciousness by repression.
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Learning Models
The behavioral perspective is identified with the Russian
physiologist Ivan Pavlov (18491936), the discoverer of the
conditioned reflex, and the American psychologist John B. Watson
(18781958), the father of behaviorism.
Behaviorism The school of psychology that defines psychology
as the study of observable behavior and that focuses on the role of
learning in explaining behavior.
Watson and other behaviorists, such as Harvard University
psychologist B. F. Skinner (19041990), believed that human
behavior is the product of our genetic inheritance and
environmental or situational influences.
Learning Models
Social-Cognitive Theory
Social-cognitive theory A learning-based theory
that emphasizes observational learning and
incorporates roles for cognitive variables in
determining behavior.
Modeling Learning by observing and imitating
the behavior of others.
Expectancies Beliefs about expected outcomes.
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Humanistic Models
Self-actualization In humanistic psychology, the
tendency to strive to become all that one is capable of
being. The motive that drives one to reach ones full
potential and express ones unique capabilities.
Unconditional positive regard Valuing other
people as having basic worth regardless of their
behavior at a particular time.
Conditional positive regard Valuing other people
on the basis of whether their behavior meets ones
approval.
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Cognitive Models
Cognitive theorists study the cognitionsthe thoughts,
beliefs, expectations, and attitudesthat accompany
and may underlie abnormal behavior.
They focus on how reality is colored by our
expectations, attitudes, and so forth, and how inaccurate
or biased processing of information about the world
and our places within itcan give rise to abnormal
behavior.
Cognitive theorists believe that our interpretations of
the events in our lives, and not the events themselves,
determine our emotional states.
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Information-Processing Models
Information-processing theorists discuss human cognition in
terms such as input (sensory and perceptual processes),
manipulation (interpreting or processing), storage (placing
information in memory), retrieval (accessing information
from memory), and output (acting on the information).
Psychological disorders are seen as disturbances in these
processes.
People with schizophrenia, for example, frequently jump
from topic to topic in a disorganized fashion, which may
reflect problems in retrieving and manipulating information.
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Albert Ellis
Psychologist Albert Ellis (1977b, 1993), a prominent
cognitive theorist, believed that troubling events in
themselves do not lead to anxiety, depression, or
disturbed behavior.
Ellis used an ABC approach to explain the causes
of the misery. Being fired is an activating event (A).
The ultimate outcome, or consequence (C), is
emotional distress.
But the activating event (A) and the consequences (C)
are mediated by various beliefs (B).
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Aaron Beck
Aaron Beck proposes that depression may result from errors in
thinking or cognitive distortions, such as judging oneself
entirely on the basis of ones flaws or failures and interpreting
events in a negative light (through blue-colored glasses, as it
were).
Beck stresses the four basic types of cognitive distortions that
contribute to emotional distress:
1. Selective abstraction
2. Overgeneralization
3. Magnification
4. Absolutist thinking
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Methods of Treatment
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy A structured form of treatment
derived from a psychological framework that
consists of one or more verbal interactions or
treatment sessions between a client and a therapist.
Psychotherapy is used to treat psychological
disorders, to help clients change maladaptive
behaviors or solve problems in living, or to help
them develop their unique potentials.
Psychodynamic Therapy
Psychoanalysis The first method of
psychotherapy developed by Sigmund Freud.
Psychodynamic therapy Therapy that helps
individuals gain insight into, and resolve,
unconscious conflicts.
Free association The method of verbalizing
thoughts as they occur without a conscious attempt
to edit or censure them.
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Dream Analysis
In psychoanalytic theory, dreams have two levels of content:
1. Manifest content: The material of the dream the dreamer experiences and
reports.
2. Latent content: The unconscious material the dream symbolizes or
represents.
Freud believed dreams represented the royal road to the unconscious.
Transference relationship In psychoanalysis, the clients transfer or
generalization to the analyst of feelings and attitudes the client holds toward
important figures in his or her life.
Countertransference In psychoanalysis, the transfer of feelings or attitudes
that the analyst holds toward other persons in her or his life onto the client.
Behavioral Therapy
Behavior therapy The systematic application of the
principles of learning to treat psychological disorders.
Systematic desensitization A behavior therapy
technique for overcoming phobias by means of exposure
to progressively more fearful stimuli while one remains
deeply relaxed.
Gradual exposure A behavior therapy technique for
overcoming fears through direct exposure to
increasingly fearful stimuli.
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Behavioral Therapy
Modeling A behavior therapy technique for helping
an individual acquire a target behavior by observing a
therapist or another individual demonstrate the
behavior and then imitating it.
Token economy Behavioral treatment program in
which a controlled environment is constructed such
that people are reinforced for desired behaviors by
receiving tokens that may be exchanged for desired
rewards.
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Humanistic Therapy
Humanistic therapists focus on clients subjective,
conscious experiences.
Like behavior therapists, humanistic therapists also
focus more on what clients are experiencing in the
presentthe here and nowthan on the past.
The major form of humanistic therapy is personcentered therapy (also called client-centered
therapy), which was developed by the psychologist
Carl Rogers.
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Person-Centered Therapy
Person-centered therapy The establishment of a
warm, accepting therapeutic relationship that frees
clients to engage in self-exploration and achieve
self-acceptance.
Person-centered therapy is nondirective.
The therapist uses reflectionthe restating or
paraphrasing of the clients expressed feelings
without interpreting them or passing judgment on
them.
Person-Centered Therapy
Unconditional positive regard The expression of
unconditional acceptance of another persons intrinsic worth.
Empathy The ability to understand someones experiences
and feelings from that persons point of view.
Genuineness The ability to recognize and express ones
true feelings.
Congruence The fit between ones thoughts, behaviors,
and feelings.
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Cognitive Therapy
Cognitive therapy A form of therapy that helps
clients identify and correct faulty cognitions
(thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes) believed to
underlie their emotional problems and maladaptive
behavior.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) A learning-based
approach to therapy incorporating cognitive and behavioral
techniques.
CBT attempts to integrate therapeutic techniques that help
individuals make changes not only in their overt behavior
but also in their underlying thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes.
CBT draws on the assumption that thinking patterns and
beliefs affect behavior and that changes in these cognitions
can produce desirable behavioral and emotional changes.
Eclectic Therapy
Eclectic therapy An approach to psychotherapy that
incorporates principles or techniques from various systems or
theories.
An eclectic therapist might use behavior therapy techniques to
help a client change specific maladaptive behaviors, for
example, along with psychodynamic techniques to help the
client gain insight into the childhood roots of the problem.
Some therapists are technical eclectics.
Other eclectic therapists are integrative eclectics.
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Group Therapy
What are some of the advantages of group
therapy over individual therapy?
What are some of the disadvantages?
Family Therapy
In family therapy, the family, not the individual, is
the unit of treatment. Family therapists help family
members communicate more effectively with one
anotherfor example, to air their disagreements in
ways that are not hurtful to individual members.
Family therapists also try to prevent one member of
the family from becoming the scapegoat for the
familys problems.
African Americans
The cultural history of African Americans must be understood
in the context of persistent racial discrimination.
Therapists need to be aware of the tendency of African
American clients to minimize their vulnerability by being less
self-disclosing (Sanchez-Hucles, 2000).
Therapists must be aware of the cultural characteristics such as
strong kinship bonds, strong religious and spiritual orientation,
multigenerational households, adaptability and flexibility of
gender roles, and distribution of child-care responsibilities
among different family members.
Therapists must recognize how stereotypes can become
destructive to the therapeutic relationships they form with
African American clients.
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Asian Americans
Culturally sensitive therapists not only understand the
beliefs and values of other cultures but also integrate this
knowledge within the therapy process.
Generally speaking, Asian cultures, including Japanese
culture, value restraint in talking about oneself and ones
feelings.
Public expression of emotions is also discouraged in
Asian cultures, which may inhibit Asian clients from
revealing their feelings in therapy.
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Hispanic Americans
Although Hispanic American subcultures differ in various
respects, many share certain cultural values and beliefs, such as
the importance placed on the family and kinship ties, as well as
on respect and dignity (Calzada, Fernandez, & Cortes, 2010).
Therapists need to recognize that the traditional Hispanic
American value of interdependency within the family may
conflict with the values of independence and self-reliance that
are stressed in the mainstream U.S. culture.
Therapists should also be trained to reach beyond the confines
of their offices to work within the Hispanic American
community itself, in settings that have an impact on the daily
lives of Hispanic Americans.
Native Americans
Native Americans remain underserved, partly as a result of
underfunding and the cultural gap between providers and
recipients.
Mental health professionals can help Native Americans if
they work within a context that is relevant and sensitive to
Native Americans customs, culture, and values (Gone &
Trimble, 2012).
Many Native Americans expect that the therapist will do most
of the talking and they will play a passive role in treatment.
There may also be differences in nonverbal expression that
can impede effective communication between the therapist
and the client (Renfrey, 1992).
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Biomedical Therapies
There is a growing emphasis in American psychiatry on biomedical
therapies, especially the use of psychotropic drugs (also called
psychiatric drugs).
Psychopharmacology The field of study that examines the
effects of therapeutic or psychiatric drugs.
Today, roughly one in five adult Americans takes psychotropic
drugs (Smith, 2012).
Psychosurgery has been all but eliminated as a form of treatment
because of serious harmful effects of earlier procedures.
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Drug Therapy
Different classes of psychotropic drugs are used in treating
many types of psychological disorders.
But all the drugs in these classes act on neurotransmitter
systems in the brain, affecting the delicate balance of
chemicals that ferry nerve impulses from neuron to neuron.
The major classes of psychiatric drugs are antianxiety drugs,
antipsychotic drugs, and antidepressants, as well as lithium,
which is used to treat mood swings in people with bipolar
disorder.
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Antianxiety Drugs
Antianxiety drugs Drugs that combat anxiety and
reduce states of muscle tension by reducing central
nervous system activity.
They include mild tranquilizers, such as diazepam
(Valium) and alprazolam (Xanax), as well as hypnotic
sedatives, such as triazolam (Halcion).
Rebound anxiety The experiencing of strong
anxiety following withdrawal from a tranquilizer.
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Antipsychotic Drugs
Antipsychotic drugs Drugs used to treat schizophrenia or
other psychotic disorders.
The use of neuroleptics has greatly reduced the need for
more restrictive forms of treatment for severely disturbed
patients, such as physical restraints and confinement in
padded cells, and has lessened the need for long-term
hospitalization.
Neuroleptics are not without their problems, including
potential side effects such as muscular rigidity and tremors.
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Antidepressants
Antidepressants Drugs used to treat depression
that affect the availability of neurotransmitters in the
brain.
The third class of antidepressants, selective
serotonin-reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, have more
specific effects on serotonin function in the brain.
Drugs in this class include fluoxetine (Prozac) and
sertraline (Zoloft).
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Electroconvulsive Therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) A treatment in
which an electric shock is sent through the patients
brain, sufficient to induce convulsions.
People with major depression show significant
improvement following ECT.
ECT is associated with memory loss for events
occurring around the time of treatment and high
relapse rates.
ECT is generally considered a treatment of last resort
after less intrusive methods have been tried and failed.
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Psychosurgery
Psychosurgery is yet more controversial than ECT and is
rarely practiced today.
Although no longer performed today, the most common
form of psychosurgery was the prefrontal lobotomy.
This procedure involved surgically severing nerve
pathways linking the thalamus to the prefrontal lobes of
the brain.
The End