Chapter 12

Social Psychology
Social psychology

• Social psychology: the scientific study of how a

person’s behavior, thoughts, and feelings
influence and are influenced by social groups
– Includes the social world in which we exist, as we are
surrounded by others to whom we are connected and
by whom we are influenced in so many ways
Conformity

• Social influence: the process through which the

real or implied presence of others can directly or
indirectly influence the thoughts, feelings, and
behavior of an individual
• Conformity: changing one’s own behavior to
match that of other people
Figure 12.1 Stimuli Used in Asch’s
Study
Participants in Asch’s
famous study on
conformity were first
shown the standard line.
They were then shown
the three comparison
lines and asked to
determine to which of the
three was the standard
line most similar. Which
line would you pick? What
if you were one of several
people, and everyone
who answered ahead of
you chose line 3? How
would that affect your
answer? Source: Adapted
from Asch (1956).
Group Behavior

• Groupthink: occurs when people place more

importance on maintaining group cohesiveness
than on assessing the facts of the problem with
which the group is concerned

• Group polarization: members involved in a group

discussion tend to take somewhat more extreme
positions and suggest riskier actions when
compared to individuals who have not participated
in a group discussion
Group Behavior

• Social facilitation: positive influence of others on

performance
• Social impairment: negative influence of others on
performance
– Social loafing: people who are lazy tend not to do as
well when others are also working on same task
– Cultural assumptions
Group Behavior

• Deindividuation: a lessening of one’s sense of

personal identity and personal responsibility
– Groups or crowds can offer a sense of anonymity
Compliance

• Compliance: changing one’s behavior as a result

of other people directing or asking for the change
• Consumer psychology: branch of psychology that
studies the habits of consumers in the
marketplace, including compliance
Compliance

• Foot-in-the-door technique: asking for a small

commitment and, after gaining compliance, asking
for a bigger commitment
• Door-in-the-face technique: asking for a large
commitment and then, after being refused, asking
for a smaller commitment
• Lowball technique: getting a commitment from a
person and then raising the cost of that
commitment
Obedience

• Obedience: changing one’s behavior at the

command of an authority figure
• Milgram’s shocking research: “teacher”
administered what he or she thought were real
shocks to a “learner”
– Participants consistently follow orders to administer
apparently painful shocks
– Raised ethical questions about how far researchers
should be willing to go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzd6Ew3TraA
Social Cognition

• Social cognition - the mental processes that

people use to make sense of the social world
around them.
– How we perceive others
– How we explain behavior of others and ourselves
Attitudes 1 of 3

• Attitude: a tendency to respond positively or

negatively toward a certain person, object, idea, or
situation
• Three components of an attitude:
1. Affective (emotional) component
2. Behavioral component
3. Cognitive component
 Figure 12.3
Three Components of an Attitude

Attitudes consist of the way

a person feels and thinks
about something, as well as
the way the person chooses
to behave. If you like country
music, you are also likely to
think that country music is
good music. You are also
more likely to listen to this
style of music, buy this type
of music, and even go to a
performance. Each of the
three components
influences the other two.
Attitudes

• Attitudes are often poor predictors of behavior

unless the attitude is very specific or very strong.
Attitudes 3 of 3

• Attitude Formation
– Direct contact with the person, situation, object, or idea
– Direct instruction from parents or others
– Interacting with other people who hold a certain attitude
– Vicarious conditioning (observational learning): watching
the actions and reactions of others to ideas, people,
objects, and situations
Attitude Change: The Art of Persuasion

• Persuasion: the process by which one person tries

to change the belief, opinion, position, or course of
action of another person through argument,
pleading, or explanation
Cognitive Dissonance: When
Attitudes and Behavior Clash

• Cognitive dissonance: sense of discomfort or

distress that occurs when a person’s behavior
does not correspond to that person’s impression
– Lessened by changing the conflicting behavior,
changing the conflicting attitude, or forming a new
attitude to justify the behavior
Figure 12.4 Cognitive Dissonance:
Attitude Toward a Task
After completing a boring
task, some participants were
paid $1 and some $20 to
convince others waiting to do
the same task that the task
was interesting and fun.
Surprisingly, the participants
who were paid only $1
seemed to change their own
attitude toward the task,
rating it as interesting,
whereas those who were
paid $20 rated the task no
differently than a control
group did. SOURCE:
Adapted from Festinger and
Carlsmith (1959).
Attribution

• Attribution: the process of explaining one’s own

behavior and the behavior of others
• Attribution theory: the theory of how people make
attributions
• Situational cause: cause of behavior attributed to
external factors
– Delays, action of others, some other aspect of the
situation
• Dispositional cause: cause of behavior attributed
to internal factors
– Personality, character
Attribution

• Fundamental attribution error (actor-observer

bias): the tendency to overestimate the influence
of internal factors in determining behavior while
underestimating situational factors
– Cross-cultural differences in attribution
Prejudice and Discrimination 1 of 3

• Prejudice: negative attitude held by a person

about the members of a particular social group
• Discrimination: treating people differently because
of prejudice toward the social group to which they
belong
Prejudice and Discrimination 2 o f 3

• Forms of prejudice include ageism, sexism,

racism, and prejudice against those who are too
fat or too thin
• In-groups: social groups with whom a person
identifies; “us”
• Out-groups: social groups with whom a person
does not identify; “them”
• Scapegoating: tendency to direct prejudice and
discrimination at out-group members who have
little social power or influence
Overcoming Prejudice

• Education and intergroup contact

• Equal status contact: contact between groups in
which the groups have equal status, with neither
group having power over the other
– Robber’s Cave study
• “Jigsaw classroom”: educational technique in
which each individual is given only part of the
information needed to solve a problem, forcing
individuals to work together to find the solution
Interpersonal Attraction

• Interpersonal attraction: liking or having the desire for a

relationship with another person
– Physical attractiveness
– Proximity: physical or geographical nearness
– Similarity: people like people who are similar to
themselves
▪ Validation of the self
– Reciprocity of liking: tendency of people to like other
people who like them in return
Love Is a Triangle: Robert
Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of
Love

• Love: a strong affection for another person due to

kinship, personal ties, sexual attraction, admiration,
or common interests
• Sternberg’s three components of love:
1. Intimacy  feelings of closeness, close emotional ties
2. Passion  physical aspect of love
3. Commitment  decisions about the relationship
Love Is a Triangle: Robert
Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of
Love

• Romantic love: consists of intimacy and passion

• Companionate love: consists of intimacy and
commitment
• Consummate love: all three components are
present
Aggression 1 of 3

• Aggression: behavior intended to hurt or destroy

another person
• Frustration–aggression hypothesis: aggression is
a reaction to frustration
• Konrad Lorenz saw aggression as an instinct for
fighting to promote the survival of our species
Aggression 2 of 3

• Biological influences on aggression may include

genetics, the frontal lobes, the amygdala and limbic
system, and testosterone and serotonin levels
– Alcohol has impact on aggression

• Social role: the pattern of behavior that is expected of

a person who is in a particular social position
– Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment
– Violent TV, movies, and video games also related
to aggression
Prosocial Behavior

• Prosocial behavior: socially desirable behavior

that benefits others
• Altruism: prosocial behavior that is done with no
expectation of reward and may involve the risk of
harm to oneself
– Temporoparietal junction (TPJ) is larger in individuals
who make altruistic choices
Prosocial Behavior

• Bystander effect: the effect that the presence of

other people has on the decision to help or not
help
– Help becomes less likely as the number of bystanders
increases
– Case of Kitty Genovese
Figure 12.5
Elements Involved in Bystander
Response
In a classic experiment,
participants were filling out
surveys as the room began
to fill with smoke. As you
can see in the
accompanying graph, the
time taken to report smoke
and the percentage of
people reporting smoke
both depended on how
many people were in the
room at the time the smoke
was observed. If a person
was alone, he or she was
far more likely to report the
smoke and report it more
quickly than when there
were three people. Source:
Latané & Darle (1969).
Prosocial Behavior

• Diffusion of responsibility: a person fails to take

responsibility for action or for inaction because of
the presence of other people who are seen to
share the responsibility
• Researchers Latané and Darley found that people
who were alone were more likely to help in an
emergency than people who were with others
– One bystander cannot diffuse responsibility
Table 12.3 Help or Don’t Help: Five
Decision Points
Decision Point Description Factors Influencing Decision

Noticing Realizing that there is a situation Hearing a loud crash or a cry for
that might be an emergency help.
Defining an Interpreting the cues as signaling an Loud crash if associated with a car
Emergency emergency accident, people are obviously hurt.
Taking Personally assuming the A single bystander is much more
Responsibility responsibility to act likely to act than when others are
present (Latané & Darley. 1969.)
Planning a Course Deciding how to help and what People who feel they have the
of Action skills might be needed necessary skills to help are more
likely to help.
Taking Action Actually helping Cost of helping (e.g. danger to self)
must not outweigh the rewards of
helping.
 Chapter 13
Theories of Personality
Personality
• Personality: the unique and relatively stable ways
in which people think, feel, and behave
– Includes character and temperament
• Character: value judgments made about a
person’s moral and ethical behavior
• Temperament: the enduring characteristics with
which each person is born
Freud’s Conception of Personality

• Freud founder of psychoanalytic movement

• Europe during the Victorian Age
Freud’s Conception of Personality

• The Structure of the Mind

– Freud divided mind into the preconscious, conscious
and unconscious
– Believed unconscious mind was most important factor
in human behavior and personality
Freud’s Conception of Personality
• Preconscious mind: information is available but
not currently conscious
• Conscious mind: level aware of immediate
surroundings and perceptions
• Unconscious mind: level in which thoughts,
feelings, memories, and other information that are
not easily or voluntarily brought into
consciousness are kept
Freud’s Conception of Personality
• Freud’s Divisions of the Personality
– Personality divided into three parts, each existing at
one or more levels of consciousness
– How parts develop and interact with each other is basis
for Freud’s theory
– Each part in constant state of conflict with others
▪ Id: devil
▪ Superego: angel
▪ Ego: person caught in the middle
Figure 13.1
Freud’s Conception of the
Personality
This iceberg represents the
three levels of the mind. The part
of the iceberg visible above the
surface is the conscious mind.
Just below the surface is the
preconscious mind, everything
that is not yet part of the
conscious mind. Hidden deep
below the surface is the
unconscious mind, feelings,
memories, thoughts, and urges
that cannot be easily brought
into consciousness. While two of
the three parts of the personality
(ego and superego) exist at all
three levels of awareness, the id
is completely in the unconscious
mind.
 Freud’s Conception of Personality

• Id: part of the personality present at birth;

completely unconscious
– Pleasure principle: principle by which the id functions;
immediate satisfaction of needs without regard for the
consequences
Freud’s Conception of Personality

• Ego: part of the personality that develops out of a

need to deal with reality; mostly conscious,
rational, and logical
– Reality principle: principle by which the ego functions;
the satisfaction of the demands of the id only when
negative consequences will not result
Freud’s Conception of Personality

• Superego: part of the personality that acts as a

moral center
– Conscience: part of superego that produces pride or
guilt, depending on how well behavior matches or does
not match the ego ideal
Freud’s Conception of Personality

• Psychological defense mechanisms: unconscious

distortions of a person’s perception of reality that
reduce stress and anxiety
Table 13.1 The Psychological Defense
Mechanisms
Defense Mechanism and Definition
Denial: refusal to recognize or acknowledge
a threatening situation.
Repression: “pushing” threatening or conflicting
events or situations out of conscious memory.
Rationalization: making up acceptable excuses
for unacceptable behavior.
Projection: placing one’s own unacceptable
thoughts onto others, as if the thoughts belonged
to them and not to oneself.
Reaction formation: forming an emotional
reaction or attitude that is the opposite of one’s
threatening or unacceptable actual thoughts.
Example
Renata refuses to acknowledge her son
was killed during his recent military
deployment.
Regan, who was sexually abused as a child,
cannot remember the abuse at all.
“If I don’t have breakfast, I can have that
piece of cake later on without hurting my
diet.”
Maria is attracted to her sister’s husband
but denies this and believes the husband
is attracted to her.
Kyle is unconsciously attracted to Cian
but outwardly voices an extreme
hatred of homosexuals.
Table 13.1 The Psychological Defense
Mechanisms
Defense Mechanism and Definition Example
Displacement: expressing feelings that would be Sandra gets reprimanded by her boss and
threatening if directed at the real target onto a less goes home to angrily pick a fight with her
threatening substitute target. husband.

Regression: falling back on childlike patterns as a Four-year-old Blaine starts wetting his bed
way of coping with stressful situations. after his parents bring home a new baby.

Identification: trying to become like someone else Samantha really admires Emily, the most
to deal with one’s anxiety. popular girl in school, and tries to copy her
behavior and dress.
Compensation (substitution): trying to make up Ethan is not good at athletics, so he puts all
for areas in which a lack is perceived by becoming of his energies into becoming an academic
superior in some other area. scholar.
Sublimation: turning socially unacceptable urges Ryder, who is very aggressive, becomes a
into socially acceptable behavior. mixed martial arts fighter.
Stages of Personality Development

• Psychosexual stages: five stages of personality

development proposed by Freud and tied to the
sexual development of the child
• Fixation: if the person does not fully resolve the
conflict in a particular psychosexual stage, it will
result in personality traits and behaviors
associated with that earlier stage
 Stages of Personality Development

• Oral stage: first stage, occurring in first 18 months

of life, in which the mouth is the erogenous zone
and weaning is the primary conflict
– Id dominated
Stages of Personality Development

• Anal stage: second stage, occurring between 18

and 36 months of age; the anus is the erogenous
zone and toilet training is the source of conflict
– Ego develops
 Stages of Personality Development
• Phallic stage: third stage, occurring from about 3
to 6 years of age; the child discovers sexual
feelings
– Superego develops
– Oedipus complex: situation occurring in phallic stage in
which a boy develops a sexual attraction to opposite-
sex parent and jealousy of same-sex parent
– Electra complex: a similar process for girls
Stages of Personality Development

• Latency stage: fourth stage occurring during the

school years, in which the sexual feelings of the
child are repressed while the child develops in
other ways
• Genital stage: during and after puberty, sexual
feelings reawaken with appropriate targets
The Neo-Freudians

• Neo-Freudians: followers of Freud who developed

their own competing theories of psychoanalysis
– Retained some of Freud’s concepts
– But moved away from psychoanalysis to impact of
social environment
The Neo-Freudians
• Jung: developed a theory including both a
personal and a collective unconscious
– Personal unconscious: Jung’s name for the
unconscious mind as described by Freud
– Collective unconscious: the memories shared by all
members of the human species
– Archetypes: collective, universal human memories
The Neo-Freudians

• Adler: proposed that feelings of inferiority are the

driving force behind personality
– Developed birth order theory
▪ Firstborn children feel inferior to younger children who receive
attention; become overachievers
▪ Middle children feel superior to dethroned older children, as well
as younger children; tend to be very competitive
▪ Younger children feel inferior because they don’t have the
freedom or responsibility of older children
The Neo-Freudians

• Horney: developed a theory based on basic

anxiety; rejected the concept of penis envy
– Basic anxiety: anxiety created when a child is born into
the bigger and more powerful world of older children
and adults
– Neurotic personalities: the result of less-secure
upbringings and paired with maladaptive ways of
dealing with relationships
The Neo-Freudians

• Erikson: developed a theory based on social

rather than sexual relationships, covering the
entire life span
– Eight psychosocial stages
Current Thoughts on Freud and the
Psychodynamic Perspective
• Current research has found support for:
– Defense mechanisms
– Concept of an unconscious mind that can influence
conscious behavior
• Other Freudian concepts cannot be scientifically
researched
– Interpretation of dreams and free association
– Based theory strictly on wealthy clients
Learning Theories

• Behaviorists define personality as a set of learned

responses or habits
– Habit: well-learned response that has become
automatic
– Watson and Skinner
Learning Theories
• Social cognitive learning theorists emphasize the
influences of other people’s behavior and a
person’s own expectancies on learning
– Bandura and Rotter
– Social cognitive view: learning theory that includes
cognitive processes such as anticipating, judging,
memory, and imitation of models
Learning Theories
• Bandura’s reciprocal determinism: explanation of
how the factors of environment, personal
characteristics, and behavior can interact to
determine future behavior
– Self-efficacy: an individual’s perception of how effective
a behavior will be in any particular circumstance (not
the same as self-esteem)
 Figure 13.2 Reciprocal Determinism

In Bandura’s model of reciprocal determinism, three factors influence behavior: the

environment, which consists of the physical surroundings and the potential for reinforcement;
the person (personal/cognitive characteristics that have been rewarded in the past); and the
behavior itself, which may or may not be reinforced at this particular time and place.
Learning Theories
• Rotter’s Social Learning Theory: based on
principle of motivation
– People want to seek reinforcement and avoid
punishment
– Locus of control: internal vs. external
– Expectancy: a person’s subjective feeling that a
particular behavior will lead to a reinforcing
consequence.
Current Thoughts on the Behavioral
and Social Cognitive Learning Views

• Behaviorism as explanation of personality

formation has limitations
– Does not take mental processes into account
– Doesn’t give weight to social influences on learning
• Social cognitive view includes social and mental
processes
– Tested under scientific conditions
 The Humanistic Perspective
• Humanistic perspective: the “third force” in
psychology
– Focuses on aspects of personality that make people
uniquely human, such as subjective feelings and
freedom of choice
– Developed as a reaction against the negativity of
psychoanalysis and the deterministic nature of
behaviorism
– Rogers and Maslow
Carl Rogers and the Humanistic
Perspective
• Self-actualizing tendency: the striving to fulfill
one’s innate capacities and capabilities
• Self-concept: the image of oneself that develops
from interactions with important, significant people
in one’s life
Carl Rogers and the Humanistic
Perspective

• Real self: one’s perception of actual

characteristics, traits, and abilities
• Ideal self: one’s perception of whom one should
be or would like to be
Figure 13.3
Real and Ideal Selves
According to Rogers, the self-
concept includes the real self and
the ideal self. The real self is a
person’s actual perception of traits
and abilities, whereas the ideal self
is the perception of what a person
would like to be or thinks he or she
should be. When the ideal self and
the real self are very similar
(matching), the person experiences
harmony and contentment. When
there is a mismatch between the
two selves, the person experiences
anxiety and may engage in neurotic
behavior.
Carl Rogers and the Humanistic
Perspective
• Positive regard: warmth, affection, love and
respect that come from significant others in one’s
life
– Unconditional positive regard: positive regard that is
given without conditions or strings attached
– Conditional positive regard: positive regard that is given
only when person doing what providers of positive
regard wish
Carl Rogers and the Humanistic
Perspective

• Fully functioning person: in the process of self-

actualizing, actively exploring potentials and
abilities and experiencing a match between the
real self and ideal self
Current Thoughts on the Humanistic
View of Personality

• Picture is a little too rosy

• Very difficult to test scientifically
• Connection to “positive psychology”
Allport and Cattell: Early Attempts to
List and Describe Traits

• Trait theories: theories that endeavor to describe

the characteristics that make up human
personality in an effort to predict future behavior
– Trait: a consistent, enduring way of thinking, feeling, or
behaving
Allport and Cattell: Early Attempts to
List and Describe Traits

• Allport first developed a list of about 200 traits; he

believed these traits were part of nervous system
• Cattell reduced number of traits to 16 (with 7
additional source traits) with a computer method
called factor analysis
Allport and Cattell: Early Attempts to
List and Describe Traits
• Surface traits: aspects of personality that can
easily be seen by other people in the outward
actions of a person
• Source traits: the more basic traits that underlie
the surface traits, forming the core of personality
– Example: introversion
▪ Dimension of personality in which people tend to withdraw
from excessive stimulation
 Modern Trait Theories: The Big Five

• Five-factor model (Big Five): basic trait dimensions

1. Openness: willingness to try new things and be open to
new experiences
2. Conscientiousness: the care a person gives to
organization and thoughtfulness of others; dependability
3. Extraversion: one’s need to be with other people
4. Agreeableness: the emotional style of a person that may
range from easygoing, friendly, and likeable to grumpy,
crabby, and unpleasant
5. Neuroticism: degree of emotional instability or stability
Table 13.2 The Big Five
Higher Scorer Characteristics Factor (OCEAN) Low Scorer Characteristics

Creative, artistic, curious, Openness (O) Conventional, down-to-earth,

imaginative uncreative nonconforming

Organized, reliable, neat, ambitious Conscientiousness (C) Unreliable, lazy, careless,

negligent, spontaneous

Talkative, optimistic, sociable, Extraversion (E) Reserved, comfortable being

affectionate alone, stays in the background

Good-natured, trusting, helpful Agreeableness (A) Rude, uncooperative, irritable,

aggressive, competitive

Worrying, insecure, anxious, Neuroticism (N) Calm, secure, relaxed, stable

temperamental
Source: Adapted from McCrae & Costa
(1990).
Current Thoughts on the Trait
Perspective
• Trait-situation interaction: assumption that the
particular circumstances of any given situation will
influence the way in which a trait is expressed.
• Cross-cultural research has found support for five-
factor model in all primary cultural regions
– Future research will explore the degree to which
childrearing practices and heredity may influence the
five personality factors
 Chapter 13
Theories of Personality
The Biology of Personality:
Behavioral Genetics

• Behavioral genetics: study of the relationship

between heredity and personality
– Twin and adoption studies have found support for a
genetic influence on many personality traits
The Biology of Personality:
Behavioral Genetics
• Twin studies
– James Arthur Springer and James Edward Lewis,
otherwise known as the “Jim” twins, were separated
shortly after birth and reunited at age thirty-nine
– Exhibited many similarities in personality and personal
habits
• Minnesota twin study showed identical twins more
similar than fraternal twins
Figure 13.5 Personalities of Identical
and Fraternal Twins
Identical and fraternal twins
differ in the way they express
the Big Five personality
factors. In a recent study,
data from 696 twin pairs
suggest identical twins have
a correlation of about 45
percent for self-ratings
across each of the Big Five
factor domains, whereas
fraternal twins have a
correlation of about 22
percent. These findings give
support to the idea that some
aspects of personality are
genetically based. Based on:
Kandler et al. (2010)
Current Findings on the Heritability
of Personality

• Heritability – how much some trait within a

population can be attributed to genetic influences
– Studies suggest five personality factors have nearly a
50% rate of heritability
– Variations in personality traits 25% to 50% inherited
• Environmental influences account for about half
of personality traits as well
Geert Hofstede’s Four Dimensions of
Cultural Personality

• Geert Hofstede’s study involved 64 countries

• Four basic dimensions along which cultures differ:
– Individualism/collectivism
– Power distance
– Masculinity/femininity
– Uncertainty avoidance
Interviews, Behavioral Assessments,
and Personality Inventories

• Behavioral Assessments: behaviorist assumes

personality is merely habitually learned responses
to stimuli
– Direct observation: assessment in which professional
observes client engaged in ordinary, day-to-day
behavior in either clinical or natural setting
▪ Rating scale
▪ Frequency count
Interviews, Behavioral Assessments,
and Personality Inventories

• Interview: personality assessment in which

professional asks questions of the client and
allows client to answer, either in a structured or
unstructured fashion
– Halo effect: tendency of an interviewer to allow positive
characteristics of a client to influence the assessments
of the client’s behavior and statements
Interviews, Behavioral Assessments,
and Personality Inventories
• Personality Inventory: paper-and-pencil or
computerized test that consists of statements that
require a specific, standardized response from the
person taking test
– NEO-PI: based on the five-factor model
– Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: based on Jung’s theory of
personality types
– MMPI-2: designed to detect abnormal behavior or
thinking patterns in personality
Table 13.3 Who Uses What Method?
Type of Assessment Most Likely Used by…
Interviews Psychoanalysts, humanistic
therapists
Projective Tests Psychoanalysts
Rorschach
Thematic Apperception Test
Behavioral Assessments Behavioral and social cognitive
Direct observation therapists
Rating scales
Frequency counts
Personality Inventories Trait theorists
Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF)
Neuroticism/Extraversion/Openness Personality

Inventory (NEO-PI-3)
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ)
Keirsey Temperament Sorter II
California Psychological Inventory (CPI)
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory,
Version II, Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF)
Projective Tests
• Projective tests: personality assessments that
present ambiguous visual stimuli to the client and
ask the client to respond with whatever comes to
mind
– Rorschach inkblot test: projective test that uses ten
inkblots as the ambiguous stimuli
– Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): projective test that
uses twenty pictures of people in ambiguous situations
as the visual stimuli
Figure 13.6
Rorschach Inkblot Example
A facsimile of a Rorschach
inkblot. A person being
tested is asked to tell the
interviewer what he or she
sees in an inkblot similar to
the one shown. Answers are
neither right nor wrong but
may reveal unconscious
concerns. What do you see
in this inkblot?
Figure 13.7
Thematic Apperception Test Example

A sample from the Thematic

Apperception Test (TAT).
When you look at this picture,
what story does it suggest to
you? Who is the person? Why
is he climbing a rope?
Projective Tests

• Problems with projective tests

– Subjective: concepts and impressions that are only
valid within a particular person’s perception and may
be influenced by biases, prejudice, and personal
experiences
– With no standard grading scales, projective tests are
low in reliability and validity
 Chapter 14
Psychological Disorders
Changing Conceptions of
Abnormality
• Psychopathology: the study of abnormal behavior
• Psychological disorders: any pattern of behavior
that causes people significant distress, causes
them to harm others, or harms their ability to
function in daily life
– Statistically rare
– Deviant from social norms
– Note that abnormality differs from insanity
Changing Conceptions of
Abnormality
• Situational context: the social or environmental
setting of a person’s behavior
– Subjective discomfort: emotional distress or discomfort
– Maladaptive thinking or behavior: anything that does
not allow a person to function within or adapt to the
stresses and everyday demands of life
Models of Abnormality
• Biological model: psychological disorders have
biological or medical causes
– Biological changes in the chemical, structural, or
genetic systems of the body
Models of Abnormality
• Psychodynamic view: abnormal behavior stems
from repressed conflicts and urges that are
fighting to become conscious
• Behaviorism: abnormal behavior is learned
• Cognitive perspective: abnormal behavior comes
from irrational beliefs and illogical patterns of
thought
Models of Abnormality
• Sociocultural perspective: abnormal behavior is
the product of family, social, and cultural
influences
• Biopsychosocial perspective: incorporates biology,
psychology, and culture into a single explanation
of abnormal behavior
Diagnosing and Classifying
Disorders
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition,
Global Edition, (DSM-5): manual of psychological
disorders and their symptoms
• International Classification of Diseases (ICD): an
international resource published by the World
Health Organization (WHO)
– Currently in its tenth edition
Diagnosing and Classifying
Disorders
• The DSM-5 describes about 250 different
psychological disorders
• In a given year, about 26.2 percent of American
adults over age 18 suffer from a mental disorder
– Only about 5.8 percent suffer from a severe mental
disorder
– More than one disorder at a time is common
Diagnosing and Classifying
Disorders
• Pros
– Provide a common language to professionals
– Establish distinct categories of diagnosis for treatment
and understanding
• Cons
– Overly prejudicial
– “Psychology student’s syndrome”
Anxiety Disorders
• Anxiety disorders: the main symptom is excessive
or unrealistic worry and fearfulness
• Free-floating anxiety: anxiety unrelated to any
realistic, known source
• Phobia: an irrational, persistent fear of an object,
situation, or social activity
– Social phobia (social anxiety disorder): fear of
interacting with others or being in social situations that
might lead to a negative evaluation
– Specific phobia: fear of objects or specific situations or
events
Anxiety Disorders

• Claustrophobia: fear of being in a small, enclosed

space
• Acrophobia: fear of heights
• Agoraphobia: fear of being in a place or situation
from which escape is difficult or impossible
Anxiety Disorders
• Panic disorder: panic attacks occur frequently
enough to cause the person difficulty in adjusting
to daily life
– Panic attack: sudden onset of intense panic in which
multiple physical symptoms of stress occur, often with
feelings that one is dying
Anxiety Disorders
• Generalized anxiety disorder: excessive anxieties
and worries occur for at least 6 months
Table 14.2 Anxiety Disorders and their
Symptoms
Anxiety Disorder Definition Examples/Symptoms
Social Anxiety Fear of interacting with others or Stage fright, fear of public
Disorder being in social situations that might speaking, fear of urinating in public,
lead to a negative fear of eating with other people
evaluation

Specific Phobias Fear of objects or specific situations Fears of animals, the natural
or events environment such as thunder
storms, blood injections/injury,
specific situations such as flying
Agoraphobia Fear of being in a place or situation Using public transportation, open
from which escape is difficult or spaces, enclosed spaces, being in a
impossible crowd

Panic Disorder Disorder in which panic attacks Various physical symptoms: racing
occur more than once or repeatedly heart, dizziness, rapid breathing,
and cause persistent worry or dulled senses, along with
changes in behavior uncontrollable feelings of terror

Generalized Disorder in which a person has Tendency to worry about situations,

Anxiety feelings of dread and impending people, or objects that are not really
Disorder doom along with physical symptoms problems, tension, muscle aches,
of stress, which lasts 6 months or sleeping problems,
more problems concentrating
Other Disorders Related to Anxiety
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder: intruding,
recurring thoughts or obsessions create anxiety
that is relieved by performing a repetitive,
ritualistic behavior (compulsion)
Other Disorders Related to Anxiety
• Acute stress disorder (ASD): a disorder resulting
from exposure to a major, traumatic stressor
– Symptoms include anxiety, dissociation, recurring
nightmares, sleep disturbances, problems in
concentration, and moments in which people seem to
relive the event in dreams and flashbacks
– Lasting as long as one month after the event
Other Disorders Related to Anxiety

• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): the

symptoms associated with acute stress disorder
last for more than one month
– Symptoms of PTSD may not develop until more than 6
months after a traumatic event
– Women at higher risk
Causes of Anxiety, Trauma, and
Stress Disorders
• Psychodynamic explanations point to repressed
urges and desires that are trying to surface,
creating anxiety that is controlled by the abnormal
behavior
• Behaviorists believe that disordered behavior is
learned through classical and operant conditioning
principles
Causes of Anxiety, Trauma, and
Stress Disorders
• Cognitive psychologists believe that excessive
anxiety comes from illogical, irrational thought
processes
Causes of Anxiety, Trauma, and
Stress Disorders
• Irrational thinking
– Magnification: the tendency to interpret situations as far
more dangerous, harmful, or important than they
actually are
– All-or-nothing thinking: the belief that one’s performance
must be perfect or the result will be a total failure
– Overgeneralization: the interpretation of a single
negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat and
failure
– Minimization: the tendency to give little or no importance
to one’s successes or positive events and traits
Causes of Anxiety, Trauma, and
Stress Disorders
• Biological explanations of anxiety disorders
– Chemical imbalances in the nervous system
– Genetics
– More activity in amygdala and limbic system
 Chapter 14
Psychological Disorders
Types of Dissociative Disorders
• Dissociative disorders: disorders in which there is
a break in conscious awareness, memory, the
sense of identity, or some combination
– Dissociative amnesia: loss of memory for personal
information, either partial or complete
– Dissociative fugue: traveling away from familiar
surroundings with amnesia for the trip and possible
amnesia for personal information
– Dissociative identity disorder (DID): disorder occurring
when a person seems to have two or more distinct
personalities within one body
Causes of Dissociative Disorders
• Psychodynamic explanations point to repression
of memories, seeing dissociation as a defense
mechanism against anxiety
• Cognitive and behavioral explanations see
dissociative disorders as a kind of avoidance
learning
– May also involve shaping
Causes of Dissociative Disorders

• Biological explanations point to lower than normal

activity levels in the areas responsible for body
awareness in people with dissociative disorders
Major Depressive Disorder and
Bipolar Disorders
• Affect: in psychological terms, emotion or mood
• Mood disorders: disorders in which mood is
severely disturbed
– Major depressive disorder: severely depressed mood
that comes on suddenly and has no external cause
– Seasonal affective disorder (SAD): a mood disorder
caused by the body’s reaction to low levels of sunlight
in the winter months
Major Depressive Disorder and
Bipolar Disorders
• Bipolar disorder: periods of mood that may range
from normal to manic, with or without episodes of
depression
– Manic episode: a period of excessive excitement,
energy, and elation or irritability
– Bipolar I: without episodes of depression
– Bipolar II: interspersed with episodes of depression and
hypomania
Figure 14.2 The Range of Emotions

Most people experience a range of emotions over the course of

a day or several days, such as mild sadness, calm contentment,
or mild elation and happiness. A person with a mood disorder
experiences emotions that are extreme and, therefore,
abnormal.
Causes of Disordered Mood
• Behavioral theories link depression to learned
helplessness
• Cognitive theories see depression as the result of
distorted, illogical thinking
• Biological explanations of mood disorders look at
the function of serotonin, norepinephrine, and
dopamine systems in the brain
– Genetic origins
Eating Disorders
• Anorexia nervosa (anorexia): a condition in which
a person reduces eating to the point that their
body weight is significantly low, or less than
minimally expected
– In adults, this is likely associated with a BMI <18.5
Eating Disorders
• Bulimia nervosa (bulimia): a condition in which a
person develops a cycle of “binging,” or
overeating enormous amounts of food at one
sitting, and then using unhealthy methods to avoid
weight gain
• Binge-eating disorder also involves uncontrolled
binge eating but differs from bulimia primarily in
that individuals with binge-eating disorder do not
purge
Eating Disorders

• Causes of eating disorders

– Greatest risk factors appear to be someone being an
adolescent or young adult female
– Genetic components appear to be significant
• Treatment of eating disorders
– Hospitalization
– Psychological counseling
– Only 40-60% of those with anorexia make a recovery
Sexual Dysfunctions and Problems
• Sexual dysfunction: problem with sexual
functioning, or with physical workings of sex act
– Sexual interest
– Arousal
– Response
• Prevalence
– About 40 to 45 percent of women
– About 20 to 30 percent of men
– Rate increases as we age
Sexual Dysfunctions and Problems
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, DSM-5
– Sexual desire or arousal disorders
– Disorders related to the physical act of intercourse
– Disorders related to the timing or inability to reach
orgasm
• Causes and influences
– Organic factors
– Sociocultural factors
– Psychological factors
Sexual Dysfunctions and Problems

• Treatment options
– Medication
– Psychotherapy
– Hormone therapy
– Stress reduction
– Sex therapy
– Behavioral training
Symptoms of Schizophrenia
• Schizophrenia: severe disorder in which the
person suffers from disordered thinking, bizarre
behavior, and hallucinations, and is unable to
distinguish between fantasy and reality
• Psychotic: the break away from an ability to
perceive what is real and what is fantasy
Symptoms of Schizophrenia
• Delusions: false beliefs held by a person who
refuses to accept evidence of their falseness
– Delusions of persecution  others are trying to hurt
them in some way
– Delusions of reference  other people, television
characters, and even books are specifically talking to
them
– Delusions of influence  being controlled by external
forces, such as the devil, aliens, or cosmic forces
– Delusions of grandeur (or grandiose delusions)  they
are powerful people who can save the world or have a
special mission
 Symptoms of Schizophrenia

• Speech and thought disturbances

• Hallucinations: false sensory perceptions, such as
hearing voices that do not really exist
• Flat affect: a lack of emotional responsiveness
• Catatonia: either wildly excessive movement or
total lack thereof
Symptoms of Schizophrenia

• Positive symptoms: excesses of behavior or occur

in addition to normal behavior
– Hallucinations, delusions, and distorted thinking
• Negative symptoms: less-than-normal behavior or
an absence of normal behavior
– Poor attention, flat affect, and poor speech production
Causes of Schizophrenia
• Biological explanations of schizophrenia focus on
dopamine, structural defects in the brain,
inflammation, and genetic influences
Figure 14.3 Genetics and
Schizophrenia

This chart shows a definite pattern: The greater the degree of genetic relatedness, the
higher the risk of schizophrenia in individuals related to each other. The only individual to
carry a risk even close to that of identical twins (who share 100 percent of their genes) is a
person who is the child of two parents with schizophrenia. Based on Gottesman (1991).
Causes of Schizophrenia

• Stress-vulnerability model: assumes a biological

sensitivity, or vulnerability, to a certain disorder
that will develop under the right conditions of
environmental or emotional stress
Categories of Personality Disorders

• Personality disorder: a disorder in which a person

adopts a persistent, rigid, and maladaptive pattern
of behavior that interferes with normal social
interactions
– Cluster A: seen as odd or eccentric (Paranoid,
Schizoid, Schizotypal)
– Cluster B: behavior is dramatic, emotional, or erratic
(Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic, Narcissistic)
– Cluster C: the main emotion is anxiety or fearfulness
(Avoidant, Dependent, Obsessive-Compulsive)
Categories of Personality Disorders
• Antisocial personality disorder: a person has no
morals or conscience and often behaves in an
impulsive manner without regard for the
consequences of that behavior
• Borderline personality disorder: maladaptive
personality pattern in which the person is moody
and unstable, lacks a clear sense of identity, and
often clings to others
Causes of Personality Disorders
• Cognitive-learning theorists see personality
disorders as a set of learned behavior that has
become maladaptive
– Bad habits learned early on in life
– Belief systems of the personality disordered person are
seen as illogical
• Biological explanations look at genetic factors and
stress hormones
Causes of Personality Disorders

• Other possible causes of personality disorders

may include disturbances in family
communications and relationships, childhood
abuse, neglect, overly strict parenting,
overprotective parenting, and parental rejection
Taking the Worry Out of Exams
• While not yet recognized as a clinical disorder in
the DSM-5, test anxiety has caused countless
students considerable stress over the years
• Overcoming test anxiety
1. Determine why you want to do well on the test in the
first place
2. Develop a strategy for controlling your cognitive state
and behavior, both before and during the exam
3. Focus on using energy; engage in positive self-talk
 Chapter 15
Psychological Therapies
 Treatment of Psychological
Disorders: Past to Present
• Mentally ill people began to be confined to
institutions called asylums in the mid-1500s
• Treatments were harsh and often damaging
• Philippe Pinel became famous for demanding that
the mentally ill be treated with kindness,
personally unlocking the chains of inmates in
France
Treatment of Psychological
Disorders: Past to Present
• Therapy: treatment methods aimed at making
people feel better and function more effectively
• Two broad categories:
– One based primarily in psychological theory and
techniques
– Other uses medical intervention to bring symptoms
under control
Treatment of Psychological
Disorders: Past to Present
• Psychotherapy: therapy for mental disorders in
which a person with a problem talks with a
psychological professional
– Insight therapies: psychotherapies in which the main
goal is helping people to gain insight with respect to
their behavior, thoughts, and feelings
– Action therapy: psychotherapy in which main goal is to
change disordered or inappropriate behavior directly
Treatment of Psychological
Disorders: Past to Present
• Biomedical therapy: therapy for mental disorders
in which a person with a problem is treated with
biological or medical methods to relieve symptoms
 Psychotherapy Begins: Freud’s
Psychoanalysis
• Psychoanalysis: insight therapy based on the
theory of Freud, emphasizing revealing of
unconscious conflicts
– Dream interpretation
– Free association
– Resistance and transference
 Psychotherapy Begins: Freud’s
Psychoanalysis
• Evaluation of Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic
Approaches
– Freud’s original theory flawed; few psychoanalysts
today use his original methods
– Modern approach is client-centered and directive
Psychotherapy Begins: Freud’s
Psychoanalysis
• Directive: actively giving interpretations of a
client’s statements in therapy, even suggesting
certain behavior or actions
• Psychodynamic therapy: a newer and more
general term for therapies based on
psychoanalysis, with an emphasis on
transference, shorter treatment times, and a more
direct therapeutic approach
 Chapter 15
Psychological Therapies
 Humanistic Therapy: To Err is Human
• Person-centered therapy: a nondirective insight
therapy in which the client does all the talking and
the therapist listens
– Based on the work of Carl Rogers
– Real self and ideal self
– Nondirective: therapeutic style in which therapist
remains relatively neutral and does not interpret or take
direct actions with regard to the client
 Humanistic Therapy: To Err is Human
• Three elements of Roger’s therapy:
– Authenticity: the genuine, open, and honest response
of the therapist to the client
– Unconditional positive regard: the warmth, respect, and
accepting atmosphere created by the therapist for the
client in person-centered therapy
– Empathy: the ability of the therapist to understand the
feelings of the client
• Reflection: the therapist restates what the client
says rather than interpreting those statements
 Humanistic Therapy: To Err is Human

• Gestalt therapy: form of directive insight therapy in

which the therapist helps clients accept all parts of
their feelings and subjective experiences, using
leading questions and planned experiences such
as role-playing
– Hidden past instead of denied past
Humanistic Therapy: To Err is Human
• Humanistic therapies are not based in
experimental research and work best with
intelligent, highly verbal persons
– Somewhat less practical choice for treating the more
serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia
Behavioral Therapies: Learning
One’s Way to Better Behavior
• Behavior therapies: action therapies based on the
principles of classical and operant conditioning
and aimed at changing disordered behavior
without concern for the original causes of such
behavior
Behavioral Therapies: Learning
One’s Way to Better Behavior

• Behavior modification or applied behavior

analysis: use of learning techniques to modify or
change undesirable behavior and increase
desirable behavior
Behavioral Therapies: Learning
One’s Way to Better Behavior
• Systematic desensitization: behavioral technique
used to treat phobias, in which a client is asked to
make a list of ordered fears and taught to relax
while concentrating on those fears
– Counterconditioning: replacing an old conditioned
response with a new one by changing the
unconditioned stimulus
 Table 15.1 Fear Hierarchy
Situation Fear Level
Being bitten by a rabbit 100
Petting a rabbit on the head 90
Petting a rabbit on the back 80
Holding a rabbit 70
Touching a rabbit held by someone else 60
Seeing someone I trust hold a rabbit 50
Being in a room with a rabbit 40
Thinking about petting a rabbit 30
Looking at pictures of a rabbit 20
Watching the movie “Hop” 10
• Items are ranked by level of fear from most fearful, Fear = 100, to least fearful, Fear = 0.
Behavioral Therapies: Learning
One’s Way to Better Behavior
• Aversion therapy: form of behavioral therapy in
which an undesirable behavior is paired with an
aversive stimulus to reduce the frequency of the
behavior
 Behavioral Therapies: Learning
One’s Way to Better Behavior
• Exposure therapy: behavioral techniques that
introduce client to controlled situations that are
related to their anxieties or fears
– Flooding: technique in which person is rapidly and
intensely exposed to fear-provoking situation or object
and prevented from making usual avoidance or escape
response
– Eye-movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR):
controversial therapy for PTSD and similar problems in
which client is directed to move the eyes rapidly back
and forth while thinking of a disturbing memory
Behavioral Therapies: Learning
One’s Way to Better Behavior
• Modeling: learning through the observation and
imitation of others
– Participant modeling: technique in which a model
demonstrates the desired behavior in a step-by-step,
gradual process while the client is encouraged to
imitate the model
Behavioral Therapies: Learning
One’s Way to Better Behavior
• Reinforcement: the strengthening of a response
by following it with a pleasurable consequence or
the removal of an unpleasant stimulus
– Token economy: use of objects called tokens to
reinforce behavior in which tokens can be accumulated
and exchanged for desired items or privileges
– Contingency contract: a formal, written agreement
between the therapist and client in which goals for
behavioral change, reinforcements, and penalties are
clearly stated
Behavioral Therapies: Learning
One’s Way to Better Behavior
• Extinction: the removal of a reinforcer to reduce
the frequency of a behavior
– Time-out: an extinction process in which a person is
removed from situation that provides reinforcement for
undesirable behavior, usually by being placed in a quiet
corner or room away from possible attention and
reinforcement opportunities
Behavioral Therapies: Learning
One’s Way to Better Behavior
• Behavior therapies can be effective in treating
specific problems, such as bedwetting, drug
addictions, and phobias
• Behavior therapies can also help improve some of
the more troubling behavioral symptoms
associated with more severe disorders
Cognitive Therapies: Thinking is
Believing
• Cognitive therapy: therapy in which the focus is on
helping clients recognize distortions in their
thinking and replace distorted, unrealistic beliefs
with more realistic, helpful thoughts
Cognitive Therapies: Thinking is
Believing
• Beck’s Cognitive Therapy:
– Arbitrary inference: drawing a conclusion without any
evidence
– Selective thinking: focusing on only one aspect of a
situation while ignoring all other relevant aspects
– Overgeneralization: drawing sweeping conclusions
based on only one incident or event and applying those
conclusions to events that are unrelated to the original
Cognitive Therapies: Thinking is
Believing
• Beck’s Cognitive Therapy continued
– Magnification and minimization: blowing a negative
event out of proportion (magnification) while ignoring
relevant positive events (minimization)
– Personalization: taking responsibility or blame for
events that are unconnected to the person
Cognitive Therapies: Thinking is
Believing
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT): action
therapy in which the goal is to help clients
overcome problems by learning to think more
rationally and logically
• Three goals:
1. Relieve the symptoms and solve the problems.
2. Help develop strategies for solving future problems.
3. Help change irrational, distorted thinking.
Cognitive Therapies: Thinking is
Believing
• Evaluation of Cognitive and Cognitive-Behavioral
Therapies
– CBT has seemed successful in treating depression,
stress disorders, and anxiety
– CBT has been criticized for focusing on the symptoms,
not the causes, of disordered behavior
Table 15.2
Characteristics of Psychotherapies
Type of Therapy (Key People)
Psychodynamic therapy (Freud)
Humanistic therapy
Person-centered therapy (Rogers)
Gestalt therapy (Perls)
Behavior therapy (Watson, Jones,
Skinner, Bandura)
Cognitive therapy (Beck)
CBT (various professionals)
REBT (Ellis)
Goal Methods
Insight Aims to reveal unconscious conflicts through dream
interpretation, free association, resistance and
transference
Insight Non-directive therapy; client does most of the
talking; key elements are authenticity, unconditional
positive regard, and empathy.
Directive therapy; therapist uses leading questions
and role-playing to help client accept all parts of
their feelings and experiences
Action Based on principles of classical and operant
conditioning; aimed at changing behavior without
concern for causes of behavior
Action Aims to help clients overcome problems by learning
to think more rationally and logically
Clients are challenged in their irrational beliefs and
helped to restructure their thinking
 Types of Group Therapies
• Family counseling (family therapy): family
members meet together with a counselor or
therapist to resolve problems that affect the entire
family
Types of Group Therapies
• Self-help group (support group): a group
composed of people who have similar problems
and who meet together without a therapist or
counselor for the purpose of discussion, problem
solving, and social and emotional support
 Evaluation of Group Therapy
• Group therapy most useful to persons those who
cannot afford individual therapy or obtain a great
deal of social and emotional support from other
group members
 Evaluation of Group Therapy
• Advantages: • Disadvantages:
– Low cost
– Offers social
interaction with others
– Social and emotional
support from people
with similar disorders
or problems
– Need to share the
therapist’s time with
others in the group
– Lack of a private setting
in which to reveal
concerns
– Inability of people with
severe disorders to
tolerate being in a group
Studies of Psychotherapy
Effectiveness
• Psychotherapy more effective than no treatment
at all
• Between 75 and 90 percent of people who receive
therapy feel it has helped them
– The longer a person stays in therapy, the greater the
improvement
– Psychotherapy works as well alone as with drugs
Studies of Psychotherapy
Effectiveness
• Some types of psychotherapy are more effective
for certain types of problems, and no one
psychotherapy method is effective for all problems
– Effective therapy should be matched to the particular
client and the particular problem
Studies of Psychotherapy
Effectiveness
• Cybertherapy: psychotherapy that is offered on
the Internet
– Also called online, Internet-based, web therapy, e-
counseling and distance counseling
– Offers the advantages of anonymity and therapy for
people who cannot otherwise get to a therapist
– Therapist should be trained specifically in distance
counseling
 Characteristics of Effective Therapy
• Common factors approach: modern approach to
eclecticism focusing on factors seen as the source
of success
– Therapeutic alliance: the relationship between therapist
and client that develops as a warm, caring, accepting
relationship characterized by empathy, mutual respect,
and understanding
– Protected setting
– Opportunity for catharsis
– Learning and practice of new behaviors
– Positive experiences for the client
Characteristics of Effective Therapy
• Evidence-based treatment (EBT) refers to
techniques or interventions that have produced
desired outcomes, or therapeutic change in
controlled studies
• Neuroimaging of Psychotherapy – studies looking
at the functional changes occurring during
treatment and as a result of treatment
 Characteristics of Effective Therapy
• Five barriers to effective psychotherapy exist when
culture or ethnic backgrounds of client and
therapist differ
1. Culture-bound values
2. Class-bound values
3. Language
4. “American” cultural assumptions
5. Communication style
 Psychopharmacology

• Biomedical therapies: therapies that directly affect

the biological functioning of the body and brain
• Psychopharmacology: the use of drugs to control
or relieve the symptoms of psychological
disorders
 Psychopharmacology
• Psychopharmacology drug options:
– Antipsychotic drugs: used to treat psychotic symptoms
such as delusions, hallucinations, and other bizarre
behavior
– Antianxiety drugs: used to treat and calm anxiety
reactions
▪ Typically minor tranquilizers
– Mood-stabilizing drugs: used to treat bipolar disorder
▪ Include lithium and certain anticonvulsant drugs
– Antidepressant drugs: used to treat depression and
anxiety
ECT and Psychosurgery
• Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT): biomedical
treatment in which electrodes are placed on either
one or both sides of a person’s head and an
electric current strong enough to cause a seizure
or convulsion is passed through the electrodes
– Still used to treat severe depression
– Side effects include memory disruption
 ECT and Psychosurgery

• Psychosurgery: surgery performed on brain tissue

to relieve or control severe psychological
disorders