AP Psychology Notes

Chapter 12: Abnormal Psychology

  1. Overview
    1. Abnormal Psychology
      1. The study of people who suffer from psychological disorders
  2. ​​Defining Abnormality
    1. ​Common Characteristics
      1. ​Harmful/disturbing to the individual
      2. Disturbing to others
      3. Not shared by many members of the population
      4. Does not make sense to the average person
    2. ​Insanity
      1. ​A legal term
        1. ​purpose
          1. to differentiate between people who can be held responsible for their crimes (the sane) and those with psychological disorders (the insane)
    3. ​​​Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
      1. ​Provides a way for psychologists to diagnose patients
      2. Contains symptoms of all psychological disorders
      3. Doesn’t contain causes because different perspectives disagree
        1. ​most psychologists are eclectic
          1. ​accept/use ideas from many perspectives
  3. Categories of Disorders
    1. ​Intern’s Syndrome
      1. The tendency to see in oneself the characteristics of disorders about which one is learning
      2. Not a psychological disorder
    2. ​Anxiety Disorders
      1. ​Phobias
        1. ​contact with feared object/situation results in anxiety
        2. specific phobia
          1. ​an intense fear of an unwanted situation
          2. ex.   agoraphobia- open spaces
          3. arachnophobia- spiders
          4. social phobia- public embarrassment
      2. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
        1. ​constant, low level anxiety
      3. ​Panic disorder
        1. ​acute episodes of intense anxiety without any apparent provocation
        2. increase in frequency
        3. additional anxiety due to anticipating the anxiety attacks
      4. ​Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
        1. persistent, unwanted thoughts cause you to feel the need to engage in a particular action
      5. ​Post-traumatic stress disorder
        1. flashbacks/nightmares following your involvement in or observation of an extremely troubling event
      6. ​​​Theoretical causes
        1. ​psychoanalytic
          1. unresolved, unconscious conflicts between the id, ego, and superego
        2. ​behaviorist
          1. ​conditioning
          2. cognitive learning
        3. ​cognitive
          1. ​dysfunctional ways of thinking
    3. ​​​Somatoform Disorders
      1. ​A person manifests a psychological problem through a physiological problem
      2. Hypochondriasis
        1. ​frequent physical complaints for which doctors can’t locate the cause
        2. may believe that minor problems are indicative of severe physical                                               illness
      3. ​​​Conversion
        1. ​severe physical issue with no biological reason
          1. ​paralysis
          2. blindness
    4. ​​​Dissociative Disorders
      1. ​Involve a disruption in conscious processes
      2. Psychogenic amnesia
        1. ​can’t remember things
        2. no biological basis can be identified
        3. fugue
          1. ​find themselves in an unfamiliar environment
      3. ​​Organic amnesia
        1. ​biologically induced
      4. ​Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
        1. ​formerly called multiple personality disorder
        2. several distinct personalities
        3. results from childhood trauma
      5. ​Theoretical causes
        1. ​psychoanalytic
          1. traumatic events have been so repressed that a split in consciousness results
    5. ​​​Mood or Affective Disorders
      1. ​Extreme/inappropriate emotions
      2. Major depression
        1. ​most common
        2. symptoms
          1. ​sad more than 2 weeks without clear reason
          2. change in sleep and appetite
          3. worthlessness
          4. lack of interest in enjoyed activities
        3. ​Seasonal Affective Disorder
          1. ​depression only at certain times of year
      3. ​​Bipolar disorder
        1. ​manic episodes
          1. ​high energy
          2. feel confident and powerful
          3. sense of well-being
        2. ​depressed episodes
      4. ​​​Theoretical causes
        1. ​Aaron Beck
          1. ​cognitive theorist
          2. unreasonably negative ideas people have about the cognitive triad (yourself, your world, your future)
        2. pessimistic attributional styles
          1. ​attribution- an explanation of a cause
          2. internal, global, and stable attributions for bad events
        3. ​learned helplessness
          1. ​Martin Seligman- dog shock experiment
          2. when your prior experiences have caused you to view yourself as unable to control controllable aspects of the future
        4. biology
          1. ​the disorders run in families
          2. depression- low serotonin or norepinephrine
          3. bipolar- more acetylcholine receptors
    6. Schizophrenic Disorders
      1. ​Schizophrenia
        1. ​disordered, distorted thinking
        2. delusions and hallucinations
          1. delusion- belief that has no basis in reality
        3. ​common delusions
          1. ​persecution- paranoia
          2. grandeur- power and influence
        4. ​hallucinations
          1. ​perceptions in the absence of sensory stimulation
      2. ​​Disorganized schizophrenia
        1. ​make up neologisms
          1. ​their own words
        2. string together a series of nonsense words that rhyme (clang associations)
        3. inappropriate affect
          1. inappropriate emotions for the situation
        4. ​​​flat affect
          1. ​no emotional response
      3. ​​​​Paranoid schizophrenia
        1. ​delusions of persecution
      4. ​Catatonic schizophrenia
        1. ​motionless in strange postures
          1. waxy flexibility- they will allow their body to be moved into any new pose and will hold it
        2. ​move jerkily and quickly for no apparent reason
        3. can alternate between them
      5. ​Undifferentiated schizophrenia
        1. ​distorted thinking, but no other symptoms
      6. ​Symptoms
        1. ​positive symptoms
          1. ​​​excesses in behavior, thought, or mood
          2. ex: neologisms, hallucinations
        2. ​negative symptoms
          1. ​deficits
          2. ex. flat effect, catatonia
    7. ​​​Schizophrenic Disorders: Theoretical Causes
      1. ​Dopamine hypothesis
        1. ​high levels of dopamine are associated with schizophrenia
        2. if the drugs lower the level too much, tardive dyskinesia results
          1. ​muscle tremors and stiffness
      2. ​​Abnormality on 5th chromosome
      3. ​​Enlarged brain ventricles
      4. Brain asymmetry
      5. Negative symptoms- genetic factors
      6. Positive symptoms- too much dopamine
      7. Double binds
        1. ​when a person is given contradictory messages
      8. ​Diathesis-stress model
        1. environmental stressors can provide the circumstances under which a biological predisposition for illness can express itself
    8. ​​Personality Disorders
      1. ​Less serious
      2. Types
        1. ​antisocial
          1. ​don’t have regard for other’s feelings
          2. view the world as a hostile place
        2. ​dependent
        3. paranoid
        4. narcissistic
        5. histrionic
        6. obsessive-compulsive
    9. ​​​​Other Disorders
      1. ​Paraphilias (psychosexual disorders)
        1. ​sexual attraction to that which is not usually seen as sexual
        2. pedophilia, zoophilia, fetishism, masochism, sadism
        3. voyeur
          1. ​aroused by watching others engage in sexual behavior
      2. ​​Eating disorders
      3. ​​Addiction disorders
        1. ​use of alcohol/drugs
        2. substance use disorder
          1. ​use of such substances regularly affecting your life negatively
        3. ​substance dependence
          1. ​addiction
      4. ​​Developmental disorders
        1. ​autism
          1. ​seek less social and emotional contact
          2. slow to develop language skills
          3. seek less parental support when distressed
      5. ​​ADHD
        1. ​attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
        2. difficulty paying attention or sitting still
        3. overdiagnosed because of typical boy behavior
  4. The Rosehan Study: The Influence of Labels
    1. ​David Rosehan
      1. ​1978- he and associates sought admission to mental hospitals
        1. ​claimed to hear voices
        2. reported no other symptoms
        3. once admitted, behaved as they usually did
        4. their every behavior was interpreted as a sign of their schizophrenia
    2. ​​Issues Raised
      1. ​Should patients carry their diagnosis for life?
      2. Are disorders the product of a particular environment?
      3. What level of care could undetected imposters receive?

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Aboukhadijeh, Feross. "Chapter 12: Abnormal Psychology" StudyNotes.org. Study Notes, LLC., 12 Oct. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2024. <https://www.apstudynotes.org/psychology/outlines/chapter-12-abnormal-psychology/>.

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