AP Psychology Unit 12
What produces the thoughts and feelings that mark anxiety disorders?
-Freud viewed anxiety disorders as the manifestation of mental energy associated with the discharge of repressed impulses -Psychologists working from the learning perspective view anxiety disorders as a product of fear conditioning, stimulus generalization, reinforcement of fearful behaviors, and observational learning of others' fear
What causes schizophrenia?
-increased dopaminergic activity in the brain -brain abnomralities such as enlarged fluid filled cerebral cavities -abnormal activity in frontal lobes, thalamus, and amygdala
How many people suffer, or have suffered, from a psychological disorder?
-poverty is a predictor of mental illness -conditions of poverty contribute to the development of mental disorders
What causes mood disorders, and what might explain the Western world's rising incidence of depression among youth and young adults?
-stress, genetic factors, neurotransmitters, biochemical factors (serotonin and norepinephrine) -increase of depression may be caused due to the rise of individualism and the decline of commitment to religion and family, but this correlational finding, so this is not very clear.
How do anxiety disorders differ from ordinary worries and fears?
Anxiety disorders interfere with daily functioning and interpersonal relationships
What patterns of thinking, perceiving. feeling, and behaving, characterize, schizophrenia?
Group of disorders that strike during the late adolescence (men more then women). Disorganized, delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions.
Why do some psychologists criticize the use of diagnostic labels?
Labels can create preconceptions that unfairly stigmatize people and can bias our perceptions of their past and present behavior
What perspectives can help us understand psychological disorders?
Medical Model - mental illnesses that can be diagnosed on the basis of their symptoms and cured through therapy -biopsychosocial perspective assumes tht disorder behavior arises from genetic disposition and physiological states; inner psychological dynamics; and social-cultural circumstances
How and why do clinicians classify psychological disorders?
The DSM- IV -TR provides diagnostic labels and descriptions that aid mental health professionals by providing a common language and shared concepts for communications and research.
How should we draw the line between normality and disorder?
When the behavior is deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional
