PSY 250 ABNORMAL PSY CH#2

Explain why in ancient times abnormal behavior was attributed to possession by a demon or god and describe how exorcism was administered by shamans and priests as the primary type of treatment for demonic possession.

* The "possession" was assumed to involve good spirits or evil spirits
* If a person's speech/behavior appeared to have a religious or mystical significance, it was usually thought that he or she was possessed by a good spirit or god. Such people were oft

asylums

Historically, these were institutions meant solely for the care of the mentally ill

Describe the important contributions from 460 B.C. to 200 A.D. of Hippocrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Galen to the conceptualization of the nature and causes of abnormal behavior.

* HIPPOCRATES - Greek physician who believed that mental disease was the result of natural causes & brain pathology rather than demonology
* PLATO - Greek philosopher who believed that mental patients should be treated humanely & should not be held respon

Discuss how mental disorders were viewed during the Middle Ages.

During the middle ages, supernatural explanations of the causes of mental illness grew in popularity.

Give examples of mass madness or mass hysteria and summarize the explanations offered for this unusual phenomenon.

* MAD MADNESS - the widespread occurrence of group behavior disorders that were apparently cases of hysteria
EX. Tarantism - occurred in Italy early in 13th century - a disorder that included an uncontrollable impulse to dance that was often attributed to

Outline the contributions in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance of Paracelsus, Teresa of Avila, Johan Weyer, Reginald Scot, and St. Vincent de Paul, all of whom argued that those showing abnormal behavior should be seen as mentally ill and treated

* PARACELSUS - A Swiss physician who rejected demonology as a cause of abnormal behavior. Paracelsus believed in psychic causes of mental illness.
* TERESA OF AVILA - A Spanish nun, since canonized, who argued that mental disorder was an illness of the mi

Describe the inhumane treatment that mental patients received in early insane asylums in Europe and the United States.

* more violent pt were exhibited to the public for 1 penny a look
* harmless inmates were forced to seek charity on the streets of London
* treated more like beasts than human beings
* shackled to walls of their dark, unlighted cells by iron collars that

Describe the humanitarian reforms in the treatment of mental patients that were instigated by Philippe Pinel, William Tuke, Benjamin Rush, and Dorothea Dix.

* PHILIPPE PINEL - A French physician who pioneered the use of moral management in La Bicetre & a La Salpetriere hospitals in France, where mental patients were treated in a humane way. (removed chains from some of the inmates as an experiment to test his

Explain how both the discovery of a biological basis for general paresis and a handful of other disorders (such as, the senile mental disorders, toxic mental disorders, and certain types of mental retardation), contributed in a major way to the developmen

Scientists began to focus on on diseased body organs as the cause of physical ailments...next logical step for these researchers to assume that mental disorder was an illness based on the pathology of an organ - in this case the brain.

Distinguish between biological and non-biological versions of medical-model thinking about psychopathology.

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Trace the important events in the development of psychoanalysis and the psychodynamic perspective.

* Sigmund Freud - the founder of the school of psychological therapy known as "psychoanalysis"
* During 5 decades of observation, treatment, & writing, he developed a theory of psychopathology, known as Psychoanalysis", that empahsized the inner dynamics

Contrast the biological and psychodynamic views of abnormal disorders.

Biological views believe abnormal disorders where caused by a pathology of an organ. While psychodynamics emphasized the inner dynamics of the unconscious motives

Describe how the techniques of free association and dream analysis helped both analysts and their patients.

2 related methods enabled him to understand pts conscious & unconscious thought processes. 1 method, free association, involved having pts talk freely about themselves, thereby providing info about their feelings, motives & so forth. 2nd method, dream ana

List the major features of the behavioral perspective.

Behavioral perspective is organized around a central theme: the role of learning in human behavior. Although this perspective was initially developed through research in the lab rather than through clinical practivc w/disturbed individuals, its implicatio

Discriminate between classical and operant conditioning.

Classical - stimulus conditions & their relations to behavioral responses
Operant - consequences of behavior influence behavior

Explain the problems associated with interpreting historical events.

Not as easy as one might think - 1 discouraging theme in history of science, the widespread acceptance of false accounts. He noted that it's not uncommon for psychological findings & theories to be exaggerated or distorted & the exaggerations frequently s

behavioral perspective

a theoretical viewpoint organized around the theme that learning is central in determining human behavior

behaviorism

school of psychology that formerly restricted itself primarily to the study of overt behavior

catharsis

Discharge of emotional tension associated with something, such as by talking about past traumas

classical conditioning

a basic form of learning in which a neutral stimulus is paired repeatedly with an unconditioned stimulus (US) that naturally elicits an unconditioned response (UR). After repeated pairings, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) that eli

deinstitutionalization

Movement to close mental hospitals & treat people with severe mental disorder in the community

dream analysis

Method involving the recording, description, & interpretation of a patient's dreams

exorcism

Religiously inspired treatment procedure designed to drive out evil spirits or forces from a "possessed" person

free association

Method for probing the unconscious by having patients talk freely about themselves, their feelings, & their motives

insanity

Legal term for mental disorder, implying lack of responsibility for one's acts & inability to manage one's affairs

lycanthropy

Delusion of being a wolf

mass madness

Historically, widespread occurrence of group behavior disorders that were apparently cases of hysteria

mental hygiene movement

Movement that advocated a method of treatment focused almost exclusively on the physical well-being of hospitalized mental patients

mesmerism

Theories of "animal magnetism" (hypnosis) formulated by Anton Mesmer

moral management

Wide-ranging method of treatment that focuses on a patient's social, individual, & occupational needs.

Nancy School

Group of physicians in 19th century Europe who accepted the view that hysteria was a sort of self hypnosis

operant conditioning

(instrumental conditioning) Form of learning in which if a particular response is reinforced, it becomes more likely to be repeated on similar occasions

psychoanalysis

Methods Freud used to study & treat patients

psychoanalytic perspective

Theory of psychopathology, initially developed by Freud, that emphasized the inner dynamics of unconscious motives

Saint Vitus's dance

Name given to the dancing mania (and mass hysteria) that spread from Italy to Germany & the rest of Europe in the Middle Ages

tarantism

Dancing mania that occurred in Italy in the 13th century

unconscious

In psychoanalytic theory, a major portion of the ind, which consists of a hidden mass of instincts, impulses, & memories & is not easily available to conscious awareness yet plays an important role in behavior