Advertisement Upgrade to remove ads

Developmental psychology

-Universal aspects of lifespan development
-cognitive: how children come to think. learn and understand the world
-Social: friendships throughout life
-Emotional: well-being, self-esteem

Physical Development

-Cephalocaudal: head to feet
(babies gain muscles in head first)
-Proximidal: center moving outward
-At 1 year, kist start walking alone

Prenatal Development: phase 1

-Germinal Phase (conception to 2 weeks)
-Zygote: fertilized egg
-Placenta: structure that allows oxygen and nutrients to pass into fetus from mother's bloodstream and allows waste to pass out

Prenatal Development: phase 2

-Embryonic stage (2-8 weeks)
-Head, face and neck development
-buds for limbs form and grow
-Major organs/digestive system differentiating
-Heartbeat begins

Prenatal Development: Phase 3

-Fetal Stage (8th week-birth)
-3rd month: digestive organs begin functioning
-buds for teeth form, sex organs develop rapidly, arms/fingers move
-4 months: face looks human
-Lower body grows outwards, bones defined
-5 months: fingernails and toenails appear
-Lanugo: fine, wooly hair over body
-Vernix: waxy coating collects (yellow/white) that helps baby get out
-6th month: eyebrows/lashes well defined
-eyes completely formed
-7th month:fetus capable of life outside uterus
-8th/9th month: fat deposited for later use, fingernails beyond fingertips, lanugo shed, myelination of brain takes place, chief organs increase functioning, vernix covers body

Teratogenic Agents

Increased understanding of the role of prenatal exposure on the developing child
-Thalidomide (malformed limbs)
-Stress: prolonged amounts linked with prematurity and low birth weight

Substances of teratogenic linkage

-Smoking: mild stimulant, increases fetal activity, low birth weight, Increases SIDS (Sudden infant death syndrome)
-Marijuana: low birth weight disturbed new-born sleep, reduced environmental attention
-Heroin:premature birth weight, temulous behavior (excessive shaking from withdrawal), poor sucking and feeding habits, risk of SIDS
-Cocaine: "crack babies" premature size/weight, tremulous, high-pitched crying, respiratory and regurgitation problems, rigidity, withdrawal symptoms, deformities
-Comorbidity: abuse of multiple subtances likely


-Leading teratogen in the US causing mental retardation
-physical symptoms: growth retardation, head and facial abnormalities, microcephaly (head smaller than body), skeletal, brain and heart damage
-Behavioral symptoms: pooor impulse control, poor attention, hyperactivity and cognitive deficits, not learning from mistakes


Fetal Alcohol syndrome
-paternal age may be a factor in defects and development disabilities
-Men who smoke have slower swimming sperm
-Sensory abilities and reflexes of newborn infants slow

Newborn abilities

Vision: poor fixation, little color discrimination
-visual acuity between 20/200 and 20/400
-Preference for human faces and high contrast
-Hearing: fetus can hear sounds around 6 months in utero
-recognize mother's voice
Taste and smell:both present at birth, present for sweet
Touch: heat, cold, pressure and pin all present at birth


-Inborn, automatic response to a particular form of stimulation
-Rooting:stroke cheek = head turn
-Stepping: bare feet touching floor mimics walking
-Sucking: place finger in mouth = sucking
-Eyeblink: bright light or clap = blink which protects from strong stimulation
-Babinski: heel stroke = flex/fan

Gross and fine motor development

-Individual differneces exist, normative expectations for these skills and abilities often called milestones
2+3: GM: walk rythmically, jump, hop, push a riding toy with feet
FM: remove simple clothing itmes, start using a spoon
3+4: GM:Walks upstair alternating feet,catches ball in chest, rides a tricycle
FM: Fasten/unfasten large buttons, uses scissors, copies lines, circles, draws tadpole person
4+5: GM: walks downstairs alternating feet, runs smoothly, catches ball with hands, rapid/smooth steering
FM: uses fork, cuts with scissors
-Gender differences: boys ahead of girls in force and power and girls ahead in FM and GM skills which involve good balance


Lifelong attitude that influences how a person behaves and sees the world
-Thomas and Chess: 3 basic temperaments for infants:
-difficult, slow to warm and easy to warm
-Difficult: (10%) often wail, cry and are negative in new situations, eat and sleep irregularly
-Slow to warm: (15%) often inactive, adapt slowly and can be withdrawn and show a negative mood
-Easy to adapt: (40%)cheerful, adaptable, easily establish routines
-Mixture (35%)
-Goodness of fit: the match between infant characteristics and family is critical to development
-Some better matched than others
-Interaction between genetics and environment is key with temperament


-The affectional bond between an infant and its caretaker
-Studied by Ainsworth in attachment paradigm that is still used today
-"Strange Situation" allows researchers to assess theses relationships
Basic premises:
-infants express wish for attachment by sishing to be close to caretaker and show signs of distress when the caretaker leaves
-Emotional upset called separation anxiety
-Mothers most common first object of attachment
-Initial attachment can occur with mother and another person at the same time
-Number of child's attachments increases rapidly

Stranger anxiety

-develops around 6-7 months ending around 18 months
0A stranger approaches, the infant becomes afraid and reaches for caregiver
-Structure of the strange situation
-Put kid in new situation, mother leaves then returns and they study reunion of securely attached child

Attachment patterns

-four of them
-Securely attached: child uses parent as base to explore, when separated the child may not cry during absence, seek contact when parent returns, decrease crying if present (some acknowledgement) (65% of infants)

Avoidant attachment

-Unresponsive to parent when present, no distress when leaves, react ot stranger similarly to parent, slow to greet parent (20%)
-Resistant attachment: seek closeness with parents, fail to explore, upon return display angry, resistant behavior, cannot be comforted (10-15%)
-Disorganized/disoriented attachment: greates amount of insecurity, reunion shows disorganized, confused behaviors, confused, glazed and spacey
-Mother more avoidant and inconsistent with a lack of sensitivity to infant's needs (5%)

Parenting style and child outcome research (Baumrind)

-Authoritarian: restrictive parenting, insist on obedience, rigid rules, no explanatinos and insensitivity
-preschoolers were moody, easily annoyed, unfriendly, less motivated
-Authorative: assume control with flexibility, reasonable demands, provide reasons for rules/decisions
-Preschoolers were cheerful, scailly responsible, achievement oriented and cooperative
-Permissive: accepting and lax iwth few demands, little monitoring, few controls
-Preschoolers impulsive, aggressive, bossy, self-centered, low in independence and achievement
-Uninvolved (Maccoby): removed or hostile parenting, overwhelmed with own stressors, have little time or energy to parent
-Children in high aggression, temper tantrums, perform poorly in classroom (you make everything difficult)
-You want parents to encourage child independence

Attachment Deprivation

Harlow Monkey Studies:
-reared monkeys in isolation or with a surrogate mother (made of cloth and wire)
-Sent back to colony after 6 months
-Isolated monkeys showed indifference, were terrified or were aggressive with other monkeys, failed to form relationships with opposite sex, were abusive to offspring
-Monkeys with surrogate mother were about to form relationships...monkey preferred cloth mother 22 hours a day

Attachment and contact comfort

-hypothesized that animals/humands need wamrth,comfort as primary need (touch and contact for healthy developing)

Peer relationship

-Area for exercising independence from adults and adult control
-Equal footing relationship
-Help translate and establish trends/group belonging, behavior codes
-Serve as role models
-Provide emotional support


-Adolescence growth spurt: rapid growth in height and weight as the body is preparing for hormonal shifts/maturation
-Asynchrony: certain body parts grow at different speeds leading to a lack of proportion
-Prefrontal Cortex: final maturation of the prefrontal cortex takes place in late adolescense
-Area responsible for organization, planning, emotional regulation and impulse control


-Sexual functions reach maturity, impacts social and emotional development
-Menarche: first occurrence of menstruation
-Spermarche: first occurrence of ejactulation
-Early maturing males: positive self-concepts
-Early maturing females: greater chance of depression, anxiety eating disorder


-Adolescent egocentricism: way of thinking hte world is focused on them... you are the center of the world
-Imaginary audience: belief that everyone in the environment is concerned with behavior/appearance of him/her
-Personal fable: view him/herself as somehow unique or heroic (I have to be...I have a gift)
-Invincibility fable: false sense that he/she can't be harmed (can't judge true risks... they think they won't get caught)

Storm and stress

-Not as frequent as once thought
-For issues related to finances, education religion and politics today's adolescents are more similar to their parents
-Conflict: most conflict with parents occurs about chores and dress style than sex/drugs

Adolescent values

-Peers in adolescents continue to serve as role models and sources of comport and support
-Although research does suppor the presence of "peer pressure" in general, peers often enourage socially positive behavior

Development theories as stage theories

-Individual must progress through stages in a particular order
-each builds on each other
-Progress related to age
-Development is marked by discontinuities that result in dramatic transitions
-Capable of more things in different stages

Cognitive Development

-Jean Piaget
-How a child thinks: reasoning, remembering and problem solving
-Involves two processes
-Assimilation: how to fit new information into the present system of knowledge
-Accommodation: existing structures don't fit so a child must develop new schemas (view on life) (Barney + museum)

Piaget's stages of cognitive development: 1

Sensorimotor: birth-2 years
-Infants learn through concrete motor actions, by touching, tasting and smelling
-Accomplish object permanence (6 months): (keys behind back and dealing with separatino anxiety while older kids know they exist)
-Develop capacity for mental imagery
-Organize information into categories
-Increasingly able to use purposeful activity

Piaget's stages of cognitive development: 2

Preoperational: 2-7 years
-Gradually improve in mental images
-Can pretend
-Action oriented
-Develop representational thought
-Have NOT mastered conservation: basic properties of an object remains stable even if superficial properties change

Flaws in thinking: preoperational children

-Centration: focus on one aspect of a problem and neglect other aspects
-More means taller, not tall and wide
-Irreversibility: inability to envision reversing an action (playdo smashed down is same amount)
-Egocentricism: thinking characterized bya limited ability to share another person's point of view (M&M's in crayon box, she thinks everyone will know it)
-Physical maturation coincides with intellectual development

Piaget's stages of cognitive development: 3

-Concrete operations (7-11 years)
-The child performs operations on tangible object and events
-Show increased flexibility in thinking
-Can begin to see cause and effect
-Masters reversibility and decentration
-Can retrace thought

Piaget's stages of cognitive development: 4

-Formal operations (12-up)
-Begin to see abstract reasoning
-Understand metaphor and deductive reasoning
-Become more systematic in thinking
-Can discuss moral values
-Piaget criticized for underestimating children's abilities, not focusing enough on individual differences,much research still supports his theories/beliefs

Erik Erikson and Lifespan development

-Theory of lifespan development believes each stage involved in psychosocial crisis: a transition which is organized around social relationships and that personality is determined by these stages

Kohlberg and moral development

-Heinz dilemma
-Various stages of moral development based on responses to this and similar situations
-Should we have stolen drug since wife was dying?
6 stages:
-What is determined by punishment
-Naive reward orientation: what is rewarded
-Good orientation: determined by close others approval
-Authority orientation: right and wrong determined by society's rules and laws, should be obeyed rigidly
-Social contract orientation: right and wrong determined by society's rules fallible rather than absolute
-Individual principles and conscience orientation: right and wrong determined by abstract ethical principles that emphasize equity and justice

Lifespan issues in development

-Older country (many 100+)
-More people are productive for more years
-More career shifts seen in the population

Intellectual and functioning and age

-Fluid intelligence: (basic information processing skill) more likely to decline with age
-Crystallized intelligence: application of accumulated knowledge remains more stable
-Active cognition leads to better memory of many years

Langer and Rodin study

-What are the variables that help determine happiness and healthiness as they get older
-Development and design of these communities: rapid decline in cognitive function and well-being
-Residents were better and felt better when given control
-allowing choices makes difference
-Aging Mary: worked in church and did arts and crafts

Ways to promote healthy aging

-Increase healthy behaviors
-Promote companionship
-Take vitamin supplements
-Stay active physically and intellectually
-Volunteer or work
-Maintain positive relationships with family/friends
-Have a positive attitude
-Decrease sun exposure
-Decrease smoking, drinking
-Health care consumer ask questions
-Explore medication interactions
-Find faith
-Recent programs supporting the elderly and children in daycare


-A distinctive pattern of behavior, thought, motives and emotions that are consistent in an individual over time
-Personality traits: long-term disposition to behave in particular ways in a variety of situations

Cattel's theory of personality

-Studied traits using factor analysis
-Developed the 16 personality factors questionnaire
-Examples: reserved-outgoing, relaxed-tense, trusting-suspicious

McRae and Costa

-Developed the "Big Five" personality traits
-Believe most personality traits fall under these categories:
-Openness: open to novel experiences or has narrow interests
-Conscientiousness: responsible and dependable or impulsive and careless
-Extraversion: outgoing and decisive or retiring and withdrawn
-Agreeableness: warm and good-natured or unfriendly and cold
-Neuroticism: stable and doesn't worry or nervous and emotionally stable

Psychodynamic Theory

-Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory
-Focus on the influences of early childhood
-Emphasis on unconscious motives/conflicts
-Primary focus on sexual and aggressive urges

Freud's basic structures of personality

-Id: impulses/dominated by pleasure/avoid pain
-Ego: "Voice of reason", mediator of id/superego, helps find compromises
-Superego: moral component of personality rigid standards

Early experiences:

-Oral stage: sucking, swallowing, biting
-Lasting concerns with dependence, and independence pleasure from eating, drinking and other oral activities
-Anal sttage: expelling and retaining feces
-Orderliness, stinginess, stubbornness
-Phallic stage: touching penis or clitoris
Oedipus complex:
-Difficulty feeling closeness Males: fear of castration and females: penis envy
-Latency period: sexual interests suppressed
-Genital stage: sexual contact with other people

Defense mechanisms

-Responses to anxiety caused by internal conflicts
-attempts to reduce distress of anxiety/guilt

Examples of Defense Mechanisms

-Displacement: something happens that makes you aggressive (you know you could get into a lot of trouble and you displace aggression into another target)
-Scapegoat: maybe check was in boys pocket and taken to bank to be cashed and another week until payment
-Comes in mad and kicks the dog
-Rationalization: come up with semi-plausible reason for a behavior that is not true
-Someone may say why study for test and studying doesn't help at all even though usually more successful
-Denial: what test

Carl Jung

-Analytical psychology
-Freudian influenced
-Personal unconscious: material one has repressed or forgotten from personal expereiences
-Collective unconscious: traces of inherited memories from one's ancestral past
-Archetypes or images and thoughts with universal meaning

Intravert and Extravert

-Preoccupied with internal world of their own thoughts, feelings and experiences
-More reclusive
-Those interested in the external world of other people and things
-More outgoing and friendly


-Individual psychology
-Stresses the motivation for superiority
-Universal attempt to improve oneself and master life's challenges
-Inferiority complex: everyone must overcome feelings of weakness in comparison to competent
-Compensation: effort to develop one's own abilities in response to inferiorities
-Overcompensation: attempts to "conceal" one's own feelings of inferiority

Social Cognitive Behavior theories

-Reciprocal Determinism: Bandura
-Reinforcement history and cognition influence behavior
-We see what we expect to see
-We place ourselves in places which will confirm our beliefs

-Self efficacy: belief one can set out to accomplish tasks/goals
-Acquired from 4 sources:
-Mastery of new skills, overcome obstacles
-Successfull and competent role models
-Positive feedback and encouragement
-Awareness of feelings/manage responses

Locus of control

-internal locus of control: people believe they are responsible for what happens to them
-External locus of control: people believe their lives are controlled by luck, fater or other people

Mischel's person by situation interaction

-People express particular traits in particular situations
-Most likely to see consistency within these similar situations
-Some traits are more situationally determined

Humanistic Theories/Perspective

-Focus on the inner experiences of one's personality and development
-Unique human qualities
-Freedom and potential for human growth
-Optimistic view of human nature: can control impulses, not based on irrational needs and conflicts

Maslow's hierarch of needs

-A goal of humans is to be self-actualized
-A basic hierarchy of needs exist
-Innate drive towards personal growth
-Often seen as pyramid of needs

Carl Rogers

-Accepts the self-actualizing tendency
-Explores individuals who do and do not function well
-Looked at the relationship between the self (conscious feelings/views of self) and the person (sum of experiences, feelings, perceptions and wishes)
-Congruence: sense of self and the person are consistent it allows for positive functioning
-Incongruence: sense of self/person in conflict
-Using previous essay for a class

Unconditional positive regard

-attempt to resolve conflict
-Accept one may have acted badly and still be a good person
-Accepts one in positive and accepting manner

Biological/Genetic Influences on personality

-Sheldon: body types "somatotypes" linked with personality characteristics
-Endomorph: round, soft, few muscles
-Tolerant, calm, need more affection
-Mesomorph: muscular, upright, firm, mature
-Adventurous, competitive, less empathic
-Ectomorph: thin, delicate, few muscles, smart
-Shy, introverted, self-conscious

Eynsenck's theory

-All of personality emerges from 3 higher order traits

Terror management theory

-Explore our needs to use self-esteem as a buffer against anxiety over our mortality
-Research has found that when reminded about one's mortality:
-subjects give harsher penalties to rule breakers
-People were given a story about morality and were asked to respond and how and if they should be punished and punished them harder
-Give greater rewards to those upholding cultural standards
-Responded more negatively to those critical of their country
-Show more respect for cultural icons (stress)

Stress and Frustration

-Any circumstance that threatens or is perceived to threaten one's well-being
-Has both psychological and physiological components
-People with anxiety disorder perceive a lot this way

-Pursuit of a goal is prevented (obstacle)
-conflict: two or more competing and incompatible goals occur

Three types of conflict

-Approach-approach: a choice must be made between two desirable goals (least stressful)
-Avoidance-avoidance: choice must be made between two unattractive goals
-Breakup vs. none and annoying weekend
-Approach-avoidance: a choice must be made to achieve a goal which has both positive and negative attributes
-Goal is to do well in intro psych, go to class or stay in comfortable bed
-Little town outside of Topeka


-Any notable difference in one's life which requires adaptation
-both positive and negative life changes can be stressful
-Holmes and Rahe Social readjustment scale
-Death of spouse: 100 points
-Marital reconciliatoin: 45 points
-Change in financial status: 38 points
-Pressure: expectations or demands that one behave in a particular manner

General Adaptation Syndrome: Selye

-All types of stressful situations lead to a similar stress response consisting of three stages
-Alarm: body releases adrenal hormones, sympathetic nervous system activated
-Resistance: body is on high alert
-Exhaustion: increased physiological vulnerability to stress


-Studies stress in terms of "daily hassles" the sum total of mundane life tasks combine to create significant levels of stress
-Stressors associated with juggling of multiple roles


-What strategies you use to buffer against the stress cycle
-Active efforts to master, reduce or accept the demands created by stress
-Adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies exist

Maladaptive coping strategies

-Displaced aggression: harmful act to someone verbally or physically
-Target not true "object" of the hostility
-Catharsis: release of emotional tension
-Self-indulgence: compensate for deprived/frustrated feelings by triyng to promote a feeling of satisfaction in another area

Defense Mechanisms

-Constructive coping strategies: healthy efforts to deal with a stressful event making one more resilient to the stressor(s)
-Problem focused: how to change the situation
-Mom talks about stress, what is the problem
-Fix by preparining for the next day
-Emotion focused: how to change perceptions/reactions to the situation
-Going to be late, not often late, what would happen if late? Tardy on permanent record


-People with more positive outlooks handle stress better
-Despondex Onion news
-Social supports: presence of social supports provide adaptive coping/release from pressures
-benefits of amily dinners: 1/2 have regular and talk about daily evnets
-5 more times a week 42% less likely to drink alcohol 59% cigs and 66% weed
-40% more likely to get A's and B's
-Sense of self-efficacy/tools to respond to stressors and well-beins


-Post-traumatic stress disorder: enduring psychological disturbance attributed to the experience of a major traumatic event (war, car, accident, tornado, abuse and chronic stress conditions now included)
-Replaying or recurrent thoughts of trauma
-Phobic avoidance of similar places
_Increased irritability or aggressiveness
-Blunted emotion: numbness or helplessness
-Sleep disturbance
-Cognitive misperceptions
-Decreased sense of trust
-Less future oriented
-Video for children and provides unique ways of understanding their world and traumatic life events

Post 9/11 research findings

-Much initial research looked at college students, flight attendants, pilots and firefighters
-Researchers relied on findings specific to reactions of other traumas
-Higher rates of ptsd with more replay

Philips Study (2004)

-85% of children not that it had shaken their feelings of safety and security
-Common reactions reported by children were intrusive thoughts, nightmares and hyperarousal
-77% of parents reported concerns about their children's safety
-Kids reported watching "a lot" of media coverage, the majority of parents/kids talked about it together
-Children who watched a lot of TV reported significantly more negative reactions
-Parents who reported more negative reactions also noted greater negative reactions by children
-Children also identified significantly more negative reactions and stress
-Active coping/relief efforts were not seen to significantly decrease anxiety
-May be more stressed kids sought out ways to reduce stress
-Still recommended

Personality traits and styles on stressful situatiosn

-Type A personality: competitive, impatient, more prone to aggression
-Type B personality: more relaxed, easy going and less quick to anger
-A personalities have 2x the risk of disease
-Stress in general lower/s/decreases the body's immune system

STI's and health related risk taking activities

-Had grown 2x since 2000 until 2009
-Misinformed and know less about protection from

Aging and stress (Hunter and Gillen, 2009)

-Declining Health
-Loss of family and friends
-Employment and financial problems
-Alienation from the larger society
-New ad campaign with elderly

Coping strategies for the elderly

-Exercies improves both physiological nad psychological well-being although health restrictions may limit participation
-Recreational activities act as a buffer and coping strategy
-Building a sense of community can be adaptive
-Maladaptive coping includes substance abuse and social withdrawal
-Elderly at risk for depression which is undiagnosed or untreated

Road rage and stress

-Public health issues and individual implications
-Therapeutic interventions used to identify and reduce stress can be effective
-Exercise can reduce stress, serves to improve both physiological and psychological well-being
-Pets and plants have been shown to reduce stress

Stress and child abuse

-High correlation
-Emotional abuse: pattern of behavior that impairs a child's emotional development of self-worth
-Child neglect: absence of adequate social, emotional and physical care

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau (2011) Child Maltreatment (2010)

-Of the near 2 million reports that received a CPS response, 90.3% received an investigation response
-Of the 1,793,724, 436,321 substantiated
-Of those, 24,976 were indicated

Fatalites (2010)

-Number of reported child fatalities due to child abuse and neglect has fluctuated during the past 5 years
-Nationally estimated 1,560 children (compared with 1,750 children for FFY 2009) died from abuse and neglect
-Younger children more valuable
-4/5ths of child fatalities caused by one or more parents
-30% were caused by child's mother alone
-1/5th caused by both parents
-Perpetrators without relationship accounted for 12.5%
-Unknown relationship 8.3%

Defining risk factors and protective factors for child abuse

-Risk factors: certain characteristics which increase the risk or potential for abuse
-May be in child, family community
-Risk factors related to stress and abuse
-Child factors: prematurity, disabilities, difficult temperament, childhood trauma
-Parental factors: ow frustration tolerance, parental conflict, unrealistic developmental expections, look to child as source of love and support, substance abuse
-Community factors: lack of social supports and social services, poor economy, acceptance of violence and failure to value children

Developmental implications of abuse

-Social children/teachers rate more negatively, less popular, more withdrawn
-Emotional: lower self-concept, more behavioral problems: restlessness, hyperactivity, antisocial
-Cognitive: perform lower on IQ and achievement tests, lower eadiness to learn in school

Cycle of violence

-Findings that those who are abused are at greater risk fro abusing
-Social learning theory: violent, aggressive children have learned those behaviors from their parents
-Biological theory: aggressiveness

Breaking up the cycle

-What can we do to help?
-Promote cultural attitudes against using violence
-Train children with non-violent conflict resolution
-Train parents in healthy parenting techniques


-Everyone has symptoms but not the disorder
-Mental disorder: any behavior or emotional state that causes distress or suffering, is maladaptive and disturbs relationships and the greater community
-Legal standars: whether or not a person is in control of behavior and aware of the consequences of his/her actions

Classifying mental disorder

-DSM-IV TR: standard reference book for all disorders
-Around 300 mental disorders in latest version
-Descriptive and provides a set criteria for diagnosis

5 axes or dimensions

-1: primary clinical problem
-2: personality disorders (and intellectual disability/mental retardation)
-3: medical conditions relevant to disorder
-4: social and environmental problems
-5: global assessment of functioning

Problem with DSM classifications

-Danger of overdiagnosis
-Power of diagnostic labels
-Many of the symptoms based on subjective measures
-Some categories have social/political implications

Disorders of childhood

-Pervasive developmental disorders: autistic spectrum disorders
-Autsim: impairment in communication skills, impairment in social interactions, repetitive behavior
-Asperger's syndrome: high level communications skills, significant social impairment (facial feedback training)


-Inattention, impulsivity and/or hyperactivity which is inappropriate for a child's particular developmental age
-~5% of school aged children
-More likely to be males
-Genetic link in families
-Multimodal treatment approach: drugs and behavioral intentions

Conduct disorder

-Violate social norms
-Physical aggression
-Cruelty to animals
-Lack remorse
-Precursor to antisocial personality

Tourette's syndrome

-Multiple motor and one or more vocal tics
-Occur many times a day nearly every day or intermittently over a period of more than 1 year
-Onset before 18
-Does not need to interfere with functioning for diagnosis

Generalized anxiety disorder

-Continuous feelings of worry, anxiety, dread foreboding
-Difficulty concentrating
-Muscle tension
-Sleep disturbance

Extra Credit: After treatmetn

-Roller Blade

Panic disorder

-Recurring attack of intense fear or panic
-Accompanied by feelings of impending doom or death
-Trembling,shaking dizziness, chest pain, sweating, heart palpitations, hot/cold splashes, sense of losing control

Fears and Phobias

-Exaggerated fear of a specific situation, activity or thing
-Social phobia: fear of being in a situation and being observed
-Agoraphobia: fear of being alone in public place from which escape might be difficult or help will be unavailable
-At worst when one doesn't leave home

Specific phobias

-Brontophobia: fear of thunder and lightning
-Arachibutyrophobic: fear of peanut butter sticking to roof of mouth
-Sesquipedalophobics: fear of long words
-Anatidaephobia: duck always watching

Obsessions and compulsions

-Obsession: a recurrent, persistent and unwished-for thought
-Contamination, need for orderliness, aggressive impulses or thoughts, worry about accidents

-Compulsion: repetitive ritualized behavior in which people feel a lack of control over it
-Cleaning, checking and hoarding
-Creates anxiety to not have things a certain way
-Disorder when it interferes with everyday life

Compulsive hoarding disorder

-Acquiring items with no use
-Failing to discard items with no/little value
-Interferes with normal living space/functioning

Mood disorders

-Depression: sadness, lethargy inactivity and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness
-Genetic Link
-Behavioral changes: slower motor reactions
-Cognitive changes: cognitive distortions
-Physical Changes: alters immune functioning


-Abnormally high level of enrgy
-Great/special plans
-Faulty thinking
-Impulsive behavior
-Grandiose schemes
-Pressured speech
-Spending large amounts of money
-Outburst of anger


-Cycle through depression and mania
-At least one manic episode with history of depression
-Responsive to lithium
-High suicide risk


-Somatization disorder: history of diverse physical complaints which are psychological in origin
-Hypochondriasis: excessive preoccupation with health concerns/worry about developing illnesses
-Conversion disorder: loss of physical function with no organic basis, usually a specific area or system

Personality disorders

-Rigid, maladaptive traits that cause great distress or lead to an inability to get along with others or to function well in the world
-Pattern is inflexible, pervasive and of long duration
-Some question validity of the category
-Clusters identified: anxious/fearful, odd/eccentric and dramatic/impulsive


-Paranoid personality disorder
-Reluctant to confide in others because of fears information will be "used against" him/her
-Looking out for trickery
-Blame others nad bears grudges

Schizoid personality disorder

-Have very few, if any, friends or family relationships
-Loner, choosing solidarity activities
-Indifferent to praise or criticism
-Shows now warm or tender feelings to other people


-Almost looks schizophrenic
-Bizarre patterns in behavior
-Uses unusual words
-Sometimes has superstitious beliefs


-Antisocial personality disorder
-Likes to break rules/laws
-Gladly takes advantage of people
-Lacks remores
-Can appear charming/friendly
-Often intelligent
-History of conduct disorder

Borderline personality disorder

-Stable pattern of unstable relationships
-Frantic efforts to avoid "abandonment"
-Splitting: all good or bad
-Self-mutilating behaviors
-Sexual promiscuity
-Quick to anger

Histrionic personality disorder

-Overly dramatic
-Everything is a trauma
-Attention seekers
-Not genuine
-Dependent on others

Narcissistic Personality disorder

-Feelings of grandiosity
-Sense of privilege
-Feels special
-Expect favors from others
-Takes advantage of others and lacks empathy


-OC Personality D
-Preoccupied iwth details
-Rules are essential
-Serious and formal
-Work gives pleasure

Avoidant personality disorder

-Excessively sensitive to rejection
-Fearful of humiliation or shame
-Socially withdrawn
-Wishes to be accepted by others but avoids opportunities based on anxiety

Donna Center of attention
Display of emotion
Maybe separation husband wonderful
Needed someone to drive home



-Psychosis of condition involving distorted perceptions of reality and an inability to function in most aspects of life
-Typical age of onset: 17-25
-Strong genetic component

Positive symptoms (presense of a distortion or bizarre behavioral symptom)

-Bizarre delusions
-Heightened sensory awareness
-Disorganized incoherent speech and behavior

Negative symptoms

-Loss of functioning or ability, behavior deficit
-Poverty of speech
-Emotional flatness
-Loss of motivation
-Social withdrawal
-Impaired attention

Dissociative disorders

-Consciousness, behavior and identity split off
-May develop in response to traumatic events
-Amnesia: inability to remember important personal information that cannot be explained by ordinary forgetfullness
-Fugue state: no concepts of self/can take on whole new identity

Dissociative Identity Disorder

-Multiple personality disorder
-The appearance of 2 or more distinct identies within one person
-At least two recurrently take control over behavior
-Inability to recall important information
-Controversion in the field of psychology

Biological therapies

-Psychotropic medication: alter the biochemistry of the brain
-Ritalin for ADHD
-Paxil/Xanax for anxiety
-Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa for depression
-Lithium for Bi-polar disorder


-Deep brain stimulation revisited
-Thin electrode surgically implanted to deliver electrical currents
-Lesion/destroy problematic areas of brain to eliminate disruptive behaviors (lobotomyl ocd surgery)


-Electroconvulsive Therapy
-Shock therapy
-Beneficial to those with severe depressions and who are not responsive to medication/therapy
-Can lead to memory impairment
-Unclear how or why it works


-Based on Freudan principles believing in the impact of early childhood
-Uses free association: saying whatever comes to mind
-Dream interpretation
-Transference: develop relationship with therapist based on other people in one's life
-Goal to uncover UCS conflicts to decrease anxiety/stress caused by guilt

Humanistic or client-centered therapies

-Belief that people need to be supported and set the pace of their own therapy (Rogers)
-Basic principles:
-Unconditional positive regard
-help build self-esteem and feeling of acceptance with genuineness and empathy

Behavioral and cognitive therapies

-Systematic desensitization: step by step process of eliminating a fear
-Uses counterconditioning: pair relaxation techniques with feared situation
-VRT exposure
-Aversion therapy: substitutes punishment for the reinforcement of a bad habit
-Antabuse for alcoholics
-SHock pedophiles


-Immersion into the feared situation/circumstance as an intervention to decrease the phobic/feared response

Cognitive therapies

-Help identify beliefs and expectations which maintain problems and conflicts
-Challenges distortions in thinking
-Identify faultiy thinking and encourage realistic reappraisal with therapist support
-Includes a variety of behavioral elements including modeling and rehearsal

Family/Couples therapy

-Focus on the dynamics in the family as a system with different rules, roles and motivations
-Treate each person as integral to the bigger system
0Identified patient is symptom bearer in the family
-Change on part of the system and the whole system needs to adapt

Group therapy

-People similar or different problems come together to provide support, stragies
-Normalizationa key component
-Can aid in social skills, modeling of adaptive strategies and encourages empathy
-Efficient use of resources

Psychotherapy outcome research

-Various therapies see similar success rates though this is challenged statistically (regression to the mean)
-Different beliefs that some therapies do better for some disorders
-A positive therapeutic relationship to the therapist can be vital

Please allow access to your computer’s microphone to use Voice Recording.

Having trouble? Click here for help.

We can’t access your microphone!



Reload the page to try again!


Press Cmd-0 to reset your zoom

Press Ctrl-0 to reset your zoom


Please upgrade Flash or install Chrome
to use Voice Recording.

For more help, see our troubleshooting page.

Your microphone is muted

For help fixing this issue, see this FAQ.

Star this term

You can study starred terms together

NEW! Voice Recording