Summary
Summary Chapter 4, 9-15 Clinical Psychology
- Course
- Institution
- Book
Comprehensive summary of chapters 4, 9-15 of the book Abnormal Psychology by Kring and Johnson.
[Show more]
Connected book
Book Title:
Author(s):
- Edition:
- ISBN:
- Edition:
More summaries for
-
Abnormal Psychology, Kring et al., 13th Edition
-
Oefenvragen Klinische Psychologie Part 1
-
Hoofdstuk 1-8 Klinische Psychologie
7 reviews
By: jillblok • 3 year ago
By: justinapps15 • 4 year ago
By: nadiafioraliso • 4 year ago
By: frewoudstra • 5 year ago
By: tharathart • 5 year ago
By: gzeighami • 5 year ago
By: Marlijnos • 5 year ago
Seller
Follow
MarenLoliBeers
Reviews received
Content preview
Chapter 4Research methods in psychopathology
Science and scientific methods
Science: Systematic pursuit of knowledge through observation.
● Theory: Set of propositions meant to explain a class of observations.
○ Science proceeds by disproving theories, never by “proving theories.”
○ Each facet must be carefully defined so that findings can be replicated.
● Hypotheses: Expectations about what should occur if a theory is true.
Approaches to research on psychopathology
The case study: Recording detailed information about one person at a time. May be biased
by the observer’s theories, and the patterns observed in one case may not apply to others
● The case study as rich description: Include much more detail than other research
methods typically do.
● The case study can disprove but not prove a hypothesis: Case studies can
disprove a hypothesis, they do not provide good evidence in support of a particular
theory because they do not provide a way to rule out alternative hypotheses.
● Using the case study to generate hypotheses: Clinicians may notice patterns and
then formulate important hypotheses that they could not have formed otherwise.
The correlational method: Variables measured as existing in nature. High external validity.
● Measuring correlation:
○ The first step in determining a correlation is to obtain pairs of observations of
the two variables in question.
○ The strength of the relationship between the paired observations can be
computed to determine the correlation coefficient →between +1.00 and 1.00.
● Statistical and clinical significance:
○ Statistical: Statistical finding is usually considered significant if the probability
that it is a chance finding is p < .05.
■ Influenced by size relationship and number of participants.
○ Clinical: Whether a relationship between variables is large enough to matter.
● Problems of causality: Directionality problem: Correlation between two variables
tells us only that they are related to each other, but we do not know if either variable
is the cause of the other.
○ Longitudinal: Researcher tests whether causes are present before a
disorder has developed.
○ Cross-sectional: Causes and effects measured at the same point in time.
○ High-risk method: People with elevated risk of developing a psychological
disorder are recruited and followed over time.
○ Third-variable: Third factor may have produced the correlation →
confound.
● Epidemiological research: Study of the distribution of disorders in a
population → designed to be representative of the population being
studied.
, ○ Prevalence: The proportion of people with the disorder either currently or
during their lifetime
○ Incidence: The proportion of people who develop new cases of the disorder
in some period, usually a year.
○ Risk factors: Variables that are related to the likelihood of developing the
disorder.
● Behavior and molecular genetics:
○ Family method: Study a genetic predisposition among members of a
family because the average number of genes shared by two blood
relatives is known → to see how the presence of a disorder varies by
the proportion of genes shared by family members.
○ Twin method: Looking at monozygotic and dizygotic twins → to see
whether monozygotic twins with more shared genes are at greater
risk for developing a disorder than are dizygotic twins.
○ Adoptees method: Studies children who were adopted and reared
completely apart from their biological parents → to help separate
genetic and environmental effects.
○ Molecular genetics: Designed to identify specific genes or combinations of
genes that may be associated with the presence of a particular disorder in a
large population of people.
■ Association study: Researchers examine the relationship between a
specific allele and a trait or behavior in the population.
■ Genome-wide association studies (GWAS): Examines the entire
genome of a large group to identify variation between people.
The experiment
High internal validity.
○ Basic features of experimental design: Most powerful tool for
determining causal relationships → involves random assignment of
participants, manipulation of independent variable, measurement of
a dependent variable.
○ Internal validity: Extent to which the experimental effect can be attributed to
the independent variable. Need for a control group and random assignment.
○ External validity: Extent to which results can be generalized beyond the
study.
● Treatment outcome research: Designed to address a simple question: does
treatment work?
○ Randomized controlled trials: Studies in which clients are randomly
assigned to receive active treatment or a comparison.
● The use of treatment manuals: Detailed books on how to conduct a
particular psychological treatment → to help therapists be more similar in
what they do.
○ Might constrain therapists → not sensitive to unique concerns →
developing manuals that give therapists lots of freedom.
● Defining control groups:
○ No treatment control group → allows to test whether the mere
passage of time helps as much as the treatment does.
, ○ Placebo control group → therapy that consists of support but not the
active ingredient of therapy under study → controls for expectations
of relief.
■ Double-blind procedure: Psychiatrist and patient not told
whether patient receives medication or a placebo → reduction
of bias.
■ Placebo effect: Physical or psychological improvement due to
expectations of help rather than any active ingredient in a treatment.
● Defining a sample: Most studies, though, also exclude many potential participants, a
process that can limit the external validity of findings.
○ One of the major gaps in treatment outcome studies has been the exclusion
of people from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
● Assessing how well treatments work in the real world: Might include clients with
a broader range of problems and provide less intensive supervision of therapists.
● The need for dissemination of treatment outcome findings: Facilitating adoption
of efficacious treatments in the community by offering guidelines about the best
available treatments along with training on how to conduct those treatments.
● Analogue experiments: Investigators attempt to create or observe a related
phenomenon (an analogue) in the laboratory to allow more intensive study. These
experiments are very helpful but findings must be considered conjointly with studies
not depending on analogues.
○ Testing temporary symptoms produced through experimental manipulations.
○ Testing participants because they’re considered similar to people with certain
diagnoses.
○ Testing animals as a way to understand human behavior.
● Single case experiments: Experimenter studies how one person responds to
manipulations of the independent variable. Potential lack of external validity.
○ ABAB design:
■ A: An initial time period, the baseline
■ B: A period when a treatment is introduced
■ A: A reinstatement of the conditions of the baseline period
■ B: A reintroduction of the treatment (B)
Integrating the findings of multiple studies
Meta-analysis:
● The researcher defines which studies will be included.
● The effect size within each study is calculated.
● The average effect size across studies is calculated
, Chapter 9
Schizophrenia
Clinical descriptions of schizophrenia
Positive symptoms:
● Delusions: Beliefs contrary to reality and firmly held in spite of disconfirming
evidence.
○ Thought insertion: Person may believe that thoughts that are not his or her
own have been placed in his or her mind by an external source.
○ Thought broadcasting: Person may believe that his or her thoughts are
broadcast or transmitted, so that others know what he or she is thinking.
○ Grandiose delusions: Exaggerated sense of his or her own importance,
power, knowledge, or identity.
○ Ideas of reference: Incorporating unimportant events within a delusional
framework and reading personal significance into trivial activities of others.
● Hallucinations: Sensory experiences in the absence of any relevant
stimulation from the environment → can occur in all modalities but most
common in auditory.
Negative symptoms: Consist of behavioral deficits.
● Avolition: Lack of motivation and a seeming absence of interest in or
inability to persist in what are routine activities → work or school, hobbies,
or social activities.
● Asociality: Severe impairments in social relationships → few friends, poor
social skills, and very little interest in being with other people.
● Anhedonia: Loss of interest in or a reported lessening of the experience of pleasure.
○ Consummatory pleasure: Amount of pleasure experienced in-the-moment
or in the presence of something pleasurable.
○ Anticipatory pleasure: Amount of expected or anticipated pleasure from
future events or activities.
● Blunted affect: Lack of outward expression of emotion → may stare
vacantly, the muscles of the face motionless, the eyes lifeless and when
spoken to, may answer in a flat and toneless voice and doesn’t look at
conversation partner.
● Alogia: Significant reduction in the amount of speech production → don’t
talk much.
Disorganized symptoms:
● Disorganized speech: Problems in organizing ideas and in speaking so that
a listener can understand → problems in executive functioning.
○ Loose associations/derailment: Person may be more successful in
communicating with a listener but has difficulty sticking to one topic.
● Disorganized behavior: They seem to lose the ability to organize their
behavior and make it conform to community standards → dress in unusual
clothes, act in a childlike or silly manner, hoard food, or collect garbage.
○ Catatonia: May gesture repeatedly, using peculiar and complex sequences of
finger, hand, and arm movements, which often seem to be purposeful.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller MarenLoliBeers. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $5.95. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
75632 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now