Psy. 101

Essay text:

And by this, in an especial manner, we acquire wisdom and knowledge, and see and hear, and know what are foul and what are fair, what are bad and what are good, what are sweet, and what unsavory? Biological/Medical Explanations And by the same organ we become mad and delirious, and fears and terrors assail us, some by night, and some by day, and dreams and untimely wanderings, and cares that are not suitable, and ignorance of present circumstances, desuetude, and unskillfulness. All these things we endure from the brain, when it is not healthy? From natural causes? Hippocrates' 4-Humour theory Health depended on the proper balance of four body substances: yellow bile, black bile, blood and phlegm Disrupting balance produced symptoms Right combination of natural treatments Blood-letting relaxation Diet Activities Abstinence from alcohol Abstinence from sexual activity PSYCHOLOGICAL/EXPERIENCE Model Abnormal behaviour patterns Learned Classical conditioning Phobia Operant Conditioning Consequences of behaviour Rewards Positive and Negative Punishment Positive and Negative Observational/Social Learning Modelling imitation Contemporary View: Diathesis/Stress Predisposition Faulty biology Inherited Genetics Acquired Stress/Experience Heritability 100% Environmental Trigger Trauma Virus Genetic influences on Behaviour? Partial Intelligence Alcoholism Drug addiction Schizophrenia Depression Bipolar Disorder Anxiety Personality characteristics Sexual orientation Full Huntington's Disease Diathesis-Stress Continuum Example: Infantile Autism Appearance Normal Healthy Attractive Life expectancy Normal Autism Heritability Index 60% Autism: Core Features Extreme social isolation Insist on aloneness Eye contact missing Resist contact with others Autism: Core Features Powerful insistence on sameness Change causes intense anxiety Rituals Severe language deficits Severity varies Mild to behaviour so atypical Not even in abused or neglected Institutionalized or socially isolated Autism: Repetitive Behaviours Autism: Causes Multiple Levels of Causation Abnormal genetic code Abnormal brain development Abnormal structure Neurological differences Abnormal function Cognitive differences Abnormal behaviour Autism Brainstem Anomalies Brain Stem: Day 24 Chromosome 7+ HOX genes Brain Stem: Day 24 Chromosome 7+ HOX genes How do Genes Influence Behaviour? Development of brain structures Guide development of cells Regulate Timing of development Pace Growth spurt in early adolescence Endocrine systemNormal? Abnormal? What do those words mean? Abnormal Behaviour: Present When is behaviour normal? "Balance" Homeostasis Perception of reality Self-knowledge Voluntary control Self-esteem Affectionate relationships Productivity Three Ds: Deviance from Statistical Norms Deviance from statistical norms Atypical Rareness Unconventionality Unusual Normal Curve Normal Distribution: Statistical Deviance Statistical Infrequency? When is behaviour abnormal? "All the world is daft Save me and thee, And sometime I think Thee is a little daft too?" Anonymous Quaker Three Ds: Deviance from Social Norms Violate social standards/norms Socially unacceptable Culturally Inappropriate Time Place Social/Cultural relativism Grief Gender roles Irrational Bizarre, absurd beliefs Perceptions without reality Thoughts that ramble for one idea to another Observer discomfort Deviance? Words, Words, Words Three Ds: Disability Harmful Dysfunction Prevent effectiveness Maladaptive* Interfere Individual society Contrary to goals Personal Social Occupational Dysfunction "The criterion by which a person in any society is judged to be mentally ill is not primarily the presence of certain unvarying and universally occurring symptoms...