Psychology Unit 3

Social Psychology: Overview

Social psychology seeks to understand, explain, and predict how we feel about,
think about, and behave toward the other people around us, and how those people
influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviour.

Social situation: the people with whom we are interacting.

Social cognition: the part of human thinking that helps us understand and predict
the behaviour of ourselves and others

Attitudes: our enduring evaluations of people or things

Social norms: the accepted beliefs about what we do or what we should do in

particular social situations

Interacting With Others: Helping

Altruism - self-sacrificing behaviour carried out for the benefit of others

Helping

Egoistic helping behavior

- reciprocity norm

Not Helping
Why do we NOT help?

Bystander effect (or Bystander apathy) - the more people present, the less likely
any one person will attempt to help

Diffusion of responsibility occurs when we assume that others will take action and
therefore we do not take action ourselves.
Not Helping: Bystander Apathy

Model of Determinants of Helping Behaviour (Latane and Darley)

Hurting: Aggression

Aggression - broad category of behaviours intended to hurt others, including

physical and verbal attacks

● Genetic component
● Role of amygdala
● Associated with high levels of testosterone and low levels of serotonin

Aggression: Gender Differences

Gender differences
● Men - direct aggression
○ Verbal and physical abuse
● Women - relational aggression
○ Gossiping, and excluding others

Aggression and Time of Year

Aggression and Negative Experiences

Frustration: unpleasant emotional state that occurs when we are preventing from
achieving some goal
- Displaced aggression
- Catharsis

Conformity

Conformity - the tendency to yield to social pressure

The Asch Studies- people confirmed to the obvious wrong answer due to social
pressures

Conformity and Group Size

Asch found that the conformity effect is not strong when the group’s size is less than
four members.
Conformity: Milgram’s Obedience Study

Obedience – the tendency to conform to those in authority

Milgrim’s study showed that most people would follow authority blindly even if it
seems unjust

Factors that Reduce Obedience

1) Salience of a victim’s suffering

2) Proximity or closeness to the victim
3) Responsibility - placing the “learner’s” hand on a shock plate to administer the
shock
4) The presence of a “disobedient participant”

Summary

● Social psychology seeks to understand, explain, and predict how we feel

about, think about, and behave toward the other people around us, and how
those people influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviour.
● Altruism is behaviour that is designed to increase another person’s welfare
and does not provide a reward to the person who performs them.
● Egoistic helping behaviours occur when people engage in self-sacrificing
behaviours to avoid feeling guilty or to receive a reward.
 ● Aggression is physical or nonphysical behaviour that is intended to harm
another individual.
● Aggression has both genetic and environmental causes. The experience of
negative emotions tends to increase aggression.
● The situation is the most powerful determinant of conformity, on average.
● Obedience is conforming to authority figures.

Social Cognition: Perceiving Others

Physical attractiveness is one of the determinants of our initial liking for others.

Symmetrical faces with “baby” characteristics typically preferred

Culture importantly affects our beliefs about what is attractive

Social Cognition: Stereotypes and Prejudice

Stereotypes - generalized impressions based on social categories

Prejudice - negative stereotypical attitudes toward all members of a group

Discrimination - negative behaviours toward others based on prejudice. Important

Note 1: Psychology has zero tolerance for discrimination based on anyone’s identity
or personal characteristics Important

Note 2: Language matters and can be very hurtful (adapted from work of Dr. Kamilah
Majied)

Interventions for Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Positive interactions and friendships with members of other groups

- The Robbers’ Cave study by Dr. Muzaref Sherif)
- Competition where young boys were divided into 2 groups
- 1 group was saying nasty things against the other due to competition
- Then Dr. Sherif made them work together
- Created a positive relationship with each other afterwards
Social Cognition: Close Relationships

Close relationships are the long-term intimate and romantic relationships that we
develop with another person

Interpersonal attraction is what makes people like, and even love, each other

Close Relationships: Interpersonal Attraction

Four key factors linked to liking (fondness and affection for another person)
1) Similarity
2) Proximity
3) Self-disclosure
4) Situational factors

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love

Stages of a Loving Relationship

Exploration stage - the partners try out the possible rewards and costs of a
relationship

Bargaining stage - they implicitly negotiate the terms of the relationship

Commitment – the partners grow increasingly dependent on each other

Institutionalization stage - shared expectations emerge and the relationship is

exclusive

Types of Relationships

Secure attachment - are comfortable, do not fear becoming too close or being
abandoned; 53% of adults

Avoidant - uncomfortable, have difficulty trusting others; 26% of adults

Anxious-ambivalent - insecure and worry that their partners do not really love them
and will leave; 20% of adults

Social Cognition: Attributions

Attributions - causal explanations of behaviour.

Dispositional (internal) attribution - the behaviour was caused because of the

person

Situational (external) attribution - the behaviour was caused by the situation

We tend to rely on situational attributions when explaining our own behaviour

Fundamental attribution error - the tendency to use dispositional attributions to

explain the behaviour of other people

The Actor-Observer Effect

We tend to make situational attributions about our own behaviour and personal
attributions about the behaviour of others.

Social Cognition: Attitudes

Attitudes - relatively stable and

enduring evaluations of things
and people

Attitudes

ABC model of attitudes

The affective component—how we feel toward the object
The behavioural component—how we behave toward the object
The cognitive component—what we believe about the object
Are People Honest About Their Attitudes?

Social Desirability – attitudes that mirror what we think others desire in a person

Bogus-pipeline technique

Implicit attitude – an attitude of which the person is unaware (Implicit Association

Test)

Do Attitudes Predict Behaviour?

Can we predict a person’s behaviour if we know their attitudes?

Attitudes people express are not necessarily related to how they actually behave

Attitude specificity - the more specific an attitude, the more likely it is to predict
behaviour
Attitude strength - stronger attitudes predict behaviour more accurately than weak
or vague attitudes

Social Cognition: Attitudes

Attitudes - How we develop

Beliefs develop early through socialization by parents, peers, media, and teachers

How do attitudes change?

Attitudes can change to justify new behaviours
Example: You recycle, so you change your attitude about global warming to justify
why you recycle

How Do Attitudes Change? Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance - emotional discomfort as a result of holding contradictory

beliefs or holding a belief that contradicts behaviour
We change our beliefs to justify (or match) our actions

How Do Attitudes Change? Example

To resolve Cognitive dissonance

- We might change our beliefs to justify (or match) our actions, or
- We might add a justifying cognition (meaning a way to explain the
discrepancy between behavior and attitude)

Cognitive Dissonance

Subjects who were paid $1.00 for “talking up” the tasks reported the tasks to be
more enjoyable than those who were paid $20.00. (study done by Drs. Festinger and
Carlsmith)

Attitudes and the Power of

Persuasion

Central route - focuses on content, factual information, and logic to change attitudes

Peripheral route - focuses on superficial information to change attitudes

Persuasion Strategies

Foot-in-the-door - get them to agree to something small so they will agree to

something larger later
 Someone asks if you will sign a petition supporting their view. Later, they ask
to put a sign on your lawn supporting this view .

Norm of consistency

Door-in-the-face - ask for something very big knowing you will get turned down, but
then ask for the smaller item you really wanted

Example: “Can I borrow $100? No? Well how about $10?”

Working With Others: Social Facilitation

Social facilitation (Dr. Norman Triplett) - improvement in performance because

others are present. Operates for both physical and mental tasks

Working With Others: Social Inhibition

Social Inhibition- The tendency to perform tasks more poorly or more slowly in the
presence of others

Dr. Robert Zajonc

Dominant response

Working With Others: Groups

Group - an organized, stable

collection of individuals in which the
members are aware of and influence one another and share a common identity

Group dynamics - how membership or participation in a group influences our

thoughts and behaviours

Group Processes
Group process —the events that occur while the group is working on the task.

Group process gain: the outcome of group performance is better than we would
expect given the individuals who form the group

Group Process Loss: the group outcome is worse than we would have expected
given the individuals who form the group

Social Loafing

Social loafing - exert less effort in a group task than one would in an individual task
1) More so in large groups
2) Less in highly cohesive groups

Group Think

Groupthink - faulty group decision making as a result of trying too hard to agree

Overcoming Groupthink

E.g. allow plenty of time

Devil’s advocate

Summary

● Psychologists believe that people should

get past their prejudices and judge people as
individuals.
● Close relationships are fostered by self-disclosure, proximity, and situational
factors, among other factors
 ● Causal attribution is the process of trying to determine the causes of people’s
behaviour. Although people are reasonably accurate in their attributions, they
also succumb to biases such as the fundamental attribution error.
● Attitudes refer to our relatively enduring evaluations of people and things.
● Attitudes may change due to internal processes including cognitive
dissonance, as well as through external factors, such as persuasion.
● The tendency to perform tasks better or faster in the presence of others is
known as social facilitation. The tendency to perform tasks more poorly or
more slowly in the presence of others is known as social inhibition.
● One group process loss that may occur in groups is that the group members
may engage in social loafing. Group process losses can also occur as a result
of groupthink, when group members conform to each other rather than
expressing their own divergent ideas.
● Taken together, working in groups has both positive and negative outcomes. It
is important to recognize both the strengths and limitations of group
performance and use whatever techniques we can to increase process gains
and reduce process losses.

What Is Stress?

Stress - response to a situation that threatens, or appears to threaten, one’s sense

of well being
Stressor - something that triggers a stress response

What Is Stress? Acute and Chronic

Acute stress – response to short term finite situation

● Studying for finals, competing in a football game

Chronic stress – response to a long-term stressor with no definitive end

● Poverty, high-pressure job

What is Stress in Daily Life?

Naturalistic stress

Stress in Daily Life: Trauma

Traumatic events—unexpected disruptive events

Natural disaster, witness or victim to violence

Trauma in Abnormal Psychology

 Exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence in
one (or more) of the following ways:

Directly experiencing the traumatic event(s).

Witnessing, in person, the event(s) as it occurred to others.

Learning that the traumatic event(s) occurred to a close family member or close
friend. In cases of actual or threatened death of a family member or friend, the
event(s) must have been violent or accidental.

Experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to aversive details of the traumatic

event(s) (e.g., first responders collecting human remains; police officers repeatedly
exposed to details of child abuse). Note: does not apply to exposure through
electronic media, television, movies, or pictures, unless this exposure is work
related.

Stress in Daily Life: Hassles

Daily hassles - small, everyday problems that accumulate to become a source of

stress - micro-stressors

Examples:
● Bad or rude drivers
● Cannot find keys or cell phone

Stress in Daily Life: Life Changes

Life changes - altered circumstances requiring adjustment

Marriage, death, illness, finals, break up, starting university or a new school

Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)—assigns life change units (LCUs) to

various events that can occur in one’s life (Drs. Holmes and Rahe)

Stress in Daily Life: Chronic Negative Situations and Chronic Illness

Chronic negative situations

- continued negative situation.
- Living in a dangerous place, poverty
Chronic Illness – the imposition of pain and limitations due to illness

Stress in Daily Life: Chronic Job Stress

Chronic job stress – certain jobs produce chronic stress. Individuals who are first
responders or deal with life-threatening medical problem

Stress in the Lab

Lab-based stressors
Social evaluative task Other approaches (e.g., Cold Pressor Task)

Characteristics of Stressful Events

Controllability – the more uncontrollable an event seems, the more likely it is to be

perceived as stressful

Predictability – being able to predict the occurrence of a stressful event often

reduces the severity of the stress

Internal conflicts: conflict occurs when a person must choose between incompatible,
or mutually exclusive, goals or courses of action

Psychological Reactions to Stress

● Anxiety
○ post-traumatic stress disorder
● Anger and aggression
○ frustration-aggression hypothesis
○ displacement
● Apathy and depression
○ learned helplessness
● Cognitive impairments

Physiological Response to Stress: Overview

Physiological Responses to Stress: Dr. Selye

● The fight or flight response is the first stage of the body’s physiological
response to stress. When stress is ongoing (chronic), there are other stages.
● Work of Dr. Hans Selye on the general adaptation syndrome (GAS) model
(next slide)
● The GAS model suggests that:
1. Stress follows the three stages of alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.
2. If the stress is prolonged or severe, it could result in diseases of adaptation

Selye’s Theory: The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) Model

1) Alarm
Body’s reaction to initial exposure to stressor (fight-or-flight)
2) Resistance Body’s
attempt to stabilize if stressor continues
May result in vulnerability to disease
3) Exhaustion Further
exposure to stressor depletes energy and resistance

The GAS Model: Issue

 ● Stress is “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change”
(Selye, 1936)
● Believed that we respond to stress the same way, regardless of its source.
● This claim has been questioned, including by Dr. Sonia Lupien

Physiological Responses to Stress: Effect on Health

Interaction between psychological and biological factors

Stress inhibits digestion, growth, tissue repair, and response of the immune system

Life change and illness

● Life stressors (SRRS) linked to physical illness
● LCU score above 300 suggests major life stress

Physiological Responses to Stress: Immune System

Stress and the immune system

Psychoneuroimmunology - studies links between stress, the immune system, and

health

Immune system - organs, tissues, and cells that identify and fight bodily invaders
(e.g., bacteria)

Lymphocytes - white blood cells, key in fighting bacterial and viral invaders

Cortisol – lowers immune system functioning

Cytokines – chronic cortisol drives up cytokine levels and this leads to long term
inflammation which can contribute to heart disease, stroke and other illnesses

Physiological Responses to Stress: The Common Cold

Physiological Responses to Stress: Positive Effects of Stress on Health

When is stress a good thing? (See textbook section on “Finding Meaning” pages
522-523)

Inoculation - dealing with small levels of stress to improve functioning in

increasingly stressful situations

Eustress - optimal stress level Promotes physical and psychological health

Physiological Responses to Stress: Performance

Take-Home Messages
● Stress has been defined a response to a situation that threatens, or appears
to threaten, one’s sense of well being
● Stress can be classified as acute or chronic and as naturalistic or labbased
● Long-term activation of the physiological stress-response system can disrupt
the body’s processes and increase the risk of health problems
● Stress can amplify the risk of illness, but also may be beneficial (please watch
assigned TED talk on how to make stress your friend

Psychological Factors and Stress Responses: Overview and

Psychoanalytic Theory

● Why are some people more likely to appraise events as very stressful,
compared to how others view the events?
 ● Different theories:
● Psychoanalytic theory:
○ Neurotic anxiety is out of proportion to the actual danger
○ According to Freud, stems from unconscious conflicts

Psychological Factors and Stress Responses: Behavioral Theory

● Behavioural theory
● People react to specific situations with anxiety because those situations
caused them harm or were stressful in the past
● Example: A person suffers a car accident during which they were very
frightened. Now they are afraid of being in a car.
Psychological Factors and Stress Responses: Cognitive Theory

● Cognitive theory
● Particular ways of thinking either help reduce stress (or can make stress
worse)
● Example: Optimism versus pessimism
○ Importance of being a constructive optimist, instead of a naïve optimist

● Finding Meaning
● Hardiness
○ Commitment, control, challenge

● Appraisal is key in ability to handle stressful situations

○ Primary appraisal
■ appraisal of stressor (how big a stressor is it)
○ Secondary appraisal
■ appraisal of resources and one’s ability to deal with stressor
The Type A pattern:
● A personality type characterized by hostility, impatience, and competitiveness
Coping Skills

Coping - cognitive and behavioural strategies to manage stress

Maladaptive approaches:
● Lashing out - psychological or physical
● Self-defence - defensive, avoidant behaviours to protect oneself from stress
● Self-indulgence - alcohol, drugs, overeating

Constructive strategies
● Problem-focused coping - efforts aimed at a stressor
● Emotion-focused coping - changing feelings about the stressor

Managing Stress

Advantage of being coping-flexible

● Laughter
● Pets (or maybe videos of dogs or cats)
● Exercise, biofeedback, and relaxation
● Other strategies
● How to Make Stress Your Friend (Dr. Kelly McGonigal)
– When possible, adopt a belief that stress is helpful
– Give, and seek social support
● Relaxation
 ● https://www.rogelcancercenter.org/breakinghabits-beating-us/learning-relax

PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)

Traumatic events—unexpected disruptive events

Natural disaster, witness or victim to violence

Trauma in Abnormal Psychology

Exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence in
one (or more) of the following ways:

Directly experiencing the traumatic event(s).

Witnessing, in person, the event(s) as it occurred to others.

Learning that the traumatic event(s) occurred to a close family member or close
friend. In cases of actual or threatened death of a family member or friend, the
event(s) must have been violent or accidental.

Experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to aversive details of the traumatic

event(s) (e.g., first responders collecting human remains; police officers repeatedly
exposed to details of child abuse). Note: does not apply to exposure through
electronic media, television, movies, or pictures, unless this exposure is work
related.

Overview of Criteria for PTSD in Adults

A. Exposure to Trauma
B. Presence of at least one intrusion symptom
C. Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma
D. Negative alterations in thoughts and mood
E. Marked alterations in arousal and reactivity
F. Duration of the disturbance (Criteria B, C, D and E) is more than 1 month.
G. The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment
H. The disturbance is not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance
(e.g., medication, alcohol) or another medical condition

The Experience of PTSD

“It’s a war within yourself that never goes away.”

“It becomes difficult to deal with everyday life because you have hid your soul in a
dark corner so it doesn’t have to face the dangerous world of the Trauma. Without
your soul, you are only half a person, a machine who is constantly running from
reality.”

Who Develops PTSD?

Can occur at any age, even in childhood

10% of Canadians during course of lifetime

Twice as common in women than men

Who Develops PTSD? Biological Factors

Biological factors
Intense biochemical reactions that continue far beyond fight-or-flight the two
neuroendocrine systems

● May have exaggerated sympathetic nervous system responses (sympathetic

nervous system pathway)
● May have lower cortisol (adrenal-cortical pathway)

PTSD and Social Support

Social environment
Individuals with strong social support are less likely to experience PTSD

PTSD, Personality, and Childhood Experiences

Personality traits associated with increased likelihood of developing PTSD

● Example: Feeling a lack of control

Childhood experiences may increase risk of developing PTSD

● Examples: Poverty, assault

Treatment of PTSD

A number of effective treatments for PTSD

● Psychotherapy (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy; CBT)
● Medications (e.g., paroxetine)
Take-Home Messages

● Perspectives on why some people experience events as more stressful than

other people include psychoanalytic theory, behavioural theory, and cognitive
theory.
● Constructive approaches to coping with stress include problem focused and
emotion-focused coping
● A traumatic stressor is a necessary criterion for a diagnosis of post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD)
● Other risk factors for PTSD include biological and psychological factors.

What Makes a Behavior Abnormal? Defining Disorder

● Psychological disorder: an ongoing dysfunctional pattern of thought, emotion,

and behaviour that causes significant distress, and that is considered deviant
in that person’s culture or society
● Over 200 disorders
● At least 20% of Canadian adults suffer psychological disorders each year
● Can be associated with the 4 D’s:
○ Deviance (different than being an eccentric) (behaviour, thoughts, and
emotions are considered abnormal when they differ from society’s
ideas about proper functioning)
○ Distress (to to be considered abnormal, behaviours, ideas, or emotions
usually must also cause distress or unhappiness)
○ Dysfunction ( abnormal behaviour also tends to interfere with daily
functioning as opposed to behaviour that is simply eccentric but a part
of a person’s life)
○ Danger ( some people with psychological dysfunction become
dangerous to themselves and others)

Defining Disorder: Psychological Disorders Causes Distress

● Threats of self-harm should always be taken seriously; see information from

Ryerson’s website at:
● https://www.ryerson.ca/student-wellbeing/counselling/students/crisis/
● Resource in Toronto: The Distress Centre
○ https://www.torontodistresscentre.com/
○ 416-408-HELP (416-408-4357) 24 hours a day
● Ryerson Development & Counselling (Mon –Fri 9am-5pm)
○ call receptionist at 416-979-5195
○ https://www.ryerson.ca/student-wellbeing/counselling/
● Sheena’s place for eating disorders
 ○ 416-927-8900
○ https://sheenasplace.org/

Defining Disorder: Treatment of Psychological Disorders Today

● Medication – many people with psychological disorders benefit from

prescription medication (such as Prozac for depression)
● Counselling – many people with psychological disorders benefit from
counselling
● Combination approach – medication and counselling are used together,
which is often beneficial
● Appropriate treatment tends to be very beneficial, for example “Once
depression is recognized, help can make a difference for 80% of people who
are affected, allowing them to get back to their regular activities.”
From https://cmha.ca/fast-facts-about-mental-illness

Diagnosing Psychological Disorder

International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10)

● System used by most countries that are outside of North America to classify
psychological disorders; published by the World Health Organization and
currently in its tenth edition

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)

● Manual used to diagnose mental disorders in North America
● Provides a categorical list of symptoms for over 200 mental disorders

Perspectives on Disorders

● Different perspectives about what causes psychological disorders

● May depend on the specific psychological disorder
● May also depend on the particular person and their lived experience
● One influential perspective is the Bio-Psycho-Social model (from our textbook)
The Developmental Psychopathology Model

Studies how problem behaviours develop as a function of a person’s genes and

early experiences and how these early issues affect the person at later life stages

● Risk factors - biological and environmental factors that contribute to problem

outcomes
● Equifinality - the idea that different children can start from different points and
wind up at the same outcome
● Multifinality - the idea that children can start from the same point and wind
up at any number of different outcomes
● Resilience - the ability to recover from or avoid the serious effects of negative
circumstances

Take-Home Messages About This Material

● Psychological disorders are behaviours and/or thoughts that deviate from

societal norms, cause distress to the individual, interfere with daily
functioning, and may cause danger to self or others.
● Classification and diagnosis of psychological disorders in North America is
done by a clinician using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5.)
● A number of important models of the causes of psychological disorders have
been advanced.

Anxiety Disorders

● Disabling levels of fear or anxiety that are frequent, severe, persistent, or

easily triggered
● Most people with one anxiety disorder experience another one as well
(comorbidity)

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

● Marked by excessive worry affecting functioning

● “Free-floating” extreme anxiety lasting over 6 months
 ● Anxiety under most life circumstances
● With 3 or more symptoms: restlessness, fatigue, concentration problems,
irritability, muscle tension, & sleep disturbance

Explanations for Generalized Anxiety Disorder

● Cognitive-behavioural theorists (Dr. Aaron Beck & Dr. Albert Ellis)

○ Dysfunctional, irrational assumptions about danger
○ Intolerance of uncertainty theory - unwilling to accept chance of
negative events
● Neuroscientists
○ Malfunctioning GABA feedback system
○ Malfunctioning emotional brain circuit (prefrontal cortex, anterior
cingulate cortex, amygdala)

Social Anxiety Disorder

● Severe, persistent fear of social situations in which embarrassment may occur

● Fear may be narrow (e.g., fear of talking in public) or broad (e.g., general fear
of functioning poorly in front of others)

Explanations for Social Anxiety Disorder

● Cognitive-behavioural perspective
○ Dysfunctional cognitions about social situations
○ Unrealistically high social standards
○ Belief that they are socially unskilled and inadequate
 ○ Belief that they are in danger of behaving incompetently in social
settings
Phobias

● Persistent, unreasonable, and intense fear of a specific object, activity, or

situation
○ Examples: arachnophobia, and acrophobia

● Explanations
○ Classically conditioned fear
○ Modelling of fearful behaviour

Panic Disorder

● Panic attacks - periodic sudden bouts of panic

● Panic disorder – repeated, unexpected panic attacks plus one month or more
of changes in thinking or behaviour
● Explanations
○ Malfunctioning brain circuit involving the amygdala, hypothalamus, and
locus coeruleus, plus excess norepinephrine
○ Misinterpretation of bodily sensations

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

● Obsessions - persistent unwanted thoughts

○ Wishes, impulses, doubts, or images
● Compulsions - repetitive, rigid behaviours or mental acts
○ Are often responses to obsessive thoughts, performed to reduce or
prevent anxiety
○ https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-cognitive-behaviourtherapi
st/article/ocd-and-covid19-a-newfrontier/0B380877F1E2EA3D7F92BA
E00835E51C

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

● Neuroscientists
○ Low serotonin activity
○ Overactive brain circuit including orbitofrontal cortex and caudate
nuclei (part of basal ganglia); hypothalamus and amygdala
○ These two theories may be connected
● Cognitive-behavioural theorists
○ Learning that compulsive behaviour relieves distress
Dissociative Disorders

● Dissociative disorders - a condition that involves disruptions or breakdowns of

memory, awareness, and identity.
○ Dissociative amnesia - unable to remember important information
about a traumatic event
○ Depersonalization/Derealization disorder – person feels detached from
their body
○ Dissociative identity disorder - two or more distinct personalities

Causes of Dissociative Disorders

● Psychodynamic perspective - Repression

Mood Disorders

● Depression - low, sad state in which people feel overwhelmed

○ Most people with a mood disorder suffer only from depression
○ Major depressive disorder is more severe than dysthymia
● Mania - elation and frenzied energy
○ People with bipolar disorder or the less severe cyclothymic disorder
also experience mania

Major Depressive Disorder

● Prolonged disabling emotional state disruption

○ At least 2 weeks of sad mood, most of the day, daily OR
○ At least 2 weeks of loss of interest and pleasure in usual activities
(anhedonia) Plus 4 or more of:
○ Guilt & worthlessness feelings
○ Loss of energy, great fatigue
○ Difficulty concentrating
○ Recurrent thoughts of death
○ Changes in eating or weight
○ Changes in activity level (psychomotor retardation or agitation)
○ Changes in sleeping

Bipolar Disorder

● Presence of mania as defined as:

 ○ A distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or
irritable mood and abnormally and persistently goal-directed behavior
or energy, lasting at least 1 week and present most of the day, nearly
every day (or any duration if hospitalization is necessary).
○ 3 or more of:
■ Increased activity level
■ Unusual talkativeness
■ Racing thoughts
■ Decreased need for sleep
■ Inflated self-esteem • Distractibility
■ Excessive pleasurable activities
○ Usually major depressive episodes as well.
● Sometimes treated with a mood stabilizer (e.g., lithium)

Explanations for Bipolar Disorder

● Neuroscientists
○ Gene abnormalities
○ Irregularities in ions that allow neurons to communicate

● Other causes
○ Stress plus biological predisposition
○ Life events—striving, failures

Explanations for Major Depressive Disorder

● Socio-cultural factors
○ Stress
○ A lack of social support
● Biological factors
○ Genetic predisposition (5-HTT gene)
○ Low norepinephrine and serotonin activity
○ High cortisol

Explanations for Major Depressive Disorder

● Cognitive-behavioural theory (Dr. Aaron Beck)

○ Negative thinking/dysfunctional attitudes
○ The cognitive triad
Depression and Learned Helplessness Theory (Dr. Martin Seligman)

Treatment for Depression

● Psychotherapy (covered in reading “Therapeutic Orientations”)

● Transcranial magnetic stimulation
● Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

Schizophrenia

● Psychosis: Loss of contact with reality

● Positive symptoms
● Negative symptoms
○ Flat Affect (don’t express emotions like others would)
● Cognitive symptoms
● Psychomotor symptoms
○ Rigidity
○ Posturing

Explanations for Schizophrenia

● Neuroscientists
● Genetic predisposition
 ○ Identical twins - 48% concordance rate
○ Fraternal twins - 17% concordance rate
● Dopamine hypothesis
● Abnormal Brain Structures
○ Enlarged ventricles, smaller temporal lobes and frontal lobes,
abnormalities in the structure of hippocampus, thalamus, and
amygdala

Enlarged Ventricles in People With Schizophrenia

Biochemical Factors In Schizophrenia

● Positive symptoms: excess mesolimbic dopamine

● Negative symptoms: too little mesocortical dopamine

Drug Treatment: Antipsychotics

● Traditional Antipsychotic drugs reduce positive symptoms of schizophrenia

but do not help negative symptoms
○ Examples include chlorpromazine (Thorazine)
● Side effects include tardive dyskinesia
● Newer Atypical Antipsychotics hold promise
○ Examples include risperidone (Risperdal)

Personality Disorders
 ● Rigid patterns of experience and behaviour causing distress or difficulty
● A personality disorder is a disorder characterized by inflexible patterns of
thinking, feeling, or relating to others that cause problems in personal, social,
and work situations.
● Three Types:
○ Odd or Eccentric (Cluster A)
○ Dramatic or Erratic (Cluster B)
○ Anxious or Inhibited (Cluster C)
Personality Disorders

Personality Disorders

● Antisocial personality disorder

○ Disregards and violates the rights of others, impulsive, reckless,
self-centred; linked to criminal behaviour

Personality Disorders – Antisocial Personality Disorder

● Explanations:
○ Modelling
○ operant conditioning
○ low serotonin activity
 ○ deficient functioning in the frontal lobes
○ lower arousal to stress and less anxiety
○ few treatments
○ 80% of people in prison have antisocial personality disorder (work of
Dr. Robert Hare)

Personality Disorders

● Borderline personality disorder

○ Unstable mood, self-image, high volatility
○ Biosocial theory - child has difficulty identifying and controlling
emotions, and the emotions are punished or disregarded

Summary

● There are a number of types of anxiety disorders. These include generalized

anxiety disorder, panic disorder and phobias.
● Dissociative disorders are conditions that involve disruptions or breakdowns
of memory, awareness, and identity.
● We all may get depressed in our daily lives, but people who suffer from mood
disorders tend to experience more intense moods.
● The most common mood disorder is major depressive disorder. Bipolar
disorder is characterized by swings in mood from overly “high” to sad and
hopeless, and back again.
● Schizophrenia is a serious psychological disorder marked by delusions,
hallucinations, and loss of contact with reality.
● Personality disorders include borderline personality disorder and antisocial
personality disorder.

Somatoform and Factitious Disorders

Somatoform and factitious disorders both occur in cases where psychological

disorders are related to the experience or expression of physical symptoms. The
important difference between them is that in somatoform disorders the physical
symptoms are real, whereas in factitious disorders they are not.

Somatoform Disorders: Somatic Symptom Disorder

Somatic Symptom Disorder

● Symptoms cause distress and significant disruption in life
 ● Excessive health-related anxiety
● Concern has lasted over 6 months

Somatoform Disorders: Conversion Disorder

● Symptoms may come and go

● A rare disorder
● Now called functional neurological symptom disorder in DSM-5
Sexual Disorders

Hypoactive sexual desire disorder, one of the most common sexual dysfunctions,
refers to a persistently low or nonexistent sexual desire

Sexual aversion disorder refers to an avoidance of sexual behaviour caused by

disgust or aversion to genital contact

Gender identity disorder has been removed from DSM-5 (gender dysphoria in
DSM-5 still included)
- Gender identity disorder has been removed from DSM-5 (gender dysphoria in
DSM-5 still included)

Therapeutic Orientations

Psychotherapy is an empirically support method to help people with psychological

distress

Psychoanalysis & Psychodynamic Therapy

● First organized therapy

● Freud
● Psychodynamic Therapy

Structural Model
● Id ➔ pleasure-driven (unconscious)
● Ego ➔ The mediator (semi-conscious)
● Superego ➔ morals/ judgment (semi-conscious

Techniques
● Free Association (Share anything that comes to mind, does not censor)
● Childhood relationships (Look at their childhood and the people they
associated with)
● Dreams
 ○ Manifest content = actual content of dream
○ Latent content = hidden meaning in dream content
● Transference (Put their feelings for important people onto their therapist)
● Countertransference (Therapist puts their feelings onto their patients)

Limitations
✖ Severe psychopathology
✖ Mental retardation
● Expensive
● Lack of empirical evidence

Humanistic & Person-Centered Therapy

● Source of Pathology
● Goals
● Carl Rogers
Techniques
● Non-directive (Do not change their patients thoughts or behaviour directly)
● Unconditional Positive Regard (Therapist expresses warmth and empathy,
positivity)

Advantages
● Acceptable to patients
● Translates to other approaches

Disadvantages
● Mixed findings about effectiveness

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

● Underlying cognitions and behaviours

● Present-focused, brief, & effective
● Founders:
○ Aaron Beck
○ Albert Ellis

Concepts
● Automatic Thoughts (arise from the
schemas)
● Schemas
Techniques

● Cognitive Restructuring (Helping patients identify unhelpful beliefs and

substitute to positive ones)
● Exposure Therapy (Confront a problematic situations instead of avoiding)

What disorders?

- Phobias
- PTSD

Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy: Thought Record for Cognitive

Restructuring
Advantages
● Brief
● Proven effectiveness

Disadvantage
● More patient effort

Acceptance & Mindfulness-Based Approaches

Mindfulness-based Therapy Techniques

● Mindfulness-based stress reduction

● Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

Self-Awareness

● Self-regulation of attention
● Orientation toward the present moment

Advantages
- Acceptability

Disadvantages
- Limited efficacy (not a lot of evidence, if approach works)

Other approaches to and Emerging Treatments

● Internet & smart-phone delivered therapies

● Medications
● Integrative/Eclectic

Summary

● Somatoform disorders occur when people become excessively and

inaccurately preoccupied with physical symptoms.
● Patients with factitious disorder fake physical symptoms in large part because
they enjoy the attention and treatment that they receive in the hospital.
● Sexual dysfunction is a psychological disorder that occurs when the physical
sexual response cycle is inadequate for reproduction or for sexual enjoyment.
● There are a variety of therapeutic orientations.
● Cognitive-behavioral therapy has extensive empirical support.
● Depending on the individual person, techniques from different therapeutic
orientations can be combined.
● Psychological treatment is often very effective, as is treatment with
medication, or a combination of psychotherapy and medication.