Psychological Disorders (Active Learning Activity = 15 points)

Use the crossword puzzle to fill in the blanks on the next page(s). (You do NOT need to actually write your answers in the boxes here).

Part 1—Knowing Key Terms (4 points) :

Fill in the blanks from the crossword puzzle above using key terms from the textbook and/or lecture notes.

Across

10. false sensory perceptions, such as hearing voices that do not really exist.-

11. disorders in which the main symptom is excessive or unrealistic anxiety and fearfulness.-

17. somatoform disorder in which the person is terrified of being sick and worries constantly, going to doctors repeatedly, and becoming preoccupied with every sensation of the body.-

18. a state of immobility.-

19. in psychology, an emotional reaction.-

20. fear of being in a small, enclosed space.-

21. the break away from an ability to perceive what is real and what is fantasy.-

22. false beliefs held by a person who refuses to accept evidence of their falseness.-

23. type of schizophrenia in which behavior is bizarre and childish and thinking, speech, and motor actions are very disordered.-

Down

1. the tendency to interpret a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat and failure.-

2. severe disorder in which the person suffers from disordered thinking, bizarre behavior, hallucinations, and is unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality.-

3. severe mood swings between major depressive episodes and manic episodes.-

4. an irrational, persistent fear of an object, situation, or social activity.-

5. cutting holes in the skull of a living person.-

6. term referring to someone with antisocial personality disorder.-

7. type of schizophrenia in which the person suffers from delusions of persecution, grandeur, and jealousy, together with hallucinations.-

8. disorder that consists of mood swings from moderate depression to hypomania and lasts two years or more.-

9. anything that does not allow a person to function within or adapt to the stresses and everyday demands of life.-

12. having the quality of excessive excitement, energy, and elation or irritability.-

13. fear of being in a place or situation from which escape is difficult or impossible.-

14. a moderate depression that lasts for two years or more and is typically a reaction to some external stressor.-

15. fear of heights.-

16. the study of abnormal behavior.-

Part 2—Comprehending and Applying Concepts (4 points):

Answer each of the following questions by: (1) Underlining the correct options for multiple choice items, or (2) Providing the correct short answer where appropriate.

1. What is the primary difficulty with applying the criterion of “social norm deviance” to define abnormal behavior?

a) Norms are difficult to enumerate.

b) Cultures accept and view all behaviors as normal.

c) Behavior that is considered disordered in one culture may be acceptable in another.

d) Norms do not guide behavior except in rare instances.

2. Which of the following is NOT a criterion used to decide if a pattern of behavior should be considered to be a psychological disorder?

a) The behavior is physically exhausting.

b) The behavior causes subjective distress.

c) The behavior goes against the norms of the society.

d) The behavior is maladaptive.

3. The biological model views psychological disorders as resulting

from_____________.

a) distorted thought patterns

b) repressed memories

c) underlying behavioral issues

d) physiological causes

4. The psychoanalytic model holds that abnormal behavior is the result of ______.

a) learning

b) repressed thoughts

c) biology

d) biochemical imbalances

5. Alan went to see a psychologist to get some help overcoming his anxiety in public. The psychologist spent a lot of time discussing the specific thoughts Alan has when he is in public and trying to help him change those thought patterns. The psychologist could be best described as

adhering to the _______________.

a) cognitive perspective

b) behaviorist model

c) psychoanalytical perspective

d) biological model

6. Disorders such as koro, susto, and amok are considered __________.

a) restricted syndromes

b) naturalistic syndromes

c) sociocultural disorders

d) culture-bound syndromes

7. _______is used to help psychological professionals diagnose psychological disorders.

a) The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

b) The Physician’s Desk Reference

c) The Textbook of Psychological Disorders

d) The Textbook of Physiological Disorders

8. In any given year in the United States, approximately how many adults over age 18 experience a mental disorder?

a) 5 percent

b) 22 percent

c) 52 percent

d) 76 percent

9. Which of the following statements is true about anxiety?

a) It is never considered realistic or normal.

b) Some anxiety is realistic when its source is obvious and understandable.

c) It always manifests itself as a disorder.

d) It is unusual for a mentally healthy person to experience anxiety.

10. Liza has an anxiety disorder. She is currently seeing a therapist who believes that anxiety disorders are a result of illogical, irrational thought processes. Liza is probably seeking treatment from a

a) behaviorial psychologist.

b) cognitive psychologist.

c) psychoanalyst.

d) psychologist with a biological perspective.

11. The cognitive process of magnification could be most accurately described as

a) interpreting a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.

b) making mountains out of molehills.

c) giving little or no emphasis to one’s successes or positive events.

d) throwing the baby out with the bath water.

12. Disorders that take the form of a physical illness that has no real physical cause are referred to as

a) dissociate disorders.

b) schizophrenia.

c) somatoform disorders.

d) mood disorders.

13. What did Freud believe about somatoform disorders?.

a) They are caused by the repression of disturbing thoughts, conflicts, or memories.

b) They result from magnifying symptoms and allowing false beliefs to dominate one’s thinking.

c) They are the result of positive and negative reinforcement.

d) They are due to an imbalance of the neurotransmitters GABA and serotonin.

14. Disorders in which there is a break in conscious awareness, memory, the sense of identity, or some combination are called _________.

a) paraphilias

b) anxiety disorders

c) somatoform disorders

d) dissociative disorders

15. Which of the following perspectives claims that shaping may play a big role in the development of some cases of dissociative identity disorder?

a) behavioral

b) humanistic

c) biological

d) psychoanalytic

16. Disorders characterized by disturbances in emotion are known as ______ disorders.

a) conversion

b) somatoform

c) mood

d) dissociative

17. Which of the following is the biological explanation for mood disorders?

a) They are a result of learned helplessness.

b) They are a result of anger turned inward on oneself.

c) They are a result of distortions in thinking.

d) They are a result of an imbalance of brain chemicals.

18. Sal has decreased levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in his prefrontal cortex. Which disorder might he be at risk of experiencing?

a) antisocial personality disorder

b) agoraphobia

c) schizophrenia

d) dissociative fugue

19. Disorders that affect the entire life adjustment of a person are referred to as

a) somatoform disorders

b) dissociative disorders

c) mood disorders

d) personality disorders

20. Which of the following statements represents the biological view of personality disorders?

a) They are due to an inadequate resolution of the Oedipus complex.

b) They are a type of learned behavior.

c) They have physiological causes.

d) They are due to disturbances in family relationships.

Part 3—Underst anding and Applying Concepts (4 points) :

For each of the following case studies, play the role of a clinician and make the most accurate diagnosis possible with the given information from the following choices. Write your response in the blank space beneath each description.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder

Depersonalization Disorder

Dissociative Fugue

Somatization Disorder

Panic Disorder/Panic Attack

Specific Phobia

Major Depression

Paranoid Schizophrenia

Agoraphobia

1. If you interacted with Scott briefly, you might think that he is normal. However, once he told you about the government’s plot against him and how he was going to be rescued by some alien friends, you would start to suspect that he is disordered.

 

2. Shannon’s moods seem to swing abruptly, and she often seems unable to control her impulses. She has had many sexual encounters and often complains of boredom, though she is seldom alone and often caught up in very intense, stormy relationships. Her friends are on edge around her because of her Jekyll-Hyde behavior.

 

3. Emmit, who has just suffered a serious knee injury, cannot undergo an MRI because he has an irrational fear of narrow, enclosed places.

 

4. Frank awoke one morning and suddenly realized that he had another name and a family in another state. He had no idea how he came to be living his present life.

 

5. While teaching her class one day, Theresa suddenly begins having difficulty breathing. Her heart starts pounding wildly, and she feels weak and dizzy. She feels as if she’s having a heart attack and is honestly afraid that she’s going to die in the next minute or two. (Assume that Theresa is not having a heart attack).

 

6. Although Jack is enjoying watching the football game, he feels oddly detached, as though he is watching himself and his actions from outside of his own body. Because this has happened several times recently, Jack is startled for fear that he will totally lose control of his thoughts and behavior.

 

7. Sarah has an unrealistic fear of shopping in crowded stores and walking through crowded streets. She has begun to spend more and more time home alone in order to avoid the panicky feeling she gets when she goes out in public.

 

8. Sam’s friends are starting to worry about him. Normally energetic and fun-loving, Sam has become withdrawn and sullen. He has lost weight, is constantly tired, and hasn’t been showing up to lacrosse practice or to his fraternity meetings. In his conversations with others, he expresses feelings of doubt and unworthiness, and seems to be entertaining suicidal thoughts.

 

9. Because Amy feels “dirty” a lot of the time, she spends much of her day at the sink, washing and rewashing her hands hundreds of times until they are red and raw.

 

10. Joan has seen several specialists and undergone numerous diagnostic tests to determine the cause of her recurring headaches and episodes of dizziness. The doctors are perplexed and can seem to find no physiological cause for Joan’s symptoms.

 

Part 4—Synthes izing and Evaluating Concepts (3 points) :

Using your knowledge from the textbook and/or lecture notes, answer each question by typing your response in the space provided below. For each question, your answer should be one or more healthy paragraphs (Your total answer should be at least 100 words or more).

1. Explain the four ways in which abnormal behavior is defined in the field of psychology.

 

2. Compare and contrast depression and bipolar disorder. How are they similar? How are they different?

 

3. List and describe two anxiety disorders. List the most relevant symptoms of the disorders that you choose. Describe the viewpoints of two different psychological models on the cause of anxiety disorders.