Psych 2510 1st Edition Lecture 6 Outline of Last Lecture I. Resilience II. PreventionIII. Defining Abnormal Behavior and Mental DisorderIV. Classifying Abnormal Behavior and Mental DisorderV. Assessing Abnormal Behavior and Mental DisorderOutline of Current Lecture VI. Assessing Abnormal Behavior and Mental Disorder Continued VII. Culture and Clinical AssessmentVIII. Studying Abnormal Behavior and Mental Disorder Current LectureI. Assessing Abnormal Behavior and Mental Disorder ContinuedA. Intelligence tests i. Commonly used to assess cognitive aspects of mental disorders, but mustbe viewed with caution, especially when comparing scores across cultures.ii. Example of an item from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). B. Objective Personality Measures (Assessment)i. Involve administering a standard set of questions or statements to which a person responds using set options.ii. Objective personality measures such as the MMPI-2 are economical, relatively simple to administer and score, and reliable.C. Projective tests These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.i. Rely on the assumption that people project their needs, conflicts, and personality when responding to ambiguous stimuli.ii. E.g. Rorschach and TATD. Behavioral assessment i. Measures overt behaviors or responses and is often conducted via functional analysis of Antecedents and Consequences of Behavior (A, B, C).ii. Focus on present – here and nowiii. Direct observation of behavior-environment relationsiv. Purpose is to identify problematic behaviors and situationsE. Observational methods i. Used in behavioral assessment include naturalistic and controlled observation and self-monitoring. 1. Can be either formal or informal2. Self-monitoring vs. being observed by others3. Problem of reactivity using direct observation a. Person reacts differently because experimenter in the roomii. Handheld computers (such as that shown in presentation) can be used forself-monitoring thoughts, emotions, and behaviors as they occur. F. Biological assessment i. Includes neuroimaging techniques as well as procedures for assessing neurochemistry and body physiology. G. Neuropsychological assessmenti. Indirectly evaluates brain function via performance on standardized tests and tasks that indicate brain-behavior relationships.ii. Assess broad range of skills and abilitiesiii. Example from the Benton Visual Retention Test1. Measures memory for designs. These tests assess immediate memory, spatial perception, and perceptual-motor coordination. 2. Show cards with shapes then take them away and one must remember shapes and recreateiv. E.g. Luria-Nebraska and Halstead-Reitan batteriesII. Culture and Clinical AssessmentA. Culture may cause stress and psychological problems.B. Culture may also influence a person’s reaction to stress, which symptoms of a disorder are expressed, and the content of the symptoms.C. It may also reinforce certain forms of mental disorder.i. For example, societies that emphasize thinness are more likely to produceindividuals with anorexia.D. Mental health professionals must overcome a language barrier if one exists, obtain information about a client’s culture, be culturally sensitive, and be aware of cultural variations in psychological problems III. Studying Abnormal Behavior and Mental DisorderA. Scientific method i. Involves generating a hypothesis, designing a research plan, and analyzingdata to test the hypothesis.B. Hypothesis i. A statement about the cause of an event or about the relationship between two events.C. Research Designi. An experiment allows a researcher to draw cause-and effect conclusions about variables.1. Manipulation of independent vairables2. Attempt to establish causal relationsii. Dependent variables 1. The behavior influenced by the independent variable2. Measuring a certain outcome iii. Independent Variable 1. The variable that causes or influences behavior2. Manipulated by a researcher to test a hypothesis.D. Internal validity vs. external validityi. Internal validity: does the experiment measure what we intended it to measureii. External validity: degree to which we can generalize findings to the real world scenarios1. Relation: Those with high internal validity tend to have low external validity and vice versaiii. Ways to increase internal validity by minimizing confounds1. Use of control group2. Use of random assignment procedures3. Use of analog modelsE. Experimental and control groups i. Key to an experiment, which must include randomization of participants.ii. Control groups1. Used to compare to the experimental/treatment groupsiii. Placebo vs. double-blind controls1. Placebo: participant thinks they are getting treated/medicine, yet the treatment is just a sugar pill (not psychoactive)2. Double-blind controls: both researcher and participant are unaware of what treatment the participant is receivingiv. An example of experimental research would be the testing of morphine for effectiveness using analgesia 1. The absence of pain = the dependent variable. F. Correlational studies i. Statistical relation between two or more variablesii. No independent variable is manipulated iii. Range from -1.0 to 0 to +1iv. Allow researchers to examine associations between variables and often include evaluating positive and negative correlations.1. Negative correlation vs. positive correlation can be perfect, moderate, or unrelatedv. Limitations1. Correlation does not imply causation 2. Third variable 3. Directionality problems. vi. Epidemiological research – is an example of a correlational study1. Incidence, prevalence, and course of disorders2. Examples: AIDS, trauma following disasterIV. Studying Individual CasesA. Case Study Methodi. Careful, extensive observation and detailed description of one client/personii. Foundation of early historic developments in