Chapter 16 Questions for Discussion

1. You read that among people with schizophrenia, an excess of dopamine causes trivial stimuli to grab their attention and that their attempts to explain why these stimuli are so distracting lead to delusional beliefs. Can the same process explain the bizarreness of dreams among people who do not have schizophrenia? Some suggest (see Chapter 9) that dreams are the result of attempts by higher-level brain structures to interpret random neural signals from lower-level structures. How do the processes compare? Explain. [Analyze]

2. You learned that people with schizophrenia experience deficits in episodic memory, particularly for emotional experiences, and that these deficits make planning for the future difficult because people who suffer from this disorder cannot consult past experiences to decide what to do in the future. You also learned that people with schizophrenia experience deficits in social-cognitive skills, such as the ability to initiate conversation and to maintain eye contact. What are other examples of social-cognitive skills and how could deficits in these areas affect quality of life? [ Comprehend, Apply]

3. Dissociative identity disorder is depicted in television dramas (e.g., Law & Order) and in movies (e.g., Me, Myself & Irene) at a rate that is disproportionate to its actual prevalence. Why do you think it is so popular in plot lines? [Analyze]

4. You learned that the insanity defense rarely results in not-guilty verdicts in the cases of people with dissociative identity disorder. One reason is that courts are rarely convinced that the individual is mentally ill. A similar level of disbelief existed about individuals with conversion disorder, but brain-level research indicates that they are not faking their symptoms. Design a brain-imaging study that would address the question of whether people with dissociative identity disorder are faking their symptoms. What groups of people will you compare? What brain differences will you examine? [Analyze]

5. People with personality disorders were described in the text as being inflexible in their approach to situations, with the result that they do not cope effectively with stress. In a stressful situation, what does it look like to be flexible? Provide an example of a situation in which inflexibility would lead to ineffective coping and, ultimately, stress. [Comprehend]

6. You learned that in cognitive therapy, the goal is to make clients aware of the beliefs that create chronic psychological distress and to then try to modify those cognitions through techniques such as questioning. How successful is this technique likely to be in treating people with antisocial personality disorder who are high in psychopathy? Explain. [Synthesize]

7. What could explain why dialectical behavior therapy is effective in treating borderline personality disorder in particular? [Analyze]

8. 742

   Review the case of Sybil, described in This Just In. In spite of Sybil’s confession that she did not have multiple personalities, her therapist, Connie Wilbur, continued to assert that she did suffer from dissociative identity disorder and that childhood abuse was the cause. What would have compelled Wilbur to come to this conclusion, despite all the evidence to the contrary? Was she just trying to market and sell her book or do additional explanations exist? [Analyze]