AP PSYCH ALL TERMS

Psychological Disorder

- a syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior

- maladaptive - dysfunctional thoughts, emotions, or behaviors that interfere with day-to-day life

- ex. cleaning rituals that interfere with work and leisure

Medical Model

- the concept that diseases(like psychological disorders) that have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and in most cases, cured

- often through treatment in a hospital

- this model is reflected in the terms we use today(mental health, mental hospital, mental illness, symptoms, treatment)

Epigenetics

- the study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change

- environmental factors can influence whether genes are expressed

DSM-5

- a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders

- The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(5th edition)

- Codes outlined in the DSM-5 used to guide mental diagnoses and treatments

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD)

- a psychological disorder marked by extreme inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity

- some say that the disorder is being over diagnosed, while others say that more people are getting diagnosed because there is more awareness for it

Anxiety Disorders

- psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety, or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety

- ex. generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobias

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

- an anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal

- excessive and uncontrollable worry

- anxiety is free-floating, meaning it is not linked to a specific stress or threat

Panic Disorder

- an anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable, minute-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations

- often followed by worry over a possible next attack

- smokers have a doubled risk of panic disorder

Phobia

- an anxiety disorder marked by persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation

- many people avoid the triggers that arouse their fear

Social Anxiety Disorder

- a phobia in which people have an intense fear of others' negative judgements

- social phobia

- shyness to an extreme

Agoraphobia

- fear or avoidance of situations in which escape might be difficult when panic strikes

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

- a disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts(obsessions), actions(compulsions), or both

- becomes a disorder when obsessions or compulsions interfere with everyday living

- ex. checking to see if the door is locked 10 times

- ex. if I don't clean this, my family will die

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

- a disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumping anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia

- most common patients include war veterans, victims of violence or assault, and survivors of accidents

- the higher the emotional distress, the higher the risk for PTSD

- PTSD patients have a smaller amygdala

Major Depressive Disorder

- a disorder in which a person experiences(in the absence of drugs or another medical condition) two or more weeks with 5 or more symptoms, at least one of which must be a depressed mood or loss or interest/pleasure

- feels like the anguish of grief with the sluggishness of jet lag

Mania

- a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state in which dangerously poor judgement is common

- living in fast-forward

- making lots of impulsive decisions

- for some people, higher creativity in this phase

Bipolar Disorder

- a disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy or depression and the overexcited state of mania

- maniac depressive disorder

- for some people, symptoms may have a seasonal pattern

Rumination

- compulsive fretting

- overthinking about their problems and their causes

- most common in women

Schizophrenia

- a psychological disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and/or diminished, inappropriate emotion and expression

- Schizo(split) phrenia(mind)

- mind has suffered a split from reality

- patients with positive symptoms exhibit inappropriate behaviors, like laughing when someone dies

- patients with negative symptoms have toneless voices and expressionless faces

Chronic Schizophrenia

- a form of schizophrenia in which symptoms usually appear by late adolescence or early adulthood

- as people age, psychotic disorders last longer and recovery periods shorten

- is a slow-developing process

- harder to cure

Acute Schizophrenia

- a form of schizophrenia that can begin at any age

- frequently occurs in response to an emotionally traumatic event

- has extended recovery periods

- reactive schizophrenia

- easier to treat

Dissociative Disorders

- controversial, rare disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated(dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings

- result may be a fugue state(a sudden loss of memory or change in identity, often in response to a highly stressful situation)

- when we feel trauma, dissociative detachment may protect us from being overwhelmed with emotion

Dissociative Identity Disorder

- a rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternative personalities

- formerly known as multiple personality disorder

- ex. being prim and proper in one instance and loud and flirtatious in another

Personality Disorders

- inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning

- these disorder tend to form three clusters characterized by:

- anxiety(avoidant personality disorder)

- eccentric or odd behaviors(schizotypal personality disorder)

- dramatic or impulsive behaviors(borderline personality disorder)

Antisocial Personality Disorder

- a disorder in which a person(usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even towards friends and family

- may be ruthless and aggressive, or a clever con artist

- sometimes called sociopaths or psychopaths

- show lower emotional intelligence

- many criminals do not fit the description of the disorder because they show responsible concern for friends and family

Anorexia Nervosa

- an eating disorder in which a person maintains a starvation diet despite being severely underweight

- sometimes accompanied by excessive exercise

- usually an adolescent female

- caused by social reasons

Bulimia Nervosa

- an eating disorder in which a person alternates binge-eating(usually of high-calorie foods) with purging(by vomiting or laxative use) or fasting

- eat a lot, then get rid of all the weight gained

- easy to hide because weight fluctuates within normal ranges

Binge-Eating Disorder

- significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt

- without compensatory purging or fasting that marks bulimia nervosa

- people with the disorder tend to be overweight

Labeling Effect

- labeling a normal person with a disorder can change how we perceive them and see behaviors that don't actually exist

- benefit: mental health professionals and researchers use them to communicate about their work and when discussing their work--clients feel relief that their suffering is not unique and has a name

Bio-Psycho-Social Perspective

- our thoughts, behaviors, and feelings are formed by the interactions of biological, psychological, and social-cultural influences

- emphasizes that the mind and body are inseparable

- negative emotions contribute to physical illnesses and physical abnormalities contribute to negative emotions

Dysthymic Disorder

- persistent depressive disorder

- experiencing a mildly depressed mood for 2 or more years

- symptoms include feeling hopeless, poor self-esteem, reduced energy levels, and problems regulating sleep

Catatonia

- a state in which someone is awake but does not seem to respond to other people and their environment

- can affect movement, speech, and behavior

- associated with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses

Hallucinations

- seeing, smelling, tasting, or feeling things that only exist in their minds

- most often, hallucinations are sounds

- ex. an imaginary voice telling you to burn yourself with a cigarette lighter

Delusions

- a false belief, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders

- ex. thinking you are Mary Poppins

Schizoid Personality Disorder

- a condition in which people avoid social activities and interacting with others

- don't wanna form relationships with others

- don't desire or enjoy close relationships, even with family

Avoidance Personality Disorder

- a mental health condition characterized by a pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation

- avoiding interpersonal contact

- people with the disorder may be extremely shy, and might be overly concerned with looking foolish

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

- a mental health condition in which people high an unreasonably high sense of their own importance

- more commonly found in men

Histrionic Personality Disorder

- a personality disorder in which people seek attention and are overly emotional

- people with the disorder may seem highly dramatic, lively, excitable, and impulsive

- symptoms include inappropriate seductive behavior and discomfort when not in the center of attention

Psychotherapy

- treatment involving psychological treatments

- consists of interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth

- the therapist may seek to uncover hidden meanings from past relationships, encourage the client to adopt new ways of thinking, or replace old behaviors with new ones

Biomedical Therapy

- prescribed medications or procedures that act directly on the person's physiology

- ex. a person with severe depression may receive antidepressants, ECT, or deep-brain stimulation

Electic Approach

- an approach to psychotherapy that uses techniques from various forms of therapy

- many patients relieve psychotherapy combined with medication

Psychoanalysis

- Sigmund Freud's therapeutic technique

- he believed that the patient's free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences(and the therapist's interpretations of them) released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight

- released feelings devoted to id-ego-superego conflicts

Free Association

- a process in which the patient is encouraged to verbalize without censorship

- say whatever comes to mind without worrying about how trivial, illogical, or embarrassing something is

Resistance

- in psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material

- you are defending against sensitive material

- censoring yourself in free association shows resistance

Interpretation

- in psychoanalysis, the analyst's noting of supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors and events in order to promote insight

- ex. not wanting to talk about your mother in free association might illuminate underlying wishes, feelings, and conflicts that you are avoiding

Transference

- in psychoanalysis, the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships(such as love or hatred for a person)

- projecting feelings for the people you are talking about onto your analyst

Psychodynamic Therapy

- therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition

- views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences, and seeks to enhance self-insight

Insight Therapies

- a variety of therapy that aims to improve psychological functioning by increasing a person's awareness of underlying motives and defenses

- ex. psychodynamic and humanistic therapies

Client-Centered Therapy

- a humanistic therapy in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathic environment to facilitate clients' growth

- developed by Carl Rogers

- also called person-centered therapy

Active Listening

- empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, or clarifies what the patient is saying

- a feature of Roger's client-centered therapy

Unconditional Positive Regard

- a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help clients develop self-awareness and self-acceptance

- this allowed people to feel valued and whole, and helps them accept their worst traits

Behavior Therapy

- therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors

- behavior therapists view maladaptive behaviors as learned behaviors that can be replaced by constructive behavior

Counterconditioning

- behavior therapy procedures that use classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors

- includes exposure therapy and aversive conditioning

- ex, if being in confined spaces made you fear elevators, then reconditioning by pairing elevators with relaxation may help you get over the fear

Exposure Therapies

- behavioral techniques, such as systemic desensitization and virtual reality exposure therapy, that treats anxiety by exposing people to the things they fear and avoid

- could be in real life or virtual reality

- ex. repeatedly seeing bugs makes you feel less afraid of them

Systemic Desensitization

- a type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant, relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli

- commonly used to treat phobias

- developed by Joseph Wolfe

- you can't be anxious and relaxed at the same time

- ex. if you have bad social anxiety, a behavior therapist might pair the situation with relaxation until you don't feel the anxiety anymore

Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy

- an anxiety treatment that progressively exposes people to electronic stimulations of their greatest fears, like spiders, flying, or public speaking

- studies show that it provides relief from real-life fear

- done mostly for fears that cannot be easily recreated in real life

Aversive Conditioning

- a type of counterconditioning that associated an unpleasant state with an unwanted behavior

- ex. if drinking alcohol makes you nauseous, then you will stop drinking it

- opposite of systemic desensitization

- works in the short term but not the long-term: people know outside the therapists' office they can drink without getting sick

- usually used in combination with other treatments

Token Economy

- an operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token of some sort for exhibiting a desired behavior and can later exchange their tokens for various treats and privileges

- ex. warrior bills and coins at Ray

- works best for young children and people with autism

Cognitive Therapy

- therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking

- based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy(CBT)

- a popular integrative therapy that combines cognitive therapy(changing self-defeating thinking) with behavior therapy(changing behavior)

- most widely practiced psychotherapy

- good for treating anxiety, depressive disorders, OCD, and bipolar disorders

- ex. keeping a log of daily situations associated with positive and negative emotions and engaging in more activities that make them feel good

Group Therapy

- therapy conducted with groups rather than individuals, permitting therapeutic benefits from group interaction

- does not provide the same degree of therapist involvement but has many other benefits

Family Therapy

- therapy that treats the family like a system

- views an individual's unwanted behaviors as influenced by, or directed at, other family members

- we live and grow in relation to others

Meta-Analysis

- a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies

- gives the bottom-line result of lots of studies

Evidence-Based Practice

- clinical decision-making that integrates the best available research with clinical research and patient characteristics and preferences

- available therapies should be rigorously evaluated and applied by qualified clinicians

Therapeutic Alliance

- a bond of trust and mutual understanding between a therapist and client, who work together constructively to overcome the client's problems

- therapists who are able to form this bond are more effective than those who are not

Pscyhopharmacology

- the study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior

- has revolutionized the treatment of people with severe disorders

Antipsychotic Drugs

- drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other forms of severe thought disorders

- ex. chlorpromazine, risperidone, olanzapine

Antianxiety Drugs

- drugs used to control anxiety and agitation

- depress central nervous system and should not be used in combination with alcohol

- ex. xanax, ativan

Antidepressant Drugs

- drugs used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, OCD, and PTSD

- several widely used antidepressant drugs are SSRIs(selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)

- increase availability of neurotransmitters like norepinephrine and serotonin

Electroconvulsive Therapy(ECT)

- a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient

- brain manipulation that occurs through shock treatment

- effective treatment for severe depression

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation(rTMS)

- the application of repeated pulses of magnetic energy to the brain

- used to stimulate or suppress brain activity

- used to treat depression

Psychosurgery

- surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior

- most drastic and least used biomedical intervention for changing behavior

Lobotomy

- a psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients

- procedure cuts the nerves connecting the frontal lobes to the emotion-controlling centers of the inner brain

- decreased misery and tension, but also made the patient lethargic, immature, and uncreative

Resilience

- the personal strength that helps most people cope with stress and recover from adversity and trauma

- never letting your situations control you

Posttraumatic Growth

- positive psychological changes that can occur as a result of struggling with or overcoming a traumatic or highly stressful event

- a recognition that adversity can lead to persona development and a deeper understanding of oneself and the world

Behavior Modification

- the use of operant conditioning principles to alter or change behavior

- involves using reinforcement and punishment to either encourage or discourage specific behaviors

Stress-Inoculation

- teaches people to restructure thinking in stressful situations

- developed by Donald Meichenbaum

- ex. "the test is hard but I studied well"

- positive thinking

Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy(REBT)

- a form of psychotherapy that helps you identify self-defeating thoughts and feelings

- helps people manage emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in a healthier, more realistic way

- developed by Albert Ellis

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing(EMDR)

- a therapy adored by many, but lots of people also think it is a scam

- unlocks and reprocesses previously frozen memories by triggering eye movements in the patient while they imagined traumatic scenes

Light Exposure Therapy

- a treatment for seasonal affective disorder

- daily exposure to intense light, which is thought to affect brain chemicals and improve mood and energy levels

Seasonal Affective Therapy

- seasonal affective disorder - seasonal depression; you might feel depressed in the colder months and feel fine in the summer

- exposure to bright lights, especially in the early morning, can help treat this

Mood-Stabilizing Drugs

- drugs that stabilize moods

- most commonly used to treat bipolar disorder

- ex. lithium - a natural salt that can stabilize moods effectively

Tardive Dyskinesia

- a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary, repetitive movements, often affective the face, tongue, and limbs

- can develop as a side effect of taking antipsychotic medications

Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes

- aerobic exercise 30 mins a day, at least 3 days a week

- adequate sleep

- light exposure

- social connection

- proper nutrition

Developmental Psychology

- a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span

- focuses on three major issues:

- nature vs. nurture: how does our genetic inheritance(nature) interact with our experiences(nurture) to influence our development?

- continuity and stages: what parts of development are gradual and what parts change abruptly in stages?

- stability and change: which of our traits persist through life? how do we change as we age?

Zygote

- the fertilized egg

- enters a two-week stage of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo

- fewer than half of all zygotes survive beyond the first two weeks

- about 10 days after conception, the zygote attaches to the mother's uterine wall

Embryo

- the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month

- the zygote's inner cells become the embryo and the outer cells become the placenta

Fetus

- the developing human organisms from 9 weeks after conception to birth

- by the sixth month, the vital organs have developed enough that the fetus might survive if born premature

Teratogens

- "monster maker" agents

- chemicals and viruses that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and can cause harm

- ex. alcohol, drugs, other harmful substances

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome(FAS)

- physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking

- in severe cases, signs include a small, out of proportion head and abnormal facial features

Habituation

- decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation

- as infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a stimulus, their interest decreases and they look away sooner

- with repetition, the response to a stimulus weakens

- ex. babies prefer the smell of their mothers, their mother's voice, and stare longer at drawings that look like faces

Maturation

- biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior

- relatively influenced by experience

- ex. we stand before walking

- severe deprivation or abuse can slow development

- maturation sets the basic course of development, experience adjusts it

Cognition

- all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

- Jean Piaget studied cognition in children

Schema

- a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

- ex. cats, dogs, concept of love

Assimilation

- interpreting our new experiences in terms of existing schemas

- ex. a child might call all 4-legged animals dogs

Accommodation

- adapting current understandings(schemas) to incorporate new information

- ex. over time, the schema of marriage has evolved in people's brains to incorporate same-sex marriages

Sensorimotor Stage

- in Piaget's theory, the stage during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities

- from birth to around 2 years

Object Permeance

- the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived

- babies lack this: out of sight, out of mind

- it isn't until about 8 months that babies remember things they can't see

Preoperational Stage

- in Piaget's theory, the stage during which a child learns to use language but does not yet understand the mental operations of concrete logic

- from 2 to 6-7 years old

- can't imagine and action and mentally reverse it

Conservation

- the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in forms of objects

- children think that 10 mL in differently shaped containers have different volumes

Egocentrism

- in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view

- ex. if you can't see someone, they can't see you

- sometimes even adults have this problem: curse of knowledge(if you already know it, the answer seems so obvious)

- ex. a child standing in front of you might think you can see the TV because they can see it