AP Psych Unit 5

health psychology

A subfield of psychology that provides psychology's contribution to behavioral medicine; focuses on how mental, emotional, and social factors affect physical well-being.

psychoneuroimmunology

The study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health (e.g., stress leads to suppressed lymphocytes).

stress

The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging.

approach and avoidance motives (kurt lewin)

Conflict types: Approach-Approach (two good choices), Avoidance-Avoidance (two bad choices), Approach-Avoidance (one choice with both good and bad aspects).

kurt lewin

Social psychologist who developed "Field Theory" and the four types of conflict motives mentioned above.

hans selye

Psychologist who researched chronic stress and created the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) model.

general adaptation syndrome (GAS)

Selye’s three-stage response to stress:

Alarm (sympathetic nervous system)

Resistance (high hormones/vitals)

Exhaustion (depletion/vulnerability to illness).

tend-and-befriend response

Under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others and bond with/seek support from others; linked to the hormone oxytocin.

coronary heart disease

The clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in North America; linked to chronic stress and Type A behavior.

type A

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, and verbally aggressive/anger-prone people; high risk for heart disease.

Type B

Term for easygoing, relaxed people.

Catharsis

The idea that "releasing" aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges; research shows this often backfires and increases anger.

coping

Alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods.

problem-focused coping

Attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor or the way we interact with it (used when we feel in control).

emotion-focused coping

Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding/ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs (used when we feel we cannot change a situation).

personal control

Our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless.

learned helplessness

The hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events (Martin Seligman).

external locus of control

The perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate.

internal locus of control

The perception that you control your own fate; associated with better health and better school performance.

self-control

The ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards; acts like a muscle (can be strengthened or fatigued).

martin seligman

Researcher known for learned helplessness and as the founder of Positive Psychology.

positive psychology

The scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive

subjective well-being

Self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life; used along with objective measures to evaluate quality of life.

feel-good, do-good phenomenon

People’s tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood.

adaptation-level phenomenon

Our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience.

relative deprivation

The perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself.

broaden-and-build theory

Barbara Fredrickson's theory that positive emotions broaden one's awareness and encourage novel, exploratory thoughts and actions

character strengths and virtues

A classification system (similar to a positive DSM) created by Seligman and Peterson to measure human strengths like wisdom, courage, and humanity.

resilience

The personal strength that helps most people cope with stress and recover from adversity and even trauma.

aerobic exercise

Sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; shown to reduce depression and anxiety more effectively than many drugs.

mindfulness meditation

A reflective practice in which people attend to current experiences in a nonjudgmental and accepting manner.

gratitude

A positive emotion involving appreciation for what one has; linked to better sleep, heart health, and lower depression.

psychological disorder

A syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior.

medical model

The concept that diseases (psychological disorders) have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured, often through hospital treatment.

diathesis-stress model

Suggests that a person may be predisposed for a mental disorder (genetic/biological) that remains unexpressed until triggered by environmental stress.

epigenetics

The study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change; explains why one identical twin might develop a disorder while the other doesn't.

dsm-5-tr

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision; the standard system for classifying/diagnosing disorders.

anxiety disordders

Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety.

social anxiety disorder

Intense fear of social situations, leading to avoidance of them (fear of being scrutinized by others).

generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

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

panic disorder

Marked by unpredictable, minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations.

agoraphobia

Fear or avoidance of situations, such as crowds or wide-open places, where one has felt loss of control and panic.

specific phobia

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

obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions).

hoarding disorder

Persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them.

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience.

trauma and stressor related disorders

A category in the DSM-5 that includes PTSD and Adjustment Disorders, where the onset is linked to a specific stressful event.

depressive disorders

A category of disorders characterized by the presence of sad, empty, or irritable mood, accompanied by somatic and cognitive changes.

bipolar disorders

Disorders in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania.

major depressive disorder

A disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or another medical condition, two or more weeks with five or more symptoms, at least one of which must be (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure.

persistent depressive disorder (dysthmia)

A milder but long-term (2+ years) form of depression.

bipolar 1 disorder

A type of bipolar disorder marked by full manic episodes (often requiring hospitalization) and usually depressive episodes

mania

A hyperactive, wildly optimistic state in which dangerously poor judgment is common.

bipolar 2 disorder

Characterized by at least one major depressive episode and at least one hypomanic (less extreme) episode.

rumination

Compulsive fretting; overthinking about our problems and their causes (linked to depression).

schizophrenia spectrum disorder

A group of severe disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and behaviors.

psychotic disorders

A group of disorders marked by irrationality, distorted perceptions, and lost contact with reality.

delusion

A false belief, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders.

chronic schizophrenia

(Process Schizophrenia) A form in which symptoms usually appear by late adolescence or early adulthood. As people age, psychotic episodes last longer and recovery periods shorten.

acute schizophrenia

(Reactive Schizophrenia) A form that can begin at any age, frequently occurs in response to an emotionally traumatic event, and has extended recovery periods.

dissociative disorders

Rare disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings.

dissociative identity disorder (DID)

A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities (formerly Multiple Personality Disorder).

dissociative amnesia

A sudden loss of memory, usually of a partial or comprehensive nature, following a stressful or traumatic event with no physical cause.

personality disorders

Inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning.

antisocial personality disorder

A disorder in which a person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members; may be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist.

feeding and eating disorders

Disorders characterized by persistent disturbance of eating or eating-related behavior that results in altered consumption of food.

anorexia nervosa

An eating disorder in which a person maintains a starvation diet despite being significantly underweight.

bulimia nervosa

An eating disorder in which a person alternates binge eating with purging (vomiting/laxatives) or excessive exercise.

neurodevelopmental disorders

Psychopathology believed to be the result of interruptions in normal childhood brain development (e.g., ASD, ADHD).

autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

A disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors.

attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

A psychological disorder marked by extreme inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity.

dorothea dix

19th-century reformer who pioneered the construction of mental hospitals and fought for the humane treatment of the mentally ill.

deinstitutionalization

The policy of moving severely mentally ill people out of large state institutions and then closing part or all of those institutions; led by the development of antipsychotic drugs.

psychotherapy

Treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth.

biomedical therapy

Prescribed medications or procedures that act directly on the person’s physiology.

eclectic approach

An approach to psychotherapy that, depending on the client’s problems, uses techniques from various forms of therapy.

sigmund freud

Father of psychoanalysis; believed psychological problems stem from repressed childhood conflicts.

psychoanalysis

Freud's therapeutic technique. Freud believed the patient's free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight.

resistance

In psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material.

interpretation

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

transference

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

psychodynamic therapy

Therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition that views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences, and that seeks to enhance self-insight.

insight therapies

A variety of therapies (Psychodynamic and Humanistic) that aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing a person’s awareness of underlying motives and defenses.

person-centered therapy

A humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathic environment to facilitate clients' growth. (Also called Client-centered).

carl rogers

Humanistic psychologist who developed Person-centered therapy and emphasized Unconditional Positive Regard.

active listening

Empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies. A feature of Rogers' client-centered therapy.

behavior therapy

Therapy that applies learning principles (Classical and Operant conditioning) to the elimination of unwanted behaviors.

counterconditioning

Behavior therapy procedures that use classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors; includes exposure therapies and aversive conditioning.

mary cover jones

The "mother of behavior therapy"; used counterconditioning to help "Little Peter" overcome his fear of rabbits

joseph wolpe

Developed Systematic Desensitization, a type of exposure therapy commonly used to treat phobias

exposure therapies

Behavioral techniques, such as systematic desensitization and virtual reality exposure therapy, that treat anxieties by exposing people (in imagination or actual situations) to the things they fear and avoid

systematic desensitization

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

virtual reality exposure therapy

An anxiety treatment that progressively exposes people to electronic simulations of their greatest fears, such as airplane flying, spiders, or public speaking.

aversive conditioning

A type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol).

b.f. skinner

Behaviorist whose principles of Operant Conditioning (rewards/punishments) lead to "behavior modification" therapies

token economy

An operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token of some sort for exhibiting a desired behavior and can later exchange the tokens for various privileges or treats.

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.

albert ellis

Developed Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT); known for his confrontational style of challenging irrational thoughts

rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT)

A confrontational cognitive therapy that vigorously challenges people’s illogical, self-defeating attitudes and assumptions.

aaron beck

Developed cognitive therapy for depression; used a gentler approach than Ellis to help clients identify "cognitive distortions" (catastrophizing).