AP PSYCH AP EXAM

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Personality disorder characterized by self-preoccupation, inflated estimates of one's abilities and attractiveness, and the need for others to focus on oneself.

Conversion Disorder

A somatic symptom disorder in which a psychological problem manifests itself as a deficit in physiological functioning (e.g. blindess, paralysis). Freud called these "Hysterias".

Dissociative Disorders

Group of disorders that involve dysfunction of memory or an altered state of identity (e.g. dissociative identity disorder, dissociative amnesia)

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

Illness Anxiety Disorder

A somatic symptom disorder characterized by excessive preoccupation with health concerns and incessant worry about developing physical illnesses.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

also called multiple personality disorder; person displays more than one distinct personality & these personalities are expressed a different times.

Bipolar Disorder

a mental disorder characterized by episodes of mania and depression

dopamine

a neurotransmitter that is associated with Parkinson's disease (too little of it) and schizophrenia (too much of it)

hallucination

sensory experience without an accompanying sensory stimulus; auditory most common

Major Depressive Disorder

depressive disorder characterized by two weeks or more of low energy and mood

tardive dyskinesia

side effect of antipsychotic medications; repetitive, uncontrollable muscle movements and facial grimmaces

SSRI's

most commonly used drug treatment for depression; examples include Prozac and Zoloft

Anti-anxiety meds (Benzos)

central nervous system depressants; examples include Xanax, Valium, Ativan, and Librium

anti-psychotics

drugs used to treat psychosis, especially schizophrenia; includes Risperdal, Clozaril, Thorazine

Lithium Carbonate

most common drug treatment for bipolar disorder

eating disorders

anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are examples

bulimia nervosa

eating disorder marked by episodes of binge eating followed by purging (through use of laxatives or induced vomiting)

Anorexia Nervosa

eating disorder wherein the sufferer is irrationally concerned about weight gain and avoids eating, despite being significantly underweight for his/her age and height

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

caused by exposure to trauma, such as war or violence, which leads to recurring thoughts and anxiety related to the trauma

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)

cognitive therapy developed by Albert Ellis; therapist often directly challenges the patient's irrational beliefs

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)

cognitive therapy developed by Aaron Beck; therapist works with the patient to correct maladaptive thoughts and harmful behaviors through hypothesis testing

systematic desensitization

behavioral treatment for anxiety disorders that requires creation of a fear hierarchy; the patient approaches tasks on the list while practicing relaxation

flooding

behavioral treatment for anxiety disorders that requires the patient confront the fearful situation at full force

counterconditioning

behavioral treatment (using classical conditioning principles) that seeks to remove the association between a particular stimulus and the fearful response

psychoanalysis

Freud's "talking cure" that includes techniques like free association, dream interpretation, hypnosis, etc.

free association

Psychoanalytic technique that requires the patient to speak of anything that comes to mind, without censorship

transference

in Freudian theory, when a patient redirects feelings for a (for example) parent or loved one toward the therapist

resistance

pauses in speech or gaps in memory that occur during free association; believed by psychoanalysts to indicate attempts at repression

client-centered therapy

therapy developed by Carl Rogers; non-directive

unconditional positive regard

according to Rogers, humans develop to their fullest when others display this: a total acceptance of others' value (without judgment)

active listening

conversational method used by client-centered therapists: includes summarizing and clarifying questions, as well as non-verbal signals of understanding

token economy

system used to encourage positive behaviors by providing small rewards that can be exchanged for desired items; relies on principles of operant conditioning

Philippe Pinel

known for his efforts to reform psychiatric asylums and improve living conditions for the mentally ill

Aaron Beck

known for developing a model of cognitive therapy to change the negative cognitive triad that many depressed patients show

Albert Ellis

founder of Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy

Sigmund Freud

father of psychoanalysis

Carl Rogers

founder of person-centered (client-centered) therapy

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

A disorder characterized by pervasive, "free-floating" anxiety not connected to any one, specific stimulus

Specific Phobia

Anxiety disorder characterized by irrational and persistent fear of a particular object or situation, along with a compelling desire to avoid it.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

a disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions).

Panic Disorder

anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent, unexpected panic attacks

Anxiety Disorders

psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety (includes phobias, GAD, panic disorder, etc.)

Manic episode

a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state with rapid speech; occurs in persons with bipolar disorder

Persistent depressive disorder

a low-grade chronic depression with symptoms that are milder than those of severe depression but are present on a majority of days for 2 or more years; also known as persistent depressive disorder

Somatic Symptom Disorder

A disorder marked by a history of diverse physical symptoms that appear to be psychological in origin.

Personality Disorders

psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning

Antisocial Personality Disorder

a personality disorder in which the 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

Behavioral Therapies

Treatments designed to change behavior through the use of established learning techniques (for example, systematic desensitization, token economies); more concerned with change in behavior than any underlying thoughts

aversion conditioning

A method that uses classical conditioning to create a negative response to a particular stimulus (e.g. a client with a paraphilia might be trained to respond negatively to a previously arousing stimulus). Also known as avoidance conditioning.

Cognitive Therapies

Treatments designed to remove irrational beliefs and negative thoughts that are presumed to be responsible for psychological disorders; includes CBT, REBT

Psychodynamic therapies

looks at unconscious conflicts, defense mechanisms and symptom resolution in a broader manner than Freud; doesn't focus so much on sex or the id, ego, & superego

Humanistic therapies

therapies that emphasize the development of human potential and the belief that human nature is basically positive

Family & Group Therapies

therapy that treats the family as a system. Views an individual's unwanted behaviors as influenced by, or directed at, other family members. Group therapies, in general, emphasize shared experience and mutual support.

Biomedical therapies

the use of medications, electroconvulsive therapy, or other medical treatments to treat the symptoms associated with psychological disorders

Thorazine

An "old" antipsychotic drug thought to block receptor sites for dopamine, making it effective in treating the delusional thinking, hallucinations and agitation commonly associated with schizophrenia.

antidepressants

drugs that combat depression by affecting the levels or activity of neurotransmitters in the brain (e.g. SSRI's and MAOI's)

psychosurgery

brain surgery on human patients intended to relieve severe and otherwise intractable mental or behavioral problems

lobotomy

a now-rare psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients. The procedure cut the nerves that connect the frontal lobes to the emotion-controlling centers of the inner brain

medical model

the concept that diseases, in this case psychological disorders, have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured, often through treatment in a hospital

Bio-Psycho-Social Model

contemporary perspective that assumes biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors combine and interact to produce psychological disorders

DSM-5

version of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published in 2013; includes changes to many diagnostic categories and more emphasis on severity of symptoms in diagnosis

serotonin

neurotransmitter believed to be in short supply for depression-sufferers

positive symptoms

Schizophrenic symptoms that involve behavioral excesses or peculiarities, such as hallucinations, delusions, bizarre behavior, and wild flights of ideas.

negative symptoms

Schizophrenic symptoms that involve behavioral deficits, such as flattened emotions, social withdrawal, apathy, impaired attention, and poverty of speech.

flat affect

a lack of emotional responsiveness

delusions

false beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders

clinical psychologist

psychologist who treats people serious psychological problems or conducts research into the causes of behavior; holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology

psychiatrist

a medical doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders; can prescribe medication; holds an M.D. and likely has extensive training therapy & treatment

placebo effect

the healing effect that faith in medicine, even inert medicine, often has; may be one of the reasons people overestimate the effectiveness of any particular psychotherapy

light exposure therapy

Treats seasonal affective disorder (SAD); scientifically proven to be effective, exposure to daily doses of intense light.

regression toward the mean

the tendency for unusual events (or emotions) to return toward their average state; may be one reason many suffering from mental disorders seem to improve with time & that benefits of psychotherapy get overestimated

agoraphobia

a morbid fear of open spaces or places from which quick escape would be difficult (like a large crowd);

depressive disorders

general category of mood disorders in which people show extreme and persistent sadness, despair, and loss of interest in life's usual activities.

rumination

compulsive fretting; overthinknig about our problems and their causes

Social Anxiety Disorder

An anxiety disorder involving the extreme and irrational fear of being embarrassed, judged, or scrutinized by others in social situations

binge eating disorder

Significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging, fasting, or excessive exercise that marks bulimia nervosa.

insight therapies

any therapy aimed at improving psychological functioning by increasing a person's awareness of underlying motives and defenses (e.g., psychoanalytic, humanistic approaches)

diathesis-stress model

A model of mental disorders that attributes them to a combination of genetic predispositions and environmental stress factors.

virtual reality exposure therapy

an anxiety treatment that uses technology to progressively expose people to simulations of their greatest fears, such as airplane flying, spiders, or public speaking

malingering

lying; in terms of abnormal psychology if a patient is malingering, they are lying about their symptoms for personal gain

OCD personality disorder

a personality disorder characterized by a pervasive need for orderliness, perfectionism, & extreme conscientiousness - different from the OCD stand alone disorder (much less severe)

dependent personality disorder

a personality disorder characterized by the need to be around others and have someone else make decisions for the person; the opposite of someone who is independent

delusions of reference

the false, irrational belief that a message is being communicated to someone through the use of print media or through a news/television broadcast

delusions of grandeur

the false, irrational belief that an individual thinks they are more important than they truly are (thinking they are Jesus or the President)

delusions of persecution

the false, irrational belief that an individual is being chased or persecuted by an other person or group (the CIA is tapping your phone line, the nurse is poisoning your food)

obsession

a recurrent, pervasive, repetitive thought

compulsion

a behavior that needs to be carried out in order to reduce anxiety

eclectic approach

the most popular form of therapy which combines techniques from different schools of psychology

catharsis

the release of strong or pent up emotions

encounter groups

supposed to allow individuals to undergo personal growth through direct confrontation; an intervention

psychosis

a disorder in which a person loses contact with reality

maladaptive

a condition that impairs one's ability to function normally in society

trephening

cutting a hole in the head of the afflicted to 'let out the evil spirits'

culture bound

a disorder that is culturally specific and not seen universally (ie - eating disorders in western culture)

diagnostic labeling

classifying psychological disorders (diagnosing a set of symptoms as a disorder); pros - allows the person to receive treatment and understand problem; cons - may lead to being 'labeled' or stigmatized with a 'disorder'

dissociative amnesia in a fugue state

a disorder where a person may forget who they are and travel to another place

enlarged ventricles

a characteristic of the brain of a schizophrenic; the venricles that allow cerebral spinal fluid to flow throughout the brain, become drastically enlarged

deviant

a person who breaks significant societal or group norms

dysfunctional

not operating normally or properly

maladaptive

anything that does not allow a person to function within or adapt to the stresses and everyday demands of life; interferes with daily life