Intro to Pysch: Exam 4 Study Guide

Terms and Definitions

Personality

A person's characteristic thoughts, emotional responses, and behaviors

Personality trait

A pattern of thought, emotion, and behavior that is relatively consistent over time and across situations

Temperaments

Biologically based tendencies to feel or act in certain ways

Activity level

the overall amount of energy and of behavior a person exhibits

Emotionally

the intensity of emotional reactions

Socialbility

the general tendency to affiliate with others

Trait Approach

many more contemporary approaches to studying personality focus on how individuals differ in personality dispositions

Five-Factor Theory

The idea that personality can be described using five factors: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism

Openness to experience

Imaginative vs. Down-to-earth; likes variety vs. likes routine, independent vs. dependent

Neuroticism

worried vs. calm, insecure vs. secure, self-pitying vs. self-satisfied

Agreeableness

softhearted vs. ruthless, trusting vs. suspicious, helpful vs. uncooperative

Extraversion

social vs. retiring, fun-loving vs. sober

Conscientiousness

organized vs. disorganized, careful vs. careless, self-disciplined vs. weak-willed

Behavioral Approach System (BAS)

the brain system involved in the pursuit of incentives or rewards; the "go" system

Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)

the brain system that is sensitive to punishment and therefore inhibits behavior that might lead to danger or pain; the "stop" system

Situationism

the theory that behavior is determined more by situation than by personality traits

Interactionism

the theory that behavior is determined jointly by situations an underlying dispositions

Basic Tendencies

dispositional traits determined largely by biological processes; very stable

Most-common

Self-report, asking people's friends or relatives to describe them, or watching how people behave

Other procedures

Unconscious processes, life history data, behavioral data, or a mixture

Idiographic Approaches

Person-centered; the focus is on individual lives & how various characteristics are integrated is not unique persons

Nomothetic approaches

the focus is on how common characteristics vary from person to person

Projective measures

personality tests that examine unconscious processes by having people interpret ambiguous stimuli

NEO Personality Inventory

Consists of 240 items, which are designed to assess the Big Five personality factors

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

First developed in the 1930s; it has 10 scales that measure psychological problems (e.g., paranoia, depression, mania, and hysteria)

California Q-Sort

Each participant is given 100 cards with statements printed on them; then sorts the cards into nine piles according to how accurately the statements describe them

Electronically Activated Record (EAR)

The EAR has also been used to show that self-reports on the Big Five traits predict real-world behavior

Self-Schema

the cognitive aspect of the self-concept; a network of interconnected knowledge about the self; helps us quickly perceive, organize, interpret, and use information about the self

Self-Esteem

the evaluative aspect of the self-concept in which people feel worthy or unworthy

reflected appraisal

self-esteem is based in part on how we believe others perceive us and we internalize the values and beliefs expressed by important people in their lives

Sociometer

an internal monitor of social acceptance or rejection

Social comparison

the tendency for people to evaluate their own actions, abilities, and beliefs by contrasting them with other people's

Self-serving bias

the tendency for people to take personal credit for success but blame failure on external factors

Psychopathology

sickness or disorder of the mind; psychological disorder

Insanity

It is not a psychological term - it is a legal term: requires that a person does not know or fully understand the consequences of her and his actions, cannot discern the difference between right and wrong and is unable to exercise control over the action

Etiology

factors that contribute to the development of a disorder

P-Factor Theory

it has recently been proposed that psychopathology reflects a common general factor, analogous to general intelligence

Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)

a method that defines a basic aspects of functioning and considers them across multiple levels of analysis, from genes to brain system to psychosocial behavior

Assessment

In psychology, the examination of a person's cognitive, behavioral, or emotional functioning to diagnose possible psychological disorders

Family systems model

a diagnostic model that conifers problems within an individual as indicating problems within the family

Sociocultural

a diagnostic model that views psychopathology as the result of the interaction between individuals and their cultures

Cognitive-behavioral approach

a diagnostic model that views psychopathology as the result of learned, maladaptive thoughts and beliefs

Diathesis-stress model

a diagnostic model that proposes that a disorder may develop when an underlying vulnerability is coupled with a precipitating event

Internalizing disorders

characterized by negative emotions (e.g., major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder)

Externalizing Disorder

Characterized by negative emotions (e.g., alcoholism, conduct disorders, antisocial behavior)

Specific phobia

fear of something that is disproportionate to the threat

Social Anxiety Disorder

Fear of being negatively evaluated by others in a social setting

Generalized anxiety disorder

nearly constant anxiety not associated with a specific thing

Panic Disorder

Sudden attacks of overwhelming terror

Agoraphobia

Fear of being in a situation from which one cannot escape

Anxiety disorders

psychological disorders characterized by excessive fear and anxiety in the absence of true danger

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

a disorder characterized by frequent intrusive thoughts and compulsive action

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

a disorder that involves frequent nightmares, intrusive thoughts, and flashbacks related to an earlier trauma

Depressive Disorders

the presence of sad, empty, or irritable mood along with bodily symptoms and cognitive problems that interfere with daily life

Major Depression

a disorder characterized by severe negative moods or lack of interest in normally pleasurable activities

Persistent depressive disorder

a form of depression that is not severe enough to be diagnosed as major depressive disorder, sometimes called dysthymia

Bipolar disorder

a mood disorder characterized by alternating periods of depression and mania

Mania

an elevated mood that can vary is degree and is accompanied by major shifts in energy level and physical activity

Manic episodes

characterized by elevated mood, increased activity, diminished need for sleep, grandiose ideas, racing thoughts, extreme distractibility, and excessive involvement in pleasurable but foolish activities; last as least one week

Bipolar 1

characterized by stronger manic episodes, less extreme depressive episodes

Bipolar II

characterized by periods of extremely depressive and mildly elevated moods

Schizophrenia

A psychological disorder characterized by alterations in thoughts, in perceptions, or in consciousness, resulting in psychosis

Dissociative identity disorder (DID)

the occurrence of two or more distinct identities in the same individual

positive symptoms of schizophrenia

excesses in functioning, such as delusions, hallucination, and disorganized speech or behavior

negative symptoms of schizophrenia

deficits in functioning, such as apathy, lack of emotion, and slowed speech and movement

Cluster A sub-type

odd or eccentric behavior; includes paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal personality disorders

Cluster B

dramatic, emotional, or erratic behavior, includes histrionic, narcissistic, borderline, and antisocial personality disorders

Cluster C

anxious of fearful behavior; includes avoidant, dependent, and obsessive compulsive personality disorders

Borderline personality disorder

a personality disorder characterizes by disturbances in identity, in affect, and impulse control

Antisocial personality disorder (APD)

a personality disorder in which people engage in socially undesirable behavior, are hedonistic and impulsive, and lack empathy

Intellectual disabilities

deficits in general mental abilities (e.g., reasoning, problem solving, planning, academic learning, learning from experience) and in adaptive functioning (e.g., independent living, working, social participation); begins during childhood or adolescence

Communication disorder

deficits in language, speech, or communications, such as difficulty learning a language, stuttering, or failure to follow social rules for communication; begins in childhood

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Persistent impairment in social interaction; characterized by unresponsiveness; impaired language, social, and cognitive development: and restricted and repetitive behavior begins during early childhood

attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

A pattern of hyperactive, inattentive, and impulsive behavior that causes social or academic impairment: begins before age 12

Specific learning disorders

Difficulty learning and using academic skills; much lower performance in reading, mathematics, or written expression with regard to what is expected for age, amount of education, and intelligence: begins during school-age years

Motor disorders

recurrent motor and vocal tics that cause marked distress in developing or being able to show coordinated motor skills; begins in childhood

Psychotherapy

the generic name given to formal psychological treatment; particular techniques used may depend on the practitioner's training, but all forms of psychotherapy involve interactions between practitioner and client

Biological therapies

treatment of psychological disorders based on medical approaches to disease (what is wrong with the body) and to illness (what a person feels as a result)

Insight

the goal of psychoanalysis; is a client's awareness of his or her own unconscious psychological processes and how these processes affect daily functioning

Psychodynamic therapy

a more contemporary form of therapy based on Freudian theory; it aims to help clients examine needs, defenses, and motives as a way of understanding distress

behavior therapy

treatment based on the premise that behavior is learned an therefore can be unlearned through the use of classical and operant conditioning

Social skill training

Client learns appropriate ways to act in specific social situations

Exposure

a behavioral therapy technique that involves repeated exposure to an anxiety-producing stimulus or situation

Cognitive therapy

treatment based on the idea that distorted thoughts produce maladaptive behaviors and emotions, treatment strategies attempt to modify the thought patterns

Cognitive restructuring

A therapy that strives to help clients recognize maladaptive thought patterns and replace them with ways to view the world that is more in tune with reality

In rational emotive therapy

the therapist acts as a teacher, explaining the client's errors in thinking and demonstrating more adaptive ways to think and behave

Interpersonal therapy

focuses on circumstances, namely relationships the client attempts to avoid

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

based on the idea that those who recover from depression continue to be vulnerable to faulty thinking; helps clients learn to disengage from ruminative thinking through medication

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

a therapy that incorporates techniques from cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy to correct faulty thinking and change maladaptive behaviors

Client-centered therapy

an empathic approach to therapy; it encourages people to fulfill their individual potential for personal growth through greater self-understanding

Expressed emotion

a pattern of negative action by a client's family members, the pattern includes critical comments, hostility directed toward the person by family members, and emotional overinvolvement

Placebo effect

an improvement in physical or mental health following treatment with a drug or treatment that had no active component on the disorder being treated

Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)

An intensive treatment for autism, based on operant conditioning is the most commonly used and effective treatment for ASD

Psychotropic medications

drugs that affect mental processes, most medications fall into three categories: anti-anxiety drugs, antidepressants, and antipsychotics

Mood stabilizers

mood stabilizers are type of medication that can help if you have unhelpful mood swings such as mania hypomania and depression

Lithium

Long considered the most effective treatment for bipolar disorder

Anticonvulsants

are drugs that prevent seizures

Anti-anxiety drugs

a class of psychotropic medication used for the treatment of anxiety; commonly called tranquilizers

Antidepressants

a class of psychotropic medications for the treatment of depression

Antipsychotics

A class of psychotropic medications used for the treatment of schizophrenia and other disorders that involve psychosis; also known as neuroleptics