RC 316: Abnormal Psychology Prelim Review Project

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core dimensions of abnormality, historical traditions, clinical assessment methods, and diagnostic strategies from the RC 316 Prelim Reviewer.

Psychopathology

The scientific study of mental disorders, focusing primarily on understanding, diagnosing, and treating abnormal psychological functioning.

Deviance

Behavior, thoughts, or emotions that deviate significantly from established societal, cultural, or statistical norms.

Distress

Personal suffering, emotional pain, or internal discomfort experienced directly by the individual.

Dysfunction

Clear interference with daily functioning, preventing the person from meeting occupational, academic, or social obligations.

Danger

Behavior that poses a substantial risk of physical harm to oneself or to others.

Duration

The length of time symptoms persist, allowing clinicians to distinguish temporary emotional stress from a chronic psychological disorder.

Supernatural Tradition

The historical tradition believing abnormal behavior was caused by external, non-physical forces such as evil spirits, demonic possession, witchcraft, celestial alignments, or divine punishment.

Trephination

A historical surgical procedure where a hole was drilled into an individual's skull to physically release trapped evil spirits believed to cause abnormal behaviors.

Biological Tradition

The tradition conceptualizing that psychological disorders have physiological, somatic, or organic causes rooted in the body.

Hippocrates & Galen's Humoral Theory

The earliest biological model proposing that brain functioning is regulated by the balance of four bodily fluids: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile.

Blood (Humoral Theory)

Associated with a sanguine (cheerful, optimistic) temperament.

Phlegm (Humoral Theory)

Associated with a phlegmatic (calm, sluggish) temperament.

Black Bile (Humoral Theory)

Linked to a melancholic (depressed, somber) temperament.

Yellow Bile (Humoral Theory)

Linked to a choleric (irritable, angry) temperament.

Clinical Assessment

The systematic evaluation and measurement of psychological, biological, and social factors in an individual presenting with a possible psychological disorder.

Diagnosis

The formal process of determining whether an individual's specific presenting symptoms meet the clinical criteria for a defined mental disorder.

Reliability

The consistency of a measurement tool; a test is reliable if it produces highly similar, stable results under identical or comparable conditions.

Validity

The accuracy of a measurement tool; ensuring a test measures what it is designed to measure.

Structured Interview

A clinical interview where the clinician asks every patient exactly the same questions in the same order to guarantee diagnostic consistency.

Unstructured Interview

A highly flexible format where the clinician is free to ask open-ended questions and follow topics organically based on client responses.

Semi-Structured Interview

Guided by a standardized set of core questions but allows the interviewer flexibility to explore unique aspects of the patient's answers.

Mental Status Exam (MSE)

A systematic, real-time observation of an individual's behavioral and cognitive functioning during a clinical session across five key domains.

Appearance and Behavior (MSE domain)

Noting objective details such as grooming, hygiene, physical posture, clothing appropriate to the season, and eye contact.

Thought Processes (MSE domain)

Evaluating the rate, continuity, and clarity of the patient's speech, including identifying disorganized ideas.

Mood and Affect (MSE domain)

Assessing the patient's prevailing emotional state (mood) and how they physically express that state during the evaluation (affect).

Intellectual Functioning (MSE domain)

Estimating overall cognitive capability through vocabulary, memory, and reasoning.

Sensorium (MSE domain)

Assessing the patient's baseline awareness of their physical surroundings, including orientation to person, place, time, and situation.

ABC Model

A framework for behavioral assessment consisting of Antecedent (environmental trigger), Behavior (observable response), and Consequence (immediate outcome).

Self-Monitoring

A behavioral assessment method where patients systematically observe and record their own target behaviors and emotional triggers in real time.

Reactivity

The clinical phenomenon where a patient's natural behavior changes temporarily because they are aware they are being observed.

Projective Testing

Assessment tools utilizing ambiguous stimuli, such as inkblots, designed to allow clients to project their unconscious thoughts, fears, and conflicts.

Personality Inventories

Highly structured, self-report objective questionnaires, such as the MMPI, evaluating stable personality traits and psychopathology.

Neuropsychological Testing

Specialized tests designed to detect organic brain damage or cognitive dysfunction by evaluating performance on tasks like memory and executive functioning.

Neuroimaging

Non-invasive biological techniques, such as MRI, used to examine structural or functional abnormalities in the brain.

Idiographic Strategy

A diagnostic strategy that focuses on the individual, seeking to understand unique life history, stressors, and environmental variables.

Nomothetic Strategy

A diagnostic strategy focusing on groups and general laws to classify symptoms based on broad, standardized systems like the DSM-5.

False Positive

A diagnostic error occurring when a clinician diagnoses an individual with a disorder when they do not actually have the condition.

False Negative

A diagnostic error occurring when a clinician fails to diagnose a psychological disorder that is genuinely present.

Multidimensional Approach

An integrative framework conceptualizing abnormal behavior as a dynamic interaction among biological, psychological, and social factors.

Diathesis-Stress Model

A model proposing that individuals inherit a biological vulnerability (diathesis) which remains dormant until triggered by environmental life events (stress).