psychopathology 358

psychological disorder

psychological dysfunction associated with distress or impairment in functioning that is not a typical or culturally expected response

abnormal behavior

psychological dysfunction within an individual that is associated with distress or impairment in functioning and a response that is not typical or culturally expected

phobia

a disorder characterized by marked and persistent fear of an object or situation

psychopathology

scientific study of psychological disorders

scientist practitioners

mental health professionals; expected to apply scientific methods to their work; must keep current in the latest research on diagnosis and treatment; must evaluate their own methods for effectiveness

presenting problem

original complaint reported by the client to the therapist

clinical description

details of the combination of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings of an individual that make up a particular disorder

prevalence

number of people displaying a disorder in the total population at any given time

incidence

number of new cases of a disorder appearing during a specific period

course

pattern of development and change of a disorder over time

prognosis

predicted future development of a disorder over time

etiology

cause or source of a disorder

exorcism

religious ritual that attributes disordered behavior to possession by demons and seeks to treat the individual

psychosocial treatment

treatment practices that focus on social and cultural factors as well as psychological influences

moral therapy

psychosocial approach in the 19th century that involved treating patients as normally as possible in normal environments

mental hygiene movement

mid 19th century effort to improve care of the mentally disordered by informing the public of their mistreatment

psychoanalysis

psychoanalytic assessment and therapy which emphasizes exploration of unconscious processes and conflicts

behaviorism

explanation of human behavior including dysfunction based on principles of learning and adaptation derived from experimental psychology

unconscious

part of the psychic makeup that is outside the awareness of the person

catharsis

rapid or sudden release of emotional tension thought to be an important factor in psychoanalytic therapy

psychoanalytic model

complex and comprehensive theory; seeks to account for the development and structure of personality as well as the origin of abnormal behavior

id

represents basic sexual and aggressive drives

ego

responsible for finding realistic and practical ways to satisfy id drives

superego

represents the internalized moral principles of parents and society

intrapsychic conflicts

the struggles among the id, ego, and sueprego

defense mechanisms

common patterns of behavior; adaptive coping styles in response to particular situations

psychosexual stages of development

the sequence of phases a person passes through during development

castration anxiety

the fear in young boys that they will be mutilated genitally because of their lust for their mothers

neurosis

psychological disorder thought to result from unconscious conflicts and the anxiety they cause

ego/self psychology

theory that emphasizes the role of the ego in development and attributes disorders to failure of the ego to manage impulses

object relations

modern development in psychodynamic theory involving the study of how children incorporate the memories and values of people who are close and important to them

collective unconscious

accumulated wisdom of a culture collected and remembered across generations

free association

psychoanalytic therapy technique intended to explore threatening material repressed into the unconscious; patient is instructed to say whatever comes to mind without censoring

dream analysis

a method in which dream contents are examined as symbolic of id impulses

psychoanalyst

therapist who practices psychoanalysis

transference

psychoanalytic concept suggesting that clients may seek to relate to the therapist as they do to important authority figures

psychodynamic psychotherapy

contemporary version of psychoanalysis that still emphasizes unconscious precesses and conflicts but is fritter and more focused on specific problems

self actualizing

used in humanistic psychology; when people strive to achieve their highest potential against difficult life experiences

person centered therapy

therapy method in which the client rather than the counselor primarily directs the course of discussion seeking self discovery and self responsibility

unconditional positive regard

acceptance by the counselor of the clients feelings and actions without judgement

cognitive behavioral model

model that combines insights from the behavioral, cognitive, and social learning models which brought the systematic development of a more scientific approach

classical conditioning

an event that automatically elicits a response is paired with another stimulus even that doesnt; after repeated pairing the natural stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that by itself can elicit the desired response

extinction

learning process in which a response decreases

introspection

nonscientific approach to the study of psychology involving systematic attempts to report thoughts and feelings that specific stimuli evoked

systematic desensitization

a technique to diminish excessive fears; involves gradual exposure to the feared stimulus

behavior therapy

array of therapy methods based on the principles of behavioral and cognitive science

reinforcement

consequences for behavior that strengthen it or increases its frequency

shaping

the development of a new response by reinforcing successively more similar versions of that response

multidimensional integrative approach

approach to the study of psychopathology that holds psychological disorders as always being the products of multiple interacting casual factors

genes

long DNA that is the basic physical units of heredity that appear as locations on chromosomes

diathesis stress model

a hypothesis that both an inherited tendency and specific stressful conditions are required to produce a disorder

vulnerability

a susceptibility or tendency to develop a disorder

gene environment correlation model

a hypothesis that people with a genetic pre disposition for a disorder may also have a genetic tendency to create environmental risk factors that promote the disorder

epigenetic

the study of factors other than inherited DNA sequence that alter the phenotypic expression of genes

neuroscience

study of the nervous system and its role in behavior, thoughts, and emotions

neurons

individual nerve cell; responsible for transmitting information

action potentials

short periods of electrical activity at the membrane of a neuron; responsible for the transmission of signals within the neuron

terminal button

the end of an axon where neurotransmitters are stored before release

synaptic cleft

space between nerve cells

neurotransmitters

chemicals that cross the synaptic cleft between nerve cells to transmit impulses from one neuron to the next; a deficiency in these could lead to psychological disorders

excitatory

causing excitation

inhibitory

suppressing

hormone

chemical messenger produced by the endocrine glands

brain circuits

the neurotransmitter currents or neural pathways in the brain

agonists

chemical substance that effectively increases the activity of a neurotransmitter by imitating its effects

antagonists

a chemical that decreases or blocks the effects of a neurotransmitter

inverse agonists

chemical that produces effects opposite those of a particular neurotransmitter

reuptake

action by which a neurotransmitter is quickly drawn back into the discharging neuron after being released into a synaptic cleft

glutamate

amino acid neurotransmitter that excites many different neurons leading to action

gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA)

a neurotransmitter that reduces activity across the synapse and inhibits a range of behaviors and emotions

serotonin

a neurotransmitter involved in processing information and coordination of movement

norepinephrine (NE)

the neurotransmitter active in the central and peripheral nervous systems; controls heart rate, blood pressure, and reparation

dopamine

neurotransmitter whos function is to activate other neurotransmitters and to aid in exploratory and pleasure seeking behaviors; an excess of this causes schizophrenia

microbiota

entirety of the microorganisms

brain gut connection

the influence of the gut bacteria on physical and mental health

cognitive science

field of study that examines how humans acquire process, store, and retrieve information

learned helplessness

theory that people become anxious and depressed when they have no control over the stress in their lives

modeling

learning through observation and imitation of the behavior and consequences following the behavior

prepared learning

an ability that allows certain associations to be learned more readily than others

implicit memory

condition of memory when a person cant recall past events despite acting in response to them

explicit memory

the act of consciously or intentionally retrieving past experiences

flight or fight response

biological reaction to alarming stressors that musters the bodys resources to resist or flee a threat

emotion

pattern of action elicited by an external event

mood

enduring period of emotionality

affect

conscious aspect of an emotion that accompanies an action at a given time

circumplex modle

a model describing different emotions as points in a two dimensional space of valence and arousal

equifinality

principle that a behavior or disorder may have several causes

clinical assessment

evaluation and measurement of psychological, biological, and social factors in a person presenting with a possible disorder

diagnosis

process of determining whether a problem meets the criteria for a specific psychological disorder

reliability

the degree to which a measurement is consistent

validity

whether something measures what it is designed to measure

standardization

the process by which a certain set of standards/norms is determined for a technique to make its use consistent across different measurements

mental status exam

the systematic observation of an individuals behavior

behavioral assessment

uses direct observation to formally assess an individuals thoughts, feelings, and behavior in specific situations or contexts

self monitoring

people observing their own behavior to find patterns

projective tests

include a variety of methods in which ambiguous stimuli are presented to people who are asked to describe what they see

personality inventories

self report questionnaires that assess personal traits

IQ

score of an intelligence test estimating a persons deviation from average test performance

neuropsychological tests

measures abilities

false positives

an error when pathology is reported when non is actually present