AP Psychology: Unit 5 Vocab

Abnormal Psychology

The study of unusual patterns of behavior, emotion, and thought, which may or may not be understood as precipitating a mental disorder. This field explores the causes, symptoms, and treatments of psychological disorders.

Clinical Psychology

The branch of psychology that assesses, diagnoses, treats, and prevents mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders, utilizing various therapeutic methods and interventions to improve people’s mental health and well-being.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition-Text Revision (DSM-5-TR)

Comprehensive classification system used by mental health professionals, providing standardized criteria and descriptions for consistent use across clinical settings.

International Classification of Mental Disorders-11th Edition (ICD-11)

Global standard for reporting and categorizing diseases, including mental and behavioral disorders, used by healthcare professionals to diagnose conditions and track health trends worldwide; created and managed by the World Health Organization.

Deviant

Abnormal behavior, thoughts, and emotions that differ markedly from a society’s idea/norms about proper functioning.

Distress

The person reports feeling pain (emotional and/or physical) and discomfort associated with their emotions, thoughts, or behavior.

Dysfunction

Interfering with the ability to conduct daily activities in a constructive way.

Danger

Abnormal behavior becomes dangerous to oneself or others.

Health Psychology

The study of how psychological, behavioral, and cultural factors contribute to physical health illness.

Stress

The response of the body and mind to challenges and demands, characterized by physical, emotional, and mental reactions.

Stressors

Events or conditions that trigger stress by challenging an individual’s ability to cope or adjust.

Eustress

Positive stress that enhances motivation, performance, and emotional well-being.

Distress

Negative stress that decreases motivation, impairs performance, and leads to emotional and physical problems.

Adverse Childhood Experiences

Stressful or traumatic events in childhood that can have long-lasting effects on heatlh and well-being throughout a person’s life.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Three-stage response to stress that includes alarm, resistance, and exhaustion, describing how the body reacts and adapts to stress over time.

Alarm Reaction Phase

The initial stage of the general adaptation syndrome, where the body reacts to a stressor with a “flight-or-fight” response, activating stress hormones and physiological changes.

Fight-Flight-Freeze Response

A physiological reaction to perceived threats that prepares the body to fight, flee, or freeze to enhance survival.

Resistance Phase

The second stage of the general adaptation syndrome, where the body tries to adapt and cope with a stressor, maintaining heightened alertness and stress hormone levels.

Exhaustion Phase

The final stage of the general adaptation syndrome, where the body’s resources are depleted after prolonged stress, leading to decreased stress tolerance and potential health issues.

Tend-and-Befriend Theory

Behavioral reaction to stress that involves nurturing activities to protect oneself and seeking social support to reduce stress.

Problem-Focused Coping

Involves directly managing or solving the source of stress to reduce its impact.

Emotion-Focused Coping

Managing the emotional response to stress rather than changing the stressful situation itself.

Positive Psychology

The scientific study of human flourishing to help individuals and communities thrive.

Subjective Well-Being

Self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life.

Resilience

The ability to adapt and recover quickly from difficulties or change, maintaining psychological well-being in the face of adversity.

Posttraumatic Growth

Positive psychological changes experienced as a result of struggling with highly challenging life circumstances leading to a higher level of personal or interpersonal functioning.

Positive Emotions

Feelings that foster enjoyment, interests, and contentment, and contribute to overall well-being and happiness.

Gratitude

The appreciation of what is valuable and meaningful to oneself, enhancing overall well-being by fostering positive feelings and relationships.

Signature Strengths and Virtues

Core characteristics that a person naturally possesses and expresses, which contribute to fulfilling, authentic, and engaged living.

Wisdom

The ability to make sound decisions based on deep understanding and experience, contributing to effective problem-solving and interpersonal relationships.

Courage

The mental or moral strength to persevere and withstand fear or difficulty, enabling people to face challenges and act in accordance with their values despite potential risks.

Humanity

The quality of being compassionate, empathetic, and supportive towards others, fostering positive interpersonal relationships and social well-being.

Justice

A commitment to fairness equity, and advocating for the rights of others, which helps maintain healthy community and societal relationships.

Temperance

Self-regulation and control over excesses and impulses, promoting balance and moderation in personal behavior and relationships.

Transcendence

The ability to connect to the larger universe and find meaning beyond oneself, often through appreciation of beauty, gratitude, hope, humor, and spirituality.

Stigma

The negative stereotypes and social disapproval directed at individuals with mental disorders, often leading to discrimination and barriers to seeking or receiving mental health care.

Insanity

Legal term pertaining to a defendant’s ability to determine right from wrong when a crime is committed.

Perspectives

Psychologists use a variety of approaches or_________to explain why people think and act the way they do.

Biological Perspective

Mental disorders are caused by physiological and genetic factors, focusing on how brain function, neurochemistry, and genetics contribute to psychological conditions.

Behavioral Perspective

Suggests that mental disorders arise from maladaptive learned behaviors and associations, focusing on how inappropriate conditioning and reinforcement of behaviors contribute to psychological conditions.

Psychodynamic Perspective

Mental disorders stem from unresolved unconscious conflicts and impulses, often originating in childhood, that influence current behavior and emotional states.

Humanistic Perspective

Emphasizes that mental disorders arise when individuals’ innate potential for self-fulfillment and personal growth is blocked, often due to failures in achieving self-acceptance and meaningful personal goals

Cognitive Perspectives

Proposes that mental disorders are caused by maladaptive thought patterns, including dysfunctional beliefs, attitudes, and emotional responses, which negatively affect behavior and emotional well-being.

Evolutionary Perspective

Suggests that mental disorders can arise from behaviors and mental processes that are maladaptive, reducing an individual’s chances of survival and reproduction in a given environment.

Sociocultural Perspective

Mental disorders stem from maladaptive social and cultural relationships and dynamics, emphasizing the influence of societal norms and interactions on mental health.

Eclectic Approach

Combining techniques and theories from multiple therapeutic orientations to tailor treatment to the unique needs of a person, enhancing flexibility and effectiveness in therapy.

Biopsychosocial Model

Psychological disorders results from a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors, emphasizing the comprehensive and interconnected nature of influences on mental health.

Diathesis-Stress Model

Psychological disorders arise from a predisposing genetic vulnerability (diathesis) combined with stressful environmental factors (stress), triggering the onset of mental health issues.

Anxiety Disorders

Characterized by excessive fear and anxiety that lead to significant disturbances in behavior and cognition.

Specific Phobia

A psychological disorder characterized by an intense and irrational fear of a specific object or situation, leading to significant distress and avoidance behavior that interrupts daily activities.

Acrophobia

Classified as a specific phobia in the DSM-5-TR, characterized by an intense and persistent fear of heights, causing significant anxiety and avoidance behavior that can interfere with daily activities and functioning.

Arachnophobia

Classified as a specific phobia in the DSM-5-TR, characterized by an intense and irrational fear of spiders, leading to excessive anxiety and avoidance behaviors that disrupt normal functioning.

Agoraphobia

Psychological disorder characterized by an intense fear of being in situations where escape might be difficult or help unavailable, often leading to avoidance of places like public spaces or crowds, significantly impacting daily activities.

Panic Disorder

Recurrent and unexpected panic attacks—sudden episodes of intense fear or discomfort that peak within minutes—accompanied by physical palpitations, and ongoing concern about having additional attacks or their consequences.

Ataque de nervios “Attack of Nerves”

Episodes of intense emotional distress, dramatic expressions of emotion, such screaming or crying, and sometimes uncontrollable physical symptoms like shaking or feeling as if one is suffocating.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Significant and persistent fear of social situations where embarrassment or scrutiny may occur, leading to avoidance behaviors and severe anxiety about performing or interacting in certain social contexts.

Taijin Kyofusho

Predominantly observed in Japan, characterized by intense fear of offending or embarrassing others through one’s bodily functions or appearance, leading to significant social anxiety and avoidance behaviors.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Persistent and excessive worry about various aspects of daily life, accompanied by physical symptoms such as restlessness, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating, which are not tied to any specific cause or event.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsion) that an individual feels driven to perform in response to an obsession, typically aimed at reducing anxiety but causing significant distress and interference in daily life.

Hoarding Disorder

Persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value, due to a perceived need to save them, resulting in excessive accumulation that compromises the use of living areas significantly impairs daily functioning.

Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorder

Involve psychological distress following exposure to a traumatic or stressful event, characterized by symptoms such as hypervigilance, severe anxiety, flashbacks, insomnia, emotional detachment, and hostility, which impair daily functioning.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Persistent mental and emotional stress following exposure to a traumatic event, featuring symptoms such as intrusive memories, avoidance of reminders of the trauma, heightened reactivity, and emotional numbness.

Depressive Disorders

Characterized by a persistent sad, empty, or irritable mood accompanied by physical and cognitive changes, significantly impairing a person’s ability to function in daily activities.

Major Depressive Disorder

Persuasive and persistent low mood accompanied by low self-esteem and a loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities, significantly impacting daily functioning.

Persistent Depressive Disorders

Chronic, depressed mood lasting for at least two years, with symptoms that are less severe but longer-lasting than those of major depression, affecting daily functioning.

Bipolar Disorders

Characterized by alternating periods of mania and depression, with bipolar cycling involving shifts between these mood states that can vary in duration and intensity.

Bipolar II Disorder

Characterized by at least one hypomanic episode and one major depressive episode, without ever having a full manic episode, leading to significant distress or impairment.

Bipolar I Disorder

Characterized by at least one manic episode, which may be preceded or followed by hypomanic or major depressive episodes, causing significant impairment in daily functioning.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Group of disorders that begin in the developmental period, characterized by symptoms that affect behavior, learning, and development, focusing on whether behaviors are appropriate for the person’s age or maturity level.

Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Characterized by persistent patterns of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interfere with functioning or development, leading to difficulties in maintaining focus, controlling behavior, and staying organized.

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Characterized by persistent challenges in social communication and interaction, along with restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, varying widely in severity and impact on daily functioning.

Feeding and Eating Disorders

Characterized by altered consumption or absorption of food, leading to significant impairment in health or psychological functioning.

Anorexia Nervosa

Psychological disorder characterized by restricted food intake, an intense fear of gaining weight and distorted body image, leading to significant weight loss and health complications.

Bulimia Nervosa

Characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by inappropriate compensatory behaviors, such as vomiting or excessive exercise, to prevent weight gain, causing significant physical and psychological distress.

Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorders

Characterized by delusions, hallucinations disorganized thinking or speech, disorganized motor behavior, and negative symptoms, and can be experienced as either acute or chronic conditions.

Schiophrenia

Psychological disorder characterized by persistent delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking or speech, disorganized motor behavior, and negative symptoms significantly impairing daily functioning and lasting for at least six months.

Positive Symptoms

Additional behaviors or experiences not present in healthy individuals.

Negative Symptoms

Deficits in normal emotional and behavioral functions.

Delusions

False beliefs strongly held despite clear evidence to the contrary.

Hallucinations

Perceiving a sensory stimuli that no one else is able to perceive, vividly real to the person experiencing it, content is usually negative.

Disorganized Thinking or Speech

Incoherent or nonsensical speech patterns, such as jumping between unrelated topics or using words inappropriately, reflecting disordered thought processes.

Disorganized Motor Behavior

Abnormal or erratic movements, such as excessive agitation, bizarre postures, significantly impacting daily functioning.

Flat Affect

Severe reduction in emotional expressiveness, where the individual shows little or no facial expression, voice tone, or emotional reaction.

Dopamine Hypothesis

Suggests that the disorder is linked to an imbalance of dopamine activity in the brain, with excessive dopamine activity contributing to symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations.

Dissociative Disorders

Characterized by disruptions or discontinuities in consciousness, memory, identity, or perception, leading to significant impairment in daily functioning.

Dissociative Amnesia

Involves an inability to recall important autobiographical information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature.

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personality states or identities, each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the world, resulting in gaps in memory and a disrupted sense of self.

Personality Disorders

Enduring patterns of internal experience and behavior that deviate markedly from cultural expectations, are pervasive and inflexible, begin in adolescence or early adulthood, are stable over time, and lead to significant personal distress or impairment.

Cluster A Personality Disorders

Characterized by “weird”, odd or eccentric behaviors and thinking.

Paranoid Personality Disorder

Characterized by pervasive distrust and suspicion of others, interpreting their motives as malevolent, leading to significant interpersonal difficulties and isolation.

Schizoid Personality Disorder

Characterized by a pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of emotional expression, leading to a preference for solitary activities and limited interest in forming close relationships.

Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Characterized by acute discomfort in close relationships, cognitive or perceptual distortions, and eccentric behaviors, often leading to significant social interpersonal difficulties.

Cluster B Personality Disorders

Characterized by “wild”, dramatic, emotional, or erratic behavior.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregard, for and violation of, the rights of others, often involving deceitful, manipulative, and unlawful behaviors, and a lack of remorse for these actions.

Histrionic Personality Disorder

Characterized by excessive emotionality and attention-seeking behavior, including a need for approval and inappropriate seductiveness, often leading to difficulties in maintaining relationships.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Characterized by a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others, often resulting in exploitative behavior and difficulties in maintaining healthy relationships.

Borderline Personality Disorder

Characterized by instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and emotions, along with impulsive behaviors and intense fear of abandonment, often leading to significant distress and difficulties in daily functioning.

Cluster C Personality Disorders

Characterized by “worried”, anxious and fearful behaviors, which involve patterns of social inhibition, submissiveness, and perfectionism.

Avoidant Personality Disorder

Pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation, leading to avoidance of social interactions and a reluctance to engage in new activities.

Dependent Personality Disorder

Characterized by an excessive need to be taken care of, leading to submissive and clinging behavior, and fears of separation, resulting in difficulty making decisions without reassurance from others.