Psychology: Disorders, Treatments, and Research Methods

Psychological Disorder

Disturbance in people's thoughts, emotions, or behaviors that causes distress or suffering and impairs their daily lives, characterized by dysfunctional/maladaptive behaviors, distress, and deviation from social norms.

Biopsychosocial Approach

The view that psychological disorders arise from the interaction of a person's biological, psychological, and social-cultural environment.

Vulnerability-stress model

A model suggesting that disorders develop from the interaction of an underlying biological or psychological vulnerability and environmental stress.

DSM-5

The American Psychiatric Association's 2013 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, used for classifying disorders.

Psychotic disorders

Group of disorders marked by irrational ideas, distorted perceptions, and a loss of contact with reality.

Schizophrenia

A chronic, severe psychotic disorder marked by positive symptoms (e.g., hallucinations, delusions), negative symptoms (e.g., emotional flatness, lack of motivation), and cognitive symptoms (e.g., memory issues, disorganized thoughts).

Acute schizophrenia

Schizophrenia onset that is rapid, also called reactive schizophrenia.

Chronic schizophrenia

Schizophrenia onset that is gradual, also called process schizophrenia.

Panic disorder

An anxiety disorder characterized by intense fear that something bad is about to happen, with physical symptoms and a fear of the fear itself.

Specific Phobias

A persistent, irrational fear of a specific object or situation that leads to avoidance.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Characterized by unwanted and repetitive thoughts (obsessions), actions (compulsions), or both, which persistently interfere with everyday life.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, hypervigilance, and avoidance of trauma-related stimuli.

Bipolar Disorder

A disorder characterized by alternating between the hopelessness and weariness of depression and the overexcited state of mania.

Tolerance

The need for larger and larger doses of a substance to achieve the desired effect.

Withdrawal

The distress and discomfort following the cessation of an addictive drug or substance.

Depressants

Psychoactive drugs that calm neural activity and slow body functions (e.g., alcohol, barbiturates, opiates).

Stimulants

Psychoactive drugs that excite neural activity and speed up body functions (e.g., caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, amphetamines).

Antisocial Personality Disorder

A personality disorder characterized by a lack of conscience or remorse, often involving conduct problems before age 15, and manipulative behavior.

Intellectual Disability

Diagnosis requires an intelligence test score in the lowest 2% and difficulty adapting to the normal demands of independent living.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

A neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulty with social interactions, limited eye contact, and repetitive movements or routines.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

A neurodevelopmental disorder with symptoms falling into Inattentive, Hyperactive-Impulsive, or Combined types.

Psychotherapy

Treatment involving psychological techniques.

Biomedical therapy

Treatment prescribing medications or procedures that act directly on the person's physiology.

Eclectic approach

An approach that combines techniques from different forms of therapy.

Psychodynamic Therapy

Therapy influenced by the psychoanalytic tradition, aims to reduce anxiety through self-insight by interpreting memories, dreams, and feelings.

Person-centered (client-centered) therapy

A humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses active listening within an accepting, genuine, empathic environment.

Unconditional positive regard

A key technique in humanistic therapy where the therapist provides an accepting, nonjudgmental attitude toward the client.

Behavior Therapy

Therapy that uses learning principles to reduce unwanted behaviors, assuming that problem behaviors are the problems.

Systematic desensitization

A type of exposure therapy that associates a relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli.

Aversive conditioning

A behavior therapy technique that substitutes a negative response for a positive response to a harmful stimulus (e.g., associating an unwanted behavior with unpleasant feelings).

Token economy

An operant conditioning procedure where people earn a token for desired behavior, which they can later exchange for rewards.

Cognitive Therapy

Therapy that focuses on changing negative, self-defeating thinking to promote healthier thinking and self-talk.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

A popular integrative therapy that combines cognitive (changing self-harmful thoughts) with behavior (changing self-harmful behaviors) therapy.

Group therapy

Therapy conducted with groups rather than individuals, providing benefits from group interaction.

Family therapy

Therapy that treats people in the context of their family system, viewing unwanted behaviors as influenced by or directed at other family members.

Antipsychotic drugs

Used to treat schizophrenia and reduce overreactions to irrelevant stimuli.

Antidepressant drugs

Used to treat depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, OCD, and PTSD by increasing the availability of norepinephrine or serotonin.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

A widely used class of antidepressant drugs that slow the synaptic reuptake of serotonin.

Mood-stabilizing medications

Used to control the manic episodes and level the emotional highs and lows of bipolar disorder (e.g., Lithium, Depakote).

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

A biomedical therapy for severe depression.

Correlation

Two things happen together, but one doesn't cause the other.

Causation

One thing makes another happen (requires an experiment).

Independent variable (IV)

What the researcher changes.

Dependent variable (DV)

What is measured.

Random assignment

Groups made by chance so they are equal.

Replication

Repeating studies to confirm results.

Confounding variables

Hidden factors that influence results.

Experimental research

Research design that manipulates variables to test cause/effect.

Neuron

The cell that carries information through the nervous system.

Axon

The part of the neuron that sends messages.

Dendrite

The part of the neuron that receives messages.

Synapse

The gap where neurons communicate.

Neurotransmitter

Chemical messengers that travel across the synapse.

Plasticity

The brain's ability to reorganize after damage or practice.

Medulla

Controls heartbeat and breathing.

Cerebellum

Coordinates movement and balance, nonverbal learning and memory.

Thalamus

Sensory "switchboard," directs info to correct brain area.

Hypothalamus

Controls hunger, thirst, temperature, and sex drive, links brain to endocrine system.

Hippocampus

Responsible for making new memories.

Amygdala

Linked to fear and aggression.

Classical Conditioning

Learning to associate two stimuli and anticipate events.

Operant Conditioning

Learning in which behavior is strengthened by a reinforcer or diminished by a punisher.

Reinforcement

Any event that increases a behavior.

Punishment

Any event that decreases a behavior.

Shaping

Guiding behavior toward a desired outcome through successive approximations.

Observational Learning

Learning by watching and imitating others.

Sensory memory

Very short-term memory (1-3 seconds).

Short-term memory

Holds about 7 items for about 20 seconds.

Long-term memory

Memory with unlimited capacity.

Explicit memory (conscious)

Facts (Semantic) and events (Episodic).

Implicit memory (unconscious)

Skills and habits (e.g., bike riding).

Retrograde amnesia

The inability to recall old memories.

Anterograde amnesia

The inability to form new memories.

Spacing effect

The finding that studying over time is better than cramming.

Testing effect

Enhanced memory after actively quizzing oneself.

Sensation

Detecting sensory input from the environment (light, sound, touch).

Perception

Organizing and interpreting sensory information to make meaning.

Absolute Threshold

The smallest amount of stimulus detected 50% of the time.

Difference Threshold (Weber's Law)

The smallest change needed to notice a difference.

Sensory Adaptation

Diminished sensitivity after constant exposure.

Top-Down Processing

Using experience and expectations to interpret information.

Bottom-Up Processing

Starting with raw sensory input and building upward.

Monocular Depth Cues

Depth cues available to either eye alone (e.g., linear perspective, relative size).

Binocular Depth Cues

Depth cues that require both eyes (e.g., retinal disparity, convergence).

Gestalt Principles

How our brain organizes visual information into meaningful wholes (e.g., Proximity, Similarity, Closure).

Transduction

Conversion of sensory energy (e.g., light, sound) into neural impulses.

Theory of Mind

Understanding that others have their own thoughts and feelings.

Delayed Gratification

The ability to wait for a better reward.

Pruning

The process where unused neural connections fade and used ones strengthen.

Attachment Styles

Patterns of how people relate to others, based on early caregiver relationships (e.g., Secure, Avoidant, Anxious-Ambivalent).

Parenting Styles

Different approaches to raising children: Authoritarian, Permissive, Authoritative.

Broca's area

Involved in speech production, damage causes broken or halted speech.

Wernicke's area

Involved in understanding speech, damage causes fluent but meaningless sentences.

Stereotype Threat

A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.

Sex

Biological status defined by chromosomes, anatomy, and hormones.

Gender

The psychological and social characteristics associated with male/female.

Cisgender

Gender identity matches their birth-assigned sex.

Transgender

Gender identity differs from their birth-assigned sex.

Gender roles

Expectations about how men and women should behave based on cultural norms.

Social Learning Theory

Proposes that we learn gender-linked behaviors by observing, imitating, and being rewarded/punished.