Abnormal Psych Chapter 1 Vocab

Abnormal psychology

The scientific study of abnormal behavior undertaken to describe, predict, explain, and change abnormal patterns of functioning.

norms

a society’s stated and unstated rules for proper conduct

culture

a people’s common history, values, institutions, habits, skills, technology, and arts

trephination

ancient operation in which a stone instrument was used to cut away a circular section of the skull to treat abnormal behavior

humors

According to the Greeks and Romans, bodily chemicals that influence mental and physical functioning.

asylums

A type of institution that first became popular in the sixteenth century to provide care for persons with mental disorders

moral treatment

A type of institution that first became popular in the sixteenth century to provide care for persons with mental disorders

state hospitals

state-run mental institutions in the united states

somatogenic perspective

view that abnormal functioning has physical causes

psychogenic perspective

view that the chief causes of abnormal functioning are psychological

psychoanalysis

either the theory of the treatment of abnormal functioning that emphasizes the unconsious psychological forces as the cause of psychopathology

psychotropic medications

Drugs that mainly affect the brain and reduce many symptoms of mental dysfunction.

deinstitutionalization

The practice, begun in the 1960s, of releasing hundreds of thousands of patients from public mental hospitals.

private psychotherapy

An arrangement in which a person directly pays a therapist for counseling services.

prevention

An arrangement in which a person directly pays a therapist for counseling services.

positive psychology

the study and enhancement of positive feelings, traits, and abilities

multicultural psychology

The field that examines the impact of culture, race, ethnicity, and gender on behaviors and thoughts, and focuses on how such factors may influence the origin, nature, and treatment of abnormal behavior.

managed care program

Health care coverage in which the insurance company largely controls the nature, scope, and cost of medical or psychological services.

telemental health

The use of remote technologies, such as long-distance videoconferencing, to deliver mental health services without the therapist being physically present.

nomothetic understanding

A general understanding of the nature, causes, and treatments of abnormal functioning, in the form of laws or principles that apply across people.

scientific method

The process of systematically gathering and evaluating information, through careful observations, to understand a phenomenon.

hypothesis

The process of systematically gathering and evaluating information, through careful observations, to understand a phenomenon.

case study

A detailed account of a person’s life and psychological problems.

correlation

The degree to which events or characteristics vary along with each other.

correlational method

A research procedure used to determine how much events or characteristics vary along with each other.

experiment

A research procedure in which a variable is manipulated and the effect of that manipulation on another variable is observed.

independent variable

The variable in an experiment that is manipulated to determine whether it has an effect on another variable.

dependent variable

The variable in an experiment that is expected to change as the independent variable is manipulated.

confound

In an experiment, a variable other than the independent variable that is also acting on the dependent variable.

control group

In an experiment, a group of participants who are not exposed to the independent variable.

experimental group

In an experiment, the participants who are exposed to the independent variable under investigation.

random assignment

A selection procedure in an experiment that ensures that participants are randomly placed either in the control group or in the experimental group.

masked design

A feature of an experiment in which participants do not know whether they are in the experimental or the control condition.

placebo therapy

pretend treatment that the participant in an experiment believes to be genuine

quasi-experimental design

A research design that fails to include key elements of a “pure” experiment and/or intermixes elements of both experimental and correlational studies.

matched design

A research design that matches the experimental participants with control participants who are similar on key characteristics.

natural experiment

nature, rather than experimenter, manipulates an independent variable

analogue experiment

A research method in which the experimenter produces abnormal-like behavior in laboratory participants and then conducts experiments on the participants

single-case experimental design

A research method in which a single participant is observed and measured both before and after the manipulation of an independent variable. Also called single-subject experimental design.

longitudinal study

A study that observes the same participants on many occasions over a long period of time.

epidemiological study

A study that measures the incidence and prevalence of a problem, such as a disorder, in a given population.

incidence

The number of new cases of a disorder occurring in a population over a specific period of time.

prevalence

The total number of cases of a disorder occurring in a population over a specific period of time.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

An ethics committee in a research facility that is empowered to protect the rights and safety of human research participants.