Psychological Disorders: Schizophrenia and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Vocabulary flashcards covering core terms, diagnostic definitions, and clinical features of schizophrenia and neurodevelopmental disorders from Chapters 13 and 14.

Schizophrenia

A psychological disorder characterized by delusions and hallucinations, possessing a lifetime prevalence of 1% where complete recovery is rare.

Delusions

Irrational beliefs.

Hallucinations

Sensory experiences that are not real.

Auditory Hallucinations

The most common type of hallucination experienced by people with schizophrenia.

Negative Symptoms

Symptoms of schizophrenia that involve deficits in expected behaviors.

Delusion of Persecution

A delusion where someone falsely believes that an entity, such as the government, is going to harm them.

Delusion of Grandeur

A type of delusional thinking characterized by grandiose beliefs, such as believing one has secret instructions from the pope to end world poverty and homelessness.

Broca's Area

The brain region where brain imaging techniques have localized auditory hallucinations.

Schizoaffective Disorder

A diagnosis characterized by schizophrenic symptoms occurring alongside symptoms of a mood disorder.

Delusional Disorder

A condition with delusions that differ from paranoid schizophrenia in that the imagined events could really be happening, but there is no evidence that they are.

Brief Psychotic Disorder

A disorder characterized by the rapid onset of severe delusions and hallucinations followed by full recovery in a short time frame, such as two weeks, without recurrence.

Flat Affect

A symptom defined as a lack of emotional response and a blank facial expression.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Disorders that are typically lifelong in their effects, causing serious disruption because later skills build upon early skills, leading to a cascade of problems if not addressed early.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

A disorder characterized by three categories of symptoms: inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

Inattention Category

A symptom category of ADHD characterized by careless mistakes.

Dopamine

A neurotransmitter implicated in the cause of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Relative Difficulty of English

The proposed factor explaining why reading disorders occur most often in English-speaking countries.

Autism Spectrum Disorder

A disorder characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction, as well as repetitive and restricted patterns of behavior.

Miller, 2013

The study establishing that the majority of the recent rise in autism spectrum diagnoses is associated with changes in diagnostic criteria.