Ch 15: Glossary Terms

PSYCH 304

Animal magnetism

A force Mesmer believed was evenly distributed in healthy bodies and unevenly distributed in unhealthy bodies.

Artificial somnambulism

The sleeplike trance induced by Puysegur, later known as a hypnotic trance.

Bernheim, Hippolyte (1840–1919)

A member of the Nancy school who believed that improvement depended on what highly suggestible patients believed would help them.

Charcot, Jean-Martin (1825–1893)

Argued that hysteria was a real disorder caused by dissociated ideas becoming isolated from conscious control through trauma or hypnotic suggestion.

Clinical psychology

The profession founded by Witmer to apply psychological principles to the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.

Contagion effect

The increased susceptibility to suggestion when people are in groups rather than alone.

Contagious magic

A form of sympathetic magic based on the belief that influencing something once associated with a person can influence that person.

Dix, Dorothea Lynde (1802–1887)

Advocated for humane reform of mental health facilities and increased access to care.

Hippocrates (ca. 460–377 B.C.)

Proposed that mental and physical disorders have natural causes and should be treated through rest, diet, and exercise.

Homeopathic magic

A form of sympathetic magic based on the belief that influencing a likeness of a person affects that person.

Janet, Pierre (1859–1947)

Theorized that dissociated components of personality, such as traumatic memories, cause hysteria and hypnotic phenomena.

Kraepelin, Emil (1856–1926)

Developed early diagnostic categories of mental illness and pioneered psychopharmacology.

Liebeault, Auguste Ambroise (1823–1904)

The founder of the Nancy school of hypnotism.

Medical model of mental illness

The view that mental illness results from biological causes such as brain damage or biochemical abnormalities.

Mental illness

A condition in which emotions, thoughts, or behavior deviate substantially from what is considered normal in a given historical context.

Mesmer, Franz Anton (1734–1815)

Claimed to cure illness by redistributing magnetic forces within patients’ bodies.

Nancy school

A group of physicians who believed that all humans are suggestible and therefore capable of being hypnotized.

Natural law

The eighteenth-century belief that immoral behavior leads to illness or poverty, while virtuous behavior leads to health and prosperity.

Pinel, Philippe (1745–1826)

A pioneer of humane treatment of the mentally ill who advocated kindness and unchaining patients in asylums.

Posthypnotic amnesia

The tendency to forget experiences that occurred during hypnosis.

Posthypnotic suggestion

A suggestion given during hypnosis that is carried out later while awake.

Psychological model of mental illness

The view that mental illness results from psychological factors such as conflict, anxiety, or trauma.

Psychotherapy

Any systematic attempt to help a person with a mental disturbance, involving a helper, a sufferer, and a ritualized process.

Puysegur, Marquis de (1751–1825)

Discovered that inducing a sleeplike trance could alleviate ailments and identified basic hypnotic phenomena.

Rush, Benjamin (1745–1813)

Often considered the first U.S. psychiatrist; promoted humane treatment but retained some outdated practices.

Supernatural model of mental illness

The belief that mental illness is caused by spiritual forces or divine will.

Sympathetic magic

The belief that influencing objects similar to or once associated with a person can influence that person.

Szasz, Thomas (1920–2012)

Critic of the medical model, best known for arguing that mental illness is a myth.

Trepanation

The practice of drilling or chipping holes in the skull to release evil spirits.

Witmer, Lightner (1867–1956)

The founder of clinical psychology.