AP Psychology Unit 5 PART A (Modules 5.1a-5.1b & 5.3-5.4d)

health psychology

a subfield of psychology that explores the impact of psychological, behavioral, and cultural factors on health and wellness.

psychoneuroimmunology

the study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect our immune system and resulting health.

stress

the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging.

approach and avoidance motives

the drive to move toward (approach) or away from (avoid) a stimulus.

general adaptation syndrome (GAS)

Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three phases — alarm, resistance, exhaustion.

tend-and-befriend response

under stress, people (especially women) may nurture themselves and others (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend).

coronary heart disease

the clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; a leading cause of death in many developed countries.

Type A

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people.

Type B

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for easygoing, relaxed people.

catharsis

in psychology, the idea that “releasing” aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges.

coping

alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods.

problem-focused coping

attempting to alleviate stress directly — by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor.

emotion-focused coping

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction.

personal control

our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless.

learned helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation humans and other animals learn when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.

external locus of control

the perception that outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate.

internal locus of control

the perception that we control our own fate.

self-control

the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards.

positive psychology

the scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of promoting strengths and virtues that foster well-being, resilience, and positive emotions, and that help individuals and communities to thrive.

subjective well-being

self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people’s quality of life.

feel-good, do-good phenomenon

people’s tendency to be helpful when in a good mood.

adaptation-level phenomenon

our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience.

relative deprivation

the perception that we are worse off relative to those with whom we compare ourselves.

broaden-and-build theory

proposes that positive emotions broaden our awareness, which over time helps us build novel and meaningful skills and resilience that improve well-being.

character strengths and virtues

a classification system to identify positive traits; organized into categories of wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence.

resilience

the personal strength that helps people cope with stress and recover from adversity and even trauma.

aerobic exercise

sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; also helps alleviate depression and anxiety.

mindfulness meditation

a reflective practice in which people attend to current experiences in a nonjudgmental and accepting manner.

gratitude

an appreciative emotion people often experience when they benefit from other’s actions or recognize their own good fortune.

psychological disorder

a disturbance in people’s thoughts, emotions, or behaviors that causes distress or suffering and impairs their daily lives.

medical model

the concept that diseases — in this case, psychological disorders — have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured, often through treatment in a hospital.

diathesis-stress model

the concept that genetic predispositions (diathesis) combine with environmental stressors (stress) to influence psychological disorder.

epigenetics

“above” or “in addition to” (epi) genetics; the study of the molecular mechanisms by which environments can influence genetic expression (without a DNA change).

DSM-5-TR

the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision; a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders.

anxiety disorders

a group of disorders characterized by excessive fear and anxiety and related maladaptive behaviors.

social anxiety disorder

intense fear and avoidance of social situations.

generalized anxiety disorder

an anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal.

panic disorder

an anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable, minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person may experience terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations; often followed by worry over a possible next attack.

agoraphobia

fear or avoidance of situations, such as crowds or wide open places, where one may experience a loss of control and panic.

specific phobia

an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation.

obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

a disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions), actions (compulsions), or both.

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

a disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, hypervigilance, avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for 4 weeks or more after a traumatic experience.

trauma- and stressor-related disorders

a group of disorders in which exposure to a traumatic or stressful event is followed by psychological distress.

depressive disorders

a group of disorders characterized by an enduring sad, empty, or irritable mood, along with physical and cognitive changes that affect a person’s ability to function.

bipolar disorders

a group of disorders in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania. (Formerly called manic-depressive disorder.)

major depressive disorder

a disorder in which a person experiences five or more symptoms lasting two or more weeks, in the absence of drug use or a medical condition, at least one of which must be either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure.

persistent depressive disorder

a disorder in which people experience a depressed mood on more days than not for at least two years. (Formerly called dysthymia.)

bipolar I disorder

the most severe form, in which people experience a euphoric, talkative, highly energetic, and overly ambitious state that lasts a week or longer.

mania

a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state in which dangerously poor judgment is common.

bipolar II disorder

a less severe form of bipolar in which people move between depression and a milder hypomania.

rumination

compulsive fretting; overthinking our problems and their causes.

schizophrenia spectrum disorders

a group of disorders characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking or speech, disorganized or unusual motor behavior, and negative symptoms (such as diminished emotional expression); includes schizophrenia and schizotypal personality disorder.

psychotic disorders

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

delusion

a false belief, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders.

chronic schizophrenia

(also called process schizophrenia) a form of schizophrenia in which symptoms usually appear by late adolescence or early adulthood. As people age, psychotic episodes last longer and recovery periods shorten.

acute schizophrenia

(also called reactive schizophrenia) a form of schizophrenia that can begin at any age, frequently occurs in response to a traumatic event, and from which recovery is much more likely.

dissociative disorders

a controversial, rare group of disorders characterized by a disruption of or discontinuity in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behavior.

dissociative identity disorder (DID)

a rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating identities. (Formerly called multiple personality disorder.)

dissociative amnesia

a disorder in which people with intact brains reportedly experience memory gaps; people with dissociative amnesia may report not remembering trauma-related specific events, people, places, or aspects of their identity and life history.

personality disorders

a group of disorders characterized by enduring inner experiences or behavior patterns that differ from someone’s cultural norms and expectations, are pervasive and inflexible, begin in adolescence or early adulthood, are stable over time, and cause distress or impairment.

antisocial personality disorder

a personality disorder in which a person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members; may be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist.

feeding and eating disorders

a group of disorders characterized by altered consumption or absorption of food that impairs health or psychological functioning. (Feeding disorders typically occur in infants and young children, whereas eating disorders affect people who self-feed.)

anorexia nervosa

an eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) maintains a starvation diet despite being significantly underweight, and has an inaccurate self-perception; sometimes accompanied by excessive exercise.

bulimia nervosa

an eating disorder in which a person’s binge eating (usually of high-calorie foods) is followed by inappropriate weight-loss-promoting behavior, such as vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise.

neurodevelopmental disorders

central nervous system abnormalities (usually in the brain) that start in childhood and alter thinking and behavior (as in intellectual limitations or a psychological disorder).

autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by limitations in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors.

attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

a psychological disorder marked by extreme inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity.

deinstitutionalization

the process, begun in the late twentieth century, of moving people with psychological disorders out of institutional facilities.

psychotherapy

treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth.

biomedical therapy

prescribed medications or procedures that act directly on the person’s physiology.

resistance

in psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material.

interpretation

in psychoanalysis, the analyst’s noting of supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors and events in an effort to promote insight.

transference

in psychoanalysis, the patient’s transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent).

psychodynamic therapy

therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition; views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences, and seeks to enhance self-insight.

insight therapies

therapies that aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing a person’s awareness of underlying motives and defenses.

active listening

empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and seeks clarification. A feature of Rogers’ person-centered therapy.

unconditional positive regard

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help clients develop self-awareness and self-acceptance. (Also known as unconditional regard.)