Abnormal psychology

Cross-sectional design

Comparing two or more groups on a particular variable at a specific time.

Double-blind testing

An experimental procedure in which neither the researcher doing the study nor the participants know the specific type of treatment each participant receives until the experiment is over. Guards against experimenter bias and placebo effects.

Longitudinal study

Research over a period of time using observation, interview, or psychometric testing

Meta-analysis

Pooling data from multiple studies of the same research question to arrive at one combined answer

Prospective research

A study that attempst to find a correlation between two variables by collecting data early in the life of participants and then continuing to test them over a period of time to measure change and development

Protective factors

Conditions or attributes in individuals, families, of the larger society that, when present, lessen, or eliminate the risk of mental disorders

Risk factors

Conditions or attributes in individuals, families, or the larger society that, when present, increase the risk of mental disorders

Single-blind tetsing

An experiment in which the researchers know which participants are receiving a treatment and which are not; however, the participants do not know which condition they are in

Treatment-etiology fallacy

The false belief that since a treatment works, it was a lack of whatever the treatment was that caused the disorder

Adverse childhood experiences

Stressful or traumatic events, including abuse and neglect.

Comorbidity

The idea that often there is more than one disorder that influences a preson’s behaviour. This is part of why diagnosis is difficult.

Confirmation bias

When a researcher is biased by his/her own hypothesis. The researcher sees what they want to see.

Emic approach

Does not assume that the traits of normalcy are universal, determines how these terms are defined in the constraints of a culture.

Etic approach

Assumes that normalcy and mental illness are universal

Etiology

The origin or potential cause of a disorder

Iatrogenic effects

Symptoms that result in response to a treatment, which then can be mistaken as part of the disorder.

Overpathologization

When a person is more likely to be diagnosed with a specific disorder simply because of gender, culture, or age.

Prevalence

The proportion of a population found to have a disorder

Reactivity

When individuals alter their performance or behaviour due to the awareness that they are being observed

Relapse rate

The rate at which symptoms return after treatment has been discontinued

Reliability

When diferent psychiatrists agree on a client’s diagnosis using the same diagnostic system

Reporting bias

Selective revealing or supression of information by clients when meeting with a doctor

Rumination

Repetitively focusing on one’s symptoms of depression and the possible causes and consequences of these symptoms.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

In diagnosis, when a person who is diagnosed with a disorder may begin to demonstrate symptoms due to the belief that they have the disorder

Sick role bias

One of the key obstacles to objective and valid diagnosis. When a person comes to a clinic to seek assistance, it is assumed that there is a problem.

Somatization

When individuals experience psychological distress in the form of physiological symptoms

SSRIs

Block the reuptake of serotonin by the terminal buttons, leaving more in the synapse

Stigmatization

When a person is labeled as outcast or having poor character

Underpathologization

When a person is less likely to be diagnosed with a specific disorder simply because of gender, culture, or age

Validity

The extent to whcih a diagnosis is accurate and leads to a successful treatment

CBT (Cognitive behavioural therapy)

Based on Beck’s theory of faulty thining. Th ejob of the therpaist is to help reshape the schema of the client by pointing out errors in thinking as well as giving “homewor” which helps them challnege how they think.

Diathesis-Stress Model

The theory that behavior may be the result of a genetic predisposition that is “activated by stress from life experiences

Genetic vulnerability

The theory that some people may have the right genes for a disorder, but that they may not have been “turned on”. These people have the potential to develop the disorder depending on life circumstances.