Forensic, Neuropsychology, and Health Psychology Key Concepts

Forensic Psychology

A specialty that applies psychological principles and knowledge to legal issues and proceedings.

Competence to stand trial

A requirement that defendants must be able to understand legal proceedings against them and to help attorneys to prepare their defense.

Not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI)

A verdict that, at the time of a crime, a defendant was suffering a mental disorder and either did not realize the wrongfulness of the act or was unable to conform to the law.

Guilty but mentally ill (GBMI)

A verdict in which a mentally disordered criminal is to be treated for the disorder while serving a prison sentence for the crime.

Competence

Focuses on present ability.

Insanity

Focuses on state of mind at the time of the crime.

Criteria for competence to stand trial

Rational and factual understanding, ability to assist counsel.

Who founded a neuropsychology laboratory at the University of Chicago?

Ward Halstead

In what year was the neuropsychology laboratory founded by Ward Halstead?

1935

What was the primary focus of the neuropsychology laboratory founded by Halstead?

To observe people with brain damage in natural settings.

What significant assessment tool did Ward Halstead develop?

The Halstead-Reitan Battery

Who collaborated with Ward Halstead in developing the Halstead-Reitan Battery?

Ralph Reitan

Is the Halstead-Reitan Battery still in use today?

Yes, it is still in use today.

Neuropsychology

The field of study that seeks to understand how brain processes make human behavior and psychological functions possible

Localization of function

The view that different psychological functions are controlled by different brain areas

Equipotentiality

The capacity of one area of the cortex to take over for the functions of a destroyed area.

Dementia

An ongoing decline in more than one domain of mental ability severe enough to disrupt daily functioning

Neuroplasticity

The ability of brain cells and networks to change some aspects of how they work

What does the concept of localization in brain function imply?

Brain functions are localized in different regions, but they are not entirely compartmentalized.

What is a key question regarding brain localization?

It is unclear what is being localized to a given brain region and how different brain regions interact.

What does the concept of modularity in the brain suggest?

Different brain regions are unique in how they receive, process, and send processed information to other brain modules.

How do specialized brain modules interact?

Modules that specialize in certain functions interact with other modules that may process information differently.

Which hemisphere is typically specialized for speech and linguistic processing in right-handed individuals?

The left hemisphere

What role does the right hemisphere play in language and communication?

It has a role but usually lacks the systems for speech.

What can result from damage to the left versus the right cerebral hemisphere?

Different specific patterns of cognitive, socioemotional, or behavioral deficits.

What is the primary function of the occipital lobe?

Receives and interprets visual information from the eyes.

What sensory information does the parietal lobe process?

Processes sensory information like touch, temperature, and pain, and integrates sensory info for coherent perception.

What are the main functions of the temporal lobe?

Analyzes visual information, interprets objects and their significance, and is associated with visual agnosia and temporal lobe epilepsy.

What functions are associated with the frontal lobe?

Speech production, motor control, executive functions, emotionality, and personality.

What concepts are related to the occipital lobe?

Blindsight and palinopsia.

What are the two main approaches to neuropsychological assessment?

Standard battery (Halstead) and individual selection of instruments.

left hemisphere

speech and linguistic processing

right hemisphere

processing prosody of language...the rhythm, tone, emotional

Health psychology

A psychological subfield devoted to studying psychological factors influencing health, illness, and coping with illness (closely related to the larger field of behavioral medicine)

Behavioral medicine

The interdisciplinary science that integrates knowledge from the social/behavioral sciences, biological sciences, and medicine, and focuses on understanding and treating medical disorders

Stress

The negative emotional and physiological process associated with people's efforts to deal with circumstances that disrupt, or threaten to disrupt, their lives.

General adaptation syndrome

A pattern of physiological reactions to stressors that includes stages of alarm, resistance, and exhaustion

Coping

People's cognitive, emotional, and behavioral efforts at modifying, tolerating, or eliminating stressors.

Social support

The experience and perception of being cared for and part of a network of communication and mutual obligation.

Hostility

A pattern of suspiciousness, resentment, frequent anger, antagonism, and distrust (most health-risky aspect of Type A)

What are objective stressors?

Objective stressful events that can be identified, along with individual perceptions of those events.

What are adaptive coping strategies?

Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral efforts to modify, tolerate, or eliminate stressors.

What are the two types of coping strategies?

Problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies.

What personality characteristics are associated with a stress-hardy personality?

Optimism, resilience, and mature coping mechanisms.

How does social support affect stress?

Social support can buffer stress by lessening the effects of stressors and changing the actual stressor.

What is clinical child psychology?

A subfield of clinical psychology focused on studying, assessing, treating, and preventing psychological disorders of children and adolescents.

What does developmental psychopathology study?

It focuses on maladaptive behaviors in childhood and adolescence and how they are influenced by developmental stages.

What is resilience in the context of child psychology?

A characteristic or set of characteristics seen in some children that acts as a protective factor against the development of emotional and behavioral problems in the face of stressors.

What is successful aging?

An ability to maintain physical, psychological, and social health in the context of usual age-related changes.

What is the life-span perspective in geropsychology?

An approach that looks at the psychological problems of older clients against the backdrop of a lifetime of development.

What is ageism?

Bias or prejudice against older adults based on stereotypes about that age group.

Treatment gap

The disparity between the number of people who need mental health services and the availability of and access to those services.

Dissemination and implementation science

A field aimed at finding ways to more effectively, sustainably, and widely distribute evidence-based interventions in forms that will be integrated and applied in different settings.

Couples therapy

Treatment that focuses on the relationship between partners rather than on the individual partners.

Family therapy

Treatment that focuses on relationships between and among at least two generations of family members.

Paraprofessionals (non-specialist providers, or NSPs)

Nonprofessionals who are specially trained to deliver mental health interventions.

Tertiary prevention

(indicated prevention intervention) Efforts to lessen the severity of disorders and to reduce their short-and long-term consequences.

Secondary prevention

(selective mental health prevention) Efforts to intervene with people who are at risk for developing a disorder.

Primary prevention

(universal mental health prevention) Efforts to modify environments or strengthen individuals' resilience so that they are less susceptible to developing mental health problems.

Community psychology

A field whose practitioners promote community-based treatment of mental health problems, better understanding of those problems, and social changes that can prevent them.

Complementary and alternative medicine (integrative techniques)

An umbrella term for health-linked practices that are often not typically part of well-researched, standard health-care programs.

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)

attachment-based family therapy involving parents and children together.