Abnormal Psychology: Chapter 12 Study Set

Schizophrenia

A psychotic disorder in which functioning deteriorates as a result of unusual perceptions, odd thoughts, disturbed emotions, and motor abnormalities.

Psychosis

A state in which a person loses contact with reality in key ways.

Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

Schizophrenia-like disorders that are distinguished by particular durations and sets of symptoms.

Positive Symptoms

Symptoms of schizophrenia that are excesses of or bizarre additions to normal thoughts, emotions, or behaviors.

Delusions

A strange false belief firmly held despite evidence to the contrary.

Formal Thought Disorder

A disturbance in the production and organization of thought.

Loose Associations (Derailment)

A common thinking disturbance in schizophrenia, characterized by rapid shifts from one topic of conversation to another.

Hallucination

The experiencing of sights, sounds, or other perceptions in the absence of external stimuli.

Inappropriate Affect

Displays of emotions that are unsuited to the situation.

Negative Symptoms

Symptoms of schizophrenia that seem to be deficits in normal thought, emotions, or behaviors.

Alogia

A decrease in speech or speech content; a symptom of schizophrenia. Also known as poverty of speech.

Catatonia

A pattern of extreme psychomotor symptoms, found in some forms of schizophrenia, which may include catatonic stupor, rigidity, or posturing.

Avolition

Another word for apathy to describe feeling drained of energy and of interest in fulfilling normal goals.

Dopamine Hypothesis

The theory that schizophrenia results from excessive activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine.

Antipsychotic Drugs

Drugs that help correct grossly confused or distorted thinking.

Phenothiazines

A group of antihistamine drugs that became the first group of effective antipsychotic medications.

Second-Generation Antipsychotic Drugs

A relatively new group of antipsychotic drugs who biological action is different from that of the first-generation antipsychotic drugs. Also known as atypical antipsychotic drugs.

First-Generational Antipsychotic Drugs

Also known as neuroleptic drugs, these drugs often produced undesired movement effects similar to the symptoms of neurological diseases. These drugs were mainly developed throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Schizophrenia-Related Circuit

The brain circuit thought to be responsible for schizophrenia. Brain structures included are the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus, striatum, and substantia nigra.

Schizophrenogenic Mother

A type of mother — supposedly cold, domineering, and uninterested in the needs of her children — who was once thought to cause schizophrenia in her child.

Expressed Emotion

The general level of criticism, disapproval, and hostility expressed in a family.

Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines

Proteins that cause chronic inflammation throughout the brains of people.

State Hospitals

Public mental hospitals in the United States, run by the individual states.

Milieu Therapy

A humanistic approach to institutional treatment based on the premise that institutions can help patients recover by creating a climate that promotes self-respect, responsible behavior, and meaningful activity.

Token Economy Program

A behavior-focused program in which a person’s desirable behaviors are reinforced systematically by the awarding of tokens that can be exchanged for goods or privileges.

Neuroleptic Drugs

Another name for first-generation drugs.

Extrapyramidal Effects

Unwanted movements, such as severe shaking, bizarre-looking grimaces, twisting of the body, and extreme restlessness, sometimes produced by antipsychotic drugs.

Tardive Dyskinesia

Extrapyramidal effects involving involuntary movements that some patients have after they have taken antipsychotic drugs for an extended time.

Agranulocytosis

A life-threatening drop in white blood cells. This condition is sometimes produced by the second-generation antipsychotic drug clozapine.

Cognitive Remediation

A treatment that focuses on the cognitive impairments that often characterize people with schizophrenia — particularly their difficulties in attention, planning, and memory.

Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC)

A treatment approach for people with severe mental disorders in which clinicians provide interventions ranging from therapy and practical advice to medication monitoring, housing guidance, and vocational counseling.

Deinstitutionalization

The discharge of large numbers of patients from long-term institutional care so that they might be treated in community programs.

Assertive Community Treatment

A community approach for people with severe mental disorders in which a multidisciplinary team provides interventions ranging from medications and therapy to residential and vocational guidance.

Community Mental Health Center

A treatment facility that provides medication, psychotherapy, and emergency care for psychological problems and coordinates treatment in the community.

Mentally Ill Chemical Abuse (MICA)

A term given for clients who display both a severe mental disorder and substance use disorder. Also known as dual diagnosis.

Aftercare

A program of posthospitalization care and treatment in the community.

Day Center

A program that offers hospital-like treatment during the day only. Also known as a day hospital.

Halfway House

A residence for people with schizophrenia or other severe problems, often staffed by paraprofessionals. Also known as a group home or crisis house.

Sheltered Workshop

A supervised workplace for employees who are not ready for competitive or complicated jobs.

Case Manager

A community therapist who offers and coordinates a full range of services for people with severe mental disorders, including therapy, advice, medication supervision, guidance through the community system, and protection of the patients’ rights.

National Interests Groups

Groups within countries that push for better community treatment.