Psychology Review: Definitions of Abnormality, Learning Approaches, and Depression

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering definitions of mental health and abnormality, learning approaches (behaviourism, classical/operant conditioning, SLT), and characteristics/cognitive explanations of depression from the lecture notes.

Jahoda's Criteria for Ideal Mental Health (1958)

A set of six conditions defining good mental health: having no symptoms of distress, being rational and perceiving oneself accurately, self-actualising, coping with stress, holding a realistic view of the world, and maintaining independence.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

A mental health condition characterized by impulsive, aggressive, and irresponsible behavior, where an individual struggles to behave in an orderly manner.

Failure to Function Adequately

A definition of abnormality proposed by Rosenhan & Seligman (1989) which states that a person is not coping when they can no longer meet everyday life demands, harm themselves, suffer severe personal distress, or fail to conform to interpersonal standards.

Statistical Infrequency

A definition of poor mental health based on behaviors or traits that are statistically rare and do not fit into the average population standard.

Deviation from Social Norms

A definition of abnormality where behaviors are judged as poor mental health because they violate the collective standards of acceptable behavior set by a society.

Drapetomania

A supposed mental illness defined in 1851 as the urge of Black slaves to run away, serving as a historical example of how over-reliance on social norms can lead to systematic human rights abuse.

Cultural Relativism in Social Norms

The principle that social norms vary significantly between different cultures and from one generation to another, meaning definitions of normal behavior are not universal.

Intellectual Disability Disorder (IDD)

A clinical diagnosis used as a real-life application of statistical infrequency to demonstrate normal versus abnormal cognitive behavior during clinical assessments.

Behaviourism

A psychological approach assuming humans are not born with innate knowledge and that behavior is learned through life experiences, focusing strictly on observable and measurable behavior.

Watson's Rejection of Introspection (1913)

John Watson's rejection of internal self-report methods on the grounds that introspection relied on too many vague, unscientific concepts.

Classical Conditioning

Learning through association, famously demonstrated by Pavlov (1897), where a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response.

Operant Conditioning

A learning process researched by Skinner (1948) in which behavior is learned and modified through its consequences, including positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punishment.

Positive Reinforcement

The delivery of a reward following a desired behavior to encourage consistency and repetition of that same behavior over time.

Negative Reinforcement

The removal or avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus following a behavior, which increases the likelihood of the behavior being repeated (e.g., Skinner's rats pressing a lever to stop an electric current).

Punishment

An unpleasant consequence resulting from a behavior, designed to decrease the frequency of that behavior.

Vicarious Reinforcement

A concept in Social Learning Theory proposed by Albert Bandura where a learner imitates a behavior because they observe someone else being rewarded for it rather than punished.

Bandura's 4 Mediational Processes

The four cognitive factors required for social learning to occur: Attention (attending to behavior), Retention (memorising behavior), Reproduction (carrying out behavior), and Motivation (having a reason to perform behavior).

Identification and Role Models

The process where individuals (especially children) imitate behaviors of people they identify with (role models) because they share similar characteristics, are attractive, or hold high status.

Major Depressive Disorder

A category of depression characterized by severe but short-term depressive episodes.

Persistent Depressive Disorder

A category of depression characterized by long-term, recurring depressive symptoms.

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder

A childhood category of depression characterized by severe temper tantrums.

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder

A category of depression in which depressive symptoms occur prior to the onset of the menstrual cycle.

Behavioral Characteristics of Depression

Observable behaviors caused by depression, including disruptions to sleeping patterns (insomnia or hyperinsomnia), appetite and weight changes, and an inability to function normally in daily tasks.

Cognitive Characteristics of Depression

Thought patterns associated with depression, including dwelling on the negative, poor concentration, fixating exclusively on negative outcomes, and absolutist thinking.

Emotional Characteristics of Depression

Emotional symptoms experienced during depression, including low mood, persistent sadness, feelings of guilt, suicidal thoughts, and angry emotional outbursts.

Beck's Cognitive Theory of Depression (1967)

An explanation stating that vulnerability to depression is driven by faulty information processing, negative self-schemas, and the negative triad.

Faulty Information Processing

A cognitive aspect of depression where individuals focus on the negative aspects of situations while ignoring positives, often engaging in absolutist thinking.

Negative Self-Schemas

Mental frameworks developed through experience that cause an individual to interpret information about themselves in a consistently negative manner.