AP Psych Unit 5 Vocab Set #1

Health Psychology

the subfield of psychology concerned with ways psychological factors influence the causes and treatment of physical illness and the maintenance of health

Stress

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

Hypertesion

high blood pressure

Immune Suppression

any factor that prevents the immune system from working efficiently and can lead to increased vulnerability to infections and diseases

Stressors

specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or threaten the person’s well-being

Eustress

a positive stress that energizes a person and helps a person reach a goaland enhances motivation.

Distress

a negative stress that can make a person sick or can keep a person from reaching a goal

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

stressful or traumatic experiences in childhood (ex. abuse, neglect, witnessing domestic violence/abuse/mental disorders/crime)

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

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

Alarm Reaction Phase

the first step in GAS where your sympathetic nervous system is suddenly activated

Resistance Phase

the second stage of GAS when there are intense physiological efforts to either resist or adapt to the stressor

Fight-Flight-Freeze Response

an involuntary, physical response to a sudden and immediate threat (or stressor) in readiness for fight (confront), flight (escape), or freeze (avoid direction)

Exhaustion Phase

third phase of GAS during which the body’s resources become depleted

Tend-And-Befriend Response

under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others and bond with and seek support for others

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 one’s stress reaction

Positive Psychology

the scientific study of optimal human functioning, which aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive

Well-Being

a positive state that includes striving for optimal health and life satisfaction

Resilience

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

Positive Emotions

feelings of joy, pride, relief, hope, love, and compassion

Gratitude

a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation

Positive Subjective Experiences

positive emotions such as happiness, love, gratitude, contentment, and hope

Subjective Well-Being

self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life; used along with measures of objective well-being to evaluate people’s quality of life (ex. physical and economic indicators)

Wisdom

the ability to use knowledge and experience to make sound judgements in complex life situations

Courage

the ability to tolerate fear and move forward in life despite it

Humanity

the ability to show love and kindness to others; social intelligence

Justice

the ability to understand and fight for moral rightness and fairness in ones’ larger society

Temperance

the ability to manage habits and avoid excess

Transcendence

a state of consciousness where an individual experiences a connection to something larger than themselves; often encompassing a sense of meaning, purpose, and unity with the universe

Positive Objective Experiences

an experience that is enjoyable and based on facts rather than personal feelings or opinions

Posttraumatic Growth

positive psychological changes as a result of struggling with extremely challenging circumstances and life crises

Dysfunction

impaired or abnormal functioning

Deviation from Social Norms

concerns behavior that is different from the accepted standards of behavior in a community/society

Cultural Norms

prescriptions for how people should interact and what messages should mean in a particular setting

Stigma

a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person

DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)

a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders in America

ICD (International Classification of Mental Health Disorders)

an international system for classifying physical and mental illnesses, including mental health disorders created by the World Health Organization

Eclectic Approach

an approach to psychotherapy that uses techniques from various forms of therapy depending on the client’s problems

Behavioral Perspective

an approach to the study of psychology that focuses on the role of learning in explaining observable behavior

Maladaptive Learned Associations

associations between or among responses to stimuli that interfere with an individual’s activities of daily living or ability to adjust to and participate in particular settings

Psychodynamic Perspective

the approach based on the view that behavior is motivated by unconscious inner forces over which the individual has little control

Humanistic Perspective

the psychological view that assumes the existence of the self and emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and the freedom to make choices

Cognitive Perspective

a psychological approach that emphasizes mental processes in perception, memory, language, problem solving, and other areas of behavior

Evolutionary Perspective

a psychological approach that emphasizes the evolution of behavior and cognitive processes

Sociocultural Perspective

a psychological approach that emphasizes social and cultural influences on behavior

Biological Perspective

the psychological perspective that emphasizes the influence of biology on behavior

Biopsychosocial Model

a model of illness that says that physical illness is caused by a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors

Diathesis-Stress Model

a diagnostic model that proposes that a disorder may develop when an underlying vulnerability is coupled with a precipitating event

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

neurologically based disorders that are revealed in a clinically significant way during a child’s developing years

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

a developmental disability involving short attention span

Autism Spectrum Disorder

characterized by deficits in social relatedness and communication skills that are often accompanied by repetitive, ritualistic behavior(s)

Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorders

a group of severe disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate actions and emotions

Delusions

false beliefs that may accompany psychotic disorders

Hallucinations

false sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus

Disorganized Thinking

disjointed and incoherent thought processes, usually detected by what a person says

Disorganized Speech

a severe disruption of verbal communication in which ideas shift rapidly and incoherently among unrelated topics

Disorganized Motor Behavior

highly unusual behaviors and movements (such as child-like behaviors), repeated and purposeless movements, and displaying odd facial expressions and gestures

Negative Symptoms

symptoms of schizophrenia that are marked by deficits in functioning (ex. apathy, lack of emotion, slowed speech and movement)

Positive Symptoms

symptoms of schizophrenia that are excesses of behavior or occur in addition to normal behavior (ex. hallucinations, delusions, distorted thinking)

Delusions of Grandeur

a false belief that one is a famous person or a powerful or important person who has some great knowledge, ability, or authority

Word Salad

incoherent mixture of words, phrases, and senteces

Catatonia

a state of unresponsiveness to one’s outside environment, usually including muscle rigidity, staring, and an inability to communicate

Flat Affect

the display of little or no emotion (a common negative symptom of schizophrenia)

Catatonic Stupor

an immobile, expressionless, coma-like state associated with schizophrenia

Dopamine Hypothesis

the idea that schizophrenia involves an excess of dopamine activity

Depressive Disorders

mood disorders in which the individual suffers from an unrelenting lack of pleasure in life

Major Depressive Disorder

a mood disorder in which a person experiences two or more weeks of significantly depressed moods, feelings of worthlessness, and diminished interest or pleasure in most activities (in the absence of drugs or a medical condition)

Persistent Depressive Disorder

a form of depression that is not severe enough to be diagnosed as major depressive disorder, but is more long-term

Bipolar Disorders

disorders marked by alternating or intermixed periods of mania and depression

Cycling

a pattern of frequent mood episodes in people with bipolar disorder

Mania

a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state

Depression

a prolonged feeling of helpless, hopelessness, and sadness

Bipolar I

full-blown mania that alternates with episodes of major depression

Bipolar II

hypomania that alternates with episodes of major depression

Anxiety Disorders

psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety, and possibly maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety

Specific Phobia

a disorder that involves an irrational fear of a particular object or situation that markedly interferes with an individual’s ability to function

Acrophobia

fear of heights

Agoraphobia

an abnormal fear of open or public places

Panic Disorder

an anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations

Panic Attack

sudden onset of intense panic in which multiple physical symptoms of stress occur, often with feelings that one is dying

Ataque de Nervios

a self-labeled syndrome found in Latinos in which they experience a mixture of anxiety, panic, depression, and anger

Social Anxiety Disorder

intense fear of social situations, leading to avoidance of them

Taijin Kyofusho

Japanese fear of offending or embarrassing others

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

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