Upgrade to remove ads
Only $2.99/month

Abnormal Psychology - Chapter 1

Key Concepts:

Terms in this set (83)

Psychological Disorder / Abnormal behavior
1. a psychological dysfunction within an individual associated
2. with distress or impairment in functioning
3. and a response that is not typical or culturally expected
phobia
An anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation.
Psychological Dysfunction
Breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning
Just having a dysfunction is not enough to meet the criteria for psychological disorder.
for this reason, these problems are often considered to be on a continuum or a dimension rather than to be categories that are present or absent.
atypical
not typical; not conforming to the type; irregular; abnormal
DSM
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual - contains the current listing of criteria for psychological disorders
Abnormal
describes behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunctions that are unexpected in their cultural context and associated with present distress and impairment in functioning, or increased risk of suffering, death, pain, or impairment
prototype
a typical profile. a pt may have only some features or symptoms of the disorder (minimum number) and still meet criteria for the disorder because his or her set of symptoms is close to the prototype.
Psychopathology
the scientific study of psychological disorders
counseling psychologists
tend to study and treat adjustment and vocational issues encountered by relatively healthy individuals
clinical psychologists
usually concentrate on more severe psychological disorders
Functions of Mental Health Practitioners
1. Consumers of the science of psychopathology. That is that they keep up with recent developments which benefits their patients.

2. Evaluators of own assessments or treatment procedures to see whether they work.

3. Research. This research attempts to:
a. describe psychological disorders
b. determine causes
c. treatment
Presenting problem
why the person came to the clinic
Clinical description
represents the unique combination of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings that make up a specific disorder.
Clinical
refers to both types of problems and disorders that would be found in a clinic or hospital and to be the activities connected with assessment and treatment
Prevalence
how many people in the population as a whole have the disorder
Incidence
rate of occurrence; particular occurrence; Ex. high incidence of infant mortality
Chronic course
Generally a long-term disorder, such as schizophrenia
Episodic course
disorder that may end after a few months only to reoccur at a later time
Time-limited course
The disorder will improve without treatment in a relatively short period
Acute onset
disorder begins suddenly
Insidious onset
Development of a disorder that occurs gradually over an extended period (contrast with acute onset).
Prognosis
a prediction of the course of a disease
Developmental psychology
the study of changes that occur as an individual matures
Developmental psychopathology
Study of changes in abnormal behavior that occur over time.
Etiology
the study of origins, has to do with why a disorder begins and includes biological, psychological and social dimensions
Supernatural model
Explanation of human behavior and its dysfunction that posits important roles for spirits, demons, grace, sin, and so on.
Exorcism
the public and authoritative act of the Church to protect or liberate a person, place, or object from the power of the devil (demonic possession) in the name of Christ.
Saint Vitus's Dance (aka tarantism or rave)
Instance of mass hysteria in which groups of people experienced a simultaneous compulsion to dance and shout in the streets.
Mass Hysteria
a condition in which a large group of people exhibit the same state of violent mental agitation
Emotion contagion
Situation in which an emotional reaction spreads from one individual to others nearby.
Lunatic
insane and believed to be affected by the phases of the moon
Hippocrates
"Founder of Medicine" During the Golden Age in Greece he was a scientist that believed all diseases came from natural causes. He also had high ideals for physicians & an oath was made that is still used today.
Galen
Greek anatomist whose theories formed the basis of European medicine until the Renaissance (circa 130-200)
Humoral theory of disorders
Normal brain functioning was related to four bodily fluids or humors. Physicians believed that disease resulted from too much or too little of one of the humors.
1. blood
2. black bile
3. yellow bile
4. phlegm
Sanguine
inclined to a healthy reddish color often associated with outdoor life
Melancholic
characterized by or causing or expressing sadness
Somatoform disorders
A class of psychological disorders involving physical ailments with no authentic organic basis that are due to psychological factors.
psychosis
any severe mental disorder in which contact with reality is lost or highly distorted
delusions
false beliefs that are maintained even though they clearly are out of touch with reality
hallucinations
false sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus
John P. Grey
Psychiatrist who believed that the causes of insanity were always physical
Insulin shock therapy
Dangerous biological treatment involving the administration of large doses of insulin to induce seizures.
electroconvulsive therapy
a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient
reserpine
the first monoamine antagonist to be used in the treatment of schizophrenia; the active ingredient of the snakeroot plant
neuroleptics
Drugs that alleviate the symptoms of severe disorders such as schizophrenia.
benzodiazapine
Xanax (alprazolam), Librium (chlordiazepoxide), Valium (diazepam), Ativan (lorazepam), Versed (midazolam), Restoril (temazepam)
Emil Kraepelin
German psychiatrist responsible for creating the first truly comprehensive classification system of psychological disorders
psychosocial treatment
Treatment practices that focus on social and cultural factors (such as family experience), as well as psychological influences. These approaches include cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal methods.
moral therapy
philosophy of treatment that emphasized treating mentally ill people with compassion and understanding, rather than shackling them in chains
asylums
facilities for treating the mentally ill in Europe during the Middle Ages and into the 19th century.
Dorothea Dix
A reformer and pioneer in the movement to treat the insane as mentally ill, beginning in the 1820's, she was responsible for improving conditions in jails, poorhouses and insane asylums throughout the U.S. and Canada. She succeeded in persuading many states to assume responsibility for the care of the mentally ill. She served as the Superintendant of Nurses for the Union Army during the Civil War.
psychoanalysis
Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions
Sigmund Freud
Austrian neurologist who originated psychoanalysis (1856-1939); Said that human behavior is irrational; behavior is the outcome of conflict between the
** id (irrational unconscious driven by sexual, aggressive, and pleasure-seeking desires) and

** ego (rationalizing conscious, what one can do) and

**superego (ingrained moral values, what one should do).
Anton Mesmer
Believed that the healing of physical ailments came from manipulation of people's bodily fluids. His technique of mesmerism was used with hypnotism.
behaviorism
an approach to psychology that emphasizes observable measurable behavior
animal magnetism
A term coined by F.A. Mesmer to refer to a putative force or fluid capable of being transmitted from one person to another, producing healing effects. See also Mesmerism.
unconscious
that part of the mind wherein psychic activity takes place of which the person is unaware. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOTHERAPY
Catharsis
(psychoanalysis) purging of emotional tensions. SECOND MOST IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT
psychoanalytic model
Complex and comprehensive theory originally advanced by Sigmund Freud that seeks to account for the development and structure of personality, as well as the origin of abnormal behavior, based primarily on inferred inner entities and forces.
Psychoanalytic theory
1. the structure of the mind and the distinct functions of personality that sometimes clash with one another
2. the defense mechanisms with which the mind defends itself from these clashes or conflicts
3. the stages of early psychosexual development that provide gist for the mill of our inner conflicts
intrapsychic conflicts
inner mental struggles resulting from the interplay of the id, ego, and superego when the three subsystems are striving for different goals
defense mechanisms
in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality
displacement
(psychiatry) a defense mechanism that transfers affect or reaction from the original object to some more acceptable one
sublimation
(psychology) modifying the natural expression of an impulse or instinct (especially a sexual one) to one that is socially acceptable
denial
(psychiatry) a defense mechanism that denies painful thoughts
displacement
(psychiatry) a defense mechanism that transfers affect or reaction from the original object to some more acceptable one
projection
(psychiatry) a defense mechanism by which your own traits and emotions are attributed to someone else
rationalization
(psychiatry) a defense mechanism by which your true motivation is concealed by explaining your actions and feelings in a way that is not threatening
reaction formation
(psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which a person unconsciously develops attitudes and behavior that are the opposite of unacceptable repressed desires and impulses and serve to conceal them
repression
(psychiatry) the classical defense mechanism that protects you from impulses or ideas that would cause anxiety by preventing them from becoming conscious
ego psychology
Derived from psychoanalysis, this theory emphasizes the role of the ego in development and attributes psychological disorders to failure of the ego to manage impulses and internal conflicts. Also known as self-psychology.
object relations
Modern development in psychodynamic theory involving the study of how children incorporate the memories and values of people who are close and important to them.
neuroses
psychological disorders characterized by anxiety or tension
Classical conditioning
a type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli. A neutral stimulus that signals an unconditioned stimulus (US) begins to produce a response that anticipates and prepares for the unconditioned stimulus. Also called Pavlovian or respondent conditioning.
extinction
a conditioning process in which the reinforcer is removed and a conditioned response becomes independent of the conditioned stimulus
introspection
a method of self-observation in which participants report their thoughts and feelings
John B. Watson
behaviorism; emphasis on external behaviors of people and their reactions on a given situation; famous for Little Albert study in which baby was taught to fear a white rat
Joseph Wolpe
Used classical conditioning theory in psychotherapy and introduced Systematic Desensitatization and concepts of reciprocal inhibition which he applied to reduce anxiety. In treatment he paired relaxation with an anxiety -provoking stimulus until the stimulus no longer produced anxiety.
Behavior Therapy
Therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors.
B.F. Skinner
pioneer of operant conditioning who believed that everything we do is determined by our past history of rewards and punishments. he is famous for use of his operant conditioning aparatus which he used to study schedules of reinforcement on pidgeons and rats.
Operant Conditioning
a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher
Shaping
an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior
THIS SET IS OFTEN IN FOLDERS WITH...

Abnormal Psych - Chapter 2

51 terms
jmorsut

Test 3 - Abnormal Psych

68 terms
jmorsut

Test 4 - Abnormal Psych

79 terms
jmorsut

abnormal psychology chapters 1-4

47 terms
oopssiddaisy