5: Psychopathology Key Terms Flashcards
Statistical infrequency
occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic, for example being more depressed or less intelligent than most of the population
Deviation from Social Norms
concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society
Failure to function adequately
Occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day-to-day living
Deviation from ideal mental health
Occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health
Phobia
An irrational fear of an object or situation
behavioural characteristics
Ways in which people act
emotional characteristics
Ways in which people feel
cognitive characteristics
Refers to the process of thinking – knowing, perceiving, believing.
depression
A mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels
OCD (obsessive–compulsive disorder)
A condition characterised by obsessions and/or compulsive behaviour
behavioural approach
A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning
classical conditioning
Learning by association. Occurs when two stimuli are repeated the paired together – an unconditioned (unlearned) stimulus (UCS) and a new neutral stimulus (NS). The neutral stimulus eventually produces the same response that was first produced by the unlearned stimulus alone.
Operant conditioning
A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences. Possible consequences of behaviour include positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement or punishment.
systematic desensitisation (SD)
A behavioural therapy designed to reduce an unwanted response, such as anxiety, to a stimulus. SD involves drawing up a hierarchy of anxiety provoking situations related to the phobic stimulus, teaching the patient to relax, and then exposing them to the phobic situations. The patient works their way through the hierarchy whilst maintaining relaxation.
flooding
A behavioural therapy in which a phobic patient is exposed to an extreme form of a phobic stimulus in order to reduce anxiety triggered by that stimulus. This takes place across a small number of long therapy sessions.
Cognitive approach
The term ‘cognitive’ has come to mean ‘mental processes’, so this approach is focused on how our mental processes (e.g. thoughts, perceptions, attention) affect behaviour
negative triad
Beck proposed that there were three kinds of negative thinking that contributed to becoming depressed: negative views of the world, the future and the self. Such negative views lead a person to interpret their experiences in a negative way and so make them more vulnerable to depression.
ABC model
Ellis proposed that depression occurs when an activating event (A) triggers an irrational belief (B) which intern produces a consequence (C), i.e an emotional response like depression. The key to this process is the irrational belief.
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
A method for treating mental disorders based on both cognitive and behavioural techniques. From the cognitive viewpoint the therapy aims to deal with thinking, such as challenging negative thoughts. The therapy also includes behavioural techniques such as behavioural activation.
irrational thoughts
Also called dysfunctional thoughts. In Ellis’s model and therapy, these are defined as thoughts that are likely to interfere with a person’s happiness. Such dysfunctional thoughts lead to mental disorders such as depression.
biological approach
A perspective that emphasises the importance of physical processes in the body such as genetic inheritance and neural function
genetic explanations
Genes make up chromosomes and consist of DNA which codes the physical features of an organism (such as eyecolour, height) and psychological features (such as mental disorder, intelligence). Genes are transmitted from parent to offspring, i.e. inherited.
Neural explanations
The view that physical and psychological characteristics are determined by the behaviour of the nervous system, in particular the brain as well as individual neurons.
drug therapy
treatment involving drugs, i.e. chemicals that have a particular effect on the functioning of the brain or some other body system. In the case of psychological disorders such drugs usually affect neurotransmitter levels.
