Abnormal Psychology: Chapter 4 Schizophrenia Flashcards
A psychotic mental disorder marked by serious impairments in basic psychological functions–attention, perception, thought, emotion, and behavior.
schizophrenia
Symptoms associated with schizophrenia, involving distorted or excess behaviors, such as hallucinations, delusions, bizarre behavior, confused thinking, and disorganized speech.
positive symptoms
Symptoms associated with schizophrenia, involving a diminution, absence, or loss of normal psychological functions; examples include apathy, flat emotions, lack of self-help skills, and social withdrawal.
negative symptoms
Symptoms involving disturbances in the way thinking is organized
formal thought disorder
A dimension of disordered behavior ranging from immobility (where a person may maintain awkward body positions for hours at a time, appearing stuporous) to great excitement, extreme motor activity, repetitive gestures or mannerisms, and undirected violent behaviors.
catatonia
Loss of the ability to enjoy activities central to a person’s life.
anhedonia
Blunted emotionality, often consisting of minimal eye contact, an emotionless face, little or no tone in the voice, and a drab or listless demeanor.
flat affect
A negative symptom of schizophrenia involving the failure to say much, if anything, in response to questions or comments.
alogia
A mental disorder in which the main symptom is the presence of at least one systematic delusional belief
delusional disorder
The sudden onset of psychotic symptoms marked by intense emotional turmoil and confusion.
brief psychotics disorder
Beginning of a disorder shortly after giving birth.
postpartum onset
A disorder in which people experience symptom of schizophrenia for only a few months.
schizophreniform disorder
A mental disorder in which the person displays symptoms of both schizophrenia and a mood disorder without satisfying the full criteria for either diagnosis.
schizoaffective disorder
A mental disorder in which a person experiences psychotic symptoms beyond what is expected from intoxication or withdrawal from a substance, and in which the person is not aware that the substance is producing the psychotic symptoms.
substance/medication-induced psychotic disorder
The time period before the prodrome, in which it is possible to identify delays in early neurodevelopment (e.g, not meeting key pediatric milestones) that may suggest an increased risk of developing schizophrenia in the future.
premorbid phase
The usual first phase of schizophrenia in which there is an insidious onset of problems, suggesting psychological deterioration.
prodromal phase
The stage of schizophrenia during which one or more psychotic symptoms, such as delusions or hallucinations, appear.
active phase (of schizophrenia)
A stage of schizophrenia during which most psychotic symptoms have subsided in frequency and intensity; the affected person may still be withdrawn and at times, and continue to show social and occupational impairments.
residual phase (of schizophrenia)
the risk of individuals developing a disorder over their lifetime.
morbidity risk
A model that explains how a mental disorder can result from the interaction of a predisposition (diathesis) for a disorder with a trigger (stressor) that converts the predisposition into the actual disorder.
diathesis-stress model
The finding that a greater proportion of people with schizophrenia are born in the winter or early spring months, when, in utero, they would presumably have been more likely to be exposed to viral infections that could affect brain development.
season-of-birth effect
A cavity in the center of the brain that is filled with cerebrospinal fluid.
ventricle
The area of the cerebral cortex that controls executive functions, such as planning and carrying out goal-directed activities.
frontal lobe
A key structure in the forebrain that receives, analyzes, and sends on information from all the sense except smell
thalamus
Diminished activity in the frontal lobe of the brain
hypofrontality
Also called the “social selection hypothesis”, it explains higher rates of mental disorders among lower socioeconomic groups as the consequence of disordered people sinking to lower socioeconomic levels because of their disorders.
social drift hypothesis
A theory suggesting that stress, poverty, racism, inferior education, unemployment, and sociocultural risk factors leading to mental disorders.
A social causation theory
A formerly popular term for a type of mother thought to cause schizophrenia in her children by her domineering, overprotective, cold and rigid manner and her discomfort with physical intimacy.
schizophrenogenic mother
An early theory suggesting that schizophrenia could arise from the confusion produced when a child was raised by parents who communicated incompatible messages to the child.
double-bind hypothesis
A measure of the family environment describing criticism, hostility, and emotional overinvolvement with a person; a risk factor for relapse of mental disorders such as schizophrenia.
expressed emotion (ET)
A chemically similar group of neuroleptic drugs that act by blocking specific neurotransmitter receptors.
phenothiazines
A drug that blocks the action of neurotransmitters in the brain, thereby relieving many positive symptoms of schizophrenia.
neuroleptic
A group of side effects that result from neuroleptic drugs, consisting of movement abnormalities, such as tremors, rigidity, spasms, and agitation.
extrapyramidal symptoms
An extrapyramidal side effect of some neuroleptic drugs, leading to symptoms that mimic Parkinson’s disease, such as tremors, shuffling gait, blank facial expression, muscular weakness and rigidity, and slowed movement.
Parkinsonism
An extrapyramidal side effect of some neuroleptics, involving tics in the head, neck, and face.
acute dystonia
An extrapyramidal side effect of some neuroleptics, involving uncontrollable restlessness and agitation.
acute akathesia
An extrapyramidal side effect of some neuroleptic drugs, involving spasmodic jerks, tics, and twitches of the face, tongue, trunk, and limbs, as well as speech impairment.
tardive dyskinesia (TD)
A rare side effect of neuroleptic drugs that is potentially fatal and involves extremely high fever, muscle rigidity, and irregular heart rate and blood pressure.
neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS)
Drugs that do not have the same biochemical or physiological effects as standard neuroleptics.
atypical antipsychotics
A hospital program that intends to resocialize patients with severe mental disorders so that they can learn how to manage their lives better and engage in appropriate behavior in the community.
milieu program
A procedure that uses operant reinforcement principles to alter the behaviors of individuals or groups by giving tokens (such as poker chips) that can be exchanged for other tangible rewards.
token economy
A movement that promotes the idea that individuals recovering from mental disorders should be able to successfully live and work in the community, enjoy active social lives, attend school, and maintain a healthy lifestyle, all while managing their own disorders with the supports that they may need.
recovery movement
A set of interventions focused on preventing unnecessary hospitalizations, reducing impairments in daily functioning, and strengthening independent living skills by teaching patients with severe mental disorders how to cope with these disorders.
psychosocial rehabilitation
An intensive and highly integrated approach for community mental health service delivery, ACT programs serve outpatients whose mental disorders result in serious functioning difficulties in several major areas of life, often including work, social relationships, residential independence, money management, and physical health and wellness.
assertive community treatment (ACT)
