Abnormal Psychology Glossary Flashcards
The total number of cases of a health related state or condition in a population for a given year
1 Year Prevalence
An experimental design, often involving a single subject, wherein a baseline period (A) is followed by a treatment (B)
- To confirm that the treatment resulted in a change in behavior, the treatment is then withdrawn (A) and reinstated (B)
ABAB Design
Maladaptive behavior detrimental to an individual or a group
Abnormal Behavior
Field of psychology concerned with the study, assessment, treatment, and prevention of abnormal behavior
Abnormal Psychology
Refraining altogether from the use of a particular addictive substance or from a particular behavior
Abstinence
Cognitive process of changing existing cognitive frameworks to make possible the incorporation of discrepant information
Accomodation
Ego defense mechanism of engaging in antisocial or excessive behavior without regard to negative consequences as a way of dealing with emotional stress
Acting Out
Energy mobilization required for an organism to pursue its goals and meet its needs
Activation (Arousal)
Application of probability statistics to human behavior
Actuarial Approach
Methods whereby data about subjects are analyzed by objective procedures or formulas rather than by human judgements
Actuarial Procedures
Term used to describe a disorder of sudden onset, usually with intense symptoms
Acute
Disorder that occurs within 4 weeks after a traumatic event and lasts for a minimum of 2 days and a maximum of 4 weeks
Acute Stress Disorder
A habit forming drug comprised of a combination of dextroamphetamine and amphetamine
Adderall
Behavior based on the pathological need for a substance or activity; it may involve the abuse of substances, such as nicotine, alcohol, or cocaine, or gambling
Addictive Behavior
Outcome of a person’s efforts to deal with stress and meet his or her needs
Adjustment
A disorder in which a person’s response to a common stressor is maladaptive and occurs within 3 months of the stressor
Adjustment Disorder
Moderately severe mood disorder that is similar to dysthymic disorder but has an identifiable, though not severe, psychosocial stressor occurring within 3 months before the onset of depression and does not exceed 6 months in duration
Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood
Comparison of biological and adoptive relatives with and without a given disorder to assess genetic versus environmental influences
Adoption Method
Outer layer of the adrenal glands; secretes the adrenal steroids and other hormones
Adrenal Cortex
Endocrine glands located at the upper end of the kidneys; consist of inner adrenal medulla and outer adrenal cortex
Adrenal Glands
Hormone secreted by the adrenal medulla during strong emotion; causes such bodily changes as an increase in blood sugar and a rise in blood pressure
- Also called epinephrine
Adrenaline
Approach to meeting mental health needs in which advocates, often an interested group of volunteers, attempt to help children or others receive services that they need but often are unable to obtain for themselves
Advocacy
Programs aimed at helping people in underserved populations to obtain aid with which to improve their situations
Advocacy Programs
Emotion or feeling
Affect
Follow up therapy after discharge from a hospital
Aftercare
Behavior aimed at hurting or destroying someone or something
Aggression
Marked restlessness and psychomotor excitement
Agitation
Fear of being in places or situations where a panic attack may occur and from which escape would be physically difficult or psychologically embarassing, or in which immediate help would be unavailable in the event that some mishap occurred
Agoraphobia
First stage of responding to trauma, alerting and mobilizing a person’s resources for coping with the trauma
Alarm and Mobilization
Formerly known as Korsakoff’s syndrome, is a condition characterized by a persisting memory deficit (particularly with regard to recent events) that is sometimes accompanied by falsification of events
- This disorder is caused by malnutrition, specifically the lack of vitamin B (thiamine)
Alcohol Amnestic Disorder
A problematic pattern of alcohol use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress
Alcohol Use Disorder
Acute delirium associated with withdrawal from alcohol after prolonged heavy consumption; characterized by intense anxiety, tremors, fever and sweating, and hallucinations
Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium
Term used to denote a personality pattern in which an individual has difficulty identifying and describing feelings
Alexithymia
Lack or loss of relationships with others
Alienation
The biological cost of adapting to stress
- Under conditions of high stress our allostatic load is high
- When we are calm, our allostatic load is low and our bodies are not experiencing any of the physiological consequences of stress (racing heart, high levels of cortisol, ect)…
Allostatic Load
A term referring to poverty of speech; a symptom that often occurs in schizophrenia
Alogia
In a person with dissociative identity disorder, personalities other than the host personality
Alter Identities
A progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by deterioration in memory, cognition, and basic self care skills
Alzheimer’s Disease
Total or partial loss of memory
Amnesia
Striking deficit in the ability to recall ongoing events more than a few minutes after they have taken place, or the inability to recall the recent past
- Now grouped into a new diagnostic category called neurocognitive disorders
Amnestic Disorder
Technique that involves drawing fluid from the amniotic sac of a pregnant woman so that sloughed off fetal cells can be examined for chromosomal irregularities, including that of Down Syndrome
Amniocentesis
Drug that produces a psychologically stimulating and energizing effect
Amphetamine
A collection of nuclei that are almond shaped and that lie in front of the hippocampus in the limbic system of the brain
- It is involved in the regulation of emotion and is critically involved in the emotion of fear
Amygdala
Found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease, these deposits of aluminum silicate and abnormal protein (beta amyloid) are believed to cause loss of neurons
Amyloid Plaques
In psychoanalytic theory, stage of psychosexual development in which behavior is presumably focused on anal pleasure and activities
Anal Stage
Studies in which a researcher attempts to emulate the conditions hypothesized as leading to abnormality
Analogue Studies
Hormone associated with the development and maintenance of male characteristics
Androgen
Loss or impairment of sensitivity (usually to touch but often applied to sensitivity to pain and other senses as well)
Anesthesia
Inability to experience pleasure or joy
Anhedonia
Inability to experience pleasure or joy
Anhedonia
Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming “fat” coupled with refusal to maintain adequate nutrition and with severe loss of body weight
Anorexia Nervosa
Lack of sufficient oxygen
Anoxia
Drug used in the treatment of alcoholism
Antabuse
Loss of memory for events that occur following trauma or shock
Anterograde Amnesia
Drugs that are used primarily for alleviating anxiety
Antianxiety Drugs
Circulating blood substance coded for detection of and binding to a particular antigen
Antibody
Drugs that are used primarily to elevate mood and relieve depression
- Often also used in the treatment of certain anxiety disorders, bulimia, and certain personality disorders
Antidepressant Drugs
A foreign body (eg; a virus or bacteria) or an internal threat (eg; a tumor) that can trigger an immune response
Antigen
Medications that alleviate or diminish the intensity of psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations or delusions
Antipsychotics (Neuroleptics)
Disorder characterized by continual violation of and disregard for the rights of others through deceitful, aggressive, or antisocial behavior, typically without remorse or loyalty to anyone
Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)
A general feeling of apprehension about possible danger
Anxiety
An unrealistic, irrational fear or anxiety of disabling intensity
- DSM-5 recognizes 11 types: specific phobia, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, selective mutism, substance/medication induced anxiety disorder, anxiety disorder due to a medical condition, other specified anxiety disorder, and unspecified anxiety disorder
Anxiety Disorder
A personality trait involving a high level of belief that certain bodily symptoms may have harmful consequences
Anxiety Sensitivity
Loss or impairment of ability to communicate and understand language symbols - involving loss of power of expression by speech, writing, or signs, or loss of ability to comprehend written or spoken language - resulting from brain injury or disease
Aphasia
Variant of a gene on chromosome 19 that significantly enhances risk for late onset Alzheimer’s disease
APOE-4 Allele
Loss of ability to perform purposeful movements
Apraxia
Second phase of the human sexual response, in which there is generally a subjective sense of sexual pleasure and physiological changes, including penile erection in the male and vaginal lubrication and enlargement in the female
Arousal Phase
Degenerative thickening and hardening of the walls of the arteries, occurring usually in old age
Arteriosclerosis
This no longer exists in the DSM-5
- The term referred to severe and sustained childhood impairment in social relationships and peculiar behaviors but without the language delays seen in autism
- In the DSM-5, this term is subsumed by autism spectrum disorders
Asperger’s Disorder
Persistent and vigorous follow up with and aid to patients in managing life problems
Assertive Community Treatment (ACT)
Behavior therapy technique for helping people become more self assertive in interpersonal relationships
Assertiveness Therapy
Cognitive process whereby new experiences tend to be worked in existing cognitive frameworks even if the new information has to be reinterpreted or distorted to make it fit
Assimilation
Genetic research strategy comparing frequency of certain genetic markers known to be located on particular chromosomes in people with and without a particular disorder
Association Studies
Historically, these were institutions meant solely for the care of people with mental illness
Asylums
Condition of being considered vulnerable to the development of certain abnormal behaviors
At Risk
Wasting away or shrinking of a bodily organ, particularly muscle tissue
Atrophy
Contemporary developmental and psychodynamic theory emphasizing the importance of early experience with attachment relationships in laying the foundation for later functioning throughout life
Attachment Theory
Disorder of childhood characterized by difficulties that interfere with task oriented behavior, such as impulsivity, excessive motor activity, and difficulties in sustaining attention
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Characterized by psychotic like symptoms that are less severe and more transient and that lie below the threshold for a full psychotic disorder
Attenuated Psychosis Syndrome
Process of assigning causes to things that happen
Attribution
Pervasive developmental disorder beginning in infancy and involving a wide range of problematic behaviors, including deficits in language, perception, and motor development; defective reality testing; and social withdrawal
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Paraphilia characterized by sexual arousal at the thought or fantasy of being a woman
Autogynephilia
Section of the nervous system that regulates the internal organs; consists primarily of ganglia connected with the brain stem and spinal cord; may be subdivided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems
Autonomic Nervous System
Individual’s characteristic degree of emotional reactivity to stress
Autonomic Reactivity
Self reliance; the sense of being an independent person
Autonomy
Any chromosome other than those determining sex
Autosome
Form of behavior therapy in which punishment or aversive stimulation is used to eliminate undesired responses
Aversion Therapy
Stimulus that elicits psychic or physical pain
Aversive Stimulus
Form of conditioning in which a subject learns to behave in a certain way in order to avoid an unpleasant stimulus
Avoidance Learning
Extreme social inhibition and introversion, hypersensitivity to criticism and rejection, limited social relationships, and low self esteem
Avoidant Personality Disorder
Refers to a psychological state that is characterized by a general lack of drive or motivation to pursue meaningful goals
Avolition
Evaluation of an individual according to five foci, the first three assessing the person’s present clinical status or condition and the other two assessing broader aspects of the person’s situation
Axes (of DSM)
Synthetic drugs that act as depressants to calm the individual and induce sleep
Barbiturates
The initial level of responses emitted by an organism
Baseline
A type of white blood cell, produced in the bone marrow, that is (along with T-cells) very important in the immune system
- B-cells produce specific antibodies in response to specific antigens
B Cell
Field that studies the heritability of mental disorders and other aspects of psychological functioning such as personality and intelligence
Behavior Genetics
Change of specific behaviors by learning techniques
Behavior Modification
Use of therapeutic procedures based primarily on principles of classical and operant conditioning
Behavior Therapy
Treatment for depression in which the patient and the therapist work together to help the patient find ways to become more active and engaged with life
Behavioral Activation Treatment
Positive reinforcement technique using a contract, often between family members, to identify the behaviors to be changed and to specify privileges and responsibilities
Behavioral Contracting
Broad interdisciplinary approach to the treatment of physical disorders thought to have psychological factors as major aspects in their causation or maintenance
Behavioral Medicine
A theoretical viewpoint organized around the theme that learning is central in determining human behavior
Behavioral Perspective
Various interrelated disciplines, including psychology, sociology, and anthropology, that focus on human behavior
Behavioral Sciences
School of psychology that formerly restricted itself primarily to the study of overt behavior
Behaviorism
Of a mild, self limiting nature; not malignant
Benign
Observer bias occurs when the researcher has preconceived ideas and expectations that influence the observations he or she makes in the research study
Bias
An out of control consumption of an amount of food that is far greater than what most people would eat in the same amount of time and under the same circumstances
Binge
Distinct from nonpurging bulimia nervosa, whereby binging is not accompanied by inappropriate compensatory behavior to limit weight gain
Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
Treatment technique in which a person is taught to influence his or her own physiological processes that were formerly thought to be involuntary
Biofeedback
Chemicals that serve as neurotransmitters or modulators
Biogenic Amines
Regular biological cycles of sleep, activity, hormone activity, and metabolism characteristic of each species
Biological Clocks
Approach to mental disorders emphasizing biological causation
Biological Viewpoint
A viewpoint that acknowledges the interacting roles of biological, psychosocial, and sociocultural factors in the origins of psychopathology
Biopsychosocial Viewpoint
Bipolar disorder with recurrences in particular seasons of the year
Bipolar Disorder with a Seasonal Pattern
Mood disorders in which a person experiences both manic and depressive episodes
Bipolar Disorders
A form of bipolar disorder in which the person experiences both manic (or mixed) episodes and major depressive episodes
Bipolar I Disorder
A form of bipolar disorder in which the person experiences both hypomanic episodes and major depressive episodes
Bipolar II Disorder
Sexual attraction to both females and males
Bisexuality
Involuntary inhibition of recall, ideation, or communication (including sudden stoppage of speech)
Blocking
Persistent and disproportionate fear of the sight of blood or injury, or the possibility of having an injection
- Afflicted persons are likely to experience a drop in blood pressure and sometimes faint
Blood Injection Injury Phobia
A reduction in the range of affective expression commonly found in patients with schizophrenia
- The difference between this and flat affect is one of degree
- When the reduction in affective range is more pronounced and extreme (such that the person is almost expressionless), the patient may be said to have flat affect
Blunted Affect
Obsession with some perceived flaw or flaws in one’s appearance
Body Dysmorphic Disorder
An estimation of total body fat calculated as body weight (in kilograms) divided by height (in meters) squared
Body Mass Index (BMI)
Impulsivity and instability in interpersonal relationships, self image, and moods
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
Diseased or disordered condition of the brain
Brain Pathology
Minute oscillations of electrical potential given off by neurons in the cerebral cortex and measured by the electroencephalograph (EEG)
Brain Waves
Objective method of rating clinical symptoms that provides scores on 18 variables (eg; somatic concern, anxiety, withdrawal, hostility, and bizarre thinking)
Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS)
Short term therapy, usually 8 to 10 sessions, focused on restoring an individual’s functioning and offering emotional support
Brief Psychotherapy
Brief episodes (lasting a month or less) of otherwise uncomplicated delusional thinking
Brief Psychotic Disorder
Frequent occurrence of binge eating episodes accompanied by a sense of loss of control over eating and recurrent inappropriate behavior such as purging or excessive exercise to prevent weight gain
Bulimia Nervosa
A drug of dependence found in many commonly available drinks and foods
Caffeine
Genes that are of specific interest to researchers because they are thought to be involved in processes that are known to be abberant in that disorder (eg; serotonin transporter genes in depression, or dopamine receptor genes in schizophrenia)
Candidate Genes
Pertaining to the heart and blood vessels
Cardiovascular
An in depth examination of an individual or family that draws from a number of data sources, including interviews and psychological testing
Case Study (Method)
Refers to any source of injury to the genitals, or, more broadly, to a threat to the masculinity of an individual
Castrating
As postulated by Freud, the anxiety a young boy experiences when he desires his mother while at the same time fearing that his father may harm him by cutting off his penis; the anxiety forces the boy to repress his sexual desire for his mother and his hostility toward his father
Castration Anxiety
Condition seen in some schizophrenic psychoses, and some psychotic mood disorders, in which body postures are waxy and semirigid, with the limbs maintaining for prolonged periods any position in which they are placed
Catalepsy
Class of monoamine compounds sharing a similar chemical structure
- Known to be neurotransmitters - norepinephrine and dopamine
Catecholamines
Approach to classifying abnormal behavior that assumes that (1) all human behavior can be sharply divided into the categories normal and abnormal, and (2) there are exist discrete, nonoverlapping classes or types of abnormal behavior, often referred to as mental illnesses or diseases
Categorical Approach
Discharge of emotional tension associated with something, such as by talking about past traumas
Catharsis
In a cause and effect relationship, a situation in which more than one causal factor is involved
Causal Pattern
A variable risk factor that, when changed, changes the likelihood of the outcome of interest (eg; if effectively treating depression decreased the risk of suicide, we would call it a causal risk factor)
Causal Risk Factor
Relationship in which the preceding variable causes the other(s)
Causation
The brain and spinal cord
Central Nervous System (CNS)
Hardening of the arteries in the brain
Cerebral Arteriosclerosis
Surface layers of the cerebrum
Cerebral Cortex
Bleeding into brain tissue from a ruptured blood vessel
Cerebral Hemorrhage
Tearing of brain tissue associated with severe head injury
Cerebral Laceration
Syphilitic infection of the brain
Cerebral Syphilis
Formation of a clot or thrombus in the vascular system of the brain
Cerebral Thrombosis
Blockage or rupture of a large blood vessel in the brain leading to both focal and generalized impairment of brain function
- Also called stroke
Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)
Main part of the brain; divided into left and right hemispheres
Cerebrum
Infliction of physical or psychological damage on a child by parents or other adults
Child Abuse
Movement concerned with protecting rights and ensuring well being of children
Child Advocacy
Pathological condition characterized by jerky, involuntary movements
Chorea
Inherited defects or vulnerabilities caused by irregularities in chromosomes
Chromosomal Anomalies
Chain like structures within cell nucleus that contain genes
Chromosomes
Term used to describe a long standing or frequently recurring disorder, often with progressing seriousness
Chronic
A debilitating illness characterized by disabling fatigue that lasts 6 months or more and occurs with other symptoms
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
A disorder in which a major depressive episode does not remit over a 2 year period
Chronic Major Depressive Disorder
Term that can be used to describe a patient with this disorder whose clinical condition has deteriorated or remained stable over a very long period of time (years)
Chronic Schizophrenia
The 24 hour rhythmic fluctuations in animals’ sleep activity and in the metabolic processes of plants and animals
Circadian Rhythms
Procedure whereby a person certified as mentally disordered can be hospitalized, either voluntarily or against his or her will
Civil Commitment
A basic form of learning in which a neutral stimulus is paired repeatedly with an unconditioned stimulus (US) that naturally elicits an unconditioned response (UR)
- After repeated pairings, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) that elicits a conditioned response (CR)
Classical Conditioning
Irrational fear of small enclosed places
Claustrophobia
Nondirective approach to psychotherapy, developed chiefly by Carl Rogers, that focuses on the natural power of the organism to heal itself; a key goal is to help clients accept and be themselves
Client Centered (Person Centered) Therapy
The process through which a clinician arrives at a general “summary classification” of the patient’s symptoms by following a clearly defined system such as DSM-5 or ICD-11
Clinical Diagnosis
Diagnostic picture formed by observation of patient’s behavior or by all available assessment data
Clinical Picture
Computer administered psychological assessment procedure for surveying the range of psychological problems a patient is experiencing
Clinical Problem Checklist
Mental health professional with Ph.D degree or Psy.D degree in clinical psychology and clinical experience in assessment and psychotherapy
Clinical Psychologist
Field of psychology concerned with the understanding, assessment, treatment, and prevention of maladaptive behavior
Clinical Psychology
Stimulating and pain reducing psychoactive drug
Cocaine
Act, process, or product of knowing or perceiving
Cognition
Condition of tension existing when several of one’s beliefs and attitudes are inconsistent with each other
Cognitive Dissonance
Mental processes, including perception, memory, and reasoning, by which one acquires knowledge, solves problems, and makes plans
Cognitive Processes (Cognition)
Training efforts designed to help patients improve their neurocognitive (eg; memory, vigilance) skills
- The hope is that this will also help improve patients’ overall levels of functioning
Cognitive Remediation
Cognitive behavioral therapy techniques that aim to change a person’s negative or unrealistic thoughts and attributions
Cognitive Restructuring
A theory of abnormal behavior that focuses on how thoughts and information processing can become distorted and lead to maladaptive emotions and behavior
Cognitive Behavioral Perspective
Therapy based on altering dysfunctional thoughts and cognitive distortions
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Term used by Carl Jung to refer to that portion of the unconscious that he considered common to all humanity, based on wisdom acquired by our predecessors
Collective Unconscious
Profound stupor with unconsciousness
Coma
Application of psychosocial and sociocultural principles to the improvement of given environments
Community Mental Health
Use of community resources in dealing with maladaptive behavior; tends to be more concerned with community intervention than with personal or individual change
Community Psychology
Occurrence of two or more identified disorders in the same psychologically disordered individual
Comorbidity
Group of subjects who do not exhibit the disorder being studied but who are comparable in all other respects to the criterion group
- Also, a comparison group of subjects who do not receive a condition or treatment the effects of which are being studied
Comparison or Control Group
The determination that a person who is charged with a crime has the mental health capability to participate in the proceedings
Competent to Stand Trial
Overt repetitive behaviors (such as hand washing or checking) or more covert mental acts (such as counting, praying, saying certain words silently, or ordering) that a person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession
Compulsions
A specialized technique that is often used in a clinical context
- During the CT scan the person is placed into a CT scanner
- X ray measurements are then taken at various angles and combined to provide more detailed information than that given by a conventional x ray
Computed Tomography (CT)
Use of computers to obtain or interpret assessment data
Computer Assessment
Radiographical technique used to locate and assess the extent of organic damage to the brain without surgery
Computerized Axial Tomohraphy (CAT) Scan
The percentage of twins sharing a disorder or trait
Concordance Rate
Childhood and adolescent disorders that can appear by age 9 and are marked by persistent acts of aggressive or antisocial behavior that may or may not be against the law
Conduct Disorders
Filling in of memory gaps with false and often irrelevant details
Confabulation
Commitment on the part of a professional person to keep information he or she obtains from a client confidential
Confidentiality
Simultaneous arousal of opposing impulses, desires, or motives
Conflict
Existing at birth or before birth, but not necessarily hereditary
Congenital
Genetic defect or environmental condition occurring before birth and causing a child to develop a physical or psychological anomaly
Congenital Defect
Direct involvement of the family in improving communication, interaction, and relationships among family members and fostering a family system that better meets the needs of each member
Conjoint Family Therapy
Awareness of inner or outer environment
Consciousness
Relatively constant biological makeup of an individual, resulting from the interaction of heredity and environment
Constitution
Community intervention approach that aims at helping individuals at risk for disorder by working indirectly through caretaker institutions (eg; police and teachers)
Consultation
Relationship, usually causal, between two events in which one is usually followed by the other
Contingency
Reward or reinforcement given regularly after each correct response
Continuous Reinforcement
A condition that increases the probability of developing a disorder but that is neither necessary nor sufficient for it to occur
Contributory Cause
Pattern in which symptoms of some physical malfunction or loss of control appear without any underlying organic pathology; originally called hysteria
Conversion Disorder
Pathological, involuntary muscle contractions
Convulsion
Efforts to deal with stress
Coping Strategies
Verbal tic in which an individual utters obscenities aloud
Coprolalia
Potentially lethal blockage of the arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle, or myocardium
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)
Nerve fibers that connect the two hemispheres of the brain
Corpus Callosum
A factor that co-varies with, or is associated with, some outcome of interest (eg; height and weight)
Correlate
The tendency of two variables to change together
- With positive correlation, as one variable goes up, so does the other; with negative correlation, one variable goes up as the other one goes down
Correlation
A statistic that ranges from +1.0 to -1.0 and reflects the degree of association between two variables
- The magnitude of the correlation indicates the strength of the association, and the sign indicates whether the correlation is positive or negative
Correlation Coefficient
A research strategy that examines whether and how variables go together (co-vary) without manipulating (changing) any variables
Correlational Research
Brain mechanisms that regulate autonomic and other bodily functions
Corticovisceral Control Mechanisms
Human stress hormone released by the cortex of the adrenal glands
Cortisol
Field of psychology that focuses on helping people with problems pertaining to education, marriage, or occupation
Counseling Psychology
Psychodynamic concept that the therapist brings personal issues, based on his or her own vulnerabilities and conflicts, to the therapeutic relationship
Countertransference
Treatment for disordered interpersonal relationships involving sessions with both members of the relationship present and emphasizing mutual need gratification, social role expectations, communication patterns, and similar interpersonal factors
Couple Therapy
Concealed, disguised, not directly observable
Covert
Behavioral treatment method for extinguishing undesirable behavior by associating noxious mental images with that behavior
Covert Sensitization
Legal question of whether a person should be permitted to use insanity as a defense after having committed a crime
Criminal Responsibility
Stressful situation that approaches or exceeds the adaptive capacities of an individual or a group
Crisis
Provision of psychological help to an individual or a group in times of severe and special stress
Crisis Intervention
Group of subjects who exhibit the disorder under study
Criterion Group
The desire to be, or the insistence that one is, of the opposite sex
Cross Gender Identification
Refer to a psychologist’s need to be informed of the issues involved in multicultural assessment
Cultural Competence
Position that one cannot apply universal standards of normality or abnormality to all societies
Cultural Relativism
Mild mood disorder characterized by cyclical periods of hypomanic and depressive symptoms
Cyclothymic Disorder
Small protein molecules that enable the brain and the immune system to communicate with each other
- These can augment or enhance an immune system response or cause immunosuppression, depending on the specific cytokine that is released
Cytokines
Community based mental hospital where patients are treated during the day, returning to their homes at night
Day Hospital
Psychological debriefing is a brief, directive treatment method that is used in helping people who have undergone a traumatic situation
- Debriefing sessions are usually conducted with small groups of trauma victims shortly after the incident for the purpose of helping them deal with the emotional residuals of the event
Debriefing Sessions
Behavior directed primarily at protecting the self from hurt and disorganization rather than at resolving the situation
Defense Oriented Response
Movement to close mental hospitals and treat people with severe mental disorders in the community
Deinstitutionalization
Retarded ejaculation, or the inability to ejaculate following a normal sexual excitement phase
Delayed Ejaculation Disorder
Antisocial or illegal behavior by a minor
Delinquency
State of mental confusion characterized by relatively rapid onset of widespread disorganization of the higher mental processes, caused by a generalized disturbance in brain metabolism
- May include impaired perception, memory, and thinking and abnormal psychomotor activity
Delirium
False belief about reality maintained in spite of strong evidence to the contrary
Delusion
False belief that one is a noted or famous person, such as Napoleon or the Virgin Mary
Delusion of Grandeur
False belief that one is being mistreated or interfered with by one’s enemies
Delusion of Persecution
Nurturing, giving voice to, and sometimes taking action on beliefs that are considered completely false by others; formerly called paranoia
Delusional Disorder
Internally coherent, systematized pattern of delusions
Delusional System
Progressive deterioration of brain functioning occurring after the completion of brain maturation in adolescence
- Characterized by deficits in memory, abstract thinking, acquisition of new knowledge or skills, visuospatial comprehension, motor control, problem solving, and judgement
- Now referred to as major neurocognitive disorder
Dementia
Older term for schizophrenia
Dementia Praecox
Viewpoint emphasizing supernatural causation of mental disorder, especially “possession” by evil spirits or forces
Demonology
Ego defense mechanism that protects the self from an unpleasant reality by refusing to perceive or face it
Denial of Reality
Tendency to over rely on others
Dependence
Extreme dependence on others, particularly the need to be taken care of, leading to clinging and submissive behavior
Dependent Personality Disorder
In an experiment, the factor that is observed to change with changes in the manipulated (independent) variables
Dependent Variable
Temporary loss of sense of one’s own self and one’s own reality
Depersonalization
Dissociative disorder in which episodes of depersonalization and derealization become persistent and recurrent
Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder
Emotional state characterized by extraordinary sadness and dejection
Depression
Period of markedly depressed mood or loss of interest in formerly pleasurable activities (or both) for at least two weeks, accompanied by other symptoms such as changes in sleep or appetite or feelings of worthlessness
Depressive Episode
Provisional category of personality disorder in DSM-5 that involves a pattern of depressive cognitions and behaviors that begin by early adulthood and is pervasive in nature
Depressive Personality Disorder
Dysfunctional beliefs that are rigid, extreme, and counterproductive and that are thought to leave one susceptible to depression when experiencing stress
Depressogenic Schemas
Experience in which the external world is perceived as distorted and lacking a stable and palpable existence
Derealization
Therapeutic process by means of which reactions to traumatic experiences are reduced in intensity by repeatedly exposing a person to them in mild form, either in reality or in fantasy
Desensitization
First phase of the human sexual response, consisting of fantasies about sexual activity or a sense of desire to have sexual activity
Desire Phase
Premise that punishment for criminal offenses will deter that criminal and others from future criminal acts
Deterrence
Center or facility for receiving and detoxifying alcohol or drug intoxicated individuals
Detox Center
Treatment directed toward ridding the body of alcohol or other drugs
Detoxification
Problem that is rooted in deviations in the development process itself, thus disrupting the acquisition of skills and adaptive behavior and often interfering with the transition to well functioning adulthood
Developmental Disorder
Field of psychology that focuses on determining what is abnormal at any point in the developmental process by comparing and contrasting it with normal and expected changes that occur
Developmental Psychopathology
Acknowledgement that genetic activity influences neural activity, which in turn influences behavior, which in turn influences the environment, and that these influences are bidirectional
Developmental Systems Approach
Behavior that deviates markedly from the average or norm
Deviant Behavior
Determination of the nature and extent of a specific disorder
Diagnosis
A unique kind of cognitive and behavioral therapy specifically adapted for treating borderline personality disorder
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Predisposition or vulnerability to developing a given disorder
Diathesis
View of abnormal behavior as the result of stress operating on an individual who has a biological, psychosocial, or sociocultural predisposition to developing a specific disorder
Diathesis - Stress Model
Approach to classifying abnormal behavior that assumes that a person’s typical behavior is the product of differing strengths or intensities of behavior along several definable dimensions, such as mood, emotional stability, aggressiveness, gender, identity, anxiousness, interpersonal trust, clarity of thinking and communication, social introversion, and so on
Dimensional Approach
Method of collecting research data that involves directly observing behavior in a given situation
Direct Observation
Refers to the fact that, in correlational research, it cannot be concluded whether variable A causes variable B or whether variable B causes variable A
Direction of Effect Problem
Type of therapeutic approach in which a therapist supplies direct answers to problems and takes much of the responsibility for the progress of therapy
Directive Therapy
Reactions of many victims of major catastrophes during the traumatic experience and the initial and long lasting reactions after it
Disaster Syndrome
Marriage in which one or both of the partners are not gaining satisfaction from the relationship and one spouse may express frustration and disillusionment in hostile ways, such as nagging, belittling, and purposely doing things to annoy the other
Discordant Marriage
Ability to interpret and respond differently to two or more similar stimuli
Discrimination
Loss of organization or integration in any organized system
Disintegration
Severely impaired integration
Disorganization
Mental confusion with respect to time, place, or person
Disorientation
Ego defense mechanism that discharges pent up feelings, often of hostility, on objects less dangerous than those arousing the feelings
Displacement
Family that is incomplete as a result of death, divorce, separation, or some other circumstance
Disrupted Family
The human mind’s capacity to mediate complex mental activity in channels split off from or independent of conscious awareness
Dissociation
Psychogenically caused memory failure
Dissociative Amnesia
Conditions involving a disruption in an individual’s normally integrated functions of consciousness, memory, or identity
Dissociative Disorders
A dissociative amnesic state in which the person is not only amnesic for some or all aspects of his or her past but also departs from home surroundings
Dissociative Fugue
Condition in which a person manifests at least two or more distinct identities or personality states that alternate in some way in taking control of behavior
- Formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
Negative stress, associated with pain, anxiety, or sorrow
Distress
Family in which one or both parents behave in grossly eccentric or abnormal ways and may keep the home in constant emotional turmoil
Disturbed Family
Twins that develop from two separate eggs
Dizygotic (Fraternal) Twins
Deoxyribonucleic acid; principal component of genes
DNA
A gene whose hereditary characteristics prevail, in offspring, over any recessive gene that affects the same trait
Dominent Gene
Neurotransmitter from the catecholamine family that is initially synthesized from tyrosine, an amino acid common in the diet
- It is produced from L-DOPA by the enzyme dopamine decarboxylase
Dopamine
Hypothesis that schizophrenia is the result of an excess of dopamine activity at certain synaptic sites
Dopamine Hypothesis
Theory suggesting that addiction is the result of a dysfunction of the dopamine reward pathway
Dopamine Theory of Addiction
Situation in which a person will be disapproved for performing a given act and equally disapproved if he or she does not perform it
Double Bind
Type of faulty communication in which one person (eg; a parent) presents to another (eg; a child) ideas, feelings, and demands that are mutually incompatible
Double Bind Communication
Often used in studies examining drug treatment effects, a condition where neither the subject nor the experimenter has knowledge about what specific experimental condition (or drug) the subject is receiving
Double Blind Study
This condition is diagnosed when a person with dysthymia has a superimposed major depressive episode
Double Depression
Form of moderate to severe intellectual disability associated with a chromosomal abnormality and typically accompanied by characteristic physical features
Down Syndrome
Method involving the recording, description, and interpretation of a patient’s dreams
Dream Analysis
Internal conditions directing an organism toward a specific goal, often involving biological rather than psychological motives
Drive
Use of a drug to the extent that it interferes with health and/or occupational or social adjustment
Drug Abuse
Physiological or psychological dependence on a drug
Drug Addiction (Dependence)
Current diagnostic manual of the American Psychiatric Association
DSM-5
Condition of arrested growth and very short stature
Dwarfism
Two person group
Dyad
Integrated evaluation of an individual’s personality traits, behavior patterns, environmental demands, and the like to describe the person’s current situation and to hypothesize about what is driving the person to behave in maladaptive ways
Dynamic Formulation
Impairment or disturbance in the functioning of an organ or in behavior
Dysfunction
Negative beliefs that are rigid, extreme, and counterproductive
Dysfunctional Beliefs
Impairment of the ability to read
Dyslexia
Painful coitus in a male or a female
Dyspareunia
Abnormal brain wave pattern
Dysrhythmia
Moderately severe mood disorder characterized by a persistently depressed mood most of the day for more days than not for at least 2 years
- Additional symptoms may include poor appetite, sleep disturbance, lack of energy, low self esteem, difficulty concentrating, and feelings of hopelessness
Dysthymic Disorder
Form of Alzheimer’s disease that appears in people who are younger than approximately 60 years of age
- Thought to be caused by rare genetic mutations
Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease
A diagnostic category reserved for disorders of eating that do not meet criteria for any other specific eating disorder
Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS)
Disorders of food ingestion, regurgitation, or attitude that affect health and well being, such as anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating
Eating Disorders
Parrot like repetition of a few words or phrases
Echolalia
A human manufactured drug that is taken orally and acts as both a stimulant and a hallucinogen
- The drug effects include feelings of mental stimulation, emotional warmth, enhanced sensory perception, and increased physical energy
Ecstasy
Swelling of tissues
Edema
A statistical term referring to the strength of the relationship between two variables in a statistical population
Effect Size
In a situation where treatment is tested under ideal conditions (usually in a controlled clinical trial), this is how well a given treatment improves clinical outcome compared to a control or comparison condition
Efficacy
In psychoanalytic theory, the rational part of the personality that mediates between the demands of the id, the constraints of the superego, and the realities of the external world
Ego
Psychodynamic theory emphasizing the importance of the ego - the “executive branch of the personality” - in organizing normal personality development
Ego Psychology
Preoccupied with one’s own concerns and relatively insensitive to the concerns of others
Egocentric
Psychic mechanisms that discharge or soothe anxiety rather than coping directly with an anxiety provoking situation; usually unconscious and reality distorting
- Also called defense mechanisms
Ego Defense Mechanism
Use of electricity to produce convulsions and unconsciousness; a treatment used primarily to alleviate depressive and manic episodes
- Also known as electroshock therapy
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
Graphical record of the brain’s electrical activity obtained by placing electrodes on the scalp and measuring the brain wave impulses from various brain areas
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
Lodgment of a blood clot in a blood vessel too small to permit its passage
Embolism
Strong feeling accompanied by physiological changes
Emotion
Psychological disorder
Emotional Disturbance
Ability to understand, and to some extent share, the state of mind of another person
Empathy
Inflammation of the brain
Encephalitis
Disorder in children who have not learned appropriate toileting for bowel movements after age 4
Encopresis
Small group designed to provide an intensive interpersonal experience focusing on feelings and group interactions; used in therapy or to promote personal growth
Encounter Group
Ductless glands that secrete hormones directly into the lymph or bloodstream
Endocrine Glands
Factors originating within an organism that affect behavior
Endogenous Factors
Discrete, measurable traits that are thought to be linked to specific genes that might be important in schizophrenia or other mental disorders
Endophenotypes
Opiates produced in the brain and throughout the body that function like neurotransmitters to dampen pain sensations
- They also play a role in the body’s building up tolerance to certain drugs
Endorphins
Bed wetting; involuntary discharge of urine after the age of expected continence (age 5)
Enuresis
Field of psychology focusing on the effects of an environmental setting on an individual’s feelings and behavior
Environmental Psychology
Attempts to establish the patterns of occurrence of certain (mental) disorders in different times, places, and groups of people
Epidemiological Studies
Study of the distribution of diseases, disorders, or health related behaviors in a given population
- Mental health epidemiology is the study of the distribution of mental disorders
Epidemiology
Group of disorders varying from momentary lapses of consciousness to generalized convulsions
Epilepsy
Hormone secreted by the adrenal medulla; also called adrenaline
Epinephrine
Term used to describe a disorder that tends to abate and recur
Episodic
Steady state; balance
Equilibrium
Sexual dysfunction in which a male is unable to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for successful sexual gratification; formerly known as impotence
Erectile Disorder
Pertaining to sexual stimulation and gratification
Erotic
Instrumental response in which a subject learns to terminate or escape an aversive stimulus
Escape Learning
Female hormones produced by the ovaries
Estrogens
Group of people who are treated as distinctive in terms of culture and group patterns
Ethnic Group
Factors that are related to the development (or cause) of a particular disorder
Etiology
Exaggerated feeling of well being and contentment
Euphoria
Positive stress
Eustress
Treatment that has been demonstrated to be superior to a standard comparison treatment or to placebo in a randomized controlled trial
Evidence Based Treatment
Intensify
Exacerbate
Third and final stage of responding to continued excessive trauma, in which a person’s adaptive resources are depleted and the coping patterns developed during the resistance stage fail
Exhaustion
Intentional exposure of one’s genitals to others under inappropriate circumstances and without their consent
Exhibitionistic Disorder
Anxiety concerning one’s ability to find a satisfying and fulfilling way of life
Existential Anxiety
Disorder characterized by feelings of alienation, meaninglessness, and apathy
Existential Neurosis
Type of therapy that is based on existential thought and focuses on individual uniqueness and authenticity on the part of both client and therapist
Existential Psychotherapy
View of human beings that emphasizes an individual’s responsibility for becoming the kind of person he or she should be
Existentialism
Originating from or due to external causes
Exogenous
Religiously inspired treatment procedure designed to drive out evil spirits or forces from a “possessed” person
Exorcism
Group of subjects used to assess the effects of independent variables
Experimental Group
Rigorous scientific procedure by which hypotheses are tested
Experimental Method
Research that involves the manipulation of a given factor or variable with everything else held constant
Experimental Research
A method of treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder that combines intense exposure of the patient to feared conditions and then they are asked not to respond by engaging in their usual rituals to the feared stimuli
Exposure and Response Prevention
A technique in psychological treatment of anxiety disorders that involves exposing the patient to the feared object or context without any danger in order to overcome the anxiety
Exposure Therapy
Type of negative communication involving excessive criticism and emotional overinvolvement directed at a patient by family members
Expressed Emotion (EE)
The extent to which the findings from a single study are relevant to other populations, contexts, or times
External Validity
Modifying the perception of environmental stimuli acting on the body
Exteroceptive Conditioning
Gradual disappearance of a conditioned response when it is no longer reinforced
Extinction
Direction of interest toward the outer world of people and things rather than toward concepts and intellectual concerns
Extroversion
Feigning of symptoms to maintain the personal benefits that a sick role may provide, including the attention and concern of medical personnel or family members
Factitious Disorder
This diagnosis is given when a person deliberately falsifies medical or psychological symptoms in another adult, a child, or even a pet
- This occurs in the absence of any external reward (eg; insurance money)
- Methods might include fabrication, exaggeration of existing problems, or deliberate creation of illness or disease
- The person who induces the injury or disease is given the diagnosis, not the victim who is made ill or impaired
- Also called Factitious Disorder by Proxy or Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy
Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another
Statistical technique used for reducing a large array of intercorrelated measures to the minimum number of factors necessary to account for the observed overlap or associations among them
Factor Analysis
Technique whereby a stimulus causing some reaction is gradually replaced by a previously neutral stimulus such that the latter acquires the property of producing the reaction in question
Fading
“Memories” of events that did not actually happen, often produced by highly leading and suggestive techniques
False Memories
Pertaining to characteristics that tend to run in families and have a higher incidence in certain families than in the general population
Familial
The clustering of certain traits, behaviors, or disorders within a given family
- It may arise because of genetic or environmental similarities
Family Aggregation
Behavior genetic research strategy that examines the incidence of disorder in relatives of an index case to determine whether incidence increases in proportion to the degree of the hereditary relationship
Family History Method
Form of interpersonal therapy focusing on the within family behavior of a particular family member and the assumption that it is largely influenced by the behaviors and communication patterns of other family members
Family Systems Approach
A treatment approach that includes all family members, not just the identified patient
Family Therapy
Daydream; also, an ego defense mechanism by means of which a person escapes from the world of reality and gratifies his or her desires in fantasy achievements
Fantasy
A basic emotion that involves the activation of the “fight or flight” response of the sympathetic nervous system
Fear
Explicit information pertaining to internal physiological processes or to the social consequences of one’s overt behavior
Feedback
Persistent or recurrent delay in, or absence of, orgasm after a normal sexual excitement phase
Female Orgasmic Disorder
Sexual dysfunction involving an absence of sexual arousal and unresponsiveness to most or all forms of erotic stimulation
Female Sexual Interest/ Arousal Disorder
Observed pattern in infants born to mothers with alcoholism in which there is a characteristic facial or limb irregularity, low body weight, and behavioral abnormality
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Sexual variant in which sexual interest centers on some inanimate object or nonsexual part of the body
Fetishism
Embryo after the sixth week following conception
Fetus
Ego defense mechanism involving an unreasonable or exaggerated attachment to some person or arresting of emotional development on a childhood or adolescent level
Fixation
Schedule of reinforcement based on a fixed period of time after the previous reinforced response
Fixed Interval Schedule
A risk factor that cannot change within a person (eg; race cannot vary within a person, and white race is a marker of increased risk of suicide death)
Fixed Marker
Schedule of reinforcement based on reinforcement after a fixed number of nonreinforced responses
Fixed Ratio Schedule
Involuntary recurrence of perceptual distortions or hallucinations weeks or months after taking a drug; in posttraumatic stress disorder, a dissociative state in which the person briefly relives the traumatic experience
Flashback
The lack of emotional expression
Flat Affect
Anxiety eliciting therapeutic technique involving having a client repeatedly experience the actual internal or external stimuli that had been identified as producing anxiety reactions
Flooding
Research procedure in which people are studied over a period of time or are recontacted at a later time after an initial study
Follow Up Study
Pertaining to or used in a court of law
Forensic
Dizygotic twins; fertilized by separate germ cells, thus not having the same genetic inheritance
- May be of the same or of opposite sexes
Fraternal Twins
Method for probing the unconscious by having patients talk freely about themselves, their feelings, and their motives
Free Association
Anxiety not referable to any specific situation or cause
Free Floating Anxiety
Portion of the brain active in reasoning and other higher thought processes
Frontal Lobe
A term that refers to interest in rubbing, usually one’s pelvis or erect penis, against a non-consenting person for sexual gratification
Frotteurism
Thwarting of a need or desire
Frustration
Ability to withstand frustration without becoming impaired psychologically
Frustration Tolerance
Dissociative disorder that entails loss of memory for personal information accompanied by actual physical flight from one’s present life situation to a new environment or a less threatening former one
Fugue
Outdated term used to refer to disorders that were not considered to have an organic basis
Functional Mental Disorders
Internal scanning technique that measures changes in local oxygenation (blood flow) to specific areas of brain tissue that in turn depend on neuronal activity in those specific regions, allowing the mapping of psychological activity such as sensations, images, and thoughts
Functional MRI (fMRI)
Severe mental disorders for which a specific organic pathology has not been demonstrated
Functional Psychoses
Wagering on games or events in which chance largely determines the outcome
Gambling
Persistent discomfort about one’s biological sex or the sense that the gender role of that sex is inappropriate
Gender Dysphoria
Individual’s identification as being male or female
Gender Identity
Identification with members of the opposite sex, persistent discomfort with one’s biological sexual identity, and strong desire to change to the opposite sex
Gender Identity Disorder
A model that helps explain the course of a person’s biological deterioration under excessive stress; consists of three stages (alarm reaction, stage of resistance, and exhaustion)
Gender Adaptation Syndrome
Mental disorder associated with syphilis of the brain
General Paresis
The extent to which the findings from a single study can be used to draw conclusions about other samples
Generalizability
Tendency of a response that has been conditioned to one stimulus to be elicited by other, similar stimuli
Generalization
Chronic excessive worry about a number of events or activities, with no specific threat present, accompanied by at least three of the following symptoms: restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, sleep disturbance
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Long molecules of DNA that are present at various locations on chromosomes and that are responsible for the transmission of hereditary traits
Genes
Means by which DNA controls the sequence and structure of proteins manufactured within each cell and also makes exact duplicates of itself
Genetic Code
Counseling of prospective parents concerning the probability of their having impaired offspring as a result of genetic defects
Genetic Counseling
Potential for development and behavior determined at conception by egg and sperm cells
Genetic Inheritance
Science of the inheritance of traits and the mechanisms of this inheritance
Genetics
In psychoanalytic theory, the final stage of psychosexual development, involving a shift from autoeroticism to heterosexual interest
Genital Stage
Organs of reproduction, especially the external organs
Genitalia
Recurring difficulties of vaginal penetration or pelvic pain during intercourse
Genito - Pelvic Pain/ Penetration Disorder
This type of study allows researchers to scan the entire genomes of large numbers of individuals to search for genetic variants associated with specific diseases
- DNA is usually obtained from blood or from cheek swab samples
- The DNA is then placed on tiny chips and scanned on highly specialized automated machines
- Genetic variations in people with and without the disease or disorder are then compared
Genome - Wide Association Study (GWAS)
A person’s total genetic endowment
Genotype
Genotypic vulnerability that can shape a child’s environmental experiences
Genotype Environment Correlation
Differential sensitivity or susceptibility to their environments by people who have different genotypes
Genotype Environment Interaction
Science of the diseases and treatment of the older people
Geriatrics
Reproductive cells ( female ovum and male sperm) that unite to produce a new individual
Germ Cells
Science dealing with the study of old age
Gerontology
School of psychology that emphasizes patterns rather than elements or connections, taking the view that the whole is more than the sum of its parts
Gestalt Psychology
Therapy designed to increase the integration of thoughts, feelings, and actions and to promote self awareness and self acceptance
Gestalt Therapy
It is a hormone that is produced by the stomach
- It stimulates appetite
Ghrelin
Adrenocortical hormones involved in sugar metabolism but also having widespread effects on injury - repair mechanisms and resistance to disease; they include cortisol
Glucocorticoids
An excitatory neurotransmitter that is widespread throughout the brain
Glutamate
Sex glands
Gonads
Psychotherapy administered to several people at the same time
Group Therapy
Feelings of culpability arising from behavior or desires contrary to one’s ethical principles
- Involves both self devaluation and apprehension growing out of fears of punishment
Guilt
Plea and possible verdict that would provide an alternative to pleading not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) and would allow for placing a defendant in a treatment facility rather than in a prison
Guilty but Mentally Ill (GBMI)
Automatic process whereby a person’s response to the same stimulus lessens with repeated presentations
Habituation
Time needed for the level of an active drug or medication in the body to be reduced to 50 percent of the original level
Half Life
Facility that provides aftercare following institutionalization, seeking to ease a person’s adjustment to the community
Halfway House
False perceptions such as things seen or heard that are not real or present
Hallucinations
Drugs known to induce hallucinations; often referred to as psychedelics
Hallucinogens
Persistent hallucinations in the presence of known or suspected organic brain pathology
Hallucinosis
Strongest drug derived from the hemp plant; a relative of marijuana that is usually smoked
Hashish
Subspecialty within behavioral medicine that deals with psychology’s contributions to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of psychological components of physical dysfunction
Health Psychology
Paralysis of one lateral half of the body
Hemiplegia
Genetic transmission of characteristics from parents to their children
Heredity
Anatomical sexual abnormality in which a person has some sex organs of both sexes
Hermaphroditism
Powerful psychoactive drug, chemically derived from morphine, that relieves pain but is even more intense and addictive than morphine
Heroin
Sexual interest in a member of the opposite sex
Heterosexuality
Concept, articulated by Maslow, that needs arrange themselves in a hierarchy in terms of importance from the most basic biological needs to those psychological needs concerned with self actualization
Hierarchy of Needs
Term applied to persons showing great vulnerability to physical or mental disorders
High Risk
Excessive attention seeking, emotional instability, and self dramatization
Histrionic Personality Disorder
A new DSM-5 diagnosis characterized by long standing difficulties discarding possessions, even those of little value
Hoarding Disorder
Tendency of organisms to maintain conditions that make possible a constant level of physiological functioning
Homeostasis
Sexual preference for a member of one’s own sex
Homosexuality
Chemical messengers secreted by endocrine glands that regulate development of and activity in various parts of the body
Hormones
The identity in dissociative identity disorder that is most frequently encountered and carries the person’s real name
- This is not usually the original identity and it may or may not be the best adjusted identity
Host Identity (Personality)
Emotional reaction or drive toward the destruction or damage of an object interpreted as a source of frustration or threat
Hostility
Psychotherapies emphasizing personal growth and self direction
Humanistic- Experiential Therapies
Approach to understanding abnormal behavior that views basic human nature as good and emphasizes people’s inherent capacity for growth and self actualization
Humanistic Perspective
A rare and fatal degenerative disorder that is manifested in jerking, twitching movements, and mental deterioration
- Caused by a dominant gene on chromosome 4
- Formerly called Huntington’s Chorea
Huntington’s Disease
Relatively rare condition in which the accumulation of an abnormal amount of cerebrospinal fluid within the cranium causes damage to the brain tissues and enlargement of the skull
Hydrocephaly
Use of hot or cold baths, ice packs, and so on, in treatment
Hydrotherapy
Prefix meaning “increased” or “excessive”
Hyper-
Extreme overweight; 100 pounds or more above ideal body weight
Hyperobesity
Rapid breathing associated with intense anxiety
Hyperventilation
Partial loss of sensitivity
Hypesthesia
Trance like mental state induced in a cooperative subject by suggestion
Hypnosis
Use of hypnosis in psychotherapy
Hypnotherapy
Prefix meaning “decreased” or “insufficient”
Hypo-
Sexual dysfunction in which either a man or a woman shows little or no sexual drive or interest
Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder
Delusions concerning various horrible disease conditions, such as the belief that one’s brain is turning to dust
Hypochondriacal Delusions
Preoccupation, based on misinterpretations of bodily symptoms, with the fear that one has a serious disease
Hypochondriasis
Mild form of mania
Hypomania
A condition lasting at least 4 days in which a person experiences abnormally elevated, expansive, or irritable mood
- At least three out of seven other designated symptoms similar to those in a manic episode must also be present but to a lesser degree than in mania
Hypomanic Episode
The HPA axis is a hormonal feedback system that becomes activated by stress and results in the production of cortisol
Hypothalamic - Pituitary - Adrenal (HPA) Axis/System
Key structure at the base of the brain; important in emotion and motivation
Hypothalamus
Statement or proposition, usually based on observation, that is tested in an experiments may be refuted or supported by experimental results but can never be conclusively proved
Hypothesis
Insufficient delivery of oxygen to an organ, especially the brain
Hypoxia
Older term used for conversion disorders; involves the appearance of symptoms of organic illness in the absence of any related organic pathology
Hysteria
In psychoanalytic theory, the reservoir of instinctual drives and the first structure to appear in infancy
Id
Monozygotic twins; developed from a single fertilized egg
Identical Twins
Ego defense mechanism in which a person identifies himself or herself with some person or institution, usually of an illustrious nature
Identification
System of beliefs
Ideology
Excessive preoccupation with illness or fears of becoming ill
- Anxiety is present even when symptoms are mild or absent
- When symptoms are present, anxiety about the meaning of the symptoms is out of proportion to the severity of the medical problems being experienced
Illness Anxiety Disorder
Misinterpretation of sensory data; false perception
Illusion
Form of exposure therapy that does not involve a real stimulus
- Instead, the patient is asked to imagine the feared stimulus or situation
Imaginal Exposure
Pattern of childhood maladaptive behaviors suggesting lack of adaptive skills
Immaturity
Complex defensive reaction initiated on detection of an antigen invading the body
Immune Reaction
The body’s principal means of defending itself against the intrusion of foreign substances
Immune System
A downregulation or dampening of the immune system
- This can be short or long term and can be triggered by injury, stress, illness, and other factors
Immunosuppression
Memory that occurs below the conscious level
Implicit Memory
Perception that occurs below the conscious level
Implicit Perception
Exposure that takes place in a real life situation as opposed to in a therapeutic or laboratory setting
In Vivo Exposure
External inducement to behave in a certain way
Incentive
Culturally prohibited sexual relations between family members, such as a brother and sister or a parent and child
Incest
Occurrence (onset) rate of a given disorder in a given population
Incidence
Factor whose effects are being examined and which is manipulated in some way, while other variables are held constant
Independent Variable
Early detection and prompt treatment of maladaptive behavior in a person’s family and community setting
Indicated Intervention
Restraint of impulse or desire
Inhibition
Inborn
Innate
Hospitalized patient
Inpatient
Legal term for mental disorder, implying lack of responsibility for one’s acts and inability to manage one’s affairs
Insanity
The not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) plea used as a legal defense in criminal trials
Insanity Defense
Clinically, a person’s understanding of his or her illness or of the motivations underlying a behavior pattern; in general psychology, the sudden grasp or understanding of meaningful relationships in a situation
Insight
Type of psychotherapy that focuses on helping a client achieve greater self understanding with respect to his or her motives, values, coping patterns, and so on
Insight Therapy
Difficulty in sleeping
Insomnia
Inborn tendency to perform particular behavior patterns under certain conditions in the absence of learning
Instinct
Reinforcement of a subject for making a correct response that leads either to receipt of something rewarding or to escape from something unpleasant
Instrumental (Operant) Conditioning
Physiological treatment for schizophrenia that is rarely used today; it involved administration of increasing amounts of insulin until the patient went into shock
Insulin Coma Therapy
Modification of traditional behavioral couple therapy that has a focus on acceptance of the partner rather than being solely change oriented
Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT)
Significant impairment in general intellectual functioning that is accompanied by significant limitations in adaptive functioning and is obvious during the developmental period
Intellectual Disability
Ego defense mechanism by which a person achieves some measure of insulation from emotional hurt by cutting off or distorting the emotional charge that normally accompanies hurtful situations
Intellectualization
The ability to learn, reason, and adapt
Intelligence
Measurement of “intelligence” expressed as a number or position on a scale
Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
Test used in establishing a subject’s level of intellectual capability
Intelligence Test
Use of multidisciplinary teams with limited caseloads to ensure that discharged patients do not get overlooked and “lost” in the system
Intensive Care Management (ICM)
Integration of various scientific disciplines in understanding, assessing, treating, and preventing mental disorders
Interdisciplinary (Multidisciplinary) Approach
Reinforcement given intermittently rather than after every response
Intermittent Reinforcement
The extent to which a study is free of confounds, is methodologically sound, and allows the researcher to have confidence in the findings
Internal Validity
System of classification of disorders published by the World Health Organization
International Classification of Diseases (ICD -11)
This term refers to a learning process that is similar to classic conditioning
- It involves two conditioned stimuli and one unconditioned response
Interoceptive Conditioning
Fear of various internal bodily sensations
Interoceptive Fears
Process through which two people develop patterns of communication and interaction that enable them to attain common goals, meet mutual needs, and build a satisfying relationship
Interpersonal Accommodation
Approach to understanding abnormal behavior that views much of psychopathology as rooted in the unfortunate tendencies we develop while dealing with our interpersonal environments; it thus focuses on our relationships, past and present, with other people
Interpersonal Perspective
A time limited psychotherapy approach that focuses on the interpersonal context and on building interpersonal skills
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
A measure of the agreement between different raters, who assess the same person
Inter- Rater Reliability
Inner mental struggles resulting from the interplay of the id, ego, and superego when the three subsystems are striving for different goals
Intrapsychic Conflict
Internal process by which a child incorporates symbolically, through images and memories, important people in his or her life
Introjection
Insertion of the penis into the vagina or anus
Intromission
Observing (and often reporting on) one’s inner experiences
Introspection
Direction of interest toward one’s inner world of experience and toward concepts rather than external events and objects or people
Introversion
Form of radiation; major cause of gene mutations
Ionizing Radiation
Ego defense mechanism by means of which contradictory attitudes or feelings that normally accompany particular attitudes are kept apart, thus preventing conflict or hurt
Isolation
Legal term used to refer to illegal acts committed by minors
Juvenile Delinquency
General paresis in children, usually of congenital origin
Juvenile Paresis
Type of intellectual disability associated with sex chromosome anomaly
Klinefelter’s Syndrome
This disorder, also referred to as Korsakoff’s Dementia, Korsakoff’s Psychosis, or Amnesiac - Confabulatory Syndrome, is a neurological condition resulting from chronic alcohol abuse and severe malnutrition (vitamin B)
Korsakoff’s Syndrome
The unconcern about serious illness or disability that is sometimes characteristic of conversion disorder
La Belle Indifference
Assigning a person to a particular diagnostic category, such as schizophrenia
Labeling
Instability, particularly with regard to affect
Lability
In psychoanalytic theory, a stage of psychosexual development during which sexual motivations recede in importance and a child is preoccupied with developing skills and other activities
Latency Stage
Inactive or dormant
Latent
In psychoanalytic theory, repressed actual motives of a dream that are seeking expression but are so painful or unacceptable that they are disguised by the manifest content of the dream
Latent Content
The occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease in the more elderly
- One gene thought to be involved in this form of Alzheimer’s disease is the APOE gene
Late Onset Alzheimer’s Disease
Principle that responses that have rewarding consequences are strengthened and those that have aversive consequences are weakened or eliminated
Law of Effect
A theory that animals and people exposed to uncontrollable aversive events learn that they have no control over these events and this causes them to behave in a passive and helpless manner when later exposed to potentially controllable events
- Later extended to become a theory of depression
Learned Helplessness
Modification of behavior as a consequence of experience
Learning
A set of disorders that reflect deficits in academic performance
Learning Disorders
It is a hormone produced by fat cells that acts to reduce food intake
Leptin
Female homosexual person
Lesbian
Anatomically localized area of tissue pathology in an organ or a part of the brain
Lesion
Criteria used to assess the likelihood of a person’s committing suicide
Lethality Scale
In psychoanalytic theory, a term used to describe the instinctual drives of the id; the basic constructive energy of life, primarily sexual in nature
Libido
Stress situation that approaches or exceeds a person’s capacity to adjust
Life Crisis
Technique of psychological observation in which the development of particular forms of behavior is traced by means of records of a subject’s past or present behavior
Life History Method
General pattern of assumptions, motives, cognitive styles, and coping techniques that characterize a person’s behavior and give it consistency
Lifestyle
The proportion of living persons in a population who have ever had a disorder up to the time of the epidemiologic assessment
Lifetime Prevalence
Genetic research strategy in which occurrence of a disorder in an extended family is compared with that of a genetic marker for a physical characteristic or biological process that is known to be located on a particular chromosome
Linkage Analysis
A common salt formed from a soft, silver white metal; it has been found to reduce the symptoms of bipolar disorder although it has a number of negative side effects
Lithium
Muscular incoordination usually resulting from syphilitic damage to the spinal cord pathways
Locomotor Ataxia
A research design in which people are followed over time
Longitudinal Design
Lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD, is the most potent of the hallucinogens
- It is odorless, colorless, and tasteless, and an amount smaller than a grain of salt can produce intoxication
LSD
Old term roughly synonymous with insanity
Lunacy
Generalized term for white blood cells involved in immune protection
Lymphocyte
Rare type of intellectual disability characterized by an increase in the size and weight of the brain, enlargement of the skull, visual impairment, convulsions, and other neurological symptoms resulting from abnormal growth of glial cells that form the supporting structure for brain tissue
Macrocephaly
Literally, “big eater”
- A white blood cell that destroys antigens by engulfment
Macrophage
Internal scanning technique involving measurement of variations in magnetic fields that allows visualization of the anatomical features of internal organs, including the central nervous system and particularly the brain
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Placement of children with intellectual disabilities in regular school classrooms for all or part of the day
Mainstreaming
Moderate to severe mood disorder in which a person experiences only major depressive episodes but no hypnomanic, manic, or mixed episodes
- Single episode de if only one; recurrent episode if more than one
Major Depressive Disorder
A mental condition in which a person must be markedly depressed for most of every day for most days for at least 2 weeks
- In addition, a total of at least five out of nine designated symptoms must also be present during the same time period
Major Depressive Episode
A type of major depressive episode that includes a pattern of symptoms characterized by marked mood reactivity, as well as at least two out of four other designated symptoms
Major Depressive Episode with Atypical Features
A subset of major depressive disorders that is characterized by severe disturbances in motor function
Major Depressive Episode with Catatonic Features
A type of major depressive episode that includes marked symptoms of loss of interest or pleasure in almost al activities, plus at least three of six other designated symptoms
Major Depressive Episode with Melancholic Features
A new DSM-5 diagnosis, this involves severe impairment in cognitive functioning that reflects a significant decline from the person’s previous level of performance
- The problems in cognitive functioning create problems for the person in terms of their ability to perform routine activities
Major Neurocognitive Disorder
Antipsychotic drugs, such as the phenothiazines
Major Tranquilizers
Behavior that is detrimental to the well being of an individual or a group
Maladaptive (Abnormal) Behavior
More or less enduring failure of adjustment; lack of harmony with self or environment
Maladjustment
Sexual dysfunction in which a man shows little or no sexual drive or interest
Male Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder
Consciously taking illness or symptoms of disability to achieve some specific nonmedical objective
Malingering
Emotional state characterized by intense and unrealistic feelings of excitement and euphoria
Mania
A condition in which a person shows markedly elevated, euphoric, or expansive mood, often interrupted by occasional outbursts of intense irritability or even violence that lasts for at least 1 week
- In addition, at least three out of seven other designated symptoms must also occur
Manic Episode
Older term denoting a group of psychotic disorders characterized by prolonged periods of excitement and overactivity (mania) or by periods of depression and underactivity (depression) or by alternation of the two
- Now known as bipolar disorders
Manic Depressive Psychoses
In psychoanalytic theory, the apparent (or obvious) meaning of a dream; masks the latent (or hidden) content
Manifest Content
Standardization of psychosocial treatments (as in development of a manual) to fit the randomized clinical paradigm
Manualized Therapy
Mild hallucinogenic drug derived from the hemp plant; often smoked in cigarettes called reefers or joints
Marijuana
“Masking” of underlying depression or other emotional disturbance by delinquent behavior or other patterns seemingly unrelated to the basic disturbance
Masked Disorder
Sexual stimulation and gratification from experiencing pain or degradation in relating to a lover
Masochism
Self stimulation of genitals for sexual gratification
Masturbation
Lack of adequate care and stimulation by the mother or mother surrogate
Maternal Deprivation
Process of development and body change resulting from heredity rather than learning
Maturation
View of disordered behavior as a symptom of a disease process rather than as a pattern representing faulty learning or cognition
Medical Model
Subtype of major depression that involves loss of interest or pleasure in nearly all activities and other symptoms, including early morning awakenings, worse depression in the morning, psychomotor agitation or retardation, loss of appetite or weight, excessive guilt, and sadness qualitatively different from that usually experienced after a loss
Melancholic Type
Membranes that envelop the brain and spinal cord
Meninges
Scale unit indicating level of intelligence in relation to chronological age
Mental Age (MA)
Entire range of abnormal behavior patterns
Mental Disorder
Movement that advocated a method of treatment focused almost exclusively on the physical well being of hospitalized patients with mental disorders
Mental Hygiene Movement
Serious mental disorder
Mental Illness
Hallucinogenic drug derived from the peyote cactus
Mescaline
Theory of “animal magnetism” (hypnosis) formulated by Anton Mesmer
Mesmerism
Center of psychoactive drug activation in the brain
- This area is involved in the release of dopamine and in mediating the rewarding properties of drugs
Mesocorticolimbic Dopamine Pathway (MCLP)
A statistical method used to combine the results of a number of similar research studies
- The data from each study are transformed into a common metric called the effect size
- This allows the data from the various studies to be combined and then analyzed
- You can think of a meta-analysis as being like research that you are already familiar with, except that the “participants” are individual research studies, not individual people
Meta-analysis
Synthetic narcotic related to heroin; used in the treatment of heroin addiction because it satisfies the craving for heroin without producing serious psychological impairment
Methadone
Type of intellectual disability resulting from impaired development of the brain and a consequent failure of the cranium to attain normal size
Microcephaly
Intensely painful, recurrent headache that typically involves only one side of the head and may be accompanied by nausea and other disturbances
Migraine
Disorder low in severity
Mild (Disorder)
A new DSM-5 diagnosis that is characterized by a modest decline in cognitive functioning that does not interfere with the person’s ability to perform the routine tasks
Mild Neurocognitive Disorder
Immediate environment, physical or social or both
Milieu
General approach to treatment for hospitalized patients that focuses on making the hospital environment itself a therapeutic community
Milieu Therapy
Widely used and empirically validated personality scales
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
Antianxiety drugs, such as the benzodiazepines
Minor Tranquilizers
A condition in which a person is characterized by symptoms of both full blown manic and major depressive episodes for at least 1 week, whether the symptoms are intermixed or alternate rapidly every few days
Mixed Episode
Analogy that helps a scientist order findings and see important relationships among them
Model
Learning of skills by imitating another person who performs the behavior to be acquired
Modeling
Disorder intermediate in severity
Moderate (Disorder)
Class of antidepressant drugs sometimes used for treating depression
Monoamine - Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs)
Identical twins, developed from one fertilized egg
Monozygotic Twins
Delusions or hallucinations that are consistent with a person’s mood
Mood Congruent
Disturbances of mood that are intense and persistent enough to be clearly maladaptive
Mood Disorders
Delusional thinking that is inconsistent with a person’s predominant mood
Mood Incongruent
Wide ranging method of treatment that focuses on a patient’s social, individual, and occupational needs
Moral Management
Therapy based on provision of kindness, understanding, and favorable environment; prevalent during early part of the nineteenth century
Moral Therapy
Unhealthful; pathological
Morbid
Addictive drug derived from opium that can serve as a powerful sedative and pain reliever
Morphine
Often used as a synonym for drive or activation; implies that an organism’s actions are partly determined in direction and strength by its own inner nature
Motivation
A brief form of therapy, often used in areas of substance abuse and addiction, that allows clients to explore their desires, reasons, ability, and need for change
Motivational Interviewing
Internal condition that directs action toward some goal; the term is generally used to include both the drive and the goal to which it is directed
Motive
Gene that has undergone some change in structure
Mutant Gene
Change in the composition of a gene, usually causing harmful or abnormal characteristics to appear in the offspring
Mutation
Refusal or inability to speak
Mutism
Self love
Narcissism
Exaggerated sense of self importance, preoccupation with being admired, and lack of empathy for the feelings of others
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Disorder characterized by transient, compulsive states of sleepiness
Narcolepsy
Drugs, such as morphine, that lead to physiological dependence and increased tolerance
Narcotic Drugs
White blood cell that destroys antigens by chemical dissolution
Natural Killer Cell
A condition that must exist for a disorder to occur
Necessary Cause
Biological or psychological condition whose gratification is necessary for the maintenance of homeostasis or for self actualization
Need
The experience of an emotional state characterized by negative emotions
- Such negative emotions might include anger, anxiety, irritability, and sadness
Negative Affect
Thoughts that are just below the surface of awareness and that involve unpleasant pessimistic predictions
Negative Automatic Thoughts
Negative thoughts about the self, the world, and the future
Negative Cognitive Triad
A relationship between two variables such that a high score on one variable is associated with a low score on another variable
Negative Correlation
Schizophrenia characterized by an absence or deficit of normal behaviors, such as emotional expressiveness, communicative speech, and reactivity to environmental events
Negative Symptom Schizophrenia
Symptoms that reflect an absence or deficit in normal functions (eg; blunted affect, social withdrawal)
Negative Symptoms
Form of aggressive withdrawal that involves refusing to cooperate or obey commands, or doing the exact opposite of what has been requested
Negativism
New words; a feature of language disturbance in schizophrenia
Neologisms
Newborn infant
Neonate
Tumor
Neoplasm
General term used to refer broadly to lowered integration and inability to deal adequately with one’s life situation
Nervous Breakdown
A group of disorders in DSM-5 that are typically manifested in early childhood
Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Twisted and web like nerve filaments that characterize the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease
Neurofibrillary Tangles
Examination to determine the presence and extent of organic damage to the nervous system
Neurological Examination
Field concerned with the study of the brain and nervous system and disorders thereof
Neurology
Individual nerve cell
Neuron
Branch of biology concerned with the functioning of nervous tissue and the nervous system
Neurophysiology
Use of psychological tests that measure a person’s cognitive, perceptual, and motor performance to obtain clues to the extent and locus of brain damage
Neuropsychological Assessment
Disorders that occur when there has been significant organic impairment or damage to a normal adolescent or adult brain
Neuropsychological Disorders
Serious mood disturbances apparently caused by disruptions in the normal physiology of cerebral function
Neuropsychological Mood Syndromes
Changes in an individual’s general personality style or traits following brain injury of one or another type
Neuropsychological Personality Syndromes
Term historically used to characterize maladaptive behavior resulting from intrapsychic conflict and marked by prominent use of defense mechanisms
Neurosis
Surgery on the nervous system, especially the brain
Neurosurgery
Syphilis affecting the central nervous system
Neurosyphilis
Anxiety driven, exaggerated use of avoidance behaviors and defense mechanisms
Neurotic Behavior
Personality pattern including the tendency to experience anxiety, anger, hostility, depression, self consciousness, impulsiveness, and vulnerability
Neuroticism
Chemical substances that are released into a synapse by a presynaptic neuron and that transmit nerve impulses from one neuron to another
Neurotransmitters
Addictive alkaloid that is the chief active ingredient in tobacco and a drug of dependence
Nicotine
Mental hospital in which an individual may receive treatment during all or part of the night while carrying on his or her usual occupation during the daytime
Night Hospital
Fixed belief that everything is unreal
Nihilistic Delusion
A formalized naming system
Nomenclature
Approach to psychotherapy in which a therapist refrains from giving advice or directing the therapy
Nondirective Therapy
Direct, deliberate destruction of body tissue in the absence of any intent to die
Nonsuicidal Self Injury (NSSI)
Catecholamine neurotransmitter substance
Norepinephrine
Standard based on the measurement of a large group of people; used for comparing the scores of an individual with those of others in a defined group
Norm
Conforming to the usual or norm; healthy
Normal
Tendency for most members of a population to cluster around a central point or average with respect to a given trait, with the rest spreading out to the two extremes in decreasing frequency
Normal Distribution
Stages of sleep not characterized by the rapid eye movements that accompany dreaming
NREM Sleep
The not guilty by reason of insanity plea, or NGRI, is a legal defense a defendant might use to claim that he or she was not guilty of a crime because of insanity
Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI)
The condition of having elevated fat masses in the body
- It is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher
Obesity
In psychoanalytic theory, this viewpoint focuses on an infant or young child’s interactions with “objects” (ie, real or imagined people), as well as how they make symbolic representations of important people in their lives
Object - Relations Theory
Structured tests, such as questionnaires, self inventories, or rating scales, used in psychological assessment
Objective Personality Tests
Learning through observation alone without directly experiencing an unconditioned stimulus (for classical conditioning) or a reinforcement (for instrumental conditioning)
Observational Learning
Systematic technique by which observers are trained to watch and record behavior without bias
Observational Method
In contrast to experimental research (which involves manipulating variables in some way and seeing what happens), in observational research the researcher simply observes or assesses the characteristics of different groups, learning about them without manipulating the conditions to which they are exposed
- Sometimes called correlational research, although the former is the preferred term
Observational Research
Persistent and recurrent intrusive thoughts, images, or impulses that a person experiences as disturbing and inappropriate but has difficulty suppressing
Obsessions
Anxiety disorder characterized by the persistent intrusion of unwanted and intrusive thoughts or distressing images; these are usually accompanied by compulsive behaviors designed to neutralize the obsessive thoughts or images or to prevent some dreaded event or situation
Obsessive - Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Perfectionism and excessive concern with maintaining order, control, and adherence to rules
Obsessive - Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD)
Portion of cerebrum concerned chiefly with visual function
Occipital Lobe
Hallucinations involving the sense of smell
Olfactory Hallucinations
Form of learning in which if a particular response is reinforced, it becomes more likely to be repeated on similar occasions
Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning
Definition of a concept on the basis of a set of operations that can be observed and measured
Operational Definition
Narcotic drug that leads to physiological dependence and the development of tolerance; derivatives are morphine, heroin, and codeine
Opium
Childhood disorder that appears by age 6 and is characterized by persistent acts of aggressive or antisocial behavior that may or may not be against the law
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
First stage of psychosexual development in Freudian theory, in which mouth or oral activities are the primary source of pleasure
Oral Stage
Outdated term used to refer to disorders that resulted from some identifiable brain pathology
Organic Mental Disorders
Concept that all mental disorders have an organic basis
Organic Viewpoint
Third phase of the human sexual response, during which there is a release of sexual tension and a peaking of sexual pleasure
Orgasm
Studies of effectiveness of treatment
Outcome Research
Ambulatory client who visits a hospital or clinic for examination and treatment, as distinct from a hospitalized client
Outpatient
Female gonads
Ovaries
Disorder of childhood characterized by excessive worry and persistent fears unrelated to any specific event; often includes somatic and sleeping problems
Overanxious Disorder
Type of ego defense mechanism in which an undesirable trait is covered up by exaggerating a desirable trait
Overcompensation
Subjecting an organism to excessive stress, for example, forcing the organism to handle or “process” an excessive amount of information
Overloading
Shielding a child to the extend that he or she becomes too dependent on the parent
Overprotection
Activities that can be observed by an outsider
Overt Behavior
Female gamete or germ cell
Ovum
Experience of pain of sufficient duration and severity to cause significant life disruption in the absence of medical pathology that would explain it
Pain Disorder
A basic emotion that involves activation of the “fight or flight” response of the sympathetic nervous system and that is often characterized by an overwhelming sense of fear or terror
Panic
A severe, intense fear response that appears to come out of the blue; it has many physical and cognitive symptoms such as fear of dying or losing control
Panic Attack
Occurrence of repeated unexpected panic attacks, often accompanied by intense anxiety about having another one
Panic Disorder
A variety of biological challenge procedures that provoke panic attacks at higher rates in people with panic disorder than in people without panic disorder
Panic Provocation Procedures
Model or pattern; in research, a basic design specifying concepts considered legitimate and procedures to be used in the collection and interpretation of data
Paradigm
Symptoms of delusions and impaired contact with reality without the bizarreness, fragmentation, and severe personality disorganization characteristic of schizophrenia
Paranoia
Pervasive suspiciousness and distrust of others
Paranoid Personality Disorder
Persistent sexual behavior patterns in which unusual objects, rituals, or situations are required for full sexual satisfaction
Paraphilic Disorders
Person who has been trained in mental health services but not at the professional level
Paraprofessional
Division of the autonomic nervous system that controls most of the basic metabolic functions essential for life
Parasympathetic Nervous System
Exceptional sensations, such as tingling
Paresthesia
A neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor problems (rigidity, tremors) and caused by destruction of dopamine neurons in the brain
Parkinson’s Disease
Provisional category of personality disorder in DSM- IV-TR characterized by a pattern of passive resistance to demands in social or work situations, which may take such forms as simple resistance to performing routine tasks, being sullen or argumentative, or alternating between defiance and submission
Passive Aggressive Personality Disorder
Pertaining to conditions that lead to pathology
Pathogenic
Progressive disorder characterized by loss of control over gambling, preoccupation with gambling and obtaining money for gambling, and irrational gambling behavior in spite of adverse consequences
Pathological Gambling
Abnormal physical or mental condition
Pathology
Phencyclidine; developed as a tranquilizer but not marketed because of its unpredictability
- Known on the street as “angel dust”, this drug produces stupor and, at times, prolonged coma or psychosis
PCP
Observation of samples of relatives of each subject or each carrier of the trait or disorder in question
Pedigree (Family History) Method
A paraphilia in which an adult’s preferred or exclusive sexual partner is a prepubertal child
Pedophilic Disorder
Drug, similar to Ritalin, used to treat ADHD
Pemoline
Interpretation of sensory input
Perception
Processes involved in selective attention to aspects of the great mass of incoming stimuli that continually impinge on an organism
Perceptual Filtering
The need to get things exactly right
- A personality trait that may increase risk for the development of eating disorders, perhaps because perfectionistic people may be more likely to idealize thinness
Perfectionism
Test in which perceptual motor rather than verbal content is emphasized
Performance Test
Nerve fibers passing between the central nervous system and the sense organs, muscles, and glands
Peripheral Nervous System
Persistent continuation of a line of thought or activity once it is under way
- Clinically inappropriate repetition
Perseveration
A new DSM-5 disorder that involves long standing depressed mood (2 years or more)
- The disorder incorporates dysthymic disorder and chronic major depression from DSM-IV-TR
Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymic Disorder)
Unique pattern of traits that characterize an individual
Personality
Gradual development of inflexible and distorted personality and behavioral patterns that result in persistently maladaptive ways of perceiving, thinking about, and relating to the world
Personality Disorder
Inability to adapt to sustained or severe stressors
Personality or Psychological Decompensation
Graphical summary that is derived from several tests or subtests of the same test battery or scale and that shows the personality configuration of an individual or group of individuals
Personality Profile
Severely disabling conditions marked by deficits in language, perceptual, and motor development; defective reality testing; and inability to function in social situations
Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDDs)
Cognitive style involving a tendency to make internal, stable, and global attributions for negative life events
Pessimistic Attributional Style
Circulating white blood cell that binds to antigens and partially destroys them by engulfment
Phagocyte
In psychoanalytic theory, the stage of psychosexual development during which genital exploration and manipulation occur
Phallic Stage
The science of drugs
Pharmacology
Treatment by means of drugs
Pharmacotherapy
Pertaining to the immediate perceiving and experiencing of an individual
Phenomenological
The observed structural and functional characteristics of a person that result from interaction between the genotype and the environment
Phenotype
Type of intellectual disability resulting from a baby’s lack of a liver enzyme needed to break down phenylalanine, an amino acid found in many foods
Phenylketonuria (PKU)
Persistent and disproportionate fear of some specific object or situation that presents little or no actual danger
Phobia
Type of drug dependence involving withdrawal symptoms when drug is discontinued
Physiological Dependence
Form of presenile dementia
Pick’s Disease
Small gland at the base of the brain that helps regulate the body’s biological clock and may also establish the pace of sexual development
Pineal Gland
Endocrine gland associated with many regulatory functions
Pituitary Gland
Positive effect experienced after an inactive treatment is administered in such a way that a person thinks he or she is receiving an active treatment
Placebo Effect
An inert pill or otherwise neutral intervention that produces desirable therapeutic effects because of the subject’s expectations that it will be beneficial
Placebo Treatment
Abnormal accumulations of protein found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease
Plaques
Use of play activities in psychotherapy with children
Play Therapy
Demand that an instinctual need be immediately gratified regardless of reality or moral considerations
Pleasure Principle
The number of cases of a specific condition or disorder that can be found in a population at one given point in time
Point Prevalence
Caused by the action of many genes together in an additive or interactive fashion
Polygenic
A relationship between two variables such that a high score on one variable is associated with a high score on another variable
Positive Correlation
A new field that focuses on human traits (eg; optimism) and resources that are potentially important for health and well being
Positive Psychology
Reinforcer that increases the probability of recurrence of a given response
Positive Reinforcer
Schizophrenia characterized by something added to normal behavior and experience, such as marked emotional turmoil, motor agitation, delusions, and hallucinations
Positive Symptom Schizophrenia
Symptoms that are characterized by something being added to normal behavior or experience
- Includes delusions, hallucinations, motor agitation, and marked emotional turmoil
Positive Symptoms
Scanning technique that measures metabolic processes to appraise how well an organ is functioning
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scan
Subject’s lack of memory for the period during which he or she was hypnotized
Posthypnotic Amnesia
Suggestion given during hypnosis to be carried out by a subject after he or she is brought out of hypnosis
Posthypnotic Suggestion
Depression occurring after childbirth
- Most commonly it is mild and transient (postpartum blues) but can become a major depressive episode
Postpartum Depression
Disorder that occurs following an extreme traumatic event, in which a person reexperiences the event, avoids reminders of the trauma, and exhibits persistent increased arousal
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
The view that DID starts from the child’s attempt to cope with an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and powerlessness in the face of repeated traumatic abuse (also referred to as trauma theory)
Posttraumatic Theory (of DID)
Tendency to develop certain symptoms under given stress conditions
Predisposition
Surgical procedure used before the advent of antipsychotic drugs, in which the frontal lobes of the brain were severed from the deeper centers underlying them, resulting in permanent structural changes in the brain
Prefrontal Lobotomy
Emotionally toned conception favorable or unfavorable to some person, group, or idea - typically in the absence of sound evidence
Prejudice
Persistent and recurrent onset of orgasm and ejaculation with minimal sexual stimulation
Premature Ejaculation
Birth of an infant before the end of a normal period of pregnancy
Prematurity
Existing before the onset of mental disorder
Premorbid
Before birth
Prenatal
The view that people are biologically prepared through evolution to more readily acquire fears of certain objects or situations that may once have posed a threat to our early ancestors
- For example, people more readily develop fears of snakes and spiders if they are paired with aversive events, than they develop fears of knives or guns
Prepared Learning
Mental disorders resulting from brain degeneration before old age
Presenile Dementia
Major symptoms and behavior the client is experiencing
Presenting Problem
In a population, the proportion of active cases of a disorder that can be identified at a given point in time or during a given period
Prevalence
In psychodynamic theory it is the goal achieved by symptoms of conversion disorder by keeping internal intrapsychic conflicts out of awareness
- In contemporary terms it is the goal achieved by symptoms of conversion disorder by allowing the person to escape or avoid stressful situations
Primary Gain
Older term for preventative efforts aimed at reducing the incidence of a disease or disorder and fostering positive health
Primary Prevention
Gratification of id demands by means of imagery or fantasy without the ability to undertake the realistic actions needed to meet those instinctual demands
Primary Process Thinking
In a a genetic study, the original individual who evidences the trait in which the investigator is interested
- Same as index case
Proband
Inventory used in behavioral assessment to determine an individual’s fears, moods, and other problems
Problem Checklist
Behavioral term referring to one who has serious problems associated with drinking
Problem Drinker
Schizophrenic pattern - marked by seclusiveness, gradual waning of interest in the surrounding world, diminished emotional responsivity, and mildly inappropriate responses - that develops gradually and tends to be long lasting; alternatively known as Poor Premorbid Schizophrenia and Chronic Schizophrenia
Process Schizophrenia
Considered to be an early (subclinical) stage of schizophrenia, characterized by very low level symptoms or behavioral idiosyncrasies
Prodromal
Prediction of the probable course and outcome of a disorder
Prognosis
Ego defense mechanism of attributing one’s own unacceptable motives or characteristics to others
Projection
Techniques that use various ambiguous stimuli that a subject is encouraged to interpret and from which the subject’s personality characteristics can be analyzed
Projective Personality Tests
A behaviorally oriented treatment strategy in which a patient is asked to vividly recount the traumatic event over and over until the patient experiences a decrease in his or her emotional response
Prolonged Exposure
Method that often focuses on individuals who have a higher than average likelihood of becoming psychologically disordered before abnormal behavior is observed
Prospective Research
Influences that modify a person’s response to an environmental stressor, making it less likely that the person will experience the adverse effects of the stressor
Protective Factors
Approach to classifying abnormal behavior that assumes the existence of prototypes of behavior disorders that, rather than being mutually exclusive, may blend into others with which they share many characteristics
Prototypal Approach
Hallucinogenic drug derived from a variety of mushrooms
Psilocybin
Drugs such as LSD that often produce hallucinations
Psychedelic Drugs
Field of nursing primarily concerned with mental disorders
Psychiatric Nursing
Professional who has had graduate training in social work with psychiatric specialization, typically leading to a master’s degree
Psychiatric Social Worker
Medical doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders
Psychiatrist
Field of medicine concerned with understanding, assessing, treating, and preventing mental disorders
Psychiatry
Any aversive experience that inflicts serious psychological damage on a person
Psychic Trauma
Drug that affects mental functioning
Psychoactive Substance
Pathological use of a substance resulting in potentially hazardous behavior or in continued use despite a persistent social, psychological, occupational, or health problem
Psychoactive Substance Abuse
Use of a psychoactive substance to the point where one has a marked physiological need for increasing amounts of the substance to achieve the desired effects
Psychoactive Substance Dependence
Methods Freud used to study and treat patients
Psychoanalysis
Theory of psychopathology, initially developed by Freud, that emphasizes the inner dynamics of unconscious motives
Psychoanalytic Perspective
Psychotherapeutic technique in which the acting of various roles is an essential part
Psychodrama
Theories of psychopathology based on modification and revision of Freud’s theories
Psychodynamic Perspectives
Psychological treatment that focuses on individual personality dynamics, usually from a psychodynamic or psychodynamically derived perspective
Psychodynamic Therapy
Of psychological origin: originating in the psychological functioning of an individual
Psychogenic
Amnesia of psychological origin, common in initial reactions to traumatic experiences
Psychogenic Amnesia
Psychologically induced or maintained disease
Psychogenic Illness
A field of study analyzing history according to psychoanalytic principles
Psychohistory
The use of psychological procedures such as behavioral observations, interview, and psychological tests to obtain a picture of a client’s mental health symptoms and personality
Psychological Assessment
Analytical procedure used to determine whether or not death was self inflicted and, if so, why
Psychological Autopsy
Need emerging out of environmental interactions, for example, the need for social approval
Psychological Need
Use of psychological procedures or tests to detect psychological problems among applicants in preemployment evaluations
Psychological Screening
Standardized procedure designed to measure a subject’s performance on a specified task
Psychological Test
Involving both psychological and physical activity
Psychomotor
Slowing down of psychological and motor functions
Psychomotor Retardation
Study of the interactions between the immune system and the nervous system and the influence of these factors on behavior
Psychoneuroimmunology
Abnormal behavior
Psychopathology
A condition involving the features of antisocial personality disorder and such traits as lack of empathy, inflated and arrogant self appraisal, and glib and superficial charm
Psychopathy
Science of determining which drugs alleviate which disorders and why they do so
Psychopharmacology
Physical disorders in which psychological factors are believed to play a major causal role
Psychophysiological (Psychosomatic) Disorders
Measures of biological functioning including heart rate, blood pressure, EEG, and so on
Psychophysiological Variables
Freudian view of development as involving a succession of stages, each characterized by a dominant mode of achieving libidinal pleasure
Psychosexual Development
According to Freudian theory, there are five stages of psychosexual development, each characterized by a dominant mode of achieving sexual pleasure: the oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, the latency stage, and the genital stage
Psychosexual Stages of Development
Severe impairment in the ability to tell what is real and what is not real
Psychosis
Lack of needed stimulation and interaction during early life
Psychosocial Deprivation
Approaches to understanding mental disorders that emphasize the importance of early experience and an awareness of social influences and psychological processes within an individual
Psychosocial Viewpoints
Brain surgery used in the past with excessive frequency in the treatment of functional mental disorders
Psychosurgery
Treatment of mental disorders by psychological methods
Psychotherapy
Drugs whose main effects are mental or behavioral in nature
Psychotropic Drugs
Purging refers to the removal of food from the body by such means as self induced vomiting or misuse of laxatives, diuretics, and enemas
Purge
Personality measure in which a subject, or a clinician, sorts a number of statements into piles according to their applicability to the subject
Q Sort
Prejudice and discrimination directed toward individuals or groups because of their racial background
Racism
A procedure used to create equivalent groups in which every research participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any group in the study
Random Assignment
A procedure used to create equivalent groups in which every research participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any group in the study
Random Assignment
Sample drawn in such a way that each member of a population has an equal chance of being selected; it is hoped that such a sample will be fully representative of the population from which it is drawn
Random Sample
A clinical trial in which participants are randomly assigned to different treatments
Randomized Clinical Trials (RCTs)
A randomized controlled trial involves a specific treatment group (the group the researchers are most interested in) as well as a control treatment group (against which the treatment group will be compared)
- Participants have an equal chance of being placed in either group because placement is determined randomly
Randomized Controlled Trials
Sexual activity that occurs under actual or threatened forcible coercion of one person by another
Rape
A pattern of bipolar disorder involving at least four manic or depressive episodes per year
Rapid Cycling
Interpersonal relationship characterized by a spirit of cooperation, confidence, and harmony
Rapport
Formal structure for organizing information obtained from clinical observation and self reports to encourage reliability and objectivity
Rating Scales
Form of psychotherapy focusing on changing a client’s maladaptive thought processes, on which maladaptive emotional responses and thus behavior are presumed to depend
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)
Ego defense mechanism that involves the use of contrived “explanations” to conceal or disguise unworthy motives for a person’s behavior
Rationalization
Ego defense mechanism that prevents the awareness or expression of unacceptable desires via the exaggerated adoption of seemingly opposite behavior
Reaction Formation
Schizophrenia pattern - marked by confusion and intense emotional turmoil - that normally develops suddenly and has identifiable precipitating stressors; alternatively known as Good Premorbid Schizophrenia, Type I Schizophrenia, and Acute Schizophrenia
Reactive Schizophrenia
Awareness of the demands of the environment and adjustment of behavior to meet these demands
Reality Principle
Behavior aimed at testing or exploring the nature of a person’s social and physical environment; often used more specifically to refer to testing the limits of the permissiveness of the social environment
Reality Testing
Gene that is effective only when paired with an identical gene
Recessive Gene
Shift back to one’s original behavior (often delinquent or criminal) after a period of treatment or rehabilitation
Recidivism
Increase in integration or inner organization
- Opposite of decompensation
Recompensation
A new occurrence of a disorder after a remission of symptom
Recurrence
Term used to describe a disorder pattern that tends to come and go
Recurrent
A form of major depression where the episodes of depression recur on a regular seasonal basis (fall/winter), but not at other times of the year
Recurrent Major Depressive Episode with a Seasonal Pattern
Sending or recommending an individual or family for psychological assessment or treatment
Referral
Ego defense mechanism of retreat to an earlier developmental level involving less mature behavior and responsibility
Regression
Use of reeducation rather than punishment to overcome behavioral deficits
Rehabilitation
The process of rewarding desired responses
Reinforcement
Return of the symptoms of a disorder after a fairly short period of time
Relapse
Degree to which a measuring device produces the same result each time it is used to measure the same thing or when two or more different raters use it
Reliability
Stage of sleep involving rapid eye movements (REM); associated with dreaming
REM Sleep
Marked improvement or recovery appearing in the course of a mental illness; may or may not be permanent
Remission
Small group selected in such a way as to be representative of the larger group from which it is drawn
Representative Sample
Ego defense mechanism that prevents painful or dangerous thoughts from entering consciousness
Repression
The ability to adapt successfully to even very difficult circumstances
Resilience
Second stage of responding to continuing trauma, involving finding some means to deal with the trauma and adjust to it
- In psychodynamic treatment, the person’s unwillingness or inability to talk about certain thoughts, motives, or experiences
Resistance
Tendency of a conditioned response to persist despite lack of reinforcement
Resistance to Extinction
Final phase of the human sexual response, during which a person has a sense of relaxation and well being
Resolution
Positive reinforcement technique used in therapy to establish, by gradual approximation, a response not initially in a person’s behavioral repertoire
Response Shaping
Fibers going from the reticular formation to higher brain centers and presumably functioning as a general arousal system
Reticular Activating System (RAS)
Neural nuclei and fibers in the brain stem that apparently play an important role in arousing and alerting an organism and in controlling attention
Reticular Formation
Loss of memory for events that occurred during a circumscribed period prior to brain injury or damage
Retrograde Amnesia
Research approach that attempts to retrace earlier events in the life of a subject
Retrospective Research
Method of trying to uncover the probable causes of abnormal behavior by looking backward from the present
Retrospective Strategy
A hypothesis suggesting that addiction is more likely to occur in individuals who have a genetic predisposition to be less satisfied by natural rewards, which leads them to overuse drugs as a way to adequately stimulate their reward pathway
Reward Deficiency Syndrome
Tendency to follow established coping patterns, with failure to see alternatives or extreme difficulty in changing one’s established patterns
Rigidity
A correlate that occurs before some outcome of interest (eg; depression is a risk factor for suicide)
Risk Factor
Central nervous system stimulant often used to treat ADHD
Ritalin
Form of assessment in which a person is instructed to play a part, enabling a clinician to observe a client’s behavior directly
Role Playing
Use of 10 inkblot pictures to which a subject responds with associations that come to mind
- Analysis of these responses enables a clinician to infer personality characteristics
Rorschach Inkblot Test
Refers to the process of going over and over in one’s mind or going over a thought repeatedly time and again
Rumination
Group on which measurements are taken; should normally be representative of the population about which an inference is to be made
Sample
The process of selecting a representative subgroup from a defined population of interest
Sampling
Displacement of aggression onto some object, person, or group other than the source of frustration
Scapegoating
Program of rewards for requisite behavior
Schedule of Reinforcement
An underlying representation of knowledge that guides current processing of information and often leads to distortions in attention, memory, and comprehension
Schema
Form of psychotic disorder in which the symptoms of schizophrenia co-occur with symptoms of a mood disorder
Schizoaffective Disorder
Inability to form social relationships or express feelings, and lack of interest in doing so
Schizoid Personality Disorder
Disorder characterized by hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and behavior, as well as problems in self care and general functioning
Schizophrenia
Category of schizophrenic like psychosis less than 6 months in duration
Schizophreniform Disorder
Schizophrenia causing
Schizophrenogenic
Disorder characterized by excessive introversion, pervasive social interpersonal deficits, cognitive and perceptual distortions, and eccentricities in communication and behavior
Schizotypal Personality Disorder
Mood disorder involving at least two episodes of depression in the past 2 years occurring at the same time of year (most commonly fall or winter), with remission also occurring at the same time of year (most commonly spring)
Seasonal Affective Disorder
External circumstances that tend to reinforce the maintenance of disability
Secondary Gain
Older term for prevention techniques that typically involve emergency or crisis intervention, with efforts focused on reducing the impact, duration, or spread of a problem
Secondary Prevention
Reality oriented rational processes of the ego for dealing with the external world and the exercise of control over id demands
Secondary Process Thinking
Reinforcement provided by a stimulus that has gained reward value by being associated with a primary reinforcing stimulus
Secondary Reinforcer
Drug used to reduce tension and induce relaxation and sleep
Sedative
Mobilization of prevention resources to eliminate or reduce a particular type of problem (such as teenage pregnancy or alcohol or drug abuse)
Selective Intervention
Condition that involves the persistent failure to speak in specific social situations and interferes with educational or social adjustment
Selective Mutism
A medication that inhibits serotonin and is used in the treatment of depression
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)
Integrating core of a personality that mediates between needs and reality
Self (Ego)
Being satisfied with one’s attributes and qualities while remaining aware of one’s limitations
Self Acceptance
Achieving one’s full potentialities as a human being
Self Actualizing
A person’s sense of his or her own identity, worth, capabilities, and limitations
Self Concept
Feeling of personal worth
Self Esteem
Way in which an individual views the self, in terms of worth, adequacy, and so forth
Self Evaluation
Person or “self” a person thinks he or she could and should be
Self Ideal (Ego Ideal)
Individuals delineation and awareness of his or her continuing identity as a person
Self Identity
Cognitive behavioral method aimed at teaching a person to alter his or her covert behavior
Self Instructional Training
Observing and recording one’s own behavior, thoughts, and feelings as they occur in various natural settings
Self Monitoring
Reward of self for desired or appropriate behavior
Self Reinforcement
Data collected directly from participants, typically by means of interviews or questionnaires
Self Report Data
Procedure in which a subject is asked to respond to statements in terms of their applicability to him or her
Self Report Inventory
Our view of what we are, what we might become, and what is important to us
Self Schema
A person’s implicit verbalizations of what he or she is experiencing
Self Statements
In a semi structured interview, the interviewer is required to ask questions in a specific order and in a specific way
- Then, depending on the answer, the clinician will ask his or her own follow up questions designed to obtain more information
Semi Structured Assessment Interview
Pertaining to old age
Senile
Mental disorders that sometimes accompany brain degeneration in old age
Senile Dementia
Learning to derive pleasure from touching one’s partner and being touched by him or her; this training is used in sexual therapy to enhance sexual feelings and help overcome sexual dysfunction
Sensate Focus Learning
Restriction of sensory stimulation below the level required for normal functioning of the central nervous system
Sensory Deprivation
Projective technique utilizing incomplete sentences that a person is to complete, analysis of which enables a clinician to infer personality dynamics
Sentence Completion Test
Childhood disorder characterized by unrealistic fears, oversensitivity, self consciousness, nightmares, and chronic anxiety
Separation Anxiety Disorder
According to Mahler, a developmental phase in which a a child gains an internal representation of the self as distinct from representations of other objects
Separation Individuation
Symptoms remaining as the aftermath of a disorder
Sequelae
A neurotransmitter from the indolamine class that is synthesized from the amino acid tryptophan
- Also referred to as 5-HT ( 5- hydroxytryptamine), this neurotransmitter is thought to be involved in a wide range of psychopathological conditions
Serotonin
The tendency of our bodies to resist efforts to bring about a marked change (increase or decrease) in weight
Set Point
Disorder of a high degree of seriousness
Severe (Disorder)
Major depression involving loss of contact with reality, often in the form of delusions or hallucinations
Severe Major Depressive Episode with Psychotic Features
Pair of chromosomes inherited by an individual that determine sex and certain other characteristics
Sex Chromosomes
Sexual contact that involves physical or psychological coercion or occurs when at least one individual cannot reasonably consent to the contact
Sexual Abuse
Refers to acts, separate from rape, that involve unwanted sexual contact, such as groping or fondling another person without that person’s consent
Sexual Assault
Sexual dysfunction in which a person shows extreme aversion to, and avoidance of, all genital sexual contact with a partner
Sexual Aversion Disorder
Impairment either in the desire for sexual gratification or in the ability to achieve it
Sexual Dysfunction
Disorder in which an individual achieves sexual gratification by inflicting physical or psychic pain or humiliation on a sexual partner
Sexual Sadism Disorder
Form of instrumental conditioning; at first, all responses resembling the desired one are reinforced, then only the closest approximations, until finally the desired response is attained
- Also called Successive Approximation
Shaping
Psychosis in which two or more people develop persistent, interlocking delusional ideas
- Also known as folie á deux
Shared Psychotic Disorder
Workshops where individuals with physical or mental disabilities can engage in constructive work in the community
Sheltered Workshops
Brief treatment that focuses on the immediate problem an individual or family is experiencing
Short Term Crisis Therapy
Offspring of the same parents
Siblings
Protected role provided by society via the medical model for a person suffering from a severe physical or mental disorder
Sick Role
In the interpersonal theory of psychological development, parents or others on whom an infant is dependent for meeting all physical and psychological needs
Significant Others
Objective observations that suggest to a diagnostician a patient’s physical or mental disorder
Signs
Common headaches in which stress leads to contraction of the muscles surrounding the skull; these contractions result in vascular constrictions that cause headache
Simple Tension Headaches
An experimental research design (eg; an ABAB design) that involves only one subject
Single Case Research Design
Test that measures performance in a simulated life situation
Situational Test
Disorder of childhood that involves repeated episodes of leaving the bed and walking around without being conscious of the experience or remembering it later
- Also known as Somnambulism
Sleepwalking Disorder
Fear of situations in which a person might be exposed to the scrutiny of others and fear of acting in a humiliating or embarrassing way
Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia)
Model of interpersonal relationships based on the premise that such relationships are formed for mutual gratification of needs
Social Exchange View
Trait characterized by shy, withdrawn, and inhibited behavior
Social Introversion
Group standards concerning which behaviors are viewed as acceptable and which as unacceptable
Social Norms
Abnormal patterns of social organization, attitudes, or behavior; undesirable social conditions that tend to produce individual pathology
Social Pathology
Ability to manage independently as an economically effective and interpersonally connected member of society
Social Recovery
Behavior expected of a person occupying a given position in a group
Social Role
Façade a person displays to others, as contrasted with the private self
“Social” Self
Applied offshoot of sociology concerned with analyzing social environments and providing services that enhance the adjustment of a client in both family and community settings
Social Work
Person in a mental health field with a master’s degree in social work (MSW) plus supervised training in clinical or social service agencies
Social Worker
Process by which a child acquires the values and impulse controls deemed appropriate by his or her culture
Socialization
View that DID develops when a highly suggestible person learns to adopt and enact the roles of multiple identities, mostly because clinicians have inadvertently suggested, legitimized, and reinforced them and because these different identities are geared to the individual’s own personal goals
Sociocognitive Theory (of DID)
Perspective that focuses on broad social conditions that influence the development or behavior of individuals and groups
Sociocultural Viewpoint
Position on social and economic scale in community; determined largely by income and occupational level
Socioeconomic Status
Having its roots in sociocultural conditions
Sociogenic
Barbiturate drug sometimes used in psychotherapy to produce a state of relaxation and suggestibility
Sodium Pentothal
Greek word for “body”
Soma
Pertaining to the body
Somatic
A new DSM-5 diagnosis characterized by somatic (physical) symptoms and an excessive focus (in thoughts, feelings, or behavior) on these symptoms
- Many people who would have been diagnosed with hypochondriasis in DSM-IV-TR will now be diagnosed with Somatic Symptom Disorder
Somatic Symptom Disorder
Special vulnerability of given organ systems to stress
Somatic Weakness
Multiple complaints, over a long period beginning before age 30, of physical ailments that are inadequately explained by independent findings of physical illness or injury and that lead to medical treatment or to significant life impairment
Somatization Disorder
Conditions involving physical complaints or disabilities that occur without any evidence of physical pathology to account for them
Somatoform Disorders
Intense, involuntary, usually painful contraction of a muscle or group of muscles
Spasm
Marked hypertonicity or continual overcontraction of muscles, causing stiffness, awkwardness, and motor incoordination
Spasticity
Developmental disorders involving deficits in language, speech, mathematical, or motor skills
Specific Learning Disorders
Persistent or disproportionate fears of various objects, places, or situations, such as fears of situations (airplanes or elevators), other species (snakes, spiders), or aspects of the environment (high places, water)
Specific Phobia
Different patterns of symptoms that sometimes characterize major depressive episodes that may help predict the course and preferred treatments for the condition
Specifiers (in Mood Disorders)
Male gamete or germ cell
Sperm
Research associated with split brain surgery, which cuts off the transmission of information from one cerebral hemisphere to the other by severing the corpus callosum
Split Brain Research
The return of a learned response at some time after extinction has occurred
Spontaneous Recovery
Third and final stage in the general adaptation syndrome, in which an organism is no longer able to resist continuing stress; may result in death
Stage of Exhaustion
Second stage of the general adaptation syndrome
Stage of Resistance
Procedure for establishing the expected performance range on a test
Standardization
Standardized intelligence test for children
Stanford - Binet
Sudden involuntary motor reaction to intense unexpected stimuli; may result from mild stimuli if a person is hypersensitive
Startle Reaction
A measure of the probability that a research finding could have occurred by chance alone
Statistical Significance
Sexual intercourse with a minor
Statutory Rape
Tendency of an organism to maintain conditions that make possible a constant level of physiological functioning
Steady States (Homeostasis)
The tendency to jump to conclusions (often negative) about what a person is like based on the beliefs about that group that exist (often incorrectly) in the culture (eg; French people are rude, homosexuals have good taste in clothes, and patients with mental illness are dangerous)
Stereotyping
Persistent and inappropriate repetition of phrases, gestures, or acts
Stereotypy
Negative labeling
Stigma
Drugs that tend to increase feelings of alertness, reduce feelings of fatigue, and enable a person to stay awake over sustained periods of time
Stimulants
Spread of a conditioned response to some stimulus similar to, but not identical with, the conditioned stimulus
Stimulus Generalization
A medication used in the treatment of ADHD
Strattera
Effects created within an organism by the application of a stressor
Stress
Type of self instructional training focused on altering self statements that a person routinely makes in stress producing situations
Stress Inoculation Therapy
Preventative strategy that prepares people to tolerate an anticipated threat by changing the things they say to themselves before the crisis
Stress Inoculation Training
A person’s ability to withstand stress without becoming seriously impaired
Stress Tolerance
Adjustive demands that require coping behavior on the part of an individual or group
Stressors
Treatment of an entire family by analysis of interaction among family members
Structural Family Therapy
Interview with a set introduction that follows a predetermined set of procedures and questions throughout
Structured Assessment Interview
Condition of lethargy and unresponsiveness, with partial or complete unconsciousness
Stupor
Ego defense mechanism that channels frustrated expression of sexual energy into substitutive activities
Sublimation
Maladaptive pattern of substance use manifested by recurrent and significant adverse consequences related to the use of the substance
Substance Abuse
Severe form of substance use disorder involving physiological dependence on the substance, tolerance, withdrawal, and compulsive drug taking
Substance Dependence
Patterns of maladaptive behavior centered on the regular use of a substance, such as a drug or alcohol
Substance Related Disorders
Acceptance of substitute goals or satisfactions in place of those originally sought or desired
Substitution
A condition that guarantees the occurrence of a disorder
Sufficient Cause
Taking one’s own life
Suicide
Study of the causes and prevention of suicide
Suicidology
Conscience; ethical or moral dimensions (attitudes) of personality
Superego
Conscious forcing of desires or thoughts out of consciousness; conscious inhibition of desires or impulses
Suppression
Substitute for another person, such as a parent or mate
Surrogate
Image, word, object, or activity that is used to represent something else
Symbol
Representation of one idea or object by another
Symbolism
System designed to mobilize resources and prepare for a fight or flight response
Sympathetic Adrenomedullary (SAM) System
Division of the autonomic nervous system that is active in emergency conditions of extreme cold, violent effort, and emotions
Sympathetic Division
Patient’s subjective description of a physical or mental disorder
Symptoms
Site of communication from the axon of one neuron to the dendrites or cell body of another neuron - a tiny filled space between neurons
Synapse
Group or pattern of symptoms that occur together in a disorder and represent the typical picture of the disorder
Syndrome
Substances that mimic the effects of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active plant derived substance in marijuana
Synthetic Cannabinoids
Substances that mimic the effects of amphetamines and cocaine by activating the body’s monoamine system
Synthetic Cathinones
Assemblage of interdependent parts, living or nonliving
System
Behavior therapy technique for extinguishing maladaptive anxiety responses by teaching a person to relax or behave, while in the presence of the anxiety producing stimulus, in some other way that is inconsistent with anxiety
Systematic Desensitization
Rapid heartbeat
Tachycardia
Hallucinations involving the sense of touch
Tactual Hallucinations
Ruling by a California court (1974) that a therapist has a duty to warn a prospective victim of an explicit threat expressed by a client in therapy
Tarasoff Decision
Neurological disorder resulting from excessive use of antipsychotic drugs
- Side effects can occur months to years after treatment has been initiated or has stopped
- The symptoms involve involuntary movements of the tongue, lips, jaw, and extremities
Tardive Dyskinesia
Making changes in one’s self, one’s surroundings, or both, depending on the situation
Task Oriented Response
Genetic disorder of lipid metabolism usually resulting in death by age 3
Tay-Sachs Disease
A type of white blood cell that, when activated, can recognize specific antigens
- T-cells play an important role in the immune system
T-cell
Communication from one person to another without use of any known sense organs
Telepathy
Human telomeres are the protective ends of our chromosomes
- They are made up of repeated sequences of DNA
- Their presence protects the genes close to then from being damaged and truncated during cell division
- These shorten as we age
- Stress also reduces the length of these
Telomere
Pattern of emotional and arousal responses and characteristic ways of self regulation that are considered to be primarily hereditary or constitutional
Temperament
Portion of the cerebrum located in front of the occipital lobe and separated from the frontal and parietal lobes by the fissure of Sylvius
Temporal Lobe
Condition arising from the mobilization of psychobiological resources to meet a threat; physically, involves an increase in muscle tone and other emergency changes; psychologically, is characterized by feelings of strain, uneasiness, and anxiety
Tension
Older term for preventative techniques focused on reducing long term consequences of disorders or serious problems
Tertiary Prevention
Degree to which a test actually measures what it was designed to measure
Test Validity
Male reproductive glands or gonads
Testes
Male sex hormone
Testosterone
Consistency with which a test measures a given trait on repeated administrations of the test to given subjects
Test - Retest Reliability
Use of a series of simple pictures about which a subject is instructed to make up stories
- Analysis of the stories gives a clinician clues about the person’s conflicts, traits, personality dynamics, and the like
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
Pertaining to treatment or healing
Therapeutic
Hospital environment used for therapeutic purposes
Therapeutic Community
Treatment; application of various treatment techniques
Therapy
Refers to the problem of making causal inferences in correlational research, where the correlation between two variables could be due to their shared correlation with an unmeasured third variable
Third Variable Problem
Endocrine gland located in the neck that influences body metabolism, rate of physical growth, and development of intelligence
Thyroid
Hormone secreted by the thyroid glands
Thyroxin
Persistent, intermittent muscle twitch or spasm, usually limited to a localized muscle group, often of the facial muscles
Tic
Reinforcement techniques often used in hospital or institutional settings in which patients are rewarded for socially constructive behaviors with tokens that can then be exchanged for desired objects or activities
Token Economics
Need for increased amounts of a substance to achieve the desired effects
Tolerance
Extreme tic disorder involving uncontrollable multiple motor and vocal patterns
Tourette’s Disorder
Poisonous
Toxic
Widely used form of therapy that uses behavioral approaches to bring about changes in the marital relationship
Traditional Behavioral Couple Therapy (TBCT)
Characteristic of a person that can be observed or measured
Trait
Sleep like state in which the range of consciousness is limited and voluntary activities are suspended; a deep hypnotic state
Trance
Drugs used for reduction of psychotic symptoms (major tranquilizers) or reduction of anxiety and tension (minor tranquilizers)
Tranquilizers
A treatment in which the clinician positions a pulsed magnet over a carefully selected area of the patient’s scalp and uses it to create an electrical field that increases or decreases neuronal activity in the brain
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
In psychodynamic therapy, a process whereby clients project onto the therapist attitudes and feelings that they have had for a parent or others close to them
Transference
Achievement of sexual arousal and satisfaction by dressing as a member of the opposite sex
Transvestic Disorder
Severe psychological or physiological stressor
Trauma
The view that DID starts from the child’s attempt to cope with an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and powerlessness in the face of repeated traumatic abuse (also called Posttraumatic Theory [of DID])
Trauma Theory
Pertaining to a wound or injury or to psychic shock
Traumatic
Brain damage resulting from motor vehicle crashes, bullets, or other objects entering the brain, and other severe impacts to the head
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Mistreatment in childhood severe enough to cause psychological damage
Traumatic Childhood Abuse
Explicit arrangement between a therapist and a client designed to bring about specific behavioral changes
Treatment Contract
Repeated fine spastic movement
Tremor
Chronic pulling out of one’s own hair
Trichotillomania
Medications used to treat depression, and sometimes anxiety disorders, that are thought to block the reuptake of norepinephrine and serotonin at the synapse
Tricyclic Antidepressants
A standard distribution of scores that allows for a comparison of scores on a test by comparing scores with a group of known values
T Score Distribution
The use of identical and nonidentical twins to study genetic influences on abnormal behavior
Twin Method
Excessive competitive drive even when it is unnecessary, impatience or time urgency, and hostility
Type A Behavior Pattern
Type D (for distressed) personality is characterized by high levels of negative emotions and social anxiety
- Research suggests that Type D Personality is linked to heart attacks
Type D Personality
Psychotic behavior of the positive syndrome variety thought to involve chiefly temporolimbic brain structures
Type I Schizophrenia
Psychotic behavior of the negative syndrome variety thought to involve chiefly frontal brain structures
Type II Schizophrenia
In psychoanalytic theory, a major portion of the mind, which consists of a hidden mass of instincts, impulses, and memories and is not easily available to conscious awareness, yet plays an important role in behavior
Unconscious
Inadequate physiological response to a given stimulus
Underarousal
Ego defense mechanism of atoning for or magically trying to dispel unacceptable desires or acts
Undoing
Mood disorder in which a person experiences only depressive episodes, as opposed to bipolar disorder, in which both manic and depressive episodes occur
Unipolar Depressive Disorder
The tasks of altering conditions that cause or contribute to mental disorders (risk factors) and establishing conditions that foster positive mental health (protective factors)
Universal Intervention
Typically subjective interviews that do not follow a predetermined set of questions
- The beginning statements in the interview are usually general, and follow up questions are tailored for each client
- The content of the interview questions is influenced by the habits or theoretical views of the interviewer
Unstructured Assessment Interviews
Involuntary spasm of the muscles at the entrance to the vagina that prevents penetration and sexual intercourse
Vaginismus
Extent to which a measuring instrument actually measures what it purports to measure
Validity
Characteristic or property that may assume any one of a set of different qualities or quantities
Variable
A variable risk factor that, when changed, doesn’t influence the outcome of interest (ie; it can vary, but it is still a marker of increased risk for the outcome of interest)
Variable Marker
A risk factor that can change within a person (eg; level of depression can vary within a person)
Variable Risk Factor
A brain disorder in which a series of small strokes destroys neurons, leading to brain atrophy and behavioral impairments that are similar to Alzheimer’s disease
Vascular Dementia
Pertaining to the walls of the blood vessels
Vasomotor
Withdrawn or deteriorated to the point of leading a passive, vegetable like existence
Vegetative
Test in which a subject’s ability to understand and use words and concepts is important in making the required responses
Verbal Test
Dizziness
Vertigo
Accentuation of masculine secondary sex characteristics, especially in a woman or young boy, caused by hormonal imbalance
Virilism
Internal organs
Viscera
Disorder in which an individual achieves sexual pleasure through clandestine “peeping”, usually watching other people disrobe and/or engage in sexual activities
Voyeuristic Disorder
Factors that render a person susceptible to behaving abnormally
Vulnerabilities
Standardized intelligence test for children
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)
Intellectual, emotional, or physical retreat
Withdrawal
Physical symptoms such as sweating, tremors, and tension that accompany abstinence from some drugs
Withdrawal Symptoms
Jumbled or incoherent use of words by individuals with psychosis or those who are disoriented
Word Salad
Sex determining chromosome; all female gametes contain X chromosomes, and if the fertilized ovum has also received an X chromosome from its father, it will be female
X Chromosome
Chromosomal anomaly in males (presence of an extra Y chromosome) possibly related to impulsive behavior
XYY Syndrome
Sex determining chromosome found in half of the total number of male gametes; its uniting with an X chromosome provided by a female produces a male offspring
Y Chromosome
Fertilized egg cell formed by the union of male and female gametes
Zygote
