AP Psych Unit 8 Flashcards
psychological disorder
a syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior
DSM-V
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition: A reference for coding psychiatric disorders or conditions.
anxiety disorder
a condition in which real or imagined fears are difficult to control
General Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
a chronic or long-lasting state of anxiety, fear, and tenseness
panic disorder
An anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations.
phobia
An extreme, irrational fear of a specific object or situation.
social anxiety disorder
an anxiety disorder involving the extreme and irrational fear of being embarrassed, judged, or scrutinized by others in social situations
agraphobia
a fear of being in places or situations in which escape may be difficult or impossible
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
an anxiety disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions)
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
a disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience
posttraumatic growth
positive psychological changes as a result of struggling with extremely challenging circumstances and life crises
mood disorders
psychological disorders characterized by emotional extremes
major depressive disorder
A mood disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or a medical condition, two or more weeks of significantly depressed moods, feelings of worthlessness, and diminished interest or pleasure in most activities.
bipolar disorder
A mood disorder in which the person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania.
neurodevelopmental disorders
A group of disorders that affect the development of the nervous system, leading to abnormal brain function which may affect emotion, learning ability, self-control, and memory, and tend to last for a person’s lifetime.
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
a psychological disorder marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more of three key symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity
autism
a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others’ states of mind
neurocognitive disorders
acquired (not lifelong) disorders marked by cognitive deficits; often related to Alzheimer’s disease, brain injury or disease, or substance abuse. In older adults neurocognitive disorders were formerly called dementia
Schizophrenia
a group of severe disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions
psychosis
a psychological disorder in which a person loses contact with reality, experiencing irrational ideas and distorted perceptions
delusions
false beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders
hallucinations
false sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus
somatic symptom disorder
psychological disorder in which the symptoms take a somatic (bodily) form, like pain, without apparent physical cause
conversion disorder
A rare somatoform disorder in which a person experiences physical or psychological symptoms (like blindness, paralysis, or loss of voice) where no physiological basis can be found.
dissociative disorders
disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings
dissociative identity disorder
A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. Also called multiple personality disorder.
anorexia nervosa
an eating disorder in which an irrational fear of weight gain leads people to starve themselves
bulimia nervosa
an eating disorder characterized by episodes of overeating, usually of high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise
binge eating disorder
significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging, fasting, or excessive exercise that marks bulimia nervosa
personality disorders
psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning
antisocial personality disorder
A personality disorder in which the person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist.
psychotherapy
treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth
biomedical therapy
prescribed medications or medical procedures that act directly on the patient’s nervous system
eclectic approach
an approach to psychotherapy that uses techniques from various forms of therapy
psychoanalysis
Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions
transference
in psychoanalysis, the patient’s transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent)
psychodynamic therapy
therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition that views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences, and that seeks to enhance self-insight
insight therapies
a variety of therapies that aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing a person’s awareness of underlying motives and defenses
client-centered therapy
a humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathic environment to facilitate clients’ growth. (Also called person-centered therapy.)
active listening
Empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies. A feature of Rogers’ client-centered therapy.
behavioral therapy
focuses on changing behavior by identifying problem behaviors, replacing them with appropriate behaviors, and using rewards or other consequences to make the changes
counterconditioning
a behavior therapy procedure that uses classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors; includes exposure therapies and aversive conditioning
exposure therapies
behavioral techniques that treat anxieties by exposing people to the things they fear and avoid
systematic desensitization
A type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli. Commonly used to treat phobias.
cognitive therapy
therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting; based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions
aversive conditioning
a type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol)
rational emotional behavior therapy
a confrontational cognitive therapy, developed by Albert Ellis, that vigorously challenges people’s illogical, self-defeating attitudes and assumptions
cognitive behavioral therapy
a popular integrative therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior)
group therapy
therapy conducted with groups rather than individuals, permitting therapeutic benefits from group interaction
family therapy
therapy that treats the family as a system. Views an individual’s unwanted behaviors as influenced by, or directed at, other family members
evidence-based practice
clinical decision making that integrates the best available research with clinical expertise and patient characteristics and preferences
therapeutic alliance
the relationship between therapist and client that develops as a warm, caring, accepting relationship characterized by empathy, mutual respect, and understanding
resilience
the personal strength that helps most people cope with stress and recover from adversity and even trauma
antipsychotic drugs
drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other forms of severe thought disorder
anti-anxiety drugs
drugs used to treat and calm anxiety reactions, typically minor tranquilizers
antidepressant drugs
drugs used to treat depression; also increasingly prescribed for anxiety. Different types work by altering the availability of various neurotransmitters
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient
repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)
painless, magnetic pulses to help lessen the symptoms of depression.
psychosurgery
surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior
lobotomy
A now-rare psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients. The procedure cut the nerves that connect the frontal lobes to the emotion-controlling centers of the inner brain.
Rosenhan experiment
Participants faked hallucinations to enter psychiatric hospitals but acted normally afterwards. They were diagnosed with psychiatric disorders and were given antipsychotic medication.
Albert Ellis
pioneer in Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET), focuses on altering client’s patterns of irrational thinking to reduce maladaptive behavior and emotions
Aaron Beck
pioneer in Cognitive Therapy. Suggested negative beliefs cause depression.
Mary Cover Jones
behaviorism/learning; pioneer in systematic desensitization, maintained that fear could be unlearned
