Chapter 1 - Conceptual issues in abnormal psychology

Question 1

Maladaptiv

Answer 1

Behaviour that interferes with a person’s ability to meet the requirements of everyday life.

Question 2

Clinically significant

Answer 2

Meaning the disorder causes substantial impairment in social, occupational or other areas of functioning.

Question 3

Affect

Answer 3

Experience of feeling or emotion.

Question 4

Dementia

Answer 4

Neurological disorder in which a gradual decline of intellectual functioning occurs.

Question 5

Syndrome

Answer 5

Set of symptoms that tend to occur together.

Question 6

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

Answer 6

Treatment for mood disorders that involve the induction of a brain seizure by passing an electrical current through the patient’s brain while s/he is anaesthetised.

Question 7

Psychosurgery

Answer 7

Biological treatment (such as lobotomy) for a psychological disorder in which a neurosurgeon attempts to destroy small areas of the brain thought to be involved in producing the patient’s symptoms.

Question 8

Pre-frontal cortex

Answer 8

Region at the front of the brain important in language, emotional expression, the planning and production of new ideas, and the mediationof social interactions.

Question 9

Biological approach

Answer 9

Theories that explain abnormal behaviours in terms of a biological dysfunction (also called the medical approach).

Question 10

Enlarged ventricles

Answer 10

Fluid-filled spaces in the brain that are larger than normal and suggest a deterioration in brain tissue.

Question 11

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

Answer 11

Class of antidepressant drugs (such as fluoxetine) that inhibit the reuptake of serotonin.

Question 12

Psychopharmacological treatment

Answer 12

The use of drugs to treat psychological disturbances.

Question 13

Psychoanalysis

Answer 13

Form of treatment pioneered by Sigmund Freud that entails alleviating the unconscious conflicts driving psychological symptoms by helping the patient gain insights into his/her conflicts through techniques such as dream analysis and free association.

Question 14

Psychological approach

Answer 14

Theories that explain abnormality in terms of psychological factors such as disturbed personality, behaviour and ways of thinking.

Question 15

Psychotherapy

Answer 15

Treatment for abnormality that consists of a therapist and client discussing the client’s symptoms; the therapist’s theoretical orientation determines the focus of discussion with the client.

Question 16

Unconscious

Answer 16

In psychoanalytic theory, the part of the personality of which the conscious ego is unaware.

Question 17

Id

Answer 17

In psychoanalytic theory, most primitive part of the unconscious; consists of drive and impulses seeking immediate gratification.

Question 18

Libido

Answer 18

In psychoanalytic theory, physical energy within the id.

Question 19

Pleasure principle

Answer 19

Drive to maximise pleasure and minimise pain as quickly as possible.

Question 20

Ego

Answer 20

According to psychoanalytic theory, part of the psyche that channels libido acceptable to the superego and within the constraints of reality.

Question 21

Reality principle

Answer 21

Idea that the ego seeks to satisfy one’s needs within the constraints of reality rather than following the pleasure principle.

Question 22

Superego

Answer 22

In psychoanalytic theory, part of the unconscious that consists of the absolute moral standards internalised from one’s parents and the wider society during childhood.

Question 23

Morality principle

Answer 23

In psychoanalytic theory, the motivational force of the superego, driving the individual to act strictly in accordance with internalised moral standards.

Question 24

Defence mechanisms

Answer 24

In traditional psychoanalytic theory, strategies (such as repression or reaction formation) the ego uses to disguise or transform unacceptable, unconscious wishes or impulses.

Question 25

Neurosis

Answer 25

According to psychoanalytic theory, set of maladaptive symptoms caused by unconscious conflict and its associated anxiety.

Question 26

Psychosis

Answer 26

State involving a loss of contact with reality in which the individual experiences symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations.

Question 27

Psychodynamic theories

Answer 27

Theories that focus on the interplay between unconscious psychological processes in determining thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

Question 28

Case study method

Answer 28

Research method in which single individuals are studies in detail.

Question 29

Control group

Answer 29

Group of participants in an experimental study whose experience is the same as that of the experimental group in all ways except that they do not receive the key manipulation; this allows for the effect of the experimental manipulation to be determined.

Question 30

Double-blind experiment

Answer 30

Experimental study in which both the researchers and the participants are unaware of which experimental condition the participants are in so as to reduce demands characteristics.

Question 31

Validity

Answer 31

In psychological testing, degree to which an instrument actually measures what it is intended to measure. In diagnosis, the degree to which diagnostic criteria accurately define the features of disorders.

Question 32

Behavioural approach

Answer 32

Theories that rely on the principles of learning to explain both normal and abnormal behaviour.

Question 33

Classical conditioning

Answer 33

Form of learning in which a neutral stimulus, through its repeated association with a stimulus that naturally elicits a certain response, acquires the ability to produce the same response.

Question 34

Unconditioned response (UR)

Answer 34

In classical conditioning, response that naturally follows when a certain stimulus appears, such as salvation in dogs at the smell of food.

Question 35

Conditioned response (CR)

Answer 35

Learned response that is elicited by a conditioned stimulus following classical conditioning.

Question 36

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

Answer 36

In classical conditioning, stimulus that naturally elicits a reaction, such as the smell of food eliciting salvation in dogs.

Question 37

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

Answer 37

Previously neutral stimulus that, when paired with an unconditioned stimulus, becomes sufficient to elicit a response.

Question 38

Operant (instrumental) conditioning

Answer 38

Form of learning in which behaviours elicit consequences that eitherreinforce or punish the organism, leading to an increased or decreased probability respectively of the behaviour occuring in the future (also known as instrumental conditioning).

Question 39

Aversion therapy

Answer 39

Treatment that involves the pairing of an unpleasant stimulus with a deviant or maladaptive source of pleasure (such as excessive alcohol consumption) in order to induce an aversive reaction to the formerly pleasurable stimulus.

Question 40

Systematic desensitisation

Answer 40

Behavioural technique that aims to reduce the client’s anxiety through progressive, imaginal exposure to feared stimuli paired with the induction of a relaxation response.

Question 41

Token economy

Answer 41

Treatment application of operant conditioning in which individuals receive tokens for exhibiting desired behaviours that can then be exchanged for privileges and rewards; these tokens are withheld when the individual exhibits unwanted behaviour.

Question 42

Modelling

Answer 42

Process of learning behaviours by imitating others.

Question 43

Cognitive approach

Answer 43

Theories that focus on dysfunctional ways of thinking as the causes of abnormal behaviour.

Question 44

Cognitive restructuring

Answer 44

Cognitive techniques in which the client learns to identify, challenge and replace his/her dysfunctional beliefs with more realistic or helpful beliefs.

Question 45

Behavioural experiment

Answer 45

Cognitive technique in which the client participates in a planned activity in order to test the accuracy of his/her beliefs.

Question 46

Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)

Answer 46

Type of psychological treatment that combines both cognitive and behavioural concepts and techniques.

Question 47

Humanistic approach

Answer 47

Theories based on the view that the natural tendency of humans is towards growth and self-actualisation; abnormality arises as a result of societal pressures to confirm to dictates that clash with a person’s self-actualisation process.

Question 48

Self-actualisation

Answer 48

In humanistic theory, fulfilment of one’s potential.

Question 49

Unconditional positive regard

Answer 49

Essential part of person-centred therapy; the therapist expresses full acceptance of the client as a person, without judgement.

Question 50

Conditions of worth

Answer 50

Standards of behaviour imposed on an individual by others that must be met in order to obtain their approval.

Question 51

Psychopathology

Answer 51

Refers to (a) the study of psychological abnormality or (b) manifestations of psychological abnormality.

Question 52

Therapeutic alliance

Answer 52

Degree to wich the relationship between the therapist and client is characterised by mutual trust and shared goals.

Question 53

Person-centred therapy

Answer 53

Form of psychotherapy within the humanistic approach developed by Carl Rogers, which consists of an equal relationship between the therapist and client, and in which the client receives unconditional positive regard and empathy from the therapist in order to attain self-actualisation (previously called client-centred therapy).

Question 54

Biopsychosocial approach

Answer 54

View that biological, psychological and social factors contribute to the development of abnormality.

Question 55

Diathesis-stress model

Answer 55

Originally developed in the context of schizophrenia, the view that abnormality is caused by the combination of vulnerability or predisposition (the diathesis) and life events (the stressor).

Question 56

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

Answer 56

Manual diagnosing mental disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association containing a list of specific criteria for each disorder.

Question 57

International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD)

Answer 57

System used to classify diseases and other health problems (includingmental health problems) published by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Question 58

Insomnia

Answer 58

Difficulty in initiating or maintaining sleep.

Question 59

Diagnosis

Answer 59

Label given to a set of symptoms that tend to occur together.

Question 60

Reliability

Answer 60

Degree of consistency in a measure, that is, the extent to which it yelds accurate measurements of a construct across different trails, samples, raters and forms of the measure.

Question 61

Differential diagnosis

Answer 61

Determination of which of two or more possible diagnoses is appropriate for an individual.

Question 62

Interrater reliability

Answer 62

Extent to which an observational measure yields similar results across different raters/judges.

Question 63

Hypersomnia

Answer 63

Being chronically sleepy and sleeping for ling periods of time.

Question 64

Psychomotor agitation

Answer 64

Exessive motor activity (such as pacing and fidgeting) stemming from mental tension.

Question 65

Comorbidity

Answer 65

Co-occurence of two or more disorders in the same person.