Chapter 1: Introduction

Question 1

psychological disorder

Answer 1

Psychological dysfunction associated with distress or impairment in functioning that is not a typical or culturally expected response.

Question 2

phobia

Answer 2

Psychological disorder characterized by marked and persistent fear of an object or situation.

Question 3

abnormal behavior

Answer 3

a psychological dysfunction within an individual that is associated with distress or impairment in function and a response that is not typically or culturally expected.

Question 4

psychopathology

Answer 4

Scientific study of psychological disorders.

Question 5

scientist-practicioner

Answer 5

Mental health professionals who are expected to apply scientific methods to their work. They must keep current in the latest research on diagnosis and treatment, they must evaluate their own methods for effectiveness, and they may generate their own research to discover new knowledge of disorders and their treatment.

Question 6

presenting problem

Answer 6

Original complaint reported by the client to the therapist. The actual treated problem may sometimes be a modification derived from the presenting problem.

Question 7

clinical description

Answer 7

details of the combination of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings of an individual that make up a particular disorder

Question 8

prevalence

Answer 8

Number of people displaying a disorder in the total population at any given time (compare with incidence).

Question 9

incidence

Answer 9

Number of news cases of disorder appearing during a specific period (compare with prevalence).

Question 10

course

Answer 10

pattern of development and change of a disorder over time

Question 11

prognosis

Answer 11

Predicted future development of a disorder over time.

Question 12

etiology

Answer 12

cause or source of a disorder

Question 13

exorcism

Answer 13

Religious ritual that attributes behavior to possession by demon and seeks to treat the individual by driving the demons from the body

Question 14

psychosocial treatment

Answer 14

Treatment practices that focus on social and cultural factors (such as family experience), as well as psychological influences. These approaches include cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal methods.

Question 15

moral therapy

Answer 15

Psychosocial approach in the 19th century that involved treating patients as normally as possible in normal environments.

Question 16

mental hygiene movement

Answer 16

Mid-19th-century effort to improve care of the mentally disorder by informing the public of their mistreatment

Question 17

pyschoanalysis

Answer 17

Psychoanalytic assessment and therapy, which emphasizes exploration of, and insight into, unconscious processes and conflicts, pioneered by Sigmund Freud.

Question 18

behaviorism

Answer 18

explanation of human behavior, including dysfunction, based on the principles of learning and adaptation derived from experimental psychology

Question 19

unconcious

Answer 19

Part of the psychic makeup that is outside the awareness of the person.

Question 20

catharsis

Answer 20

rapid or sudden release of emotional tension thought to be an important factor in a psychoanalytic therapy

Question 21

psychoanalytic model

Answer 21

Complex and comprehensive theory originally advanced by Sigmund Freud that seeks to account for the development and structure of personality, as well as the origin of abnormal behavior, based primarily on inferred inner entities and forces.

Question 22

id

Answer 22

In psychoanalysis, the unconscious physical entity present at birth representing basic sexual and aggressive drives.

Question 23

ego

Answer 23

In psychoanalysis, the physical entity responsible for finding realistic and practical ways to satisfy id drives.

Question 24

superego

Answer 24

In psychoanalysis, the psychical entity representing the internalized moral principles of parents and society.

Question 25

intrapsychic conflicts

Answer 25

In psychoanalysis, the struggles among the id, ego, and superego.

Question 26

defense mechanisms

Answer 26

Common patterns of behavior, often adaptive coping styles when they occur in moderation, observed in response to particular situations. In psychoanalysis, these are thought to be unconscious processes originating in the ego.

Question 27

psychosexual stages of development

Answer 27

In psychoanalysis, the sequences of phases a person passes through during development. Each stage is named for the location on the body where id gratification is maximal at that time.

Question 28

castration anxiety

Answer 28

In psychoanalysis, the fear in young boys that they will be mutilated genetically because of their lust for their mothers.

Question 29

neurosis

Answer 29

Obsolete psychodynamic term for psychological disorder thought to result from unconscious conflicts on the anxiety they cause

Question 30

ego psychology

Answer 30

Derives from psychoanalysis, this theory emphasizes the role of the ego in development and attributes psychological disorders to failure of the ego to manage impulses and internal conflicts. Also known as self-psychology

Question 31

self-psychology

Answer 31

Derives from psychoanalysis, this theory emphasizes the role of the ego in development and attributes psychological disorders to failure of the ego to manage impulses and internal conflicts. Also known as self-psychology

Question 32

object relations

Answer 32

Modern development in psychodynamic theory involving the study of how children incorporate the memories and values of people who are close and important today

Question 33

collective unconscious

Answer 33

Accumulated wisdom of a culture collected and remembered across generation, a psychodynamic concept introduced by Carl Jung.

Question 34

free association

Answer 34

psychoanalytic therapy technique intended to explore threatening material repressed into the unconscious. The patient is instructed to say whatever comes to mind without censoring.

Question 35

dream analysis

Answer 35

Psychoanalytic therapy method in which dream contents are examined as symbolic of id impulses and intrapsychic conflicts

Question 36

psychoanalyst

Answer 36

Therapist who practices psychoanalysis after earning either an M.D. or a Ph.D. degree and receiving additional specialized postdoctoral training.

Question 37

transference

Answer 37

Psychoanalytic concept suggesting that clients may seek to relate to the therapist as they do to important authority figures, particularly their parents

Question 38

psychodynamic psychotherapy

Answer 38

Contemporary version of psychoanalysis that still emphasizes unconscious processes and conflicts but is briefer and more focused on specific problems.

Question 39

self-actualizing

Answer 39

Process emphasized in humanistic psychology in which people strive to achieve their highest potential against difficult life experience.

Question 40

person-centered therapy

Answer 40

Therapy method in which the client, rather than the counselor primarily directs the course of discussion, seeking self-discovery and self-responsibility.

Question 41

unconditional positive regard

Answer 41

Acceptance by the counselor of the client’s feelings and actions without judgement or condemnation.

Question 42

behavioral model

Answer 42

explanation of human behavior, including dysfunction, based on principles of learning and adaptation derived from experimental psychology

Question 43

classical conditioning

Answer 43

fundamental learning process first described by Ivan Pavlov. An event that automatically elicits a response is paired with another stimulus event that does not (a neutral stimulus). After repeated pairings, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that by itself can elicit the desired response.

Question 44

extinction

Answer 44

Learning process in which a response maintained by reinforcement in operant conditioning or pairing in classical conditioning decrease when that reinforcement or pairing is removed; also the procedure of removing that reinforcement or pairing.

Question 45

introspection

Answer 45

Early, nonscientific approach to the study of psychology involving systematic attempt to report thoughts and feelings that specific stimuli evoked.

Question 46

systematic desensitization

Answer 46

Behavioral therapy technique to diminish excessive fears, involving gradual exposure to the feared stimulus paired with a positive coping experience, usually relaxation.

Question 47

behavior therapy

Answer 47

array of therapy methods based on principles of behavioral and cognitive science, as well as principles of learning as applied to clinical problems. It considers specific behaviors rather than inferred conflicts as legitimate targets for change.

Question 48

reinforcement

Answer 48

In operant conditioning, consequences for behavior that strengthen it or increase its frequency. Positive reinforcement involves the contingent delivery of a desire consequence. Negative reinforcement is the contingent escape from an aversive consequence. Unwanted behaviors may result from their reinforcement or the failure to reinforce desired behaviors

Question 49

shaping

Answer 49

In operant conditioning, the development of a new response by reinforcing successively more similar versions of that response. Both desirable and undesirable behaviors may be learned in this manner.