Chapter 3 Flashcards
Causal factors and viewpoints
- Etiology
o Factors that are related to the development (or cause) of a particular disorder
- Adoption Method
o Comparison of biological and adoptive relatives with an without a given disorder to assess genetic versus environmental influences
- Association Studies
o Genetic research strategy comparing frequency of certain genetic markers known to be located on particular chromosomes in people with and without a particular disorder
- Attachment Theory
o Contemporary developmental and psychodynamic theory emphasizing the importance of early experience with attachment relationships in laying the foundation for later functioning throughout life
- Attribution
o Process of assigning causes to things that happen
- Behavior Genetics
o Field that studies the heritability of mental disorders and other aspects of psychological functioning such as personality and intelligence.
- Biopsychosocial Viewpoint
o A viewpoint that acknowledges the interacting roles of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors in the origins of psychopathology.
- Chromosomes
o a threadlike structure of nucleic acids and protein found in the nucleus of most living cells, carrying genetic information in the form of genes.
- Classical Conditioning
o 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)>
- Cognitive-Behavioral Perspective
o A theory of abnormal behavior that focuses on how thoughts and information processing can become distorted and lead to maladaptive emotions and behavior
- Concordance Rate
o The rate of twins sharing a disorder or trait
- Cortisol
o Human stress hormone released by the cortex of the adrenal glands
- Developmental Psychopathology
o 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 Systems Approach
o Acknowledgment that genetic activity influences neural activity, which in turn influences behavior, and that these influences are bidirectional
- Diathesis-Stress Models
o View of abnormal behavior as the result of stress operating an individual who has a biological, psychosocial, or sociocultural predisposition to developing a specific disorder.
- Discrimination
o Ability to interpret and respond differently to two or more similar stimuli.
- Ego-Defense Mechanisms
o 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.
- Extinction
o Gradual disappearance of a conditioned response when it is no longer reinforced.
- Generalization
o Tendency of a response that has been conditioned to one stimulus to be elicited by other, similar stimuli.
- Genes
o Long molecules of DNA that are present at various locations on chromosomes and that are responsible for the transmission of hereditary traits.
- Genotype-environment Correlation
o Genotypic vulnerability that can shape a child’s environmental experiences.
- Genotype-Environment Interaction
o Differential sensitivity or susceptibility to their environment by people who have different genotypes
- Hikikomori
o a condition characterized by severe and prolonged social withdrawal
- Hormones
o Chemical messengers secreted by endocrine glands that regulate development of and activity in various parts of the body
- Operant (instrumental) Conditioning
o Form of learning, in which if a particular response is reinforced, it becomes more likely to be repeated on similar occasions.
- Intrapsychic Conflicts
o Inner mental struggles resulting from the interplay of the id, ego, and superego when the three subsystems are striving for different goals.
- Learning
o Modification of behavior as a consequence of experience
- Linkage Analysis
o 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.
- Neurotransmitters
o Chemical substances that are released into a synapse by a presynaptic neuron and that transmit nerve impulses from one neuron to another.
- Object-Relations Theory
o In psychoanalytic theory, this viewpoint focuses on an infant or young child’s interactions with “object” (i.e., real or imagined people), as well as how they make symbolic representations of important people in their lives.
- Observational Learning
o Learning through observation alone without directly experiencing an unconditioned stimulus (for classical conditioning) or a reinforcement (for instrumental condition).
- Phenotype
o The observed structural and functional characteristics of a person that result from interaction between the genotype and the environment.
- Pituitary Gland
o Endocrine gland associated with many regulatory functions.
- Polygenic
o Caused by the action of many genes together in an additive or interactive fashion.
- Protective Factors
o 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.
- Reinforcement
o The process of rewarding desired responses.
- Resilience
o The ability to adapt successfully to even very difficult circumstances.
- Schema
o An underlying representation of knowledge that guides current processing of information often leads to distortions in attention, memory, and comprehension
- Spontaneous Recovery
o The return of a learned response at some time after extinction has occurred.
- Stress
o Effects created within an organism by the application of a stressor.
- Synapse
o Site of communication from the axon of one neuron to the dendrites or cell body of another neuron-a tiny filled space between neurons.
- Temperament
o Pattern of emotional and arousal responses and characteristic ways of self-regulation that are considered to be primarily hereditary or constitutional.
- Twin Method
o The use of identical and nonidential twins to study genetic influences on abnormal behavior.
- Zar
o a demon or spirit assumed to possess individuals, mostly women, and to cause discomfort or illness.
