Glossary Flashcards
A short-lived anxiety reaction to a traumatic event; if it lasts more than a month, it is diagnosed as posttraumatic stress disorder.
Acute stress disorder.
Use of a drug that is accompanied by a physiological dependence on it, made evident by tolerance and withdrawal symptoms.
Addiction.
Research method that studies children who were adopted and reared completely apart from their parents, thereby eliminating the influence of being raised by disordered parents.
adoptees method.
Legal document in which an individual -before becoming incapable of making such decisions - prescribes and proscribes certain courses of action to be taken to preserve his or her health or terminate life support.
advanced directive.
The consequences of being a given chronological age. Compare cohort effects.
age effects.
A drug that stimulates receptors normally specific to a particular neurotransmitter
agonist.
Literally, fear of the marketplace. Anxiety disorder in which the person fears situations in which it would be embarrassing or difficult to escape if panic symptoms occurred; most commonly diagnosed in some individuals with panic disorder.
agoraphobia.
Any of the various forms in which a particular gene is found.
allele.
A negative symptom in schizophrenia, marked by poverty of speech.
alogia.
A dementia involving a progressive atrophy of cortical tissue and marked by memory impairment, intellectual deterioration, and, in more extreme cases, involuntary movements of limbs, occasional convulsions, and psychotic behavior. See also plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.
Alzheimer’s disease.
Rules proposing that insanity is a legitimate defense plea if, during criminal conduct, an individual could not judge right from wrong or control his or her behavior as required by law. Repetitive criminal acts are disavowed as a sole criterion. Compare M’Naghten rule and irresistible impulse.
American Law Institute guidelines.
A group of stimulating drugs that produce heightened levels of energy and, in large doses, nervousness, sleeplessness, and paranoid delusions.
amphetamines.
A subcortical structure of the temporal lobe involved in attention to emotionally salient stimuli and memory of emotionally relevant events.
amygdala.
In psychoanalytic theory, the second psycho-sexual stage, which occurs during the second year of life when the anus is considered the principal erogenous zone.
anal stage.
An experimental design in which behavior is measured during a baseline period (A), during period when a treatment is introduced (B), during the reinstatement of the conditions that prevailed in the baseline period (A) and finally during a reintroduction of the treatment (B); commonly used in operant research to isolate cause-effect relationships.
ABAB design.
An experimental study of a phenomenon different from but related to the actual interests of the investigator; for example, animal research used to study human disorders or research on mild symptoms used as a bridge to clinical disorders.
analogue experiment.
A variation of Freuds psychoanalysis introduced by Carl Jung, focusing less on biological drives and more on factors such as self-fulfillment, the collective unconscious, and religious symbolism.
analytical psychology
A negative symptom in schizophrenia or a symptom in depression in which the individual experiences a loss of interest and pleasure. See also anticipatory pleasure and consummatory pleasure
anhedonia.
A disorder in which a person refuses to maintain normal weight, has an intense fear of becoming obese, and feels fat even when emaciated.
anorexia nervosa.
A drug that makes the drinking of alcohol produce nausea and other unpleasant effects; trade name for disulfiram
Antabuse.
A drug that dampens the effect of a neurotransmitter on its receptors; for example, many dopamine antagonists block dopamine receptors.
antagonist.
In the subcortical region of the brain, the anterior portion of the cingulate gyrus, stretching about the corpus callosum
anterior cingulate.
A region of the cerebral cortex involved in processing bodily sensations. Believed to be hyperactive to somatic sensations among people with somatic symptom disorders
anterior insula.
Expected or anticipated pleasure for events, people, or activities in the future. See also consummatory pleasure
anticipatory pleasure.
Any drug that alleviates depression; also widely used to treat anxiety disorders.
antidepressant.
Psychoactive drugs, such as Thorazine, that reduce psychotic symptoms but have long-term side effects resembling symptoms of neurological diseases.
antipsychotic drugs.
Personality disorder defined by the absence of concern for others’ feelings or social norms and a pervasive pattern of rule breaking.
antisocial personality disorder.
An unpleasant feeling of fear and apprehension accompanied by increased physiological arousa in learning theory, considered a drive that mediates between a threatening situation and avoidance behavior. Anxiety can be assessed by self-report, by measuring physiological arousal, and by observing overt behavior.
anxiety.
Disorders in which fear or tension is overriding and the primary disturbance include phobic disorders, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and agoraphobia. In DSM-IV-TR, these disorders also included obsessive-compulsive disorder, acute stress disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder.
anxiety disorders.
A test that measures the extent to which people respond fearfully to their bodily sensations; predicts the degree to which unexplained physiological arousal leads to panic attacks.
Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI).
Minor tranquilizers or benzodiazepines used to treat anxiety disorders.
anxiolytics.
A negative symptom of schizophrenia marked by an inability to form close relationships and to feel intimacy
asociality.
A DSM-IV-TR disorder believed to be a mild form of DSM-IV.TR autism in which social relationships are poor and stereotyped behavior is intense and rigid, but language and intelligence are intact. Combined with autism in autism spectrum disorder category in DSM-5.
Asperger’s disorder.
A type of molecular genetics study where researchers examine the relationship between a specific allele of a gene and a trait or behavior in the population
association study.
A disorder characterised by narrowing of the airways and increased secretion of mucus, often causing extremely labored and wheezy breathing.
asthma.
Refuges established in western Europe in the fifteenth century to confine and provide for the mentally ill; forerunners of the mental hospital.
asylums.
The type or style of an infant’s attachment to his or her caregivers can set the stage for psychological health or problems later in development
attachment theory.
A disorder in children marked by difficulties in focusing adaptively on the task at hand, inappropriate fidgeting and antisocial behavior, and excessive non-goal-directed behavior.
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
