Individual Differences - key terms

Question 0

Cultural relativism

Answer 0

View that behaviour cannot be judged properly unless viewed in context of culture in which it originates

Question 1

Abnormality

Answer 1

Psychological condition/behaviour that departs from norm or is harmful and distressing to the individual/those around them. Usually violate society’s ideas of what is an appropriate level of functioning

Question 2

Deviation from social norms

Answer 2

Abnormal behaviour seen as deviation from implicit rules about how one ought to behave. Anything that violates these rules considered abnormal

Question 3

Failure to function adequately

Answer 3

Using practical criteria of adequate functioning, mentally healthy judged as being able to operate within certain acceptable limits. If abnormal behaviour interferes with daily functioning, may be considered abnormal

Question 5

Deviation from ideal mental health

Answer 5

Abnormality seen as deviating from ideal of positive mental health. Ideal mental health: positive attitudes towards self, resistance to stress and accurate perception of reality

Question 6

Psychopathology

Answer 6

Scientific study of psychological disorders, their nature and causes

Question 7

Biology approach

Answer 7

View that behaviour can all be explained in terms of biological mechanisms e.g hormones, neurotransmitters, brain activity and genes

Question 8

Psychodynamic approach

Answer 8

Explains dynamics of behaviour - what motivates a person. Freud suggested unconscious forces and early experience are the prime motivators

Question 9

Behavioural approach

Answer 9

All behaviour learned through experience as a result of classical or operant conditioning

Question 10

Cognitive approach

Answer 10

Key influence of behaviour is how individual thinks about situation

Question 11

Diathesis-stress model

Answer 11

Individuals inherit susceptibility for disorder (diathesis) which develops only if exposed to difficult environmental conditions (stress). Greater vulnerability, less stress needed to trigger disorder

Question 12

Genes

Answer 12

Unit of inheritance which forms part of a chromosome. Control characteristics that we inherit from parents

Question 13

Genetic inheritance

Answer 13

Reception of genetically coded traits through transmission from parent to offspring

Question 14

Id

Answer 14

Irrational, primitive, part of personality. Present at birth, demands immediate satisfaction, ruled by pleasure principle - innate drive to seek immediate satisfaction

Question 15

Ego

Answer 15

Conscious rational part of personality. Develops end of infant’s first year, as child interacts with constraints of reality, governed by reality principle

Question 16

Superego

Answer 16

Develops between 3-6, embodies conscience and sense of right and wrong

Question 17

Ego defences

Answer 17

Unconscious methods, e.g repression and displacement, help ego deal with feelings of anxiety and ‘defend’ ego

Question 18

Dopamine

Answer 18

Neurotransmitter, high levels linked with schizophrenia

Question 19

Serotonin

Answer 19

Neurotransmitter, low level related to depression and high levels, anxiety

Question 20

ECT

Answer 20

Administration of controlled electrical current through electrodes placed on the scalp, induces convulsive seizure, can be effective in relieving episode of major depression

Question 21

Psychoanalysis

Answer 21

Form of psychotherapy, developed by Freud, intended to help patients become aware of long-repressed unconscious feeling and issues using techniques e.g free association

Question 22

Systematic de-sensitisation

Answer 22

Form of therapy used to treat phobias and other behaviour problems involving anxiety. Gradually exposed to threatening situations under relaxed conditions until anxiety reaction is extinguished

Question 23

CBT

Answer 23

Combination of cognitive therapy (way of changing maladaptive thoughts and beliefs), and behavioural therapy (way of changing behaviour in response to these thoughts and beliefs)

Question 24

REBT

Answer 24

Cognitive behavioural therapy, helps people change dysfunctional emotions and behaviours by making them aware of self-defeating beliefs and then modifying these to remove unwanted states