Key Words

Question 1

Statistical infrequency

Answer 1

Occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic, for example being more depressed or less intelligent than most of the population

Question 2

Deviation from social norms

Answer 2

Concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society

Question 3

Failure to function adequately

Answer 3

Occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day-to-day living

Question 4

Deviation from ideal mental health

Answer 4

Occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health

Question 5

Phobia

Answer 5

An irrational fear of an object or situation

Question 6

Behavioural

Answer 6

Ways in which people act

Question 7

Emotional

Answer 7

Related to a person’s feelings or mood

Question 8

Cognitive

Answer 8

Refers to the process of ‘knowing’, including thinking, reasoning, remembering, believing

Question 9

OCD

Answer 9

A condition characterised by obsessions and/or compulsive, behaviour. Obsessions are cognitive whereas compulsions are behavioural

Question 10

Behavioural approach

Answer 10

A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning

Question 11

Two-process model

Answer 11

An explanation for the onset and persistence of disorders that create anxiety, such as phobias. The two processes are classical conditioning for onset and operant conditioning for persistence

Question 12

Classical conditioning

Answer 12

Learning by association. Occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together - an unconditioned stimulus and a new ‘neutral’ stimulus. The neutral stimulus eventually produces the same response that was first produced by the unconditioned stimulus alone

Question 13

Operant conditioning

Answer 13

A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences. Possible consequences of behaviour include positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement or punishment

Question 14

Systematic desensitisation

Answer 14

A behavioural therapy designed to reduce an unwanted response, such as anxiety. SD involves drawing up a hierarchy of anxiety-provoking situations related to a person’s phobic stimulus, teaching the person to relax, ad then exposing them to phobic situations. The person works their way through the hierarchy whilst maintaining relaxation

Question 15

Flooding

Answer 15

A behavioural therapy in which a person with a phobia is exposed to an extreme form of a phobic stimulus in order to reduce anxiety triggered by that stimulus. This takes place across a small number of long therapy sessions

Question 16

Biological approach

Answer 16

A perspective that emphasises the importance of physical processes in the body such as genetic inheritance and neural function

Question 17

Genetic explanations

Answer 17

Genes make up chromosomes and consist of DNA which codes the physical features of an organism (such as eye colour, height) and psychological features (such as mental disorder, intelligence). Genes are transmitted from parents to offspring i.e. inherited

Question 18

Neural explanations

Answer 18

The view that physical and psychological characteristics are determined by the behaviour of the nervous system, in particular the brain as well as individual neurons

Question 19

Drug therapy

Answer 19

Treatment involving drugs, i.e. chemicals that have a particular effect on the functioning of the brain or some other body system. In the case of psychological disorders such drugs usually affect neurotransmitter levels