PSYC 236 definitions Flashcards
psychological abnormality
behaviour, speech or thought that impairs the ability of a person to function in the way that is generally expected of them in the context of the situation where the usual functioning occurs
psychopathology
the scientific study of psychological abnormality and the problems faced by people who suffer from these disorder
psychological disorder
a clinically significant disturbance in a person’s thoughts, feelings, or behaviours
mental illness
term used to convey the same meaning as psychopathology, but implies a medical rather than psychological cause
statistical concept
behaviour is judged as abnormal if it appears infrequently within a population
personal distress
disorders have to cause distress to the affected individual to be considered problems/disorders
personal dysfunction
maladaptive behaviours are considered to be abnormal
violations of norms
behaviours and thoughts of people with disorders may run counter to what we view as appropriate
clinical psychologists
provide services to individuals, couples, and families across the lifespan, and populations for all ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds
psychiatrist
a medical doctor who specializes in mental health, including substance use disorders
methodism
viewpoint developed from rejecting Hippocrates ideas, and instead regarded mental illness as being from either constriction of body tissue or form of relaxation of those tissues due to exhaustion
theory
a well-sustained explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment
single-factor explanation
attempts to trace the origin of the issue to one direct instance for a cause
interactionist explanation
view behaviour as the product of the interaction of a variety of factors, generally making more satisfactory theories in describing mental disorders, takes into account the biology, behaviour, social cognitive, and cultural aspects
biological determinism
what a person is, is determined by their inherited characteristics
conscious
contains info of which we are currently aware
preconscious
holds info not presently within our awareness but can readily be brought into awareness
unconscious
contains the majority of our memories and drive that unfortunately can only be raised to awareness with great difficulty and typically only in response to particular techniques
the ID
acts according to the pleasure principle
the structure present at birth and it contains or represents the biological instincts or drives, these drives demand instant gratification without concern for the consequences to self and other
the Ego
governed through the reality principle
it clashes with the Id but evens out overtime with normal ego development, attempts to satisfy the Id without offending the superego
develops in the first year of life to curb the effects of the Id, so that the individual does not suffer any undesirable consequences, no concern for right or wrong, only the avoidance of pain or discomfort to one’s self to maximize unpunished pleasure
superego
the internalization of moral standards of society inculcated by the child’s parents, operating guide is the moral principle serving as the moral conscious by monitoring the ego
classical conditioning
an individual learns to associate a neural stimulus with a stimulus that naturally produces a behaviour, considered the basis for learning by Pavlov
operant conditioning
a method of learning that uses rewards and punishment to modify behaviour, through operant conditioning, behaviour that is rewarded is likely to be repeated, while behaviour that is punished is prone to happen less
social learning theory
suggests that although classical and operant conditioning experiences are important, the majority of these experiences occur within a social context and are primarily acquired vicariously - by observation of others rather than direct personal experience
cognitive model
emotions and behaviours are heavily influenced by individual perceptions or cognitive appraisals of events
schemas
internal representations of stored info and experiences, used to organize new info in a meaningful way and to help determine how we perceive and understand what goes on around us
automatic thoughts
cognitive by products because they stem from an individual’s core beliefs or schemas in interaction with the environment
self-actualization
the hierarchy of needs that must be met in order for an individual to reach their full potential
stigma
a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person
public stigma
the perception held by a group or society that a person who seeks psychological treatment is undesirable or socially unacceptable
self-stigma
the reduction of an individual’s self-esteem or self-worth caused by the individual self-labelling themselves as someone who is socially unaccepatble
reductionism
the whole is the sum of its parts, unidirectional
systems theory
the whole is more than the sum of its parts
profoundly influenced biology, engineering and computer science, this view of the way things behave sees causation as the combined effect of multiple factors that are likely to be bidirectional
diagnosis
the process of determining which disease or condition explains a person’s symptoms and signs
assessment
a procedure through which info is gathered systematically in the evaluation of a potential disorder or disorders; this assessment procedure yields the info that serves as the basis for diagnosis, may include interviews with the patient and their family, medical testing, psychological or psychosocial testing, and self-evaluation
reliabilty
diagnostic systems must give the same measurement for a given thing every time in order to be considered useful
inter-rater reliability
the extent to which two clinicians agree on the diagnosis of a particular patientv
validity
determined by whether a diagnostic category is able to predict mental disorders accurately
concurrent validity
the ability of a diagnostic category to estimate an individuals present standing on factors related to the disorder, but not themselves part of the diagnostic criteria
predictive validity
the ability of a test to predict the future course of an individual’s development
psychological testing
involves gathering a sample of behaviour to determine a set of scores on a given measure
psychological assessment
a systematic gathering and evaluation of info pertaining to an individual suspected of abnormal behaviour
test-retest reliability
the degree to which a test yields the same results when it is given more than once to the same person
alternate form reliability
the test designers prepare tow forms of the same test and word the questions in a slightly different way to create a comparable second version of the test that correlates highly with the first test
internal consistency
the degree of reliability within a test, to which extend do different parts of the same test yield the same results
split-half reliability
often evaluated by comparing responses on odd-numbered test items with responses on even-numbered test items, highly correlated responses = high-split half reliability
coefficient alpha
calculated by averaging the intercorrelations of all items on a given test, the higher the coefficient alpha, the higher the internal consistency of a test, a reliable measure would be of little value it if is not valid
face validity
the user of the tests believes that the items on the test resemble the characteristics associated with the concept being tested
content validity
requires that a test content includes a representative sample of all behaviours thought to be related to the construct that the test is designed to measure
criterion validity
some features are easier to recognize than define completely
construct validity
the importance of a test within a specific theoretical framework and can only be understood within the context of that framework
EEG
measures brain electrical activity (seizures and lesions)
CT and CAT tests
provides structural imaging of the brain
MRI
provides structural imaging of the brain
projective tests
a person presented with an ambiguous stimulus will project onto that stimulus their unconscious motives, needs, drives, feelings, defenses, and personality characteristics, thus the test reveals info that the person cannot or will not report directly, useful to help make hypotheses about an individual’s personality
PET
offers dynamic views of brain function, including NT activity
TAT
consists of cards showing ambiguous social interactions, individuals are asked to construct stories about the cards
anxiety
a affective state whereby an individual feels threatened by the potential occurrence of a future negative event, anxiety is future oriented in general
fear
a more primitive emotion and occurs in response to a real or perceived threat, fear is present oriented, as it involves a reaction to something believed to be threatening at the present moment, fear is very important evolutionarily due to the behavioural responses it elicits
panic
very similar to fear, making these two emotional states difficult to distinguish in their physiological and behavioural aspects, however, whereas fear is an emotional response to an objective, current, and identifiable threat, panic is an extreme fear reaction that is triggered even though there is nothing objectively threatening to be afraid of
panic disorder
individuals with panic disorder experience recurrent and unexpected panic attacks
agoraphobia
anxiety about being in places or situations where an individual might find it difficult to escape or in which help would not be readily available should a panic attack occur
phobia
fears that cause marked distress and significantly disrupt their daily lives
social anxiety/phobia
a marked and persistent fear of social or performance-related situations, fear interacting with others in most social settings
GAD
uncontrollable and excessive worry
obsessions
recurrent and uncontrollable thoughts, impulses, or ideas that the individual finds disturbing and anxiety-provoking
compulsions
repetitive behaviours or cognitive acts that are intended to reduce anxiety
BDD
excessive pre-occupation with an imagined or exaggerated body disfigurement, sometimes to the point of delusion
hysteria
symptom pattern characterized by emotional excitability and physical symptoms in the absence of any evident physiological cause
dissociative disorders
characterized by severe maladaptive disruptions or alterations of identity, memory, and consciousness that are experienced as being beyond one’s control
dissociation
the lack of normal integration of one or more aspects of psychological functioning, such as identity, memory, consciousness, emotion, sensorimotor, functioning, or behaviour
dissociative fugue
an extremely rare type of amnesia for autobiographical info that is so profound the individuals also unexpectedly travel away from home, few days to a few weeks, sometimes prolonged periods
depersonalization
dissociative disorder in which the person has persistent or recurrent experiences with depersonalization or derealization
depersonalization
condition in which people have a distinct sense of unreality and detachment from their own thoughts, feelings, sensations, actions or body
derealization
similar to depersonalization, but involves feelings of unreality and detachment WRT one’s surroundings rather than the self
DID
an individual’s sense of self is fragmented and resembles two or more personality states
somatic symptom disorder
people have long standing beliefs that they have a serious illness, resulting in excessive anxiety and dysfunction
cognitive disorder
individuals have a loss of functioning in a part of their body that appears to be due to a neurological or other medical cause, but without any underlying medical abnormality to explain it
somatic symptom disorder
people typically have multiple, recurrent somatic symptoms such as pain, fatigue, nausea, muscle weakness, numbness r indigestion
illness anxiety disorder
preoccupied with fear that they may have a serious medical disease, despite the fact that thorough medical examination reveals that there is nothing seriously wrong with them
factitious disorder
individuals deliberately fake or generate the symptoms of illness or injury to gain medical attention
factitious disorder imposed on another
an individual falsifies illness in another person, most commonly in their child
behavioural medicine
application of psychology to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, the application of methods of behaviour change to the treatment or prevention of illness
health psychology
study how psychological factors impact the etiology and treatment of identifiable illness, predict well-being, any application of psychological methods and theories to understand the origins of disease, individual responses to disease, and the determinants of good health
mechanism
an activity of a living system that mediates the influence of an antecedent factor on disease
axis
a system of different organs that act together in a cascade of effects
psychoneuroimmunology
the field of study of how the immune system responds to psychosocial influences
problem focused coping
attempt to identify and rectify a threat, fact it head on and so what needs to be done to fix the situation
emotion-focused coping
may involve diverting thoughts or activities, taking drugs to induce different feeling states, avoidance of the feelings and thoughts associated with the stressor
PDD
depressed mood for most of the day, more days than not, lasting at least 2 years, with 3/6 additional symptoms
maina
a distinct period elevated, expansive, or irritable mood that lasts at least one week and is accompanied by at least 3 symptoms
hypomania
less severe form of mania involving a similar number of symptoms that only need to be present for 4 days
bipolar I disorder
individual has a history of 1+ mania episodes with or without 1+ major depressive episodes
bipolar II disorder
a history of 1+ hypomania episodes with 1+ major depressive episodes
cyclothymia
chronic but less severe form of bipolar disorder
RCD
presence of 4+ manic and/or major depressive episodes in a 12 month period, episodes must be separated by at least 2 months of full or partial remission, or by a switch to the opposite mood state
SAD
recurrent depressive episodes tied to the changing of seasons
premenstrual dysphoric disorder
marked affective lability, irritability/anger, depressed mood and/or anxiety, loss of interest in activities, concentration difficulties, low energy, changes in appetite and/or sleep, feelings of loss of control, and/or physical symptoms
five-factor model of personality
characterizes human personality on 5 personality types (OCEAN)
social learning theory
suggests that although classical and operant conditioning experiences are important, the majority of these experiences occur within a social context and are primarily acquired vicariously - by observation of others rather than direct personal experience
two-factor theory
fears develop through the process of classical conditioning and are maintained through operant conditioning
