Psych. Flashcards
Define Affect.
A feeling or emotion manifested by facial expression or body language
Define anhedonia.
Absence of interest in or pleasure from performance of acts that would ordinarily be
enjoyable
Define anxiolytic.
Medication designed to treat anxiety
Define binge.
Excessive eating beyond amount necessary to satisfy normal appetite
Define catatonia.
Syndrome of psychomotor retardation characterized by periods of physical rigidity and lack
of response to outside stimuli
Define compulsion.
Uncontrollable impulses to perform an act, often repeatedly, as an unconscious
mechanism to avoid unacceptable ideas or desires, which by themselves arouse anxiety
Define delusion.
A false belief or wrong judgment held with conviction despite inconvertible evidence to the
contrary
Define disorganized behavior.
Behavior that is neither goal directed or guided by rational or preconceived
plan
Define disorganized speech.
Speech in which the statements are not logically connected to each other
Define dissociation.
An unconscious separation of a group of mental processes from the rest of the conscious
awareness
Define dysomnia
Disturbance in amount, quality, or timing of sleep
Define executive functioning.
Higher levels of cognitive/mental functioning including planning, abstraction,
inductive reasoning, and organizing
Define hallucination.
Subjective perception of an object or an event when no such stimulus or situation exists
Define illusion
A misinterpretation or false perception of a real sensory stimulus
Define impulse.
Sudden, often unreasonable, determination to perform some act, the performance of which
often provides a sense of relief or a release of tension
Define insomnia.
Inability to fall or stay asleep in absence of external impediments during the period when
sleep should occur
Define mood.
Pervasive feeling, tone, or internal emotional state which, when impaired, can markedly
influence virtually all aspects of a person’s behavior or perception of external events
Define narcissism.
State in which the individual interprets and regards everything in relation to himself and
not to others
Define obsession.
Recurrent and persistent idea, thought or impulse to carry out an act
Define paranoia.
A belief system that includes extreme suspiciousness and mistrust of others
Define psychomotor agitation.
Abnormal increase in physical and emotional behavior
Define psychomotor retardation.
Abnormal slowing in physical and emotional activity
