Unit 5 Part 2 Flashcards
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
A disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by limitations in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
A psychological disorder marked by extreme inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity
Rational emotive behavior therapy
A form of cognitive behavior therapy based on the concept that an individual’s self-defeating beliefs influence and cause negative feelings and undesirable behaviors
Deinstitutionalization
The process, begun in the late twentieth century, of moving people with psychological disorders out of institutional facilities
Psychotherapy
Treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth
Group therapy
Therapy conducted with groups rather than individuals, providing benefits from group interaction
Confirmation bias
A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
Meta analysis
A statistical procedure for analyzing the results of multiple studies to reach an overall conclusion
Therapeutic alliance
A bond of trust and mutual understanding between a therapist and client, who work together constructively to overcome the client’s problem
Psychopharmacology
The study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior
Antipsychotic drugs
Drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other forms of severe thought disorders
Antianxiety drugs
Drugs used to control anxiety and agitation
Cognitive therapy
Therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking; based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions
Cognitive behavior therapy
A popular integrative therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior)
Eustress
The positive stress response, involving optimal levels of stimulation: a type of stress that results from challenging but attainable and enjoyable or worthwhile tasks
Distress
The negative stress response, often involving negative affect and physiological reactivity: a type of stress that results from being overwhelmed by demands, losses, or perceived threats
Cognitive restructuring
A technique used in cognitive therapy and cognitive behavior therapy to help the client identify their self-defeating beliefs or cognitive distortions, refute them, and then modify them so that they are adaptive and reasonable
Alarm stage
Stage in general adaptation syndrome where a defensive reaction is triggered with the shock phase and countershock phase
Resistance stage
Stage in general adaptation syndrome where stabilization occurs at the increase physiological levels
Exhaustion stage
Stage in general adaptive syndrome characterized by breakdown of acquired adaptations to a prolonged stressful situation
General Adaptation Syndrome
Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three phases — alarm, resistance, exhaustion
Antidepressant drugs
Drugs used to treat depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder
Electroconvulsive therapy
A biomedical therapy for severe depression in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized person
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
The application of repeated pulses of magnetic energy to the brain; used to stimulate or suppress brain activity
Psychosurgery
Surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior
Lobotomy
A psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients. The procedure cut the nerves connecting the frontal lobes to the emotion-controlling centers of the inner brain
Dissociation
A split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others
Posttraumatic growth
Positive psychological changes following a struggle with extremely challenging circumstances and life crises
Courage (as it applies to character strength)
The ability to meet a difficult challenge despite the physical, psychological, or moral risks involved in doing so
Humanity (as it applies to character strength)
Compassion in one’s personal relations with specific others, shown by kindness, nurturance, charity, and love
Justice (as it applies to character strength)
The impartial and fair settlement of conflict and differences, typically by legal process and the imposition of proportionate punishment
Temperance (as it applies to character strength)
Any form of auspicious self-restraint, manifested as self-regulation in monitoring and managing one’s emotions, motivation, and behavior and as self-control in the attainment of adaptive goals
Transcendence (as it applies to character strength)
A state of existence or perception that is not definable in terms of normal understanding or experience
Prognosis
In medicine and mental health science, a prediction of the course, duration, severity, and outcome of a condition, disease, or disorder.
Prevalence
The total number or percentage of cases (e.g., of a disease or disorder) existing in a population, either at a given point in time (point prevalence) or during a specified period
Comorbidity
The simultaneous presence in an individual of more than one illness, disease, or disorder
Psychological disorder
A disturbance in people’s thoughts, emotions, or behaviors that causes distress or suffering and impairs their daily lives
American Psychiatric Association
A national medical and professional organization whose physician members specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders
World Health Organization
The directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations. Founded in 1948, it is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries, and monitoring and assessing health trends worldwide
International Classification of Mental Disorders
A globally recognized diagnostic tool for classifying diseases, including mental disorders
Eclectic psychotherapy
Any psychotherapy that is based on a combination of theories or approaches or uses concepts and techniques from a number of different sources, including the integrated professional experiences of the therapist
Behavioral psychology
An approach to understanding psychological phenomena that focuses on observable aspects of behavior and makes use of behavior theory for explanation
Fight-flight-freeze response
Responsible for mediating escape from both conditioned and unconditioned aversive stimuli in non-conflict situations; its activation is associated with a state of fear.
Character strengths
A classification system to identify positive traits; organized into categories of wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence
Dysfunction
Any impairment, disturbance, or deficiency in behavior or operation
Etiology
The causes and progress of a disease or disorder; the branch of medical and psychological science concerned with the systematic study of the causes of physical and mental disorders
Social learning
Learning by observing others
Psychodynamic approach
The psychological and psychiatric approach that views human behavior from the standpoint of unconscious motives that mold the personality, influence attitudes, and produce emotional disorder
Humanistic perspective
The assumption in psychology that people are essentially good and constructive, that the tendency toward self-actualization is inherent, and that, given the proper environment, human beings will develop to their maximum potential
Cognitive psychology
The branch of psychology that explores the operation of mental processes related to perceiving, attending, thinking, language, and memory, mainly through inferences from behavior.
Evolutionary psychology
An approach to psychological inquiry that views human cognition and behavior in a broadly Darwinian context of adaptation to evolving physical and social environments and new intellectual challenges
Sociocultural perspective
Any viewpoint or approach to health, mental health, history, politics, economics, or any other area of human experience that emphasizes the environmental factors of society, culture, and social interaction
Biological perspective
An approach to abnormal psychology that emphasizes physiologically based causative factors, such as the amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease, and consequently tends to focus primarily upon biological therapies.
Concordance rate
The percentage of pairs of twins or other blood relatives who exhibit a particular trait or disorder
Biopsychosocial
An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis.
Diathesis-stress model
The concept that genetic predispositions (diathesis) combine with environmental stressors (stress) to influence psychological disorder
Positive symptom
A symptom of schizophrenia that represents an excess or distortion of normal function, as distinct from a deficiency in or lack of normal function
Negative symptom
A deficit in the ability to perform the normal functions of living—for example, logical thinking, self-care, social interaction, and planning, initiating, and carrying out constructive actions—as shown in apathy, blunted affect, emotional withdrawal, poor rapport, and lack of spontaneity.
Catatonia
A state of muscular rigidity or other disturbance of motor behavior, such as catalepsy, extreme overactivity, or adoption of bizarre postures.
Catatonic excitement
Periods of extreme restlessness and excessive and apparently purposeless motor activity, often as a symptom of catatonic schizophrenia.
Catatonic stupor
A state of significantly decreased reactivity to environmental stimuli and events and reduced spontaneous movement, often as a symptom of catatonic schizophrenia.
Flat affect
Total or near absence of appropriate emotional responses to situations and events
Dopamine hypothesis
The influential theory that schizophrenia is caused by an excess of dopamine in the brain, due either to an overproduction of dopamine or a deficiency of the enzyme needed to convert dopamine to norepinephrine (adrenaline)
Glutamate hypothesis
The theory that decreased activity of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate is responsible for the clinical expression of schizophrenia
Seasonal affective disorder
A mood disorder in which there is a predictable occurrence of major depressive episodes, manic episodes, or both at particular times of the year
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
A mood disorder in women that begins in the week prior to the onset of menstruation and subsides within the first few days of menstruation
Rapid cycling bipolar disorder
A subtype of bipolar disorder characterized by frequent and rapid shifts between mood states, typically from depression to mania or hypomania
Panic attack
A sudden onset of intense apprehension and fearfulness in the absence of actual danger, accompanied by the presence of such physical symptoms as heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, chest pain or discomfort, choking or smothering sensations, sweating, and dizziness
Ataque de nervios
A culture-bound syndrome found among Latinos, characterized by shaking, uncontrollable shouting or crying, a sense of rising heat, loss of control, and verbal or physical aggression, followed by fainting or seizure-like episodes
Taijin kyofusho
A phobia, similar to social phobia and unique to Japan, that is characterized by an intense fear that one’s body parts, bodily functions, or facial expressions are embarrassing or offensive to others
Obsession
A persistent thought, idea, image, or impulse that is experienced as intrusive or inappropriate and results in marked anxiety, distress, or discomfort
Compulsion
A type of behavior (e.g., hand washing, checking) or a mental act (e.g., counting, praying) engaged in to reduce anxiety or distress
Cluster A personality disorders
A group of mental health conditions characterized by odd, eccentric, and distrustful behaviors
Cluster B personality disorders
Disorders marked by inappropriate, volatile emotionality and often unpredictable behavior. The disorders in Cluster B are antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder
Cluster C personality disorders
A group of mental health conditions characterized by pervasive anxiety, fear, and avoidance
Clinical psychology
The branch of psychology that specializes in the research, assessment, diagnosis, evaluation, prevention, and treatment of emotional and behavioral disorders
Counseling psychology
The branch of psychology that specializes in facilitating personal and interpersonal functioning across the lifespan
Psychiatrist
A physician who specializes in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and study of mental, behavioral, and personality disorders
Psychotropic drug
Any drug that has significant effects on psychological processes, such as thinking, perception, and emotion
Nonmaleficence
Emphasizes the duty to “do no harm” or to avoid causing harm to others
Free association
In psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing
