Unit 8 Vocab Flashcards
a syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior.
psychological disorder
the concept that diseases, in this case psychological disorders, have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured, often through treatment in a hospital.
medical model
the study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a
DNA change.
epigenetics
the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders.
DSM-5
a psychological disorder marked by extreme inattention and/or hyperactivity
and impulsivity.
ADHD
psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or
maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety.
anxiety disorders
intense fear and avoidance of social situations. (Formerly called social phobia
social anxiety disorder
an anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in
a state of autonomic nervous system arousal.
generalized anxiety disorder
an anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable, minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person may experience terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations; often followed by worry over a
possible next attack.
panic disorder
fear or avoidance of situations, such as crowds or wide open places, where one
has felt loss of control and panic
agoraphobia
an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a
specific object, activity, or situation.
phobia
a disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions), actions
(compulsions), or both.
OCD
a disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, hypervigilance,
social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that
lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience
PTSD
a disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or another
medical condition, two or more weeks with five or more symptoms, at least one
of which must be either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure.
major depressive disorder
a disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy
of depression and the overexcited state of mania. (Formerly called manicdepressive disorder.)
bipolar disorder
a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state in which dangerously poor judgment is
common.
mania
compulsive fretting; overthinking our problems and their causes.
rumination
a disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech,
and/or diminished, inappropriate emotional expression
schizophrenia
a group of disorders marked by irrational ideas, distorted perceptions, and a loss
of contact with reality.
psychotic disorders
false sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an
external visual stimulus.
hallucinations
a false belief, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic
disorders.
delusion
(also called process schizophrenia) a form of schizophrenia in which symptoms
usually appear by late adolescence or early adulthood. As people age, psychotic
episodes last longer and recovery periods shorten.
chronic schizophrenia
(also called reactive schizophrenia) a form of schizophrenia that can begin at
any age; frequently occurs in response to a traumatic event.
acute schizophrenia
a psychological disorder in which the symptoms take a somatic (bodily) form
without apparent physical cause. (Formerly called somatoform disorder;
somatic symptom disorder
a disorder related to somatic symptom disorder in which a person experiences
very specific, physical symptoms that are not compatible with recognized
medical or neurological conditions. (Also called functional neurological
symptom disorder.)
conversion disorder
a disorder related to somatic symptom disorder in which a person interprets
normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease. (Formerly called
hypochondriasis.)
illness anxiety disorder
controversial, rare disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated
(dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings.
dissociative disorders
a rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and
alternating personalities. (Formerly called multiple personality disorder.)
DID
inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning
personality disorders
a personality disorder in which a person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of
conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members; may be
aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist.
antisocial personality disorder
an eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) maintains a
starvation diet despite being significantly underweight; sometimes accompanied
by excessive exercise.
anorexia nervosa
an eating disorder in which a person’s binge eating (usually of high-calorie
foods) is followed by inappropriate weight-loss promoting behavior, such as
vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise.
bulimia nervosa
significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but
without the compensatory behavior that marks bulimia nervosa.
binge-eating disorder
treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions
between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological
difficulties or achieve personal growth.
psychotherapy
prescribed medications or procedures that act directly on the person’s
physiology.
biomedical therapy
an approach to psychotherapy that uses techniques from various forms of
therapy.
eclectic approach
Sigmund Freud’s therapeutic technique. Freud believed the patient’s free
associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences—and the therapist’s
interpretations of them—released previously repressed feelings, allowing the
patient to gain self-insight.
psychoanalysis
in psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material.
resistance
in psychoanalysis, the analyst’s noting supposed dream meanings, resistances,
and other significant behaviors and events in order to promote insight.
interpretation
in psychoanalysis, the patient’s transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with
other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent).
transference
therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition; views individuals as
responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences, and seeks to
enhance self-insight.
psychodynamic therapy
therapies that aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing a
person’s awareness of underlying motives and defenses.
insight therapies
a humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses
techniques such as active listening within an accepting, genuine, empathic
environment to facilitate clients’ growth. (Also called person-centered therapy.)
client-centered therapy
empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies. A feature
of Rogers’ client-centered therapy.
active listening
a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help clients develop self-awareness and self-acceptance.
unconditional positive regard
therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted
behaviors
behavior therapy
behavior therapy procedures that use classical conditioning to evoke new
responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors; include exposure
therapies and aversive conditioning.
counterconditioning
behavioral techniques, such as systematic desensitization and virtual reality
exposure therapy, that treat anxieties by exposing people (in imaginary or
actual situations) to the things they fear and avoid.
exposure therapies
a type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with
gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli. Commonly used to treat
phobias.
systematic desensitization
a counterconditioning technique that treats anxiety through creative electronic
simulations in which people can safely face their greatest fears, such as airplane
flying, spiders, or public speaking.
virtual reality exposure therapy
a type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as
nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol).
aversive conditioning
token economy
an operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token for exhibiting a
desired behavior and can later exchange tokens for privileges or treats.
token economy
therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking; based on the
assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions.
cognitive therapy
a confrontational cognitive therapy, developed by Albert Ellis, that vigorously
challenges people’s illogical, self-defeating attitudes and assumptions.
REBT
a popular integrative therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing selfdefeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior).
CBT
therapy conducted with groups rather than individuals, providing benefits from
group interaction.
group therapy
therapy that treats people in the context of their family system. Views an
individual’s unwanted behaviors as influenced by, or directed at, other family
members
family therapy
a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research
studies.
meta-analysis
clinical decision making that integrates the best available research with clinical
expertise and patient characteristics and preferences.
evidence-based practice
a bond of trust and mutual understanding between a therapist and client, who
work together constructively to overcome the client’s problem.
therapeutic alliance
the study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior.
psychopharmacology
drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other forms of severe thought disorder
antipsychotic drugs
drugs used to control anxiety and agitation.
antianxiety drugs
drugs used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive
disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. (Several widely used antidepressant
drugs are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors—SSRIs.)
antidepressant drugs
a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric
current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient.
ECT
the application of repeated pulses of magnetic energy to the brain; used to
stimulate or suppress brain activity.
rTMS
surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior
psychosurgery
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.
lobotomy
the personal strength that helps most people cope with stress and recover from
adversity and even trauma.
resilience
positive psychological changes as a result of struggling with extremely
challenging circumstances and life crises.
posttraumatic growth
