Abnormal Psychology Terms

Front 1

Nomothetic understanding

Back 1

A general understanding of the nature, causes, and treatments of abnormal functioning, in the form of laws or principles that apply across people.

Front 2

Multicultural psychology

Back 2

The field that examines the impact of culture, race, ethnicity, and gender on behaviors and thoughts, and focuses on how such factors May influence the origin nature, and treatment of abnormal behavior.

Front 3

Correlational method

Back 3

A research procedure used to determine how much events or characteristics vary along with each other.

Front 4

Confound

Back 4

In an experiment, a variable other than the independent variable that is also acting on the dependent variable.

Front 5

Statistically significant

Back 5

p < .05

(Probability that a study's findings are due to chance) - less than 5% probability

Front 6

Statistical vs Clinical Significance

Back 6

Statistical significance: was there measurable improvement as a result of treatment?

Clinical significance: was this improvement meaningful in the individual's life?

Front 7

Rosenthal effect

Back 7

When researchers unintentionally transmit their own expectations to study participants (i.e. frown when handing out placebo)

Front 8

Masked

Back 8

New term for blind

Front 9

Epidemiological study

Back 9

A study that measures the incidence and prevalence of a problem, such as a disorder, in a given population.

Front 10

Analogue experiment

Back 10

A research method in which the experimenter produces abnormal like behavior in laboratory participants and then conducts experiments on the participants

Front 11

Incidence

Back 11

# of NEW cases

Front 12

Prevalence

Back 12

Total number of cases during a given period

Front 13

Variables

Back 13

Manipulated: independent

Measured: dependent

Front 14

Freud's 3 Things

Back 14

Id - instinctual drives; fueled by libido

Ego - follows reality principle; guides id through reason

Superego - follows morality principle; conscience

Front 15

Ego defense mechanisms

Back 15

Repression

Denial

Projection

Rationalization

Displacement

Intellectualization

Regression

Front 16

Object relations theory

Back 16

The psychodynamic theory that views the desire for relationships as the key motivating force in human behavior

Front 17

Classical vs operant conditioning

Back 17

Classical = stimulus & involuntary response (Pavlov); operant = voluntary response (incentives)

Front 18

Equifinality

Back 18

The principal that a number of different developmental routes can lead to the same psychological disorder

Front 19

Multifinality

Back 19

The principal that persons with similar developmental histories may nevertheless have different clinical outcomes or react to comparable current situations in different ways.

Front 20

Idiographic information

Back 20

Information about a particular individual, as opposed to a larger population.

Front 21

Reliability vs validity

Back 21

Reliability = consistency

Validity = accuracy

Front 22

Predictive validity

Back 22

Tool's ability to predict future characteristics or behavior

Front 23

Concurrent validity

Back 23

Degree to which the measures gathered from one tool agree with the measures gathered from other assessment techniques

Front 24

6 most common kinds of clinical tests

Back 24

Projective tests

Personality inventories

Response inventories

Psychophysiological tests

Neuroimaging/neuropsychological tests

Intelligence tests

Front 25

Affective inventories

Back 25

Measure the severity of such emotions as anxiety, depression, and anger. Ex: Beck depression inventory.

Front 26

Psychophysiological test

Back 26

A test that measures a physical responses, such as heart rate and muscle tension, as possible indicators of psychological problems. Ex: polygraph

Front 27

Commonalities in good therapists

Back 27

-give feedback to clients

-help clients focus on their own thoughts and behavior

-pay attention to the way they and their clients are interacting

-try to promote self-mastery in their clients

Front 28

Rapprochement movement

Back 28

Tries to find commonalities between all effective therapies

Front 29

Galvanic skin response

Back 29

A change in the electrical resistance of the skin that is a physiochemical response to emotional arousal which increases sympathetic nervous system activity.

Front 30

Psychophysiological disorders

Back 30

Disorders in which biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors interact to cause or worsen a physical illness. Also known as psychological factors affecting other medical conditions.

Front 31

Psychoneuroimmunology

Back 31

The study of the connections between stress, the body's immune system, and illness.

Front 32

Cytokines

Back 32

Proteins that bind to receptors throughout the body

Front 33

Basic irrational assumptions

Back 33

The inaccurate and inappropriate beliefs held by people with various psychological problems, according to Albert Ellis.

Front 34

Rational-emotive therapy

Back 34

A cognitive therapy developed by Albert Ellis that helps clients identify and change the irrational assumptions and thinking that help cause their psychological disorder.

Front 35

Family pedigree study

Back 35

A research design in which investigators determine how many and which relatives of a person with a disorder have the same disorder

Front 36

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)

Back 36

A neurotransmitter whose low activity in the brain's fear circuit has been linked to anxiety

Front 37

Brain circuits

Back 37

Networks of brain structures that work together, triggering each other into action.

Front 38

Sedative-hypnotic drugs

Back 38

Drugs that calm people at lower doses and help them fall asleep at higher doses

Front 39

Preparedness

Back 39

A predisposition to develop certain fears

Front 40

Systematic desensitization

Back 40

An exposure treatment that uses relaxation training and a fear hierarchy to help clients with phobias react calmly to the objects or situations they dread.

Front 41

Locus coeruleus

Back 41

A small area of the brain that seems to be active in the regulation of emotions. Many of its neurons use norepinephrine.

Front 42

Biological challenge test

Back 42

A procedure used to produce panic and participants or clients by having them exercise vigorously or perform some other potentially panic-inducing task in the presence of a researcher or therapist

Front 43

Obsession

Back 43

A persistent thought, idea, impulse, or image that is experienced repeatedly, feels intrusive, and causes anxiety.

Front 44

Compulsion

Back 44

A repetitive and rigid behavior or mental act that a person feels driven to perform in order to prevent or reduce anxiety.

Front 45

Neutralizing

Back 45

A person's attempt to eliminate unwanted thoughts by thinking or behaving in ways that put matters right internally, making up for the unacceptable thoughts.

Front 46

Excoriation disorder

Back 46

A disorder in which people repeatedly pick up their skin, resulting in significant sores or wounds. Also called skin-picking disorder.

Front 47

Trichotillomania

Back 47

A disorder in which people repeatedly pull out hair from their scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes, or other parts of the body. Also called hair-pulling disorder.

Front 48

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)

Back 48

The network of nerve fibers that connects the central nervous system to all the other organs of the body

Front 49

Endocrine system

Back 49

The system of glands located throughout the body that help control important activities such as growth and sexual activity

Front 50

Sympathetic nervous system

Back 50

The nerve fibers of the autonomic nervous system that quicken the heartbeat and produce other changes experienced as arousal

Front 51

Parasympathetic nervous system

Back 51

The nerve fibers of the autonomic nervous system that help return bodily processes to normal

Front 52

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

Back 52

One route by which the brain and body produce arousal

Front 53

Corticosteroids

Back 53

Hormones, including cortisol, released by the adrenal glands at times of stress

Front 54

Acute stress disorder

Back 54

A disorder in which a person experiences fear and related symptoms soon after a trauma but for less than a month

Front 55

Psychological debriefing

Back 55

The form of crisis intervention in which victims are helped to talk about their feelings and reactions to traumatic incidents soon after they occur. Also called critical incident stress debriefing.

Front 56

Psychological first aid (PFA)

Back 56

A disaster response intervention that seeks to reduce the initial distress of victims and foster their adaptive functioning, but without procedures that may be premature, intrusive, or inflexible.

Front 57

Dissociative fugue

Back 57

A form of dissociative amnesia in which persons travel to a new location and may assume a new identity, simultaneously forgetting their past

Front 58

Personality disorder

Back 58

An enduring, rigid pattern of inner experience and outward behavior that repeatedly impairs a person's sense of self, emotional experiences, goals, capacity for empathy, and/or capacity for intimacy.

Front 59

Schizoid personality disorder

Back 59

A personality disorder featuring persistent avoidance of social relationships and little expression of emotion

Front 60

Schizotypal personality disorder

Back 60

A personality disorder characterized by extreme discomfort and close relationships, very odd patterns of thinking and perceiving, and behavioral eccentricities.

Front 61

Antisocial personality disorder

Back 61

A personality disorder marked by a general pattern of disregard for and violation of other people's rights

Front 62

Borderline Personality disorder

Back 62

Personality disorder characterized by repeated instability and interpersonal relationships, self-image, and mood and by impulsive behavior

Front 63

Mentalization

Back 63

The capacity to understand one's own mental state and those of other people

Front 64

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Back 64

A comprehensive approach, applied in cases of borderline personality disorder, suicidal intent, and/or other psychological problems; includes both individual sessions and group sessions.

Front 65

Histrionic personality disorder

Back 65

A personality disorder characterized by a pattern of excessive emotionality and attention-seeking, once called hysterical personality disorder.

Front 66

Narcissistic personality disorder

Back 66

A personality disorder marked by a broad pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy.

Front 67

Avoidant personality disorder

Back 67

A personality disorder characterized by consistent discomfort and restraint in social situations, overwhelming feelings of inadequacy, and extreme sensitivity to negative evaluation.

Front 68

4 Ds

Back 68

Deviance, distress, dysfunction, danger

Front 69

Somatogenic perspective

Back 69

The view that abnormal functioning has physical causes

Front 70

Psychogenic perspective

Back 70

The view that the chief causes of abnormal functioning are psychological

Front 71

3 Essential Features of Therapy

Back 71

Sufferer, Healer, Series of Contacts

Front 72

Transference

Back 72

According to psychodynamic theorists, the redirection toward the psychotherapist of feelings associated with important figures in a patient's life, now or in the past.