Chapter 1 Abnormal Behavior In Historical Context

Front 1

Psychological Disorder

Back 1

Psychological dysfunction associated with distress or impairment in functioning that is not a typical or culturally expected response.

Front 2

Phobia

Back 2

Psychological disorder characterized by marked and persistent fear of an object or situation.

Front 3

Abnormal Behavior

Back 3

Actions that are unexpected and often evaluated negatively because they differ from typical or usual behavior.

Front 4

Psychopathology

Back 4

Scientific study of psychological disorders.

Front 5

Scientist-Practitioner

Back 5

Mental health professional expected to apply scientific methods to his or her work. A scientist-practitioner must know the latest research on diagnosis and treatment, must evaluate his or her methods of effectiveness and may generate research to discover information about disorders and their treatment.

Front 6

Presenting Problem

Back 6

Original complaint reported by the client to the therapist. The actual treated problem may be a modification derived from the presenting problem.

Front 7

Clinical Description

Back 7

Details of the combination of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings of an individual that make up a particular disorder.

Front 8

Prevalence

Back 8

Number of people displaying a disorder in the total population at any given time (compare with incidence)

Front 9

Incidence

Back 9

Number of new cases of a disorder appearing during a specific period (compared with Prevalence)

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Course

Back 10

Pattern of development and change of a disorder over time

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Prognosis

Back 11

Predicted development of a disorder over time

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Etiology

Back 12

Cause or source of a disorder

Front 13

Exorcism

Back 13

Religious ritual that attributes disordered behavior to possession by demons and seeks to treat the individual by driving the demons from the body.

Front 14

Psychosocial Treatment

Back 14

Treatment practices that focus on social and cultural factors (such as family experience), as well as psychological influences. These approaches include cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal methods.

Front 15

Moral Therapy

Back 15

Psychosocial approach in the 19th century that involved treating patients as normally as possible in normal environments.

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Mental Hygiene Movement

Back 16

Mid 19th Century effort to improve care of the mentally disordered by informing the public of their mistreatment

Front 17

Psychoanalysis

Back 17

Assessment and therapy pioneered by Sigmund Freud that emphasizes exploration of, and insight into, unconscious processes and conflicts.

Front 18

Behaviorism

Back 18

Explanation of human behavior, including dysfunction, based on principles of learning and adaptation derived from experimental psychology

Front 19

Unconscious

Back 19

Part of the psychic makeup that is outside the awareness of the person

Front 20

Catharsis

Back 20

Rapid or sudden release of emotional tension thought to be an important factor in psychoanalytic therapy

Front 21

Psychoanalytic Model

Back 21

Complex and comprehensive theory originally advanced by Sigmund Freud that seeks to account for the development and structure or personality, as well as the origin of abnormal behavior, based primarily on inferred inner entities and forces.

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id

Back 22

In psychoanalysis, the unconscious psychic entity present at birth representing basic drives

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ego

Back 23

In psychoanalysis, the psychic entity responsible for finding realistic and practical ways to satisfy id drives

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superego

Back 24

In psychoanalysis, the psychic entity representing the internalized moral standards of parents and society.

Front 25

Intrapsychic Conflicts

Back 25

In psychoanalytic theory, a struggle among the id, ego, and superego.

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Defense Mechanisms

Back 26

Common pattern of behavior, often an adaptive coping style when it occurs in moderation, observed in response to a particular situation. Psychoanalytic theory suggests that defense mechanics are unconscious processes originating in the ego.

Front 27

Psychosexual Stages of Developement

Back 27

Psychoanalytic concept of the sequence of phases a person passes through during development. Each stage is named for the location on the body where id gratification is maximal at that time.

Front 28

Castration Anxiety

Back 28

In psychoanalysis, the fear in young boys that they will be mutilated genitally because of their lust for their mothers.

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Neurosis (Neuroses plural)

Back 29

Obsolete psychodynamic term for a psychological disorder thought to result from an unconscious conflict and the anxiety it causes.

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Ego Psychology

Back 30

Psychoanalytic theory that emphasizes the role of the ego in development and attributes psychological disorders to failure of the ego to manage impulses and internal conflicts. Also known as self psychology.

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Object Relations

Back 31

Modern development in psychodynamic theory involving the study of how children incorporate the memories and values of people who are close and important to them.

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Collective Unconscious

Back 32

Accumulated wisdom of a culture collected and remembered across generations, a psychodynamic concept introduced by Carl Jung.

Front 33

Free Associaation

Back 33

Psychoanalytic therapy technique intended to explore threatening material repressed into the unconscious. The patient is instructed to say whatever comes to mind without censoring.

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Dream Analysis

Back 34

Psychoanalytic therapy method in which dream content is examined as symbolic of id impulses and intrapsychic conflicts.

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Psychoanalyst

Back 35

Therapist who practices psychoanalysis after earning either an M.D. or a Ph.D. degree and receiving additional specialized postdoctoral training.

Front 36

Transference

Back 36

Psychoanalytic concept suggesting that clients may seek to relate to the therapist as they do to important authority figures, particularly their parents.

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Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Back 37

Contemporary version of psychoanalysis that still emphasizes unconscious processes and conflicts but is briefer and more focused on specific problems.

Front 38

Self Actualizing

Back 38

Process emphasized in humanistic psychology in which people strive to achieve their highest potential against difficult life experiences.

Front 39

Person-Centered Therapy

Back 39

Therapy method in which the client, rather than the counselor, primarily directs the course of discussion, seeking self-discovery and self-responsibility.

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Unconditional Positive Regard

Back 40

Acceptance by the counselor of the clients feelings and actions without judgment or condemnation

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Behavioral Model

Back 41

Explanation of human behavior, including dysfunction, based on principles of learning and adaptation derived from experimental psychology.

Front 42

Classical Conditioning

Back 42

Fundamental learning process first described by Ivan Pavlov. An event that automatically elicits a response is paired with another stimulus event that does not (a neutral stimulus). After repeated pairings, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that by itself can elicit the desired response.

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Extinction

Back 43

Learning process in which a response maintained by reinforcement in operant conditioning or pairing in classical conditioning decreases when the reinforcement or pairing is removed; also the procedure of removing that reinforcement or pairing.

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Introspection

Back 44

Early, nonscientific approach to the study of psychology involving systematic attempts to report thoughts and feelings that specific stimuli evoked.

Front 45

Systematic Desensitization

Back 45

Behavioral therapy technique to diminish excessive fears, involving gradual exposure to the feared stimulus paired with a positive coping experience, usually relaxation.

Front 46

Behavior Therapy

Back 46

Array of therapeutic methods based on the principles of behavioral and cognitive science, as well as principles of learning as applied to clinical problems. It considers specific behaviors rather than inferred conflicts as legitimate targets for change.

Front 47

Reinforcement

Back 47

In operant conditioning, consequences for behavior that strengthen it or increase its frequency. Positive reinforcement involves the contingent delivery of a desired consequence. Negative reinforcement is the contingent escape from an aversive consequence. unwanted behaviors may result from reinforcement of those behaviors or the failure to reinforce desired behaviors.

Front 48

Shaping

Back 48

In operant conditioning, the development of a new response by reinforcing successively more similar versions of that response. Both desirable and undesirable behaviors may be learned in this manner.