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Abnormal Psych Ch 1
Source: Essentials of Abnormal Psychology 5th Ed. V. Mark Durand & David H. Barlow
49
Psychology
Undergraduate 2
04/05/2010

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Term
psychological disorder
Definition
Psychological dysfunction associated with distress or impairment in functioning that is not a typical or culturally expected response.
Term
phobia
Definition
Psychological disorder characterized by marked and persistent fear of an object or situation.
Term
abnormal behavior
Definition
Actions that are unexpected and often evaluated negatively because they differ from typical or usual behavior.
Term
psychopathology
Definition
Scientific study of psychological disorders.
Term
scientist-practitioner
Definition
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 for effectiveness, and may generate research to discover information about disorders and their treatment.
Term
presenting problem
Definition
Original complaint reported by the client to the therapist. The actual treated problem may be a modification derived from the presenting problem.
Term
clinical description
Definition
Details of the combination of behaviors, thoughts, and feeling of an individual that make up a particular disorder.
Term
prevalence
Definition
Number of people displaying a disorder in the total population at any given time.
Term
incidence
Definition
Number of new cases of a disorder appearing during a specific period.
Term
course
Definition
Pattern of development and change of a disorder over time.
Term
prognosis
Definition
Predicted development of a disorder over time.
Term
etiology
Definition
Cause or source of a disorder.
Term
exorcism
Definition
Religious ritual that attributes disordered behavior to possession by demons and seeks to treat the individual by driving the demons from the body.
Term
psychological approach
Definition
Treatment practice that focuses on social and cultural factors (such as family experience), as well as psychological influences. Psychosocial approaches include cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal methods.
Term
moral therapy
Definition
Psychosocial approach in the 19th century that involved treating patients as normally as possible in normal environments.
Term
mental hygiene movement
Definition
Mid-19th-century effort to improve care of the mentally disordered by informing the public of their mistreatment.
Term
psychoanalysis
Definition
Assessment and therapy pioneered by Sigmund Freud that emphasizes exploration of, and insight into, unconscious processes and conflicts.
Term
behaviorism
Definition
Explanation of human behavior, including dysfunction, based on principles of learning and adaptation derived from experimental psychology.
Term
humanistic psychology
Definition
Personality theory and therapy emphasizing inherent striving of humans to reach their highest potential if conditions preventing growth are removed.
Term
unconscious
Definition
Part of the psychic makeup that is outside the awareness of the person.
Term
catharsis
Definition
Rapid or sudden release of emotional tension thought to be important factor in psychoanalytic therapy.
Term
psychoanalytic model
Definition
Complex and comprehensive theory originally advanced by Sigmund Freud that seeks to account for the development and structure of personality, as well as the origin of abnormal behavior, based primarily on inferred inner entities and forces.
Term
id
Definition
The unconscious psychic entity present at birth representing basic drives.
Term
ego
Definition
The psychic entity responsible for finding realistic and practical ways to satisfy id drives.
Term
superego
Definition
The psychic entity representing the internalized moral standards of parents and society.
Term
intrapsychic conflict
Definition
In psychoanalytic theory, a struggle among the id, ego, and superego.
Term
defense mechanism
Definition
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 mechanisms are unconscious processes originating in the ego.
Term
psychosexual stages of development
Definition
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.
Term
castration anxiety
Definition
In psychoanalysis, the fear in young boys that they will be mutilated genitally because of their lust for their mothers.
Term
neurosis
Definition
Obsolete psychodynamic term for a psychological disorder thought to result from an unconscious conflict and the anxiety it causes. Plural is neuroses.
Term
ego psychology
Definition
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.
Term
object relation
Definition
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.
Term
collective unconscious
Definition
Accumulated wisdom of a culture collected and remembered across generations, a psychodynamic concept introduced by Carl Jung.
Term
free association
Definition
Psychoanalytic therapy technique intended to explore threatening material repressed into the unconscious. The patient is instructed to say whatever comes to mind without censoring.
Term
dream analysis
Definition
Psychoanalytic therapy method in which dream content is examined as symbolic of id impulses and intrapsychic conflicts.
Term
psychoanalyst
Definition
Therapist who practices psychoanalysis after earning either an M.D. or a Ph.D. degree and receiving additional specialized postdoctoral training.
Term
transference
Definition
Psychoanalytic concept suggesting that clients may seek to relate to the therapist as they do to important authority figures, particularly their parents.
Term
psychodynamic psychotherapy
Definition
Contemporary version of psychoanalysis that still emphasizes unconscious processes and conflicts but is briefer and more focused on specific problems.
Term
self-actualizing
Definition
Process emphasized in humanistic psychology in which people strive to achieve their highest potential against difficult life experiences.
Term
person-centered therapy
Definition
Therapy method in which the client, rather than the counselor, primarily directs the course of discussion, seeking self-discovery and self-responsibility.
Term
unconditional positive regard
Definition
Acceptance by the counselor of the client's feelings and actions without judgment or condemnation.
Term
behavioral model
Definition
Explanation of human behavior, including dysfunction, based on principles of learning and adaptation derived from experimental psychology.
Term
classical conditioning
Definition
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.
Term
extinction
Definition
Learning process in which a response maintained by reinforcement to operant conditioning or pairing in classical conditioning decreases when that reinforcement or pairing is removed; also the procedure of removing that reinforcement or pairing.
Term
introspection
Definition
Early, nonscientific approach to the study of psychology involving systematic attempts to report thoughts and feelings that specific stimuli evoked.
Term
systematic desensitization
Definition
Behavior therapy technique to diminish excessive fears, involving gradual exposure to the feared stimulus paired with a positive coping experience, usually relaxation.
Term
behavior therapy
Definition
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.
Term
reinforcement
Definition
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.
Term
shaping
Definition
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.
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