abnormal psychology

• The scientific study of abnormal behavior in an effort to describe,
• predict, explain, and change abnormal patterns of functioning.

A people's common history, values, institutions, habits, skills, technology, and arts.

A society's stated and unstated rules for proper conduct.

Variance from common patterns of behavior.

A procedure designed to help change abnormal behavior into more normal behavior. Also called therapy.

• An ancient operation in which a stone instrument was used to cut away a
• circular section of the skull, perhaps to treat abnormal behavior.

According to the Greeks and Romans, bodily chemicals that influence mental and physical functioning.

• A type of institution that first became popular in the sixteenth century
• to provide care for persons with mental disorders. Most became virtual
• prisons.

• A nineteenth-century approach to treating people with mental
• dysfunction that emphasized moral guidance and humane and respectful
• treatment.

Public mental institutions in the United States, run by the individual states

The view that abnormal psychological functioning has physical causes

The view that the chief causes of abnormal functioning are psychological.

• An irreversible medical disorder whose symptoms include psychological
• abnormalities, such as delusions of grandeur; caused by syphilis.

• A sleeplike suggestible state during which a person can
• be directed to act in unusual ways, to experience unusual sensations,
• to remember seemingly forgotten events, or to forget remembered events.

• Either the theory or the treatment of abnormal mental functioning that
• emphasizes unconscious psychological forces as the cause of
• psychopathology.

• The discharge, begun during the 1960s, of
• large numbers of patients from long-term institutional care so that
• they might be treated in community programs.

The study and enhancement of positive feelings, traits, and abilities.

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

An insurance program in which the insurance company decides the cost, method, provider, and length of treatment

• The process of systematically gathering and
• evaluating information through careful observations to gain an
• understanding of a phenomenon.

A detailed account of a person’s life and psychological problems.

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

A study that measures the incidence and prevalence of a disorder in a given population.

• The total number of cases of a disorder occurring in a population over a specific period of time.
• includes both existing and new cases

A study that observes the same participants on many occasions over a long period of time.

A research procedure in which a variable is manipulated and the effect of the manipulation is observed.

The variable in an experiment that is manipulated to determine whether it has an effect on another variable.

The variable in an experiment that is expected to change as the independent variable is manipulated.

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

In an experiment, a group of participants who are not exposed to the independent variable.

In an experiment, the participants who are exposed to the independent variable under investigation.

• A selection procedure that ensures that
• participants are randomly placed either in the control group or in the
• experimental group.

An experiment in which participants do not know whether they are in the experimental or the control condition.

• Experimental procedure in which neither the
• participant nor the experimenter knows whether the participant has
• received the experimental treatment or a placebo.

• An experiment in which investigators make use
• of control and experimental groups that already exist in the world at
• large. Also called a mixed design.
• example: using pre-existing child abuse victims

An experiment in which nature, rather than an experimenter, manipulates an independent variable.

• A research method in which the experimenter
• produces abnormal-like behavior in laboratory participants and then
• conducts experiments on the participants.
• example: exposing participants to negative events such as shocks or loud noises task failurs (learned helplessness)

• A research method in which a
• single participant is observed and measured both before and after the
• manipulation of an independent variable.

The number of new cases of a disorder occurring in a population over a specific period of time.

behavior, ideas or emotions that cause stress

• interferes with daily functioning.
• it so upsets, distracts or confuses people that they cannot care for themselves properly

behavior, thoughts and ideas that cause harm to the patient or others.

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

Drugs that mainly affect the brain and reduce many symptoms of mental dysfunctioning.

• A treatment for depression in
• which electrodes attached to a patient’s head send an electrical current
• through the brain, causing a seizure.

The deeply hidden mass of memories, experiences, and impulses that is viewed in Freudian theory as the source of much behavior.

According to Freud, the psychological force that produces instinctual needs, drives, and impulses.

According to Freud, the psychological force that employs reason and operates in accordance with the reality principle.

• According to psychoanalytic theory,
• strategies developed by the ego to control unacceptable id impulses and
• to avoid or reduce the anxiety they arouse.

According to Freud, the psychological force that represents a person’s values and ideals.

• According to Freud, a condition in which the id, ego,
• and superego do not mature properly and are frozen at an early stage of
• development.

The psychodynamic theory that emphasizes the ego and considers it an independent force.

The psychodynamic theory that emphasizes the role of the self—a person’s unified personality.

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

• A psychodynamic technique in which the patient
• describes any thought, feeling, or image that comes to mind, even if it
• seems unimportant.

An unconscious refusal to participate fully in therapy.

• 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.

The reliving of past repressed feelings in order to settle internal conflicts and overcome problems.

The psychoanalytic process of facing conflicts, reinterpreting feelings, and overcoming one’s problems.

• A form of psychodynamic
• therapy that considers therapists to be active participants in the
• formation of patients’ feelings and reactions and therefore calls for
• therapists to disclose their own experiences and feelings in discussions
• with patients.

A simple form of learning.

A process of learning in which behavior that leads to satisfying consequences is likely to be repeated.

A process of learning in which an individual acquires responses by observing and imitating others.

• A process of learning in which two events
• that repeatedly occur close together in time become tied together in a
• person’s mind and so produce the same response.

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

The judgment that one can master and perform needed behaviors whenever necessary.

• The humanistic therapy developed by Carl
• Rogers in which clinicians try to help clients by being accepting,
• empathizing accurately, and conveying genuineness.

• The humanistic therapy developed by Fritz Perls
• in which clinicians actively move clients toward self-recognition and
• self-acceptance by using techniques such as role playing and
• self-discovery exercises.

A therapy that encourages clients to accept responsibility for their lives and to live with greater meaning and value.

• A theory that views the family as a system
• of interacting parts whose interactions exhibit consistent patterns and
• unstated rules.

A therapy format in which a group of people with similar problems meet together with a therapist to work on those problems.

• A group made up of people with similar problems
• who help and support one another without the direct leadership of a
• clinician. Also called a mutual help group.

A therapy format in which the therapist meets with all members of a family and helps them to change in therapeutic ways.

A therapy format in which the therapist works with two people who share a long-term relationship.

• The view that each culture within a
• larger society has a particular set of values and beliefs, as well as
• special external pressures, that help account for the behavior and
• functioning of its members. Also called culturally diverse perspective.

Approaches that seek to address the unique issues faced by members of minority groups.

Approaches geared to the pressures of being a woman in Western society. Also called feminist therapies.