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Model

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A set of assumptions and concepts that help scientists explain and interpret observations. Also called a paradigm.

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Neuron

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A nerve cell

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Synapse

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The tiny space between the nerve ending of one neuron and the dendrite of another.

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Neurotransmitter

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A chemical that, released by one neuron, crosses the synaptic space to be received at receptors on the dendrites of neighboring neurons.

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Hormones

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The chemicals released by endocrine glands into the bloodstream.

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Gene

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Chromosome segments that control the characteristics and traits we inherit.

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Psychotropic Medications

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

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Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

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A form of biological treatment, used primarily on depressed patients, in which a brain seizure is triggered as an electric current passes through electrodes attached to the patient's head.

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Psychosurgery

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Brain surgery for mental disorders. Also called neurosurgery.

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Id

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

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Ego

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

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Ego Defense Mechanisms

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

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Superego

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

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Fixation

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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.

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Repression

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Person avoids anxiety by simply not allowing painful or dangerous thoughts to become conscious.

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Denial

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Person simply refuses to acknowledge the existence of an external source of anxiety.

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Projection

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Person attributes own unacceptable impulses, motives, or desires to other individuals.

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Rationalization

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Person creates a socially acceptable reason for an action that actually reflects unacceptable motives.

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Displacement

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Person displaces hostility away from a dangerous object and onto a safer substitute.

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Intellectualization

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Person represses emotional reactions in favor of overly logical response to my problem.

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Regression

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Person retreats from an upsetting conflict to an early developmental stage at which no one is expected to behave maturely or responsibly.

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Free Association

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

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Resistance

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An unconscious refusal to participate fully in therapy.

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Transference

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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.

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Dream

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A series of ideas and images that form during sleep.

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Catharsis

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

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Conditioning

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A simple form of learning.

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Operant Conditioning

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

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Modeling

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

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Classical Conditioning

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A process of learning by temporal association in which two events that repeatedly occur close together in time become fused in a person's mind and produce the same response.

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Systematic Desensitization

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A behavioral treatment in which clients with phobias learn to react calmly instead of with intense fear to the objects or situations they dread.

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Cognitive Therapy

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A therapy developed by Aaron Beck that helps people recognize and change their faulty thinking processes.

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Self-Actualization

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The humanistic process by which people fulfill their potential for goodness and growth.

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Client-Centered Therapy

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The humanistic therapy developed by Carl Rogers in which clinicians try to help clients by conveying acceptance, accurate empathy, and genuineness.

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Gestalt Therapy

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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.

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Existential Therapy

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

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Family Systems Theory

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

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Group Therapy

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

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Self-Help Group

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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.

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Family Therapy

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

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Couple Therapy

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

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Community Mental Health Treatment

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A treatment approach that emphasizes community care.

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Multicultural Perspective

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

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Culture-Sensitive Therapies

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

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Gender-Sensitive Therapies

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

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Biological Model

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Sees physical processes as key to human behavior.

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Psychodynamic Model

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Looks at people's unconscious internal processes and conflicts.

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Behavioral Model

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Emphasizes behavior and the ways in which it is learned.

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Cognitive Behavioral Model

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Emphasizes behavior and the ways in which it is learned

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Cognitive Model

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Concentrates on the thinking that underlies behavior

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Humanistic-Existential Model

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Stresses the role of values and choices.

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Sociocultural Model

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Looks to social and cultural forces as the keys to human functioning.

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Family-Social Perspective

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Focuses on an individual's family and social interactions.

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Multicultural Perspective

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Focuses on an individual's culture and the shared beliefs, values, and history of that culture.

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Cerebrum

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Cluster of brain regions toward the top of the brain. Includes the cortex, corpus callosum, basal ganglia, hippocampus, and amygdala.

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Basal Ganglia

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Crucial role in planning and producing movement

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Hippocampus

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Helps control emotions and memory

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Amygdala

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Plays a key role in emotional memory

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Huntington's Disease

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A disorder marked by violent emotional outbursts, memory loss, suicidal thinking, involuntary body movements, and absurd beliefs. The disease has been traced to a loss of cells in the basal ganglia.

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Short-Term Psychodynamic Therapies

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Patients choose a single problem, a dynamic focus, to work on.

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Relational Psychoanalytic Therapy

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Argues that therapists are key figures in the lives of patients, figures whose reactions and beliefs should be included in the therapy process. Therapists should disclose things about themselves, particularly their own reactions to patients, and try to establish more equal relationships with patients.

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Behavioral Model

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behavioral theorists believe that our actions are determined largely by our experiences in life. However, the behavioral model concentrates on behaviors, the responses an organism makes to its environment. Behaviors can be external (going to work, say) or internal (having a feeling or thought). In turn, behavioral theorists base their explanations and treatments on principles of learning, the processes by which these behaviors change in response to the environment. Behaviorists focus on behaviors and propose that the behaviors develop in accordance with the principles of learning. They hold that three types of conditioning—classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and modeling—account for all behavior, whether normal or dysfunctional. The goal of the behavioral therapies is to identify the client's problematic behaviors and replace them with more appropriate ones, using techniques based on one or more of the principles of learning. The classical conditioning approach of systematic desensitization, for example, has been effective in treating phobias.

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Ivan Pavlov

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Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), a famous Russian physiologist, first demonstrated classical conditioning with animal studies. He placed a bowl of meat powder before a dog, producing the natural response that all dogs have to meat: They start to salivate (see Figure 2-5). Next Pavlov added a step: Just before presenting the dog with meat powder, he sounded a bell. After several such pairings of bell tone and presentation of meat powder, Pavlov noted that the dog began to salivate as soon as it heard the bell. The dog had learned to salivate in response to a sound.

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Psychodynamic Model

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Psychodynamic theorists believe that an individual's behavior, whether normal or abnormal, results from the interaction of underlying psychological forces. They consider psychological conflicts to be rooted in early parent-child relationships and traumatic experiences. The model was first developed by Sigmund Freud, who said that three dynamic forces—the id, ego, and superego—interact to produce thought, feeling, and behavior. Other psychodynamic theories are ego theory, self theory, and object relations theory. Psychodynamic therapists help people uncover past traumas and the inner conflicts that have resulted from them. They use a number of techniques, including free association and interpretations of resistance, transference, and dreams. Two of the leading contemporary psychodynamic approaches are short-term psychodynamic therapies and relational psychoanalytic therapy.

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Cognitive Model

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According to the cognitive model, we must understand human thought to understand human behavior. When people display abnormal patterns of functioning, cognitive theorists point to cognitive problems, such as maladaptive assumptions and illogical thinking processes. Cognitive therapists try to help people recognize and change their faulty ideas and thinking processes. Among the most widely used cognitive treatments is Beck's cognitive therapy.

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Unconditioned Self Regard

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they come to recognize their worth as persons, even while recognizing that they are not perfect. Such people are in a good position to actualize their positive potential.

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Conditions of Self Worth

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tandards that tell them they are lovable and acceptable only when they conform to certain guidelines. To maintain positive self-regard, these people have to look at themselves very selectively, denying or distorting thoughts and actions that do not measure up to their conditions of worth. They thus acquire a distorted view of themselves and their experiences. They do not know what they are truly feeling, what they genuinely need, or what values and goals would be meaningful for them. Problems in functioning are then inevitable.

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Humanistic-Existential Model

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The humanistic-existential model focuses on distinctly human issues such as selfawareness, values, meaning, and choice. Humanists believe that people are driven to self-actualize. When this drive is interfered with, abnormal behavior may result. One group of humanistic therapists, client-centered therapists, tries to create a very supportive therapy climate in which people can look at themselves honestly and acceptingly, thus opening the door to self-actualization. Another group, gestalt therapists, uses more active techniques to help people recognize and accept their needs. Recently the role of religion as an important factor in mental health and in psychotherapy has caught the attention of researchers and clinicians. ccording to existentialists, abnormal behavior results from hiding from life's responsibilities. Existential therapists encourage people to accept responsibility for their lives, to recognize their freedom to choose a different course, and to choose to live with greater meaning.

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Enmeshed

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Members are grossly overinvolved in each other's activities, thoughts, and feelings. Children from this kind of family may have great difficulty becoming independent in life.

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Disengagement

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Marked by very rigid boundaries between members. Children from these families may find it hard to function in a group or to give or request support.

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Structural Family Therapy

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Therapists try to change the relationships between members.

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Conjoint Family Therapy

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Therapists try to help members recognize and change harmful patterns of communication.

AS: Chapter 2: Models of Abnormality – Flashcards

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