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Abnormal Psychology ((psychopathology)

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Abnormal psychology is a segment of psychology that focuses on abnormal behavior, psychological distress, and mental illness. Some of the disorders studied in this field include depression, anxiety, and developmental disorders.

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Psychiatrist

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a medical practitioner specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.

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Adoption Studies

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A means of differentiating genetic effects from environmental effects by comparing the prevalence of mental disorders between adopted individuals and their biological parents.

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Anti Social Personality Disorder

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A disorder characterized by persistent and pervasive disregard for, and frequent violation of, other people's rights., a disorder in which individuals show no regard for the moral and ethical rules of society or the rights of others.

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Anxiety Disorders

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A group of psychological disorders that can broadly be defined as emotional reactions out of proportion to threats from the environment. Anxiety disorders are usually associated with the anticipation of future problems., A group of disorders distinguished by feelings of intense distress and worry, and in many cases, disruptive and unsuccessful attempts to deal with these feelings.

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Attatchment Theory

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A developmental theory where the social-psychological perspective on delinquent and criminal behavior are directly correlated with the successful development of a secure & loving attachment between a child and his/her primary caregiver. Its said to provide the basic yet most important psychological development.

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Biopsychosocial Model

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A model of illness that holds that physical illness is caused by a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors.

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Categorical

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An approach to classification that assumes that the differences among types of abnormal behavior and between normal and abnormal behavior are qualitative.

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Classical Conditioning

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Originally studied by Pavlov, classical conditioning is a training procedure or learning experience wherein a neutral stimulus (a conditioned stimulus) elicits as reflexive response through being paired with another stimulus (an unconditioned stimulus) that already elicits that reflexive response. Also referred to as "learning by association."

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Concurrent Validity

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A type of validity that is concerned with factors associated with the presence of a particular disorder.

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Confounding Variable (Lurking Variable)

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Any variable that correlates with the main variables under study, but is hidden or unknown and therefore may cause distortions in one's data.

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Cultural Relativity Theory

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A theory stating that human behavior lies on a continuum and that it is the role of culture to limit the spectrum by defining acceptable forms of behavior.

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Diagnosis

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The method or process by which the nature or category of an individual's disorder is determined.

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Diathesis-Stress Model

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A theory that stipulates that behavior is a result of both genetic and biological factors ("nature"), and life experiences ("nurture"). According to this model, mental disorders are produced by the interaction of some vulnerability characteristic, or predisposition, and a precipitating event in the environment.

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Dimensional

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An approach to classification that argues that since behavior exists on a continuum, the differences amongst types of abnormal behavior and between normal and abnormal behavior are quantitative in nature.

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Dissociative Disorder

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A group of psychological disorders that can broadly be defined as persistent and pervasive breakdowns in the integration of memory, consciousness, and identity.

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DSM-IV

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Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is currently in its fourth edition, is published by the American Psychiatry Association. It assumes a categorical, polythetic approach to classification.

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Eating Dissorders

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A category of psychological disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa, characterized by severe disturbances in eating behavior.

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Ego

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One of Freud's three central personality structures, which operated on principles of reality. Much of the ego, which is caught between satisfying id impulses and obeying demands of the superego, lies in the conscious realm.

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Emotion

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A subjective feeling that is usually accompanied by physiological changes.

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Epidemiology

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The scientific study of the frequency and distribution of disorders within a population. Branch of medical science concerned with the incidence, distribution, and control of diseases that are prevalent among a population at a special time and are produced by some special causes not generally present in the affected locality

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Etiology

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The causes or origins of a disorder.

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Etiological Validity

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A type of validity that is concerned with factors that contribute to the onset of a disorder.

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Exclusion Criteria

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Symptoms or characteristics that are used to rule out the presence of a disorder. Characteristics that, if present, would make persons ineligible for participation in a study, even if they meet all of the other inclusion criteria.

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False Negative

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A test result that is read as negative when it is really positive.

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False Positive

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A test result that is read as positive when it is really negative.

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ID

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One of Freud's three personality constructs, which operates according to the pleasure principle. The id, which is innate, is constantly in an antagonistic relationship with the ego, as it attempts to fulfill basic biological and psychological drives and motivations.

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Incidence (Point Prevalence)

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An epidemiological term that refers to the number of new cases of a disorder that appear in a population during a specific period of time.

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Inclusion Criteria

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Symptoms or characteristics that must be present in order for an individual to meet the diagnostic criteria for a particular mental disorder.

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Modeling

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The process of teaching a person what to do or how to do it by having that person watch another individual (the model) engage in that behavior. AKA : the process of learning through imitation.

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Monothetic Class

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A category or class defined in terms of characteristics that are both necessary and sufficient in order to identify members of that class.

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Mood Disorders (Affective Disorders)

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A group of psychological disorders, including depressive and bipolar disorders, characterized by severe and prolonged disruptions in mood such as periods of mania and clinical depression.

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Motivation

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The collective group of factors, both internal and external, that causes an individual to behave in a particular way at a particular time., THE REASON A CHARACTER ACTS, THINKS, OR FEELS A CERTAIN WAY

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Nature v.s. Nurture Debate

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A controversy concerning whether differences in behavior are a result of genetic and biological factors ("nature") or life experiences ("nurture").

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Operant Conditioning (Instrumental Conditioning)

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Originally studied by B. F. Skinner, operant conditioning is a training or learning process wherein the likelihood of repeating a particular behavior is influenced by its consequences. More specifically, this theory postulates that the behavior will increase if it is rewarded and decrease if it is punished.

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Personality Disorders

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Inflexible and maladaptive patterns of personality that usually stabilize over time and result in functional impairment and distress to the individual.

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Polythetic Class

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A category or class that is defined in terms of a broad set of criteria that are neither necessary nor sufficient. Each member of the category must possess a certain minimal number of defining characteristics, but none of the features has to be found in each member of the category.

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Predictive Validity

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A type of validity that is concerned with the future and the stability or other outcomes of the disorder over time.

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Prevalence

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An epidemiological term that refers to the active number of cases, both old and new, that are present within a given population during a particular period.

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Psychoanalytic Approach

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Based on the writings of Sigmund Freud, the psychoanalytic approach is a paradigm for conceptualizing abnormal behavior proposing that mental disorders arise from conflicts between unconscious and conscious mental processes. This is also a therapy technique wherein such techniques as dream interpretation, free association, and analysis of transference are used to gain insight into the unconscious and to make the unconscious conscious.

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Reliability

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The consistency of measurements, including diagnostic decisions. Agreement amongst clinicians is one index of the reliability of a measure.

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Schizophrenia

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A group of severe disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions

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Sensitivity

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The extent to which a definition includes all valid cases. Poor sensitivity leads to an increase in false negatives.

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Sign

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Any observable feature of behavior.

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Somatoform Disorders

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A group of psychological disorders that are characterized by unusual physical symptoms that occur in the absence of any known physical pathology.

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Specifity

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The extent to which a definition excludes all valid cases. Poor specificity leads to an increase in false positives.

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Statistical Norms

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Statistics that indicate and describe behavior in the general population.

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Superego

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One of Freud's three central personality structures, roughly associated with the "conscience." The superego represents internalized societal rules and values and attempts to control id impulses.

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Symptom

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Any self-reported feature of behavior. A change in body function that is felt by a patient as a result of disease or otherwise.

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Syndrome

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A pattern or group of symptoms and signs appearing together in a persistent fashion that may constitute evidence of a mental disorder.

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Temperament

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Characteristic ways of behaving in relation to the environment that are usually seen as inborn traits.

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Threshold Model of Behavior

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This model basically states that an individual may exhibit characteristics of a disorder without experiencing any adverse effects until a certain point, or threshold. As they cross that threshold, the quantitative element, however, there is an increase in the number of problems experienced, and therefore, qualitatively, the individual can be evaluated as having a disorder.

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Twin Studies

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A method of determining the heritability of a mental disorder by comparing the concordance, or agreement, rates between monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs.

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Validity

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The degree to which a measurement system actually measures the characteristic that it is supposed to measure.

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