Abnormal Behavior in Historical Context

Question 1

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

Answer 1

psychological disorder

Question 2

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

Answer 2

phobia

Question 3

A psychological dysfunction within an individual that is associated with distress or impairment in functioning and a response that is not typical or culturally expected.

Answer 3

abnormal behavior

Question 4

Scientific study of psychological disorders.

Answer 4

psychopathology

Question 5

Mental health professionals who are expected to apply scientific methods to their work. They must keep current in the latest research on diagnosis and treatment, they must evaluate their own methods for effectiveness, and they may generate their own research to discover new knowledge of disorders and their treatment.

Answer 5

scientist-practitioner

Question 6

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

Answer 6

presenting problem

Question 7

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

Answer 7

clinical description

Question 8

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

Answer 8

prevalence

Question 9

Number of new cases of a disorder appearing during a specific period (compare with prevalence).

Answer 9

incidence

Question 10

Pattern of development and change of a disorder over time.

Answer 10

course

Question 11

Predicted future development of a disorder over time.

Answer 11

prognosis

Question 12

Cause or source of a disorder.

Answer 12

etiology

Question 13

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

Answer 13

exorcism

Question 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.

Answer 14

psychosocial treatment

Question 15

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

Answer 15

moral therapy

Question 16

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

Answer 16

mental hygiene movement

Question 17

Psychoanalytic assessment and therapy, which emphasizes exploration of, and insight into, unconscious processes and conflicts, pioneered by Sigmund Freud.

Answer 17

psychoanalysis

Question 18

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

Answer 18

behaviorism

Question 19

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

Answer 19

unconscious

Question 20

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

Answer 20

catharsis

Question 21

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.

Answer 21

psychoanalytic model

Question 22

In psychoanalysis, the unconscious psychical entity present at birth representing basic sexual and aggressive drives.

Answer 22

id

Question 23

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

Answer 23

ego

Question 24

In psychoanalysis, the psychical entity representing the internalized moral principles of parents and society.

Answer 24

superego

Question 25

In psychoanalysis, the struggles among the id, ego, and superego.

Answer 25

intrapsychic conflicts

Question 26

Common patterns of behavior, often adaptive coping styles when they occur in moderation, observed in response to particular situations. In psychoanalysis, these are thought to be unconscious processes originating in the ego.

Answer 26

defense mechanisms

Question 27

In psychoanalysis, 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.

Answer 27

psychosexual stages of development

Question 28

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

Answer 28

castration anxiety

Question 29

Obsolete psychodynamic term for psychological disorder thought to result from unconscious conflicts and the anxiety they cause. Plural is neuroses.

Answer 29

neurosis (plural neuroses)

Question 30

Derived from psychoanalysis, this theory 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.

Answer 30

ego psychology

Question 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.

Answer 31

object relations

Question 32

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

Answer 32

collective unconscious

Question 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.

Answer 33

free association

Question 34

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

Answer 34

dream analysis

Question 35

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

Answer 35

psychoanalyst

Question 36

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

Answer 36

transference

Question 37

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

Answer 37

psychodynamic psychotherapy

Question 38

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

Answer 38

self-actualizing

Question 39

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

Answer 39

person-centered therapy

Question 40

Acceptance by the counselor of the client’s feelings and actions without judgment or condemnation.

Answer 40

unconditional positive regard

Question 41

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

Answer 41

behavioral model

Question 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.

Answer 42

classical conditioning

Question 43

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

Answer 43

extinction

Question 44

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

Answer 44

introspection

Question 45

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

Answer 45

systematic desensitization

Question 46

Array of therapy 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.

Answer 46

behavior therapy

Question 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 their reinforcement or the failure to reinforce desired behaviors.

Answer 47

reinforcement

Question 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.

Answer 48

shaping