Chapter 1

Question 1

Abnormal psychology

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Deviance

Answer 2

Abnormal psychological functioning is deviant from societal norms; different, extreme, unusual, bizarre

Question 3

Norms

Answer 3

A society’s stated and unstated rules for proper conduct

Question 4

Culture

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Distress

Answer 5

Abnormal psychological functioning is distressing; unpleasant and upsetting to the person

Question 6

Dysfunction

Answer 6

Abnormal psychological functioning is dysfunctional; interfering with the person’s ability to conduct daily activities in a constructive way

Question 7

Danger

Answer 7

Abnormal psychological functioning is possibly dangerous to oneself or others

Question 8

Treatment

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Trephination

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Humors

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Asylum

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Moral treatment

Answer 12

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

Question 13

State hospitals

Answer 13

State-run public mental institutions in the United States

Question 14

Somatogenic perspective

Answer 14

The view that abnormal psychological functioning has physical causes

Question 15

Psychogenic perspective

Answer 15

The view that the chief causes of abnormal functioning are psychological

Question 16

General paresis

Answer 16

An irreversible disorder with both physical and mental symptoms, including paralysis and delusions of grandeur

Question 17

Hypnosis

Answer 17

Procedure that places people in a trancelike mental state during which they become extremely suggestible

Question 18

Psychoanalysis

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Psychotropic medications

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Deinstitutionalization

Answer 20

The practice, begun in the 1960s, of releasing hundreds of thousands of patients from public mental hospitals

Question 21

Private psychotherapy

Answer 21

An arrangement in which a person directly pays a therapist for counseling services

Question 22

Prevention

Answer 22

Interventions aimed at determining mental disorders before they develop

Question 23

Positive psychology

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Multicultural psychology

Answer 24

The field of psychology the examines the impact of culture, race, ethnicity, gender, and similar factors on out behaviors and thoughts, including abnormal behaviors and thoughts

Question 25

Managed care program

Answer 25

A system of health care coverage in which the insurance company largely controls the nature, scope, and cost of medical or psychological services

Question 26

Scientific method

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Case study

Answer 27

A detailed account of a person's life and psychological problems

Question 28

Correlation

Answer 28

The degree to which events or characteristics vary along with each other

Question 29

Correlational method

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Epidemiological study

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Incidence

Answer 31

The number of new cases that emerge during a given period of time

Question 32

Prevalence

Answer 32

The total number of cases in the population during a given period of time; existing and new

Question 33

Longitudinal study

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Experiment

Answer 34

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

Question 35

Independent variable

Answer 35

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

Question 36

Dependent variable

Answer 36

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

Question 37

Confound

Answer 37

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

Question 38

Control group

Answer 38

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

Question 39

Experimental group

Answer 39

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

Question 40

Random assignment

Answer 40

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

Question 41

Blind design

Answer 41

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

Question 42

Placebo therapy

Answer 42

Imitation therapy in which a placebo is given to the control group which looks or tastes like the real therapy but has none of its key ingredients

Question 43

Double-blind design

Answer 43

An experiment in which both the experimenter and the participant is kept blind

Question 44

Quasi-experiment

Answer 44

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.

Question 45

Natural experiment

Answer 45

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

Question 46

Analogue experiment

Answer 46

An experiment in which the investigator produces abnormal-like behavior in laboratory participants and then conducts studies on the participants

Question 47

Single-subject experimental design

Answer 47

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