Psychopathology Key Words Flashcards
(43 cards)
What is psychopathology?
The study of mental disorders in terms of their causes, development, classification, and treatment.
What is the definition of ‘abnormality’ based on deviation from social norms?
Patterns of behaviours, thoughts, or emotions that deviate from societal norms, cause distress, impair daily functioning or pose a risk to oneself or others.
How is ‘abnormality’ defined in terms of deviation from established norms?
When a person displays actions or behaviours that deviate drastically from the established norms, expectations, or rules commonly accepted within a particular community or society.
What are social norms?
An unwritten rule or expectation that guides the behaviour of individuals within a particular group, community, or society.
What does failure to function adequately mean in the context of ‘abnormality’?
When an individual struggles to manage or fulfil the typical responsibilities, tasks, and expectations required for daily life.
What is the definition of ‘abnormality’ based on statistical infrequency?
When an individual possesses a characteristic, trait, or behaviour that is statistically ‘rare’ compared to the rest of the population.
What does deviation from ideal mental health mean?
When an individual fails to meet specific criteria or standards for good mental well-being.
Behavioural characteristics
Ways in which people act.
Emotional characteristics
Ways in which people feel.
Cognitive characteristics
Ways in which people think. This also refers to the process of knowing, perceiving and believing.
Phobia
An irrational fear of an object or a situation.
Depression
A condition characterised by low mood and low energy levels.
OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)
A condition characterised by persistent, recurring, unpleasant thoughts and repetitive ritualistic behaviours.
Obsessions
The cognitive component of OCD. Recurring thoughts, images etc., are experienced.
Compulsions
The behavioural component of OCD. Repetitive behaviours such as hand washing are completed to help reduce the anxiety experienced.
What is the behaviourist approach?
A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning.
What is the two-process model?
An explanation for phobias which suggests that they are acquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning.
What is classical conditioning?
Learning by association. It occurs when an unconditioned (unlearned) stimulus and a new ‘neutral’ stimulus are repeatedly paired together. The neutral stimulus eventually produces the same response that was originally produced by the unconditioned stimulus.
What is operant conditioning?
A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences.
What is the Behaviourist approach?
A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning.
What is systematic desensitisation?
A behavioural therapy designed to reduce an unwanted response, such as anxiety, to a stimulus. It involves drawing up a hierarchy of anxiety-provoking situations related to a phobia, teaching the client to relax, and exposing them to the phobic situations.
What is relaxation?
The state of being free from tension and anxiety.
What is an anxiety hierarchy?
A list of situations related to the phobic object or situation arranged in order from least to most frightening.
What is flooding?
A behavioural therapy in which a phobic client is exposed to an extreme form of a phobia in order to reduce anxiety.
