pathology of the mind, i.e. the symptoms and signs of mental disorders such as depressed mood, panic attacks, and bizarre beliefs
abnormal psychology
the application of psychological science to the study of mental disorders
psychosis
a general term that refers to several types of severe mental disorders where the person is considered to be “out of touch” with reality
syndrome
a set of characteristic features and symptoms that appear together, that represent a specific type of disorder
harmful dysfunction
the definition of a mental disorder in terms of an objective evaluation of the person’s performance in the real world and hinderence to natural function
culture
the values, beliefs, and practices that are shared by a specific community or group of people
epidemiology
the scientific study of the frequency and distribution of disorders within a population. Researchers of this are concerned with questions of frequency, commonality, and types of people
incidence
the number of new cases of a disorder that appear in a population over a period of time
prevalence
the total number of active cases, old and new, that are present in a population during a period of time
comorbidity (co-occurrence)
the presence of more than one condition within the same period of time (ex alcoholism, major depression)
psychiatry
the branch of medicine that is oncerned with the study and treatment of mental disorders
clinical psychology
concerned with the application of psychological science to the assessment and treatment of mental disorders.
social work
a profession that is concerned with helping people to achieve an effective level of psychosocial functioning
case study
an in-depth look at the symptoms and circumstances surrounding one’s mental disturance
hypothesis
a new prediction made by an investigator
null hypothesis
the alternative to the experimental hypothesis. It always predicts that the experimental hypothesis is not true
paradigm
a set of shared assumptions that includes both the substance of a theory and beliefs about how scientists should collect data and test hypothesis
four paradigms
biological, psychodynamic – Freud, cognitive-behavioral – Wilhelm Wundt/Skinner, humanistic
biological paradigm
looks for biological abnormalities that can cause abnormal behavior – like general paresis being caused by syphilis
psychodynamic paradigm
asserts that abnormal behavior is caused by unconscious mental conflicts that have roots in early childhood experience
psychoanalytic theory – present at birth, houses biological drives, hunger; psychological drives: sex, and agggresion
ego
psychoanalytic theory – develops in the oral (first) stage, the part of personality that must deal with the realities of the world as it attemps to fulfill id impulses as well as perform other functions. Operates on the reality principle
superego
psychoanalytic theory – roughly equivalent to conscience, contains society standards of behavior
nonmenclature, study of etiology/comorbidity, insurance why classify abnormality? suffering, maladaptives, statistical deviancy, violation of the standards of society, social discomfort, irrationality and unpredictibility, dangerousness indicators of abnormality(study notes for this) certain forms of psychopathy appear Read more…
prodromal phase Precedes an active phase-deterioration in role functioning, may be seen by others as a change in personality, peculiar behaviors, unusual perceptual experiences, outbursts of anger, increased tension, restlessness, social withdrawal, indecisiveness, lack of Read more…
Abnormal Psychology The scientific of abnormal behavior in an effort describe, predict, explain, and change abnormal patterns of functioning. Deviance Behavior, thoughts, and emotions that break norms of psychological functioning. Crosses the line when it Read more…