The Science of Psychology: An Appreciative View, 1st Edition (King)

Chapter 14: Psychological Disorders

Key Terms


abnormal behavior  Behavior that is deviant, maladaptive, or personally distressful over a long period of time.
Agoraphobia  A cluster of fears centered on public places and on an inability to escape or to find help should one become incapacitated.
anxiety disorders  Psychological disorders that feature motor tension, hyperactivity, and apprehensive expectations and thoughts.
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)  Psychological disorder in which the individual shows one or more of the following characteristics over a period of time: inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
bipolar disorder  A mood disorder characterized by extreme mood swings that include one or more episodes of mania (an overexcited, unrealistically optimistic state).
Catatonia  A state of immobility and unresponsiveness.
catatonic schizophrenia  A type of schizophrenia characterized by bizarre motor behavior that sometimes takes the form of a completely immobile stupor.
Delusions  False, sometimes even preposterous, beliefs that are not part of the person's culture.
depressive disorders  Mood disorders in which the individual suffers from depression (an unrelenting lack of pleasure in life).
diathesis-stress model  A model of schizophrenia that proposes a combination of biogenetic disposition and stress as the cause of the disorder.
disorganized schizophrenia  A type of schizophrenia in which an individual has delusions and hallucinations that have little or no recognizable meaning.
dissociative amnesia  A dissociative disorder involving extreme memory loss caused by extensive psychological stress.
dissociative disorders  Psychological disorders that involve a sudden loss of memory or change in identity.
dissociative fugue  A dissociative disorder in which the individual not only develops amnesia but also unexpectedly travels away from home and assumes a new identity. 
dissociative identity disorder (DID)  Formerly called multiple personality disorder, this is the most dramatic but least common dissociative disorder; individuals suffering from this disorder have two or more distinct personalities or selves.
DSM-IV  Abbreviation for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition; the current version of the APA’s major classification of psychological disorders.
dysthymic disorder  A depressive disorder that is generally more chronic and has fewer symptoms than major depressive disorder.
flat affect  A negative symptom in which the person shows little or no emotion, speaks without emotional inflection, and maintains an immobile facial expression.
generalized anxiety disorder  An anxiety disorder that consists of persistent anxiety for at least 6 months; the individual with this disorder cannot specify the reasons for the anxiety.
Hallucinations  Sensory experiences in the absence of real stimuli
major depressive disorder (MDD)  A mood disorder indicated by a major depressive episode and depressed characteristics, such as lethargy and hopelessness, lasting at least 2 weeks.
medical model  A biological approach that describes psychological disorders as medical diseases with a biological origin.
mood disorders  Psychological disorders in which there is a primary disturbance in mood (prolonged emotion that colors the individual's entire emotional state). Two main types are the depressive disorders and bipolar disorder.
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)  An anxiety disorder in which the individual has anxiety-provoking thoughts that will not go away (obsession) and/or urges to perform repetitive, ritualistic behaviors to prevent or produce some future situation (compulsion).
panic disorder  An anxiety disorder marked by recurrent sudden onsets of intense apprehension or terror.
paranoid schizophrenia  A type of schizophrenia that is characterized by delusions of reference, grandeur, and persecution.
personality disorders  Chronic, maladaptive cognitive-behavioral patterns that are thoroughly integrated into the individual's personality.
phobic disorder  Commonly called phobia, an anxiety disorder in which the individual has an irrational, overwhelming, persistent fear of a particular object or situation.
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)  An anxiety disorder that develops through exposure to a traumatic event, severely oppressive situations, severe abuse, and natural and unnatural disasters.
referential thinking  Ascribing personal meaning to completely random events.
Schizophrenia  A severe psychological disorder that is characterized by highly disordered thought processes.
undifferentiated schizophrenia  A type of schizophrenia that is characterized by disorganized behavior, hallucinations, delusions, and incoherence.
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