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Abnormal Psychology: Key Concepts and Definitions, Exams of Psychology

A.T. Still University of Health Sciences (ATSU)Psychology

A concise overview of key concepts in abnormal psychology, including definitions of abnormal behavior, dysfunction, distress, deviance, and dangerousness. It covers topics such as psychopathology, mental disorders, epidemiology, etiology, prognosis, and treatment approaches. Additionally, it explores the historical context of mental illness, research methods, and biological factors, offering a comprehensive introduction to the field. It is useful for students studying psychology.

Typology: Exams

2025/2026

Available from 11/18/2025

DrShirleyAurora
DrShirleyAurora 🇺🇸

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module 1,2,3 abnormal psych
What is abnormal behavior? -
Abnormal behavior is a combination of personal distress, psychological dysfunction, ☑️
deviance from social norms, dangerousness to self and others, and costliness to society. According
to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition(DSM-5) however, there
is "no definition that can capture all aspects of all disorders".
Dysfunction -
"clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotional regulation, or ☑️
behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes
underlying mental functioning"
Distress -
When an individual experiences a physically and/or mentally disabling condition "in ☑️
social, occupational, or other important activities"
Deviance -
Behavior that strays from what is culturally considered "normal" (i.e., social norms) ☑️
although these norms themselves depend on time and place
Dangerousness(not included inin DSM-5) -
Behavior that represents a threat to the safety of the person or others• HAVING A ☑️
MENTAL DISORDER DOES NOT MEAN YOU AREAUTOMATICALLY DANGEROUS OR
VICE VERSA.• Still, a mental health professional has a duty to report to law enforcement when a
mentally disordered individual expresses their intent to harm another person or themselves - must
be considered with the Duty To Warn exception to confidentiality
Psychopathology -
the scientific study of psychological disorders☑️
Mental disorders -
characterized by psychological dysfunction which causes physical and/or psychological ☑️
distress or impaired functioning and is not an expected behavior according to societal or cultural
standards
Epidemiology -
the scientific study of the frequency and causes of diseases and other health-related states ☑️
in specific populations such as school, neighborhood, a city, country, and the world
Presenting problem -
what causes a patient to seek help☑️
Clinical description -
information about the thoughts,feelings, and behaviors demonstrated in a mental ☑️
disorder;can also include information about the occurrence of the disorder, its cause, course, and
treatment possibilities
Incidence -
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module 1,2,3 abnormal psych

What is abnormal behavior? -  ☑️ Abnormal behavior is a combination of personal distress, psychological dysfunction, deviance from social norms, dangerousness to self and others, and costliness to society. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition(DSM-5) however, there is "no definition that can capture all aspects of all disorders". Dysfunction - ☑️ "clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning" Distress - ☑️ When an individual experiences a physically and/or mentally disabling condition "in social, occupational, or other important activities" Deviance - ☑️ Behavior that strays from what is culturally considered "normal" (i.e., social norms) although these norms themselves depend on time and place Dangerousness(not included inin DSM-5) - ☑️ Behavior that represents a threat to the safety of the person or others• HAVING A MENTAL DISORDER DOES NOT MEAN YOU AREAUTOMATICALLY DANGEROUS OR VICE VERSA.• Still, a mental health professional has a duty to report to law enforcement when a mentally disordered individual expresses their intent to harm another person or themselves - must be considered with the Duty To Warn exception to confidentiality Psychopathology - ☑️ the scientific study of psychological disorders Mental disorders - ☑️ characterized by psychological dysfunction which causes physical and/or psychological distress or impaired functioning and is not an expected behavior according to societal or cultural standards Epidemiology - ☑️ the scientific study of the frequency and causes of diseases and other health-related states in specific populations such as school, neighborhood, a city, country, and the world Presenting problem - ☑️ what causes a patient to seek help Clinical description - ☑️ information about the thoughts,feelings, and behaviors demonstrated in a mental disorder;can also include information about the occurrence of the disorder, its cause, course, and treatment possibilities Incidence -

☑️ The number of NEW cases in a population over a specific period of time Prevalence - ☑️ The percentage of people in a population that has amental disorder Comorbidity - ☑️ when two or more mental disorders are occurring at the sometime and in the same person Etiology - ☑️ the cause of the disorder; this can be social, biological, and/or psychological Course - ☑️ the pattern of the disorder Prognosis - ☑️ the anticipated course the mental disorder will take; depends on the disorder, the patient's age, etc Treatment - ☑️ any procedure intended to modify abnormal behavior into normal behavior Social cognition - ☑️ the process through which we collect information from the world around us and then interpret it Sensation - ☑️ detection of physical energy using our eyes,ears, nose, skin, and mouth Schema - ☑️ a set of beliefs and expectations about a group of people Stereotypes - ☑️ special types of schemas that are very simplistic, very strongly help, and not based on first hand experience; aka heuristics (mental shortcuts Trephination - ☑️ a process in which a stone implement is used to remove a part of the skull so as to allow evil spirits to escape Exorcism - ☑️ the casting out of evil spirits through prayer,magic, flogging, etc. Greco-Roman Thought - ☑️ Thought that mental illness was like physical illness and that mental illness came from brain pathology (i.e., trauma or disease of the brain) and heredity Plato - ☑️ Argued that mentally ill individuals should not be punished Mass madness -

☑️ where a scientist systematically studies human or animal behavior in its natural environment Laboratory observation - ☑️ where people or animals are observed in a lab setting Case studies - ☑️ a detailed description of one person or of a small group based on careful observation Surveys/self-reports - ☑️ involves a questionnaire which assesses a psychological construct of interest Correlational research - ☑️ investigates the strength of a relationship between two variables using a correlation coefficient (-1.00 to +1.00) Experiments - ☑️ controlled tests that study cause and effect relationships Clinical psychologists - ☑️ trained to make diagnoses and can provide individual and group therapy; they can prescribe medications in select states Psychiatrists - ☑️ has specialize training in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders and can prescribe medications Uni-Dimensional - ☑️ A single factor explanation for why someone has amental disorder Multi-Dimensional - ☑️ A model that integrates multiple causes of psychopathology and affirms that each cause comes to affect other causes over time Peripheral Nervous System - ☑️ deals with the central nervous system's input/output Central Nervous System - ☑️ the brain and spinal cord; receives, processes, interprets, and stores sensory information Dopamine - ☑️ controls voluntary movements and is associated with the reward mechanism in the brain, created in the substantia nigra Serotonin - ☑️ controls pain, sleep cycle, and digestion; leads to a stable mood (therefore, low levels leads to depression Endorphins - ☑️ involved in reducing pain and making the person calm and happy

GABA -

☑️ responsible for blocking the signals of excitatory neurotransmitters responsible for anxiety and panic Norepinephrine - ☑️ increase the heart rate and blood pressure and regulate mood Glutamate - ☑️ associated with learning and memory Medulla - ☑️ regulates breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure Pons - ☑️ acts as a bridge connecting the cerebellum and medulla and helps to transfer messages between different parts of the brain and spinal cord Reticular formation - ☑️ responsible for alertness and attention Cerebellum - ☑️ involved in our sense of balance and for coordinating the body's muscles so that movement is smooth and precise; involved in the learning of certain kinds of simple responses and acquired reflexes Thalamus - ☑️ the major sensory relay center for all senses but smell Hypothalamus - ☑️ involved in drives associated with the survival of both the individual and the species; regulates temperature; controls the complex operations of the autonomic nervous system Amygdala - ☑️ responsible for evaluating sensory information and quickly determining its emotional importance Hippocampus - ☑️ our "gateway" to memory; allows us to form spatial memories Cerebrum - ☑️ broken up into four major lobes Frontal - ☑️ contains the motor cortex that lets us produce voluntary movement; involved in emotions and planning Occipital - ☑️ contains the visual cortex Parietal - ☑️ contains the somatosensory cortex

Behaviorism - ☑️ concerns the cognitive process of learning which is simply any relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience and practice BEHAVIORISM &RESPONDENTCONDITIONING - ☑️ Refers to behaviorism's first stage under Watson (1913- Counterconditioning - ☑️ where you perform the same type of procedure as you did to set up the learning, but with the opposite goal in mind (e.g., to reduce fear instead of increasing fear Flooding - ☑️ where you expose someone to the maximum level of stimulus and as nothing aversive occurs,the link between CS and UCS producing the CR of fear should break NEOBEHAVIORISM & OPERANTCONDITIONING - ☑️ Refers to the second stage of behaviorism under Skinner (1930- SOCIO-BEHAVIORISM & SOCIAL LEARNINGTHEORY - ☑️ Refers to the final stage of behaviorism under Bandura and Rotter (1960- Trial and error learning - ☑️ making a response repeatedly if it leads to success Observational learning - ☑️ when we learn by watching others COGNITIVEBEHAVIORALTHERAPY - ☑️ focuses on exploring relationships among a person's thoughts,feelings and behaviors" HUMANIST PERSPECTIVE - ☑️ Emerged in the 1960s-70s MULTICULTURAL FACTORS - ☑️ Racial and ethnic minorities must contend with prejudice, discrimination, racism, economic hardships and etc. as part of their daily life and this can lead to disordered behavior Purposes of clinical assessment - ☑️ To understand the individual,To predict behavior,To plan treatment Clinical interview - ☑️ Most common clinical assessment method• Structured or semi structured• Example of semi structured interview: Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-5 (ADIS-5)