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Health 26-27
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Executive Functions | Cognitive processes regulated by the prefrontal cortex that allow individuals to generate, organize, plan, and carry out goal-directed behaviors while experiencing critical thinking. |
| Schema | A cognitive framework or blueprint that helps organize and interpret information. |
| Concept | A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people used to simplify world views and form the basis of thought. |
| Assimilation | Taking in new information from experiences but not changing the existing schema in light of it. |
| Accommodation | Taking in new information from experiences and actively changing the schema to incorporate the new information. |
| Convergent Thinking | Narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best, correct answer; typical of standardized intelligence tests. |
| Divergent Thinking | Expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that jots out in various unique directions. |
| Prototype | The best, ideal, or most textbook example of any given concept or category. |
| Algorithm | A methodical, logical rule or step-by-step procedure that addresses problems by attempting all possible solutions until the correct one is found. Guarantees a solution but is time-consuming. |
| Heuristic | A simple thinking strategy or mental shortcut that allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently, though it is prone to errors. |
| Framing | The way an issue or choice is posed or circumstances surround a decision; presentation can significantly alter judgments and decisions. |
| Priming | The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations due to surrounding circumstances, predisposing one's perception, memory, or response. |
| Cognitive biases | Systematic, predictable patterns of deviation from rationality or logic in judgment and decision-making. |
| Confirmation bias | The tendency to search for, interpret, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence. |
| Hindsight bias | The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it (the "I knew it all along" phenomenon). |
| Overconfidence | The tendency to be more confident than correct, to systematically overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments. |
| Mental Set (aka expectancy theory) | A tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, typically because it was successful in prior experiences, hindering the ability to see novel solutions. |
| Functional Fixedness | A cognitive bias that limits a person to only seeing or using an object in the way it is traditionally used; a major hindrance to creative thinking. |
| Representativeness Heuristic | Making judgments or decisions according to your expectations or stereotypes; comparing how well something matches a prototype while ignoring statistical reality. The prototype is the representative of the category. |
| Availability Heuristic | Estimating the likelihood of events based on recalling the first, most recent, or most vivid example that comes to mind. Deciding based on your most readily available memory. |
| Belief Perseverance | Clinging to one's initial conceptions or beliefs even after the objective basis on which they were formed has been thoroughly discredited. |
| Gambler's Fallacy | The mistaken belief that the probability of a random event is influenced by previous random outcomes (ex: believing a coin is "due" to land on tails after five heads in a row). |
| Sunk Cost Fallacy | The cognitive trap where people justify continuing an investment (of time, money, or effort) in a decision based on what they have already spent, even when cutting losses is the better choice. |
| State of Consciousness | A condition of varying levels of awareness of thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and events in an individual's internal and external worlds. |
| Hypnosis | A state of deep focus that has shown clinical effectiveness in treating pain and anxiety, though research does not support its use to retrieve accurate memories or regress in age. |
| Sleep/wake cycle | The daily biological rhythm of being asleep and being awake, regulated by the master clock in the brain. |
| Melatonin | A hormone produced by the pineal gland that signals to the body that it is time to sleep, heavily tied to light exposure. |
| Circadian rhythm | Our internal biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (ex: temperature and wakefulness) that occur on roughly a 24-hour cycle. |
| Jet lag | A temporary sleep disorder and disruption of the circadian rhythm that occurs when the body's internal clock is out of sync with a new time zone. |
| EEG | Electroencephalogram; a device that records the electrical activity of the brain via electrodes placed on the scalp, used directly to identify specific sleep stages. |
| Stages of sleep | Distinct cyclic patterns of brain waves and muscle activity, identified by their specific EEG patterns (NREM-1, NREM-2, NREM-3, and REM). |
| NREM sleep | Non-Rapid Eye Movement sleep; encompasses stages 1 through 3, which decrease in duration throughout the night as the sleep cycle progresses. |
| Hypnagogic sensations | Bizarre sensory experiences, such as jerking or a feeling of falling or floating weightlessly, occurring specifically as one transitions into initial Stage 1 NREM sleep. |
| REM sleep | Rapid Eye Movement sleep; a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreaming typically occurs. |
| Paradoxical sleep | Another name for REM sleep; termed "paradoxical" because it produces EEG waves similar to alert wakefulness, yet the external body muscles are at their most relaxed (paralyzed). |
| REM rebound | The tendency for the frequency and duration of REM sleep to increase following periods of REM sleep deprivation. |
| Activation-synthesis theory | The biological theory that dreams are the brain's attempt to synthesize and make sense of random neural activity originating in the brainstem during REM sleep. |
| Consolidation theory | The cognitive theory that sleep serves the useful purpose of organizing, processing, and consolidating memories from the day into long-term storage. |
| Restoration theory | The biological theory that sleep allows the body and brain to repair, replenish depleted resources, and heal from the day's wear and tear. |
| Insomnia | A persistent difficulty in falling or staying asleep, leading to impaired daytime performance. |
| Narcolepsy | A neurological sleep disorder characterized by sudden, uncontrollable daytime sleep attacks where the sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep. |
| REM sleep behavior disorder | A condition where the normal muscle paralysis associated with REM sleep is absent, causing the person to physically act out their vivid dreams. |
| Sleep apnea | A sleep disorder characterized by temporary, repeated cessations of breathing during sleep and subsequent momentary, unremembered awakenings. |
| Somnambulism | Sleepwalking; a disruption that occurs exclusively during deep, slow-wave NREM-3 sleep. |
| Eustress vs distress | Eustress is a positive, motivating stress that can enhance performance; distress is a negative, debilitating stress that impairs functioning. |
| General adaptation syndrome | Hans Selye's concept of the body's physiological adaptive response to prolonged stress, occurring in three sequential phases: Alarm, Resistance, and Exhaustion. |
| Alarm reaction | The first phase of GAS; occurs when the stressor is initially encountered, activating the sympathetic nervous system via a fight-flight-freeze response. |
| Adrenaline/Norepinephrine | Fast-acting hormones released by the adrenal glands during the alarm reaction phase to instantly spike heart rate and blood pressure. |
| Fight-flight | freeze response - An evolutionary, automatic physiological reaction to an event perceived as stressful or terrifying, preparing the body to confront, escape, or become immobilized. |
| Resistance phase | The second phase of GAS; occurs as the stressor is actively confronted and the body remains on a stable state of high physiological alert. |
| Exhaustion phase | The final phase of GAS; occurs when resources are entirely spent or stress subsides, leaving the body with depleted resources and the highest vulnerability to illness or collapse. |
| Hypertension | Abnormally high blood pressure; a physiological issue linked heavily to chronic stress. |
| Headaches | Physical pain in the head/neck region, frequently triggered or exacerbated by chronic physiological stress. |
| Immune suppression | The reduction in the immune system's ability to fight off infection and diseases, directly caused by prolonged exposure to stress hormones. |
| HPA Axis (Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis) | A complex feedback system that regulates the body's long-term response to stress by linking the central nervous and endocrine systems. |
| Cortisol | The body's primary chronic stress hormone, released via the HPA axis during the resistance phase to maintain elevated alertness, which can suppress the immune system over time. |
| Tend-and-befriend theory | The theory proposing that some people (statistically observed mostly in women) react to stress by tending to their own/others' needs and seeking connection and social bonding with a group. |
| Oxytocin | A hormone linked to social bonding, empathy, and nurturing behaviors that drives the biological side of the tend-and-befriend response. |
| Problem-focused coping | Alleviating stress directly by seeing the stressor as a problem to be solved and actively working through operational solutions until it is resolved. |
| Emotion-focused coping | Alleviating stress by managing, regulating, or reducing the emotional reactions to the stressor (ex: deep breathing, meditation, or taking anti-anxiety medication) rather than changing the stressor itself. |
| Positive subjective experiences | Mental states of psychological well-being, happiness, mindfulness, or flow that actively increase overall life satisfaction. |
| Signature strengths/virtues | A standard classification system developed by positive psychologists identifying core personal traits that promote human flourishing and well-being. Includes wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. |
| Posttraumatic growth | Positive psychological changes, enhanced resilience, and a deeper appreciation for life that occur as a standard result of struggling with extremely challenging crises or trauma. |
| Resilience | An individual's psychological capacity to dynamically adapt to, cope with, and quickly recover from adversity, trauma, or significant stress. |
| Gratitude | A positive subjective experience involving the expression of thankfulness and appreciation, which has been scientifically proven to increase subjective well-being. |
| Diathesis-stress model | The framework assuming that psychological disorders develop due to a combination of an inherent genetic/biological vulnerability (diathesis) paired with environmental, stressful life experiences. |
| Adverse childhood experiences | Potentially traumatic events occurring in childhood (abuse, neglect, household dysfunction) that act as chronic developmental stressors affecting health throughout the lifespan. |
| Identification factors | The combined variables used by clinical professionals to officially identify and define behaviors as psychological disorders. |
| Level of dysfunction | The degree to which a behavior interferes with an individual's ability to carry out daily operational life tasks (work, school, relationships). |
| Perception of distress | The internal psychological suffering or emotional pain felt and reported by the individual experiencing the symptoms. |
| Deviation from the social norm | The degree to which a behavior or thought pattern drastically violates the explicit or implicit cultural rules of a given society. |
| Stigma | The negative labels, social disapproval, and discrimination faced by individuals diagnosed with mental health disorders, which can act as a barrier to seeking treatment. |
| American Psychiatric Association | The specialized professional organization in the United States that developed, publishes, and regularly updates the DSM. |
| Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders | The standard, evidence-based diagnostic tool and classification system utilized by clinicians in the US to diagnose psychological disorders. |
| World Health Organization | An international health agency of the United Nations that tracks global disease trends and produces the ICD. |
| International Classification of Mental Disorders (ICD) | The international standard medical classification system used globally to report and track all health conditions, including mental disorders. |
| Depressive disorders | A category of disorders characterized by the presence of sad, empty, or irritable moods along with somatic and cognitive changes that severely impair an individual's capacity to function. |
| Major depressive disorder | A depressive disorder marked by persistent feelings of intense sadness and a loss of interest in all activities for a minimum period of at least two consecutive weeks. |
| Persistent depressive disorder | A chronic, slightly milder form of depression where depressive symptoms endure continuously for at least two full years. |
| Dissociative disorders | A category of disorders characterized by structural disruptions or dissociations from conscious awareness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, and behavior, typically caused by trauma or severe stress. |
| Dissociative amnesia | An inability to recall important personal information, usually of a highly traumatic or stressful nature, that cannot be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. |
| Fugue | A specific feature of dissociative amnesia involving sudden, unexpected travel away from home or work, accompanied by a complete loss of personal identity or the assumption of a new identity. |
| Dissociative identity disorder | A rare dissociative disorder in which an individual exhibits two or more distinct, alternating personality states that dynamically control behavior. |
| Psychotherapy | Treatment involving specialized psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist and a client seeking to overcome difficulties or achieve personal growth. |
| Evidence-based interventions | Therapeutic practices and treatment plans developed using techniques that have been rigorously tested and validated through empirical scientific research and meta-analytic studies. |
| Therapeutic alliance | A critical bond of trust, mutual respect, and collaboration established between a therapist and a client to successfully deliver therapy. |
| Psychotropic medication therapy | The utilization of chemical substances/drugs to alter neurotransmitter activity in the brain to treat mental health symptoms. |
| Deinstitutionalize | The late-20th-century socio-political policy that moved massive numbers of severely mentally ill individuals out of large state psychiatric institutions. |
| Decentralized treatment | The modern therapeutic preference to treat individuals within community-based outpatient centers, frequently combining localized psychological therapies with psychotropic medications. |
| Ethical principles of treatment | The core moral mandates established by the APA that clinicians must adhere to, including nonmaleficence (do no harm), fidelity, integrity, and respect for people's rights and dignity. |
| Cognitive therapies | An umbrella category of therapies based on the cognitive perspective that focus on identifying, challenging, and modifying unhelpful or maladaptive thought patterns. |
| Cognitive perspective | The psychological viewpoint proposing that the root causes of mental disorders focus on maladaptive, irrational thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, or emotions. |
| Cognitive restructuring | A core therapeutic technique where clients are trained to systematically identify, challenge, and actively alter their maladaptive and irrational thoughts. |
| Fear hierarchies | A structured, ranked list of anxiety-provoking stimuli or situations ranging from least to most intense, used within therapies to systematically combat maladaptive fear responses. |
| Cognitive triad | Aaron Beck's model detailing the specific automatic negative thought loops common in depression, consisting of three interconnected components: negative thoughts about oneself, the world, and the future. |
| Group therapy vs individual therapy | Individual therapy offers private, one-on-one focus with a therapist; group therapy allows sharing of similar struggles to provide peer feedback, shared social validation, and lower costs. |
Created by:
lcurty100