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Psych Term
Psychology Terminology
| Question | Answer | |
|---|---|---|
| circumstantiality | in conversation, the use of excessive & irrelavant detail in describing simple events, the speaker eventually reaching his goal after many digressions | Pt is asked: Who brought you to the hospital. Pt replies: "Well, I wanted my husband to drive me but the car we have a '73 chevy and you know how old cars are, wouldn't start. So I called my sister. It's her birthday. She took the bus with me. |
| clang association | in thinking, the assoc. of words by sound rather than meaning, often resulting in nonsensical rhymes and puns | "Go to my room? Room, boom, doom. It's my doom like a tomb in my room. May give me rheumatism. |
| compulsion | an insistent, repetitive, intrusive & unwanted urge to perform an act that is contrary to one's ordinary wishes and standards | The pt has a strong repetitive urge to break glass. This urge is experienced at home, work, church and so forth. |
| confabulation | the fabrication of stories in response to questions about situations or events that are not recalled | The pt is asked about his background in the armed forces. He tells vivid stories about his combat in Korea when it is known in his history that he never saw combast. |
| delusion | a firm, fixed idea not amenable to rational explanation and maintained despite objective evidence to the contrary | Pt believes that natural object such as tress embody ancient, secret codes that only he can decipher because he once lived thousands of years ago |
| idea of reference | the interpretation of external events, especially the actions and statements of other people, as having reference of oneself when in fact they do not. | Pt believes that natural objects are arranged in way that has meaning only for him |
| illusion | a misperception of external stimuli; to be distinquished from an hallucination, which occurs in the absence of external stimuli | Seeing a hat and a coat hanging on wall hooks in the corner, pt mistakes them for figure of a real person |
| inappropriate affect | the failure of feelings expressed nonverbally to match thoughts expressed verbally | Pt expresses glee nonverbally while verbally expressing anger about the ingratitude of her friends |
| labile affect | unsteady feelings that shift rapidly | Pt expresses feelings that change rapidily from euphoria to anger to tearfullness to elation and back |
| loose associations | thinking that is over generalized, diffuse, vague, with only a tenuous connection bwtn one thought and the next | "Love is all. Energizing. generally speaking that is. You don't carry me because I'm a composition of honesty and science in the visible spectrum." |
| neologism | the coinage of new words, often by condensing several other words, each of which has a special meaning for the person | The pt describes a deathilating machine used by next door neighbors who are plotting to kill him. |
| obsession | a persistent & irresistible thought, feeling or impulse that cannot be eliminated from consciousness by any logical effort | Pt thinks his clothes are dirty and ought to be washed. Looking he sees that his clothes are clean. Still, he feels they are dirty and checks with a friend, who says they are clean. His feelings persist. |
| paranoid ideation | suspiciousness or the belief that one is being harassed, persecuted or unfairly treated | Pt believes that other adolescents on his block want to hurt him. |
| perseveration | the emission of the same verbal or motor response again and again to varied stimuli, despite person's effort to move on | Pt repeats phrase "Look in the basket over there" in response to each of several different questions by the nurse. |
| phobia | an obsessive, persistent, unrealistic intense fear of an object or situation | Pt experiences an intense fear of heights, even small ones of only a few feet |
| posturing | maintaining an unusual or awkward posture for a considerable period of time | Pt stands on one foot, keeping the other foot raised in the air. |
| poverty of thought | few verbal communications or ones that convey little information because of vagueness, empty repetitions or stereotyped or obscure phrases | Pt replies to all questions with only one or two words, even though elaboration is invited and encouraged |
| ritual | repetition of speech or motor activity, intended to relieve anxiety | Pt washes his hands several times each hour |
| stereotype | persistent mechanical repetition of speech or motor activity | Pt repeatedly rubs his nose, smells his fingers and casts sidelong glances |
| suicidal ideation: active | thought of suicide that include a plan of killing oneself | Pt says that he is going to shoot himself with his brother's rifle |
| suicidal ideation: passive | a wish for one's own death, not accompanied by a plan for killing oneself | Pt says "I wish I were dead." Nurse asks, "Do you have a plan for killing yourself?" Pt "No, I don't think I could do that." |
| tangentiality | in conversation, digressions that divert the speaker from goal, which he never reaches | Pt begins talk about being diabetic. Discussing visits to clinic, she is reminded of a nurse, whose hairstyle she likes. The nurse resembles her sister, who just had a baby. She discusses her new niece but does not get back to being diabetic. |
| thought blocking | a sudden obstruction or interruption in the train of thought or speech, which the person is unable to complete | Pt interrupts many of his sentences. when asked why, he says that he forgot what he was going to say |
| thought insertion | the experience of thought that the person does not recognize as orginating in his own thought processes | Pt believes that his sister-in-law is "putting" sexual thoughts into his head. |
| thought withdrawal | an interruption in the train of thought perceived by the person as a removal or taking away of thoughts | "someone has got my thoughts", "My mom is taking my thoughts" |
| word salad | a mixture of words and phrases, often including neologisms, that lack comprehensive meaning or logical coherence | "touchiness, blood, heart of deer, length, driven power, motorized cylinder, strength, page 53." |
| ambivalence | alternation btwn opposing movements | Pt alternately enters & immediately withdrawals from interviewing room, passing back & forth thru doorway |
Created by:
tpittman5
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