Psychology & Sociology

psychological resilience

Psychological resilience is the ability to mentally or emotionally cope with a crisis or to return to pre-crisis status quickly. Resilience exists when the person uses "mental processes and behaviors in promoting personal assets and protecting self from the potential negative effects of stressors." In simpler terms, psychological resilience exists in people who develop psychological and behavioral capabilities that allow them to remain calm during crises/chaos and to move on from the incident without long-term negative consequences.

brief psychotic disorder

Psychotic disturbance involving delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech or behavior but lasting less than 1 month; often occurs in reaction to a stressor. Brief psychotic disorder is a period of psychosiswhose duration is short, is not caused by another condition, and which may or may not be recurrent.

REBT

Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), previously called rational therapy and rational emotive therapy, is an active-directive, philosophically and empiricallybased psychotherapy, the aim of which is to resolve emotional and behavioral problems and disturbances and to help people to lead happier and more fulfilling lives. REBT was created and developed by the American psychotherapist and psychologist Albert Ellis, who was inspired by many of the teachings of Asian, Greek, Roman and modern philosophers. REBT is the first form of cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT) and was first expounded by Ellis in the mid-1950s; development continued until his death in 2007. Ellis became synonymous with the highly influential therapy. Psychology Today noted, "No individual—not even Freud himself—has had a greater impact on modern psychotherapy.

cognitive reappraisal

Regulating one's feelings about an experience by reinterpreting that experience or thinking about it in a different way or from a different angle.

evolutionary epistemology

A philosophical position that holds that all knowledge evolves through evolutionary processes of natural selection. This article needs additional citations for verification. Evolutionary epistemology refers to three distinct topics: (1) the biological evolution of cognitivemechanisms in animals and humans, (2) a theory that knowledge itself evolves by natural selection, and (3) the study of the historical discovery of new abstract entities such as abstract number or abstract value that necessarily precede the individual acquisition and usage of such abstractions.

repetition compulsion

A psychological phenomenon in which a person repeats a traumatic event or its circumstances over and over again. This includes reenacting the event or putting oneself in situations where the event is likely to happen again.

psychosocial theory

A set of principles that relates social environment to psychological development.

ego-dystonic behavior

Behavior that does not conform to the person's thoughts, wishes, and values.

Clifford Geertz (1926-2006)

Clifford James Geertz (August 23, 1926 - October 30, 2006) was an American anthropologist who is remembered mostly for his strong support for and influence on the practice of symbolic anthropology, and who was considered "for three decades...the single most influential cultural anthropologist in the United States. Geertz became a champion of symbolic anthropology, a framework which gives prime attention to the role of symbols in constructing public meaning. In his seminal work The Interpretation of Cultures (1973), Geertz outlined culture as "a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life." He was one of the earliest scholars to see that the insights provided by common language, philosophy and literary analysis could have major explanatory force in the social sciences. Geertz aimed to provide the social sciences with an understanding and appreciation of "thick description."

Narcissistic Personality

Characterized by a grandiose and exaggerated sense of self-importance and an exploitive attitude toward others, which serve the function of masking a frail self-concept.

Countertransference

Circumstances in which a psychoanalyst develops personal feelings about a client because of perceived similarity of the client to significant people in the therapist's life.

Donald T. Campbell (1916-1996)

Donald Thomas Campbell (November 20, 1916 - May 5, 1996) was an American social scientist. He is noted for his work in methodology. He coined the term "evolutionary epistemology" and developed a selectionist theory of human creativity. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Campbell as the 33rd most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

Human mysteries . . . (Dickens, 1859)

"A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other." Charles Dickens (1859), A Tale of Two Cities

infantile omnipotence (infantile narcissism, infantile ego)

"Infantile omnipotence" or, what Freud referred to as "infantile narcissism" and "infantile ego," refers to the greatly exaggerated sense of self-importance that many very young children develop from the natural tendency to be "the center of their universe." Because, for most babies and toddlers, they are the center of attention and their every need addressed - and addressed promptly - as they get a little older they believe that they are all-powerful and that the rest of humanity exists to serve them. While cute in infants or toddlers, however, infantile omnipotence can develop into narcissism if left unchecked. That is why it is important for parents to try and condition their young children to view themselves as members of a team with responsibilities. The more children are taught that they are responsible for certain age-appropriate tasks, the more they learn that they are expected to coexist with the rest of humanity on equal terms and carry their share of the load.

Love . . . (Gibran, 1923)

"Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls." Kahlil Gibran (1923), "The Prophet"

Love's Two Pillars (Perel, 2017)

"Love rests on two pillars: surrender and autonomy. Our need for togetherness exists alongside our need for separateness. One does not exist without the other." Esther Perel (2017), Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence

Culture . . . (Smail, 2008)

"Man is suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun . . ." David Lord Smail On Deep History and the Brain (2008)

Self and transparency . . . (Muller, 2018)

"Our very sense of self is possible only because our thoughts and desires are not transparent to others. The possibility of intimacy depends on our ability to make ourselves more transparent to some people than to others. . . . In interpersonal relations, even the most intimate ones, success depends on a degree of ambiguity and opacity, in not knowing everything that the other is doing, never mind thinking." Jerry Z. Muller (2018), The Tyranny of Metrics

Exploitation . . . (Bacon, 1597)

"Wisdom for a man's self is, in many branches thereof, a depraved thing. It is the wisdom of rats, that will be sure to leave a house somewhat before it fall. It is wisdom of the fox, that thrusts out the badger, who digged and made room for him. It is the wisdom of crocodiles, that shed tears when they would devour." Sir Francis Bacon (1597), Essayes: Religious Meditations. Places of Perswasion and Disswasion. Seene and Allowed

David Wechsler (1896-1981)

(January 12, 1896 - May 2, 1981) was a Romanian psychologist. He developed well-known intelligence scales, such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC). A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Wechsler as the 51st most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

hypergamy

(colloquially referred to as "marrying up", occasionally referred to as "higher-gamy") is a term used in social science for the act or practice of a person marrying a spouse of higher caste or social status than themselves. The antonym "hypogamy" refers to the inverse: marrying a person of lower social class or status (colloquially "marrying down"). Both terms were coined in the Indian subcontinent in the 19th century while translating classical Hindu law books, which used the Sanskrit terms anuloma and pratiloma, respectively, for the two concepts.

telesis

(from the Greek telesis/) or "planned progress" was a concept and neologismcoined by the American sociologist Lester Frank Ward (often referred to as the "father of American sociology"), in the late 19th century to describe directed social advancement via education and the scientific method. The term has since been adopted as the name of numerous groups, schools, and businesses.

EQi Domain & Competencies: Self-awareness

- Emotional Self-Awareness: The ability to understand our own emotions and their effects on our performance. - Accurate Self-assessment - Emotional Self-Control

EQ-i 2.0 Domain & Competencies: Self-perception

- Emotional Self-awareness: ability to be aware of and understand one's feelings - Self-regard: ability to accept and respect one's strengths and weaknesses - Self-actualization: ability to improve oneself and pursue meaningful objectives

EQi Domain & Competencies: Self-management

- Emotional Self-control - Transparency - Adaptability - Achievement - Initiative - Optimism

EQi Domain & Competencies: Social Awareness

- Empathy: The ability to sense others' feelings and perspectives, taking an active interest in their concerns and picking up cues about what others feel and think. - Organizational Awareness:The ability to read a group's emotional currents and power relationships, identifying influencers, networks, and organizational dynamics. - Service Orientation

malignant narcissism

A belief that everything belonging to one's self is of great value and anything belonging to others is worthless. Malignant narcissism is a psychological syndrome comprising an extreme mix of narcissism, antisocial behavior, aggression, and sadism. Grandiose, and always ready to raise hostility levels, the malignant narcissist undermines families and organizations in which they are involved, and dehumanizes the people with whom they associate. Malignant narcissism is a hypothetical, experimental diagnostic category. Narcissistic personality disorderis found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR), while malignant narcissism is not. As a hypothetical syndrome, malignant narcissism could include aspects of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) alongside a mix of antisocial, paranoid and sadistic personality disorder traits. The importance of malignant narcissism and of projection as a defense mechanism has been confirmed in paranoia, as well as "the patient's vulnerability to malignant narcissistic regression".

exposure and response prevention (ERP)

A method of treating obsessive-compulsive behavior that involves prolonged exposure to anxiety-arousing events while not engaging in the compulsive behavior pattern that reduces the anxiety. Exposure Response Prevention, commonly referred to as ERP, is a therapy that encourages you to face your fears and let obsessive thoughts occur without 'putting them right' or 'neutralising' them with compulsions. Exposure therapy starts with confronting items and situations that cause anxiety, but anxiety that you feel able to tolerate. After the first few times, you will find your anxiety does not climb as high and does not last as long. You will then move on to more difficult exposure exercises.

hedonic valuation

A method used to estimate economic values for ecosystem or environmental services that directly affect market prices.

avoidant personality disorder

A personality disorder characterized by consistent discomfort and restraint in social situations, overwhelming feelings of inadequacy, and extreme sensitivity to negative evaluation.

anti-social personality disorder

A personality disorder in which the person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist.

intertemporal choice

Intertemporal choice is the process by which people make decisions about what and how much to do at various points in time, when choices at one time influence the possibilities available at other points in time. These choices are influenced by the relative value people assign to two or more payoffs at different points in time. Most choices require decision-makers to trade off costs and benefits at different points in time. These decisions may be about saving, work effort, education, nutrition, exercise, health care and so forth.

John Cade (1912-1980)

John Frederick Joseph Cade AO (18 January 1912 - 16 November 1980) was an Australian psychiatrist credited with discovering (in 1948) the effects of lithium carbonate as a mood stabilizer in the treatment of bipolar disorder (then known as manic depression). In an age where the standard treatments for psychosis were electroconvulsive therapy and lobotomy, lithium had the distinction of being the first effective medication available to treat a mental illness.

projection (psychological)

Psychological projection is a defense mechanism people subconsciously employ in order to cope with difficult feelings or emotions. Psychological projection involves projecting undesirable feelings or emotions onto someone else, rather than admitting to or dealing with the unwanted feelings. Have you ever disliked someone only to become convinced that the person had a vendetta against you? This is a common example of psychological projection. Luckily, there are methods you can use to identify why you are projecting your emotions and put a stop to this coping mechanism.

somatic narcissism

The somatic narcissist (and/or histrionic) flaunts their sex appeal, sensual prowess, and attractive body. Somatics are almost always in the latest fashion, driving fancy cars, and acting the celebrity.

cultural diffusion

The spread of ideas, customs, and technologies from one people to another.

self-licensing

The subconscious phenomenon whereby increased confidence and security in one's self-image or self-concept tends to make that individual worry less about the consequences of subsequent immoral behavior and, therefore, more likely to make immoral choices and act immorally. (also - licensing effect).

metapsychosis

The supposed action of one mind upon another without any known physical means of communication, or its effect.

Tall Poppy Syndrome

The tall poppy syndrome describes aspects of a culture where people of high status are resented, attacked, cut down, strung up or criticized because they have been classified as superior to their peers. The term has been used in cultures of the English-speaking worldThe concept originates from accounts in Herodotus' Histories (Book 5, 92f), Aristotle's Politics (1284a), and Livy's Ab Urbe Condita Libri, Book I.The specific reference to poppies occurs in Livy's account of the tyrannical Roman king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. He is said to have received a messenger from his son Sextus Tarquinius asking what he should do next in Gabii, since he had become all-powerful there. Rather than answering the messenger verbally, Tarquin went into his garden, took a stick, and symbolically swept it across his garden, thus cutting off the heads of the tallest poppies that were growing there. The messenger, tired of waiting for an answer, returned to Gabii and told Sextus what he had seen. Sextus realised that his father wished him to put to death all of the most eminent people of Gabii, which he then did.

cognitive rehearsal

The technique of carrying out a task in one's imagination. cognitive rehearsal involves memorizing responses designed to prevent acting impulsively. Rather than responding immediately or emotionally to unprofessional remarks or behavior, you hold and process them, which allows you to think about the potential situation and what the most appropriate responses might be. By using a planned, rehearsed response, you acknowledge the situation and create an opportunity to communicate expectations for appropriate behaviors and future interactions.

automatic negative thoughts (ANTs)

Thoughts that are repetitive, unintended, and not readily controllable. Automatic negative thoughts (ANT) are thoughtsthat are negative and random in nature in reference to one's self. Mindfulness is a technique used to help people focus on the present moment, thereby helping in restructuring distorted thoughts and feelings. Some studies suggest that mindfulness reduces automatic negative thinking. Ritvo and colleagues found that university students going through a series of mindfulness courses had an overall group reduction in automatic negative thoughts.

life history

Traits that affect an organism's schedule of reproduction and survival.

parasomnias

abnormal behaviors such as nightmares or sleepwalking that occur during sleep.

Oedipus complex

according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.

counterphobia

deliberately seeking out and exposing onself to, rather than avoiding, the object or situation that is consciously or unconsciously feared. Counterphobic attitude is a response to anxiety that, instead of fleeing the source of fear in the manner of a phobia, actively seeks it out, in the hope of overcoming the original anxiousness. Contrary to the avoidant personality disorder, the counterphobic represents the less usual, but not totally uncommon, response of seeking out what is feared: codependents may fall into a subcategory of this group, hiding their fears of attachment in over-dependency.

psychological egoism/altruism

every act is motivated by self-interest. Psychological egoism is the thesis that we are always deep down motivated by what we perceive to be in our own self-interest. Psychological altruism, on the other hand, is the view that sometimes we can have ultimately altruistic motives.

anterior cingulate and free will (Crick)

in The Astonishing Hypothesis, Francis Crick identifies the anterior cingulate, to be specific the anterior cingulate sulcus, as a likely candidate for the center of free will in humans. Crick bases this suggestion on scans of patients with specific lesions that seem to interfere with their sense of independent will, such as alien hand syndrome.

conditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response.

conditioned response

in classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS).

Eriksen flanker task

in cognitive psychology, the Eriksen flanker task is a set of response inhibition tests used to assess the ability to suppress responses that are inappropriate in a particular context. The target is flanked by non-target stimuli which correspond either to the same directional response as the target (congruent flankers), to the opposite response (incongruent flankers), or to neither (neutral flankers). The task is named for Barbara. A. Eriksen & Charles W. Eriksen, who first published the task in 1974, and also for the flanker stimuli that surround the target. In the tests, a directional response (usually left or right) is assigned to a central target stimulus. Various forms of the task are used to measure information processing and selective attention.

empathic failure

in psychoanalysis, disappointments, letdowns, etc...from your parents that manifest in psychic difficulties, especially with relationships, as adults. In mainstream psychology, empathic failure refers to situations in which a person fails to exhibit appropriate levels of empathy toward others.

Resistance

in psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material.

castration anxiety

in psychoanalysis, the fear in young boys that they will be mutilated genitally because of their lust for their mothers. Castration anxiety is the fear of emasculation in both the literal and metaphorical sense. Castration anxiety is an overwhelming fear of damage to, or loss of, the penis—one of Sigmund Freud's earliest psychoanalytic theories. Although Freud regarded castration anxiety as a universal human experience, few empirical studies have been conducted on the topic. Much of the research that has been done on the topic was done decades ago, although still relevant today. The theory is that a child has a fear of damage being done to their genitalia by the parent of the same sex (e.g. a son being afraid of his father) as punishment for sexual feelings toward the parent of the opposite sex (e.g. a son toward his mother). It has been theorized that castration anxiety begins between the ages of 3 and 5, otherwise known as the phallic stage of development according to Freud. Although typically associated with males, castration anxiety is theorized to be experienced in differing ways for both the male and female sexes.

Transference

in psychoanalysis, the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent).

ego defense mechanisms

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality. Defence mechanism is an unconsciouspsychological mechanism that reduces anxiety arising from unacceptable or potentially harmful stimuli. Defence mechanisms may result in healthy or unhealthy consequences depending on the circumstances and frequency with which the mechanism is used. In psychoanalytic theory, defence mechanisms (German: Abwehrmechanismen) are psychological strategies brought into play by the unconscious mind to manipulate, deny, or distort reality in order to defend against feelings of anxiety and unacceptable impulses and to maintain one's self-schema or other schemas. These processes that manipulate, deny, or distort reality may include the following: repression, or the burying of a painful feeling or thought from one's awareness even though it may resurface in a symbolic form; identification, incorporating an object or thought into oneself; and rationalization, the justification of one's behaviour and motivations by substituting "good" acceptable reasons for the actual motivations. In psychoanalytic theory, repression is considered as the basis for other defence mechanisms. Healthy persons normally use different defences throughout life. An ego defence mechanism becomes pathological only when its persistent use leads to maladaptive behaviour such that the physical or mental health of the individual is adversely affected. Among the purposes of ego defence mechanisms is to protect the mind/self/ego from anxiety or social sanctions or to provide a refuge from a situation with which one cannot currently cope. In 1936, Anna Freud enumerated the ten defence mechanisms that appear in the works of her father, Sigmund Freud: repression, regression, reaction formation, isolation, undoing, projection, introjection, turning against one's own person, reversal into the opposite, and sublimation or displacement. A. Freud considered defense mechanisms as intellectual and motor automatisms of various degrees of complexity, that arose in the process of involuntary and voluntary learningRomanov, E.S. (1996). Mechanisms of psychological defense: genesis, functioning, diagnostics. Both Freuds studied defence mechanisms, but Anna spent more of her time and research on five main mechanisms: repression, regression, projection, reaction formation, and sublimation. All defence mechanisms are responses to anxiety and how the consciousness and unconscious handle the stress of a social situation. Repression: when a feeling is hidden and forced from the consciousness to the unconscious because it is seen as socially unacceptable Regression: falling back into an early state of mental/physical development seen as "less demanding and safer" Projection: possessing a feeling that is deigned as socially unacceptable and instead of facing it, that feeling or "unconscious urge" is seen in the actions of other people. Reaction formation: acting the opposite way that the unconscious instructs a person to behave, "often exaggerated and obsessive". For example, if a wife is infatuated with a man who is not her husband, reaction formation may cause her to - rather than cheat - become obsessed with showing her husband signs of love and affection. Sublimation: seen as the most acceptable of the mechanisms, an expression of anxiety in socially acceptable ways One resource used to evaluate these mechanisms is the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ-40). Pathological Conversion: The expression of an intrapsychic conflict as a physical symptom; some examples include blindness, deafness, paralysis, or numbness. This phenomenon is sometimes called hysteria. Splitting: A primitive defence. Both harmful and helpful impulses are split off and unintegrated, frequently projected onto someone else. The defended individual segregates experiences into all-good and all-bad categories, with no room for ambiguity and ambivalence. When "splitting" is combined with "projecting", the undesirable qualities that one unconsciously perceives oneself as possessing, one consciously attributes to another. Immature Idealization: Tending to perceive another individual as having more desirable qualities than he or she may actually have. Introjection: Identifying with some idea or object so deeply that it becomes a part of that person. For example, introjection occurs when we take on attributes of other people who seem better able to cope with the situation than we do. Passive aggression: Aggression towards others expressed indirectly or passively, often through procrastination.Projective identification: The object of projectioninvokes in that person a version of the thoughts, feelings or behaviours projected. Somatization: The transformation of uncomfortable feelings towards others into uncomfortable feelings toward oneself: pain, illness, and anxiety. Wishful thinking: Making decisions according to what might be pleasing to imagine instead of by appealing to evidence, rationality, or reality. Neurotic Isolation: Separation of feelings from ideas and events, for example, describing a murder with graphic details with no emotional response. Rationalization (making excuses): Convincing oneself that no wrong has been done and that all is or was all right through faulty and false reasoning. An indicator of this defence mechanism can be seen socially as the formulation of convenient excuses. Regression: Temporary reversion of the ego to an earlier stage of development rather than handling unacceptable impulses in a more adult way, for example, using whining as a method of communicating despite already having acquired the ability to speak with an appropriate level of maturity. Undoing: A person tries to 'undo' an unhealthy, destructive or otherwise threatening thought by acting out the reverse of the unacceptable. Involves symbolically nullifying an unacceptable or guilt provoking thought, idea, or feeling by confession or atonement. Upward and downward social comparisons: A defensive tendency that is used as a means of self-evaluation. Individuals will look to another individual or comparison group who are considered to be worse off in order to dissociate themselves from perceived similarities and to make themselves feel better about themselves or their personal situation. Withdrawal: Withdrawal is a more severe form of defence. It entails removing oneself from events, stimuli, and interactions under the threat of being reminded of painful thoughts and feelings.Mature Acceptance: A person's assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition (often a difficult or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it, protest, or exit. Religions and psychological treatments often suggest the path of acceptance when a situation is both disliked and unchangeable, or when change may be possible only at great cost or risk. Courage: The mental ability and willingness to confront conflicts, fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, despair, obstacles, vicissitudes or intimidation. Physical courage often extends lives, while moral courage preserves the ideals of justice and fairness. Emotional self-regulation: The ability to respond to the ongoing demands of experience with the range of emotions in a manner that is socially tolerable. Emotional self-regulation refers to the processes people use to modify the type, intensity, duration, or expression of various emotions. Emotional self-sufficiency: Not being dependent on the validation (approval or disapproval) of others. Forgiveness: Cessation of resentment, indignation or anger as a result of a perceived offence, disagreement, or mistake, or ceasing to demand retribution or restitution. Gratitude: A feeling of thankfulness or appreciation involving appreciation of a wide range of people and events. Gratitude is likely to bring higher levels of happiness, and lower levels of depression and stress. Throughout history, gratitude has been given a central position in religious and philosophical theories. Humility: A mechanism by which a person, considering their own defects, has a humble self-opinion. Humility is intelligent self-respect which keeps one from thinking too highly or too meanly of oneself. Identification: The unconscious modelling of one's self upon another person's character and behaviour. Mercy: Compassionate behavior on the part of those in power.Mindfulness: Adopting an orientation (characterized by curiosity, openness, and acceptance) toward one's experiences in the present moment. Moderation: The process of eliminating or lessening extremes and staying within reasonable limits. It necessitates self-restraint which is imposed by oneself on one's own feelings, desires etc. Patience: Enduring difficult circumstances (delay, provocation, criticism, attack etc.) for some time before responding negatively. Respect: Willingness to show consideration or appreciation. Respect can be a specific feeling of regard for the actual qualities of a person or feeling being and also specific actions and conduct representative of that esteem. Relationships and contacts that are built without the presence of respect are seldom long term or sustainable. The lack of respect is at the very heart of most conflict in families, communities, and nations. Tolerance: The practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves.

psychosocial approach

psychosocial approach looks at individuals in the context of the combined influence that psychological factors and the surrounding social environment have on their physical and mental wellness and their ability to function. This approach is used in a broad range of helping professions in health and social care settings as well as by medical and social science researchers.

psychosocial adjustment

psychosocial denotes the mental and the social factors in a person's life, for instance, relationships, education, age, and employment that pertain to a person's life history. Psychosocial adjustment is the psychosocial accommodation of a person to a life-altering event or transition. In psychology, this adjustment is defined as "...the relative degree of harmony between an individual's needs and the requirements of the environment."

reality testing

reality testing is the psychotherapeutic function by which the objective or real world and one's relationship to it are reflected on and evaluated by the observer. This process of distinguishing the internal world of thoughts and feelings from the external world is a technique commonly used in psychoanalysis and behavior therapy, and was originally devised by Sigmund Freud.

cognitive neuroscience

the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language).

cognitive appraisal

the interpretation of an event that helps determine its stress impact.

ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

social inertia

the longer a group is together, the less aggression there is among its members (order is already established); in psychology and sociology, social inertia is the resistance to change or the endurance of stable relationships in societies or social groups. Social inertia is the opposite of social change.

Spherical cow

A spherical cow is a humorous metaphor for highly simplified scientific models of complex real life phenomena. The implication is that theoretical physicists will often reduce a problem to the simplest form they can imagine in order to make calculations more feasible, even though such simplification may hinder the model's application to reality. The phrase comes from a joke that spoofs the simplifying assumptions that are sometimes used in theoretical physics. Milk production at a dairy farm was low, so the farmer wrote to the local university, asking for help from academia. A multidisciplinary team of professors was assembled, headed by a theoretical physicist, and two weeks of intensive on-site investigation took place. The scholars then returned to the university, notebooks crammed with data, where the task of writing the report was left to the team leader. Shortly thereafter the physicist returned to the farm, saying to the farmer, "I have the solution, but it works only in the case of spherical cows in a vacuum."

Parasocial Contact Hypothesis

A theory that explains that we can have contact with individuals from other cultures by seeing them portrayed in different media products, and this contact can influence how we understand a different culture.

ACT Therapy

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT, typically pronounced as the word "act") is a form of counseling and a branch of clinical behavior analysis. It is an empirically-based psychologicalintervention that uses acceptance and mindfulnessstrategies mixed in different ways with commitment and behavior-change strategies, to increase psychological flexibility. The approach was originally called comprehensive distancing. Steven C. Hayes developed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in 1982 in order to create a mixed approach which integrates both cognitive and behavioral therapy. There are a variety of protocols for ACT, depending on the target behavior or setting. For example, in behavioral health areas a brief version of ACT is called focused acceptance and commitment therapy (FACT). The objective of ACT is not elimination of difficult feelings; rather, it is to be present with what life brings us and to "move toward valued behavior". Acceptance and commitment therapy invites people to open up to unpleasant feelings, and learn not to overreact to them, and not avoid situations where they are invoked. Its therapeutic effect is a positive spiral where feeling better leads to a better understanding of the truth. In ACT, 'truth' is measured through the concept of 'workability', or what works to take another step toward what matters (e.g. values, meaning). Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based therapy that has been successful in treating a variety of psychological issues, such anxiety, depression, substance abuse, trauma, eating disorders, and more. In contrast to other treatment options, ACT has proven extremely effective in helping clients who are "stuck" in unhealthy thought patterns by encouraging them align their values with their thoughts and actions. However, the ACT model is complex, and it's not always easy to use. Traditionally, ACT is delivered with a focus around six core processes that are often referred to as the hexaflex: cognitive defusion, acceptance, contact with the present moment, observing the self, values, and committed action. Each of these core processes serves a specific function, but they are often made more complex than needed in both theory and in practice.

Oedipal/Electra Complex

According to Freud, a boy's/girl's sexual desires toward his mother/father and feelings of jealously and hatred for the rival father/mother.

CBT Technique: Activity Scheduling

Activity Scheduling: Activity scheduling is a cognitive behavior therapy technique designed to help people increase behaviors they should be doing more. By identifying and scheduling helpful behaviors, such as meditating, going for a walkCognitive Restructuring Techniques: Cognitive restructuring is a cognitive behavior therapy technique aimed at helping people identify thinking patterns responsible for negative moods and ineffective behavior. There are numerous techniques employed during cognitive restructuring. The most common technique is tracking dysfunctional thoughts on a thought record form, and devising healthier, more psychologically flexible patterns of thinking.

Albert Ellis (1913-2007)

Albert Ellis (September 27, 1913 - July 24, 2007) was an American psychologist who in 1955 developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy(REBT). He held MA and PhD degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University and the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). He also founded and was the President of the New York City-based Albert Ellis Institute for decades. He is generally considered to be one of the originators of the cognitive revolutionary paradigm shift in psychotherapy and one of the founders of cognitive-behavioral therapies.

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)

Albert Ellis's form of therapy for psychological disorders. Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), previously called rational therapy and rational emotive therapy, is an active-directive, philosophically and empiricallybased psychotherapy, the aim of which is to resolve emotional and behavioral problems and disturbances and to help people to lead happier and more fulfilling lives. REBT was created and developed by the American psychotherapist and psychologist Albert Ellis, who was inspired by many of the teachings of Asian, Greek, Roman and modern philosophers. REBT is the first form of cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT) and was first expounded by Ellis in the mid-1950s; development continued until his death in 2007. Ellis became synonymous with the highly influential therapy. Psychology Today noted, "No individual—not even Freud himself—has had a greater impact on modern psychotherapy.

Alexander Todorov

Alexander Todorov is an American/Bulgarian professor of psychology at Princeton University. His research is focused on how humans perceive, evaluate, and make sense of the social world. Todorov's research on first impressions has received media coverage from the New York Times, The Guardian, The New Yorker, The Daily Telegraph, Scientific American, National Geographic, BBC, PBS, and NPR.

hedonic calculus (Bentham, 1789)

An algorithm for measuring pleasure and pain. "(Gr.hedone pleasure) a method of working out the sum total of pleasure and pain produced by an act, and thus the total value of its consequences; also called the felicific calculus; sketched by Bentham in chapter 4 of his Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789). When determining what action is right in a given situation, we should consider the pleasures and pains resulting from it, in respect of their intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity (the chance that a pleasure is followed by other ones, a pain by further pains), purity (the chance that pleasure is followed by pains and vice versa), and extent (the number of persons affected). We should next consider the alternative courses of action: ideally, this method will determine which act has the best tendency, and therefore is right. Bentham envisaged the calculus could be used for criminal law reform: given a crime of a certain kind it would be possible to work out the minimum penalty necessary for its prevention."

Personality Disorders Cluster B (dramatic, emotional or erratic disorders)

Antisocial personality disorder: pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, lack of empathy, bloated self-image, manipulative and impulsive behavior. Borderline personality disorder: pervasive pattern of abrupt mood swings, instability in relationships, self-image, identity, behavior and affect, often leading to self-harm and impulsivity. Histrionic personality disorder: pervasive pattern of attention-seeking behavior and excessive emotions. Narcissistic personality disorder: pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a perceived or real lack of empathy. In a more severe expression, narcissistic personality disorder may show evidence of paranoia, aggression, psychopathy, and sadism, which is known as malignant narcissism.

applied behavior analysis (ABA)

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a type of therapy that focuses on improving specific behaviors, such as social skills, communication, reading, and academics as well as adaptive learning skills, such as fine motor dexterity, hygiene, grooming, domestic capabilities, punctuality, and job competence. ABA is effective for children and adults with psychological disorders in a variety of settings, including schools, workplaces, homes, and clinics. It has also been shown that consistent ABA can significantly improve behaviors and skills and decrease the need for special services.

Arie W. Kruglanski (b. 1939)

Arie W. Kruglanski (born in 1939) is a social psychologist best known for his work on Goal Systems and Cognitive Closure. He is currently a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland.

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR), aka Auto Sensory Meridian Response

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR), sometimes Auto Sensory Meridian Response, is an experience characterized by a static-like or tingling sensation on the skin that typically begins on the scalp and moves down the back of the neck and upper spine. It has been compared with auditory-tactile synesthesia and may overlap with frisson. ASMR signifies the subjective experience of "low-grade euphoria" characterized by "a combination of positive feelings and a distinct static-like tingling sensation on the skin". It is most commonly triggered by specific auditory or visual stimuli, and less commonly by intentional attention control.

Personality Disorders Cluster C (anxious or fearful disorders)

Avoidant personality disorder: pervasive feelings of social inhibition and inadequacy, extreme sensitivity to negative evaluation. Dependent personality disorder: pervasive psychological need to be cared for by other people. Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder: characterized by rigid conformity to rules, perfectionism, and control to the point of satisfaction and exclusion of leisurely activities and friendships (distinct from obsessive-compulsive disorder).

"The weirdest people in the world?" (2010), Henrich J, et al.

Behavioral scientists routinely publish broad claims about human psychology and behavior in the world's top journals based on samples drawn entirely from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies. Researchers - often implicitly - assume that either there is little variation across human populations, or that these "standard subjects" are as representative of the species as any other population. Are these assumptions justified? Here, our review of the comparative database from across the behavioral sciences suggests both that there is substantial variability in experimental results across populations and that WEIRD subjects are particularly unusual compared with the rest of the species - frequent outliers. The domains reviewed include visual perception, fairness, cooperation, spatial reasoning, categorization and inferential induction, moral reasoning, reasoning styles, self-concepts and related motivations, and the heritability of IQ. The findings suggest that members of WEIRD societies, including young children, are among the least representative populations one could find for generalizing about humans. Many of these findings involve domains that are associated with fundamental aspects of psychology, motivation, and behavior - hence, there are no obvious a priori grounds for claiming that a particular behavioral phenomenon is universal based on sampling from a single subpopulation. Overall, these empirical patterns suggests that we need to be less cavalier in addressing questions of human nature on the basis of data drawn from this particularly thin, and rather unusual, slice of humanity. We close by proposing ways to structurally re-organize the behavioral sciences to best tackle these challenges.

Exotic Becomes Erotic (EBE) Theory

Bem's Exotic Becomes Erotic theory (EBE) presents one possible explanation as to what differentiates the etiology of homosexuality from heterosexuality. Bem theorized that the influence of biological factors on sexual orientation may be mediated by experiences in childhood, that the child's temperament predisposes the child to prefer certain activities over others. Bem noted that because of their temperament, which is influenced by biological variables such as genetic factors, some children will be attracted to activities that are commonly enjoyed by other children of the same gender, while others will prefer activities that are typical of the other gender. Bem theorized that this makes a gender-conforming child feel different from opposite-gender children, while gender-nonconforming children will feel different from children of their own gender. He believes that this feeling of difference evokes physiological arousal when the child is near members of the gender which the child considers as being "different". Bem theorizes that this physiological arousal is later transformed into sexual arousal: that is, as adults, people become sexually attracted to the gender which they came to see as different, or "exotic", while they were children.

Big Five Personality Dimensions

Big Five personality traits, also known as the five-factor model (FFM) and the OCEAN model, is a taxonomy for personality traits. When factor analysis (a statistical technique) is applied to personality survey data, some words used to describe aspects of personality are often applied to the same person. This theory is based therefore on the association between words but not on neuropsychological experiments. Uses descriptors of common language and therefore suggests five broad dimensions commonly used to describe the human personality and psyche. The five factors are: Openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious); Conscientiousness (efficient/organized vs. easy-going/careless); Extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved); Agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs. challenging/detached); Neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident) Beneath each proposed global factor, there are a number of correlated and more specific primary factors. For example, extraversion is said to include such related qualities as gregariousness, assertiveness, excitement seeking, warmth, activity, and positive emotions. Family life and the way someone was raised will also affect these traits. Twin studies and other research have shown that about half of the variation between individuals results from their genetics and half from their environments. Researchers have found conscientiousness, extraversion, openness to experience, and neuroticism to be relatively stable from childhood through adulthood.

Pediatric Bipolar Disorder (PBD)

Bipolar disorder in children, or pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD), is a mental disorder in children and adolescents that, like bipolar disorder (BD) in adults, is characterized by extreme changes in mood and behavior accompanying periods of depressed or irritable moods and periods of elevated moods called manic or hypomanic episodes. These shifts are sometimes quick, but usually are gradual. The average age of onset of PBD is unclear, but the risk increases with the onset of puberty. PBD is typically more severe and has a poorer prognosis than BD. The DSM has specified that the criteria for BD can be applied to children since 1980.[4] However, the exact criteria for diagnosing PBD remains controversial and heavily debated. There are big differences in how commonly it is diagnosed across clinics and in different countries. There has been a rapid increase in research on the topic, but training and clinical practice lag behind. Identifying BD in youth is challenging. While adults with BD often have distinct periods of depression and mania that last for weeks, months, or longer, youth diagnosed with BD frequently have depressive and manic symptoms that occur daily, and sometimes simultaneously either as rapid shifts or periods of high energy negative mood. Comorbid disorders are common, which makes determining what symptoms are signs of BD and which are due to other disorders (e.g., depression, ADHD, disruptive behavior problems) crucial both for accurate diagnosis and effective treatment.

Personality Disorder Cluster A (odd or eccentric disorders)

Cluster A personality disorders are often associated with schizophrenia: in particular, schizotypal personality disorder shares some of its hallmark symptoms, e.g., acute discomfort in close relationships, cognitive or perceptual distortions, and eccentricities of behavior, with schizophrenia. However, people diagnosed with odd-eccentric personality disorders tend to have a greater grasp on reality than those diagnosed with schizophrenia. Patients suffering from these disorders can be paranoid and have difficulty being understood by others, as they often have odd or eccentric modes of speaking and an unwillingness and inability to form and maintain close relationships. Though their perceptions may be unusual, these anomalies are distinguished from delusions or hallucinations as people suffering from these would be diagnosed with other conditions. Significant evidence suggests a small proportion of people with Cluster A personality disorders, especially schizotypal personality disorder, have the potential to develop schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. These disorders also have a higher probability of occurring among individuals whose first-degree relatives have either schizophrenia or a Cluster A personality disorder. Paranoid personality disorder: characterized by a pattern of irrational suspicion and mistrust of others, interpreting motivations as malevolent. Schizoid personality disorder: lack of interest and detachment from social relationships, apathy, and restricted emotional expression. Schizotypal personality disorder: pattern of extreme discomfort interacting socially, and distorted cognitions and perceptions.

CBT Technique: Cognitive Restructuring

Cognitive Restructuring Techniques: Cognitive restructuring is a cognitive behavior therapy technique aimed at helping people identify thinking patterns responsible for negative moods and ineffective behavior. There are numerous techniques employed during cognitive restructuring. The most common technique is tracking dysfunctional thoughts on a thought record form, and devising healthier, more psychologically flexible patterns of thinking.

cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a short-term, goal-oriented psychotherapy treatment that takes a hands-on, practical approach to problem-solving. Its goal is to change patterns of thinking or behavior that are behind people's difficulties, and so change the way they feel. It is used to help treat a wide range of issues in a person's life, from sleeping difficulties or relationship problems, to drug and alcohol abuse or anxiety and depression. CBT works by changing people's attitudes and their behavior by focusing on the thoughts, images, beliefs and attitudes that are held (a person's cognitive processes) and how these processes relate to the way a person behaves, as a way of dealing with emotional problems. An important advantage of cognitive behavioral therapy is that it tends to be short, taking five to ten months for most emotional problems. Clients attend one session per week, each session lasting approximately 50 minutes. During this time, the client and therapist are work together to understand what the problems are and develop new strategies for tackling them. CBT introduces patients to a set of principles that they can apply whenever they need to, and that'll last them a lifetime.

cognitive deficit (decline)

Cognitive deficit is an inclusive term to describe any characteristic that acts as a barrier to the cognition process. May describe deficits in overall intelligence (as with intellectual disabilities),specific and restricted deficits in cognitive abilities (such as in learning disorders like dyslexia),neuropsychological deficits (such as in attention, working memory or executive function),or it may describe drug-induced impairment in cognition and memory (such as that seen with alcohol, glucocorticoids, and the benzodiazepines) It usually refers to a durable characteristic, as opposed to altered level of consciousness, which may be acute and reversible. Cognitive deficits may be inborn or caused by environmental factors such as brain injuries, neurological disorders, or mental illness.

Cognitive restructuring (CR)

Cognitive restructuring (CR) is a psychotherapeutic process of learning to identify and dispute irrational or maladaptive thoughts known as cognitive distortions, such as all-or-nothing thinking (splitting), magical thinking, over-generalization, magnification, and emotional reasoning, which are commonly associated with many mental health disorders. CR employs many strategies, such as Socratic questioning, thought recording, and guided imagery, and is used in many types of therapies, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT). A number of studies demonstrate considerable efficacy in using CR-based therapies.

Cognitive Restructuring Steps

Cognitive restructuring involves four steps: 1) Identification of problematic cognitions known as "automatic thoughts" (ATs) which are dysfunctional or negative views of the self, world, or future based upon already existing beliefs about oneself, the world, or the future 2) Identification of the cognitive distortions in the ATs 3) Rational disputation of ATs with the Socratic method 4) Development of a rational rebuttal to the ATs There are six types of automatic thoughts: - Self-evaluated thoughts - Thoughts about the evaluations of others - Evaluative thoughts about the other person with whom they are interacting - Thoughts about coping strategies and behavioral plans - Thoughts of avoidance - Any other thoughts that were not categorized.

Mandela Effect

Collectively held memories that though false, are consistent, and have been posited as evidence that alternate realities may exist. An observed phenomenon in which a large segment of the population misremembers a significant event or shares a memory of an event that did not actually occur.

Concurrent validity

Concurrent validity is a type of evidence that can be gathered to defend the use of a test for predicting other outcomes. It is a parameter used in sociology, psychology, and other psychometric or behavioral sciences. Concurrent validity is demonstrated when a test correlates well with a measure that has previously been validated. The two measures may be for the same construct, but more often used for different, but presumably related, constructs. The two measures in the study are taken at the same time. This is in contrast to predictive validity, where one measure occurs earlier and is meant to predict some later measure. In both cases, the (concurrent) predictive power of the test is analyzed using a simple correlation or linear regression.

Construal Level Theory (CLT)

Construal level theory (CLT) is a theory in social psychology that describes the relation between psychological distance and the extent to which people's thinking (e.g., about objects and events) is abstract or concrete. The general idea is that the more distant an object is from the individual, the more abstract it will be thought of, while the closer the object is, the more concretely it will be thought of. In CLT, psychological distance is defined on several dimensions—temporal, spatial, social and hypothetical distance being considered most important, though there is some debate among social psychologists about further dimensions like informational, experiential or affective distance. An example of construal level effects would be that although planning one's next summer vacation one year in advance (in the distant future) will cause one to focus on broad, decontextualized features of the situation (e.g., anticipating fun and relaxation), the very same vacation planned to occur very soon will cause one to focus on specific features of the present situation (e.g. what restaurants to make reservations for, going for a trip in an off-road vehicle). According to construal level theory people perceive events that vary in several types of psychological distance: temporal distance (time)spatial distances (physical space)social distances (interpersonal distances, such as distance between two different groups or two dissimilar people)hypothetical distances (imagining that an event is likely or unlikely) Psychological distance affects the extent to which we think about an event, person, or idea as high or low level, and this will influence how concrete or abstract those thoughts are: High level construal is when people think abstractly. When thinking on this level, people are looking at the bigger picture; not focusing on details. At the high level, people focus on central features that capture the overall gist of the situation or object.[2]Low level construal is when people think more concretely and is associated with psychological proximity. When people are engaged in low-level construal, they are focusing on the present in great detail. At the low level, people focus on the peripheral, secondary features that are less essential to the overall gist of the situation or object.

Construct validity

Construct validity is "the degree to which a test measures what it claims, or purports, to be measuring."[1][2][3] In the classical model of test validity, construct validity is one of three main types of validity evidence, alongside content validity and criterion validity. Modern validity theory defines construct validity as the overarching concern of validity research, subsuming all other types of validity evidence. Construct validity is the appropriateness of inferences made on the basis of observations or measurements (often test scores), specifically whether a test measures the intended construct. Constructs are abstractions that are deliberately created by researchers in order to conceptualize the latent variable, which is correlated with scores on a given measure (although it is not directly observable). Construct validity examines the question: Does the measure behave like the theory says a measure of that construct should behave? Construct validity is essential to the perceived overall validity of the test. Construct validity is particularly important in the social sciences, psychology, psychometrics and language studies. Psychologists such as Samuel Messick (1998) have pushed for a unified view of construct validity "...as an integrated evaluative judgment of the degree to which empirical evidence and theoretical rationales support the adequacy and appropriateness of inferences and actions based on test scores..." Key to construct validity are the theoretical ideas behind the trait under consideration, i.e. the concepts that organize how aspects of personality, intelligence, etc. are viewed. Paul Meehl states that, "The best construct is the one around which we can build the greatest number of inferences, in the most direct fashion." Scale purification, i.e. "the process of eliminating items from multi-item scales" (Wieland et al., 2017) can influence construct validity. A framework presented by Wieland et al. (2017) highlights that both statistical and judgmental criteria need to be taken under consideration when making scale purification decisions.

Convergent validity

Convergent validity, a parameter often used in sociology, psychology, and other behavioral sciences, refers to the degree to which two measures of constructs that theoretically should be related, are in fact related. Convergent validity, along with discriminant validity, is a subtype of construct validity. Convergent validity can be established if two similar constructs correspond with one another, while discriminant validity applies to two dissimilar constructs that are easily differentiated. Campbell and Fiske (1959) developed the Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix to assess the construct validity of a set of measures in a study. The approach stresses the importance of using both discriminant and convergent validation techniques when assessing new tests. In other words, in order to establish construct validity, you have to demonstrate both convergence and discrimination.

Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS)

DASS, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, is made up of 42 self-report items to be completed over five to ten minutes, each reflecting a negative emotional symptom. Each of these is rated on a four-point Likert scale of frequency or severity of the participants' experiences over the last week with the intention of emphasising states over traits. These scores ranged from 0, meaning that the client believed the item "did not apply to them at all", to 3 meaning that the client considered the item to "apply to them very much, or most of the time". It is also stressed in the instructions that there are no right or wrong answers.

Daryl J. Bem (1938)

Daryl J. Bem (born June 10, 1938) is a social psychologist and professor emeritus at Cornell University. He is the originator of the self-perception theory of attitude formation and change. He has also researched psi phenomena, group decision making, handwriting analysis, sexual orientation, and personality theory and assessment.

displacement

Defense mechanism by which people divert sexual or aggressive feelings for one person onto another person.

defensive pessimism & strategic optimism

Defensive pessimism is a strategy used by anxious people to help them manage their anxiety so they can work productively. Defensive pessimists lower their expectations to help prepare themselves for the worst. Then, they mentally play through all the bad things that might happen. Though it sounds as if it might be depressing, defensive pessimism actually helps anxious people focus away from their emotions so that they can plan and act effectively. Strategic optimism is typically used by people who aren't anxious. Individuals using this strategy set high expectations, and then actively avoid thinking much about what might happen. Both strategic optimists and defensive pessimists typically do quite well, but both groups are also vulnerable to situations that don't accommodate their strategies. My experimental research shows that if defensive pessimists try to raise their expectations, or avoid playing through a worst-case analysis, their anxiety increases and their performance suffers. If strategic optimists set lower expectations or play through possible outcomes, their anxiety increases and their performance decreases.

depressive realism

Depressive realism is the hypothesis developed by Lauren Alloy and Lyn Yvonne Abramson that depressed individuals make more realistic inferences than non-depressed individuals. Although depressed individuals are thought to have a negative cognitive bias that results in recurrent, negative automatic thoughts, maladaptive behaviors, and dysfunctional world beliefs, depressive realism argues not only that this negativity may reflect a more accurate appraisal of the world but also that non-depressed individuals' appraisals are positively biased. This theory remains very controversial, as it brings into question the theory underlying cognitive behavioral therapy, which posits that the depressed individual is negatively biased in their perceptions, with the goal of returning them to a more objective state. While some of the evidence currently supports the plausibility of depressive realism, its effect may be restricted to a select few situations.

decompensation

Deterioration of mental health and loss of control due to an inability to compensate for mental illness due to stress. Occurs when psychic defense mechanisms and coping strategies are overwhelmed or become ineffective.

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)

Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD) is a mental disorder in children and adolescents characterized by a persistently irritable or angry mood and frequent temper outbursts that are disproportionate to the situation and significantly more severe than the typical reaction of same-aged peers. DMDD was added to the DSM-5 as a type of depressive disorder diagnosis for youths. The symptoms of DMDD resemble those of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), anxiety disorders, and childhood bipolar disorder.

Dorothy Tennov (1928-2007)

Dorothy Tennov (August 29, 1928 - February 3, 2007) was an American psychologist who, in her 1979 book Love and Limerence - the Experience of Being in Love introduced the term "limerence". During her years of research into romantic love experiences, she obtained thousands of personal testimonies from questionnaires, interviews, and letters from readers of her writing, in an attempt to support her hypothesis that a distinct and involuntary psychological state occurs identically among otherwise normal persons across cultures, educational level, gender, and other traits. Tennov emphasized that her data consist entirely of verbal reports by volunteers who reported their love experiences.

Edmund Jacobson (1888-1983)

Edmund Jacobson (April 22, 1888 - January 7, 1983) was an American physician in internal medicine and psychiatry and a physiologist. He was the creator of Progressive Muscle Relaxation and of Biofeedback.

Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949)

Edward Lee Thorndike (August 31, 1874 - August 9, 1949) was an American psychologist who spent nearly his entire career at Teachers College, Columbia University. His work on comparative psychology and the learning process led to the theory of connectionism and helped lay the scientific foundation for educational psychology. He also worked on solving industrial problems, such as employee exams and testing. He was a member of the board of the Psychological Corporation and served as president of the American Psychological Association in 1912. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Thorndike as the ninth-most cited psychologist of the 20th century. Edward Thorndike had a powerful impact on reinforcement theory and behavior analysis, providing the basic framework for empirical laws in behavior psychology with his law of effect. Through his contributions to the behavioral psychology field came his major impacts on education, where the law of effect has great influence in the classroom.

ego depletion

Ego depletion refers to the idea that self-control or willpower draws upon a limited pool of mental resources that can be used up. When the energy for mental activity is low, self-control is typically impaired, which would be considered a state of ego depletion. In particular, experiencing a state of ego depletion impairs the ability to control oneself later on. A depleting task requiring self-control can have a hindering effect on a subsequent self-control task, even if the tasks are seemingly unrelated. Self-control plays a valuable role in the functioning of the self on both individualistic and interpersonal levels. Ego depletion is therefore a critical topic in experimental psychology, specifically social psychology, because it is a mechanism that contributes to the understanding of the processes of human self-control. There have both been studies to support and to question the validity of ego-depletion as a theory. The word "ego" in "ego depletion" is used in the "psychological" sense rather than the colloquial sense.

eidetic memory

Eidetic memory (eye-DET-ik; sometimes called photographic memory) is an ability to recall images from memory after only seeing it once, with high precision for a brief time after exposure, without using a mnemonic device. Although the terms eidetic memory and photographic memory are popularly used interchangeably,[1] they are also distinguished, with eidetic memory referring to the ability to view memories like photographs for a few minutes, and photographic memory referring to the ability to recall pages of text or numbers, or similar, in great detail. When the concepts are distinguished, eidetic memory is reported to occur in a small number of children and as something generally not found in adults, while true photographic memory has never been demonstrated to exist. The word eidetic comes from the Greek word eidos.

EQi Domains

Emotional Intelligence is the capacity to recognize our own feelings and those of others, and to manage emotions effectively in ourselves and our relationships. It is about much more than just having empathy or being "sensitive" - that's a common misconception about EI. Emotional and Social Intelligence Leadership Competencies are each a learned capacity, based on Emotional Intelligence, which contributes to effective performance at work - and often greater satisfaction in life as well. There are four parts, or domains, to the Emotional and Social Intelligence Leadership Competency Model developed by Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis: - Self-AwarenessSelf - ManagementSocial - AwarenessRelationship - Management Within each of these four domains nest learned competencies based on the underlying ability that make people outstanding performers in the workplace. These are skills that can be developed, just as you can improve upon anything that you practice regularly.

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IS (1995), Daniel Goleman

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ (1995) by Daniel Goleman. In this book, Goleman posits that emotional intelligence is as important as IQ for success, including in academic, professional, social, and interpersonal aspects of one's life. Goleman says that emotional intelligence is a skill that can be taught and cultivated, and outlines methods for incorporating emotional skills training in school curricula.

Emotional reasoning

Emotional reasoning is a cognitive process by which a person concludes that his/her emotional reaction proves something is true, regardless of the observed evidence. For example, even though a spouse has shown only devotion, a person using emotional reasoning might conclude, "I know my spouse is being unfaithful because I feel jealous." Emotional reasoning amplifies the effects of other cognitive distortions. For example, a test-taker may feel insecure about their understanding of the material even though they are perfectly capable of answering the questions. If he (or she) acts on his insecurity about failing the written test he might assume that he misunderstands the material and therefore might guess answers randomly, causing his own failure in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Howard Gardner (b. 1943)

Howard Earl Gardner (born July 11, 1943) is an American developmental psychologist and the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Research Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. He is currently the senior director of Harvard Project Zero, and since 1995, he has been the co-director of The Good Project. Gardner has written hundreds of research articles and thirty books that have been translated into more than thirty languages. He is best known for his theory of multiple intelligences, as outlined in his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences.

Interoceptive exposure

Interoceptive exposure is a cognitive behavioral therapy technique used in the treatment of panic disorder. It refers to carrying out exercises that bring about the physical sensations of a panic attack, such as hyperventilation and high muscle tension, and in the process removing the patient's conditioned response that the physical sensations will cause an attack to happen.

Emotional self-regulation

Emotional self-regulation or emotion regulation is the ability to respond to the ongoing demands of experience with the range of emotions in a manner that is socially tolerable and sufficiently flexible to permit spontaneous reactions as well as the ability to delay spontaneous reactions as needed. It can also be defined as extrinsic and intrinsic processes responsible for monitoring, evaluating, and modifying emotional reactions. Emotional self-regulation belongs to the broader set of emotion-regulation processes, which includes both the regulation of one's own feelings and the regulation of other people's feelings. Emotional regulation is a complex process that involves initiating, inhibiting, or modulating one's state or behavior in a given situation - for example the subjective experience (feelings), cognitive responses (thoughts), emotion-related physiological responses (for example heart rate or hormonal activity), and emotion-related behavior (bodily actions or expressions). Functionally, emotional regulation can also refer to processes such as the tendency to focus one's attention to a task and the ability to suppress inappropriate behavior under instruction. Emotional regulation is a highly significant function in human life.

psychosocial stress

Environmental demands that tax or exceed the adaptive capacity of an organism, resulting in physiological and psychological changes that may place the organism at risk for disease. Psychosocial stress is the result of a cognitive appraisal of what is at stake and what can be done about it. Psychosocial stress results when we look at a perceived threat in our lives. Psychological stress can be defined as an imbalance between demands placed on us and our ability to manage them.

Error-related negativity (ERN)

Error-related negativity (ERN), sometimes referred to as the Ne, is a component of an event-related potential (ERP). ERPs are electrical activity in the brain as measured through electroencephalography (EEG) and time-locked to an external event (e.g., presentation of a visual stimulus) or a response (e.g. an error of commission). A robust ERN component is observed after errors are committed during various choice tasks, even when the participant is not explicitly aware of making the error; however, in the case of unconscious errors the ERN is reduced. An ERN is also observed when non-human primates commit errors.

face validity

Face validity is the extent to which a test is subjectively viewed as covering the concept it purports to measure. It refers to the transparency or relevance of a test as it appears to test participants. In other words, a test can be said to have face validity if it "looks like" it is going to measure what it is supposed to measure. For instance, if a test is prepared to measure whether students can perform multiplication, and the people to whom it is shown all agree that it looks like a good test of multiplication ability, this demonstrates face validity of the test. Face validity is often contrasted with content validity and construct validity. Some people use the term face validity to refer only to the validity of a test to observers who are not expert in testing methodologies. For instance, if a test is designed to measure whether children are good spellers, and parents are asked whether the test is a good test, this measures the face validity of the test. If an expert is asked instead, some people would argue that this does not measure face validity. This distinction seems too careful for most applications. Generally, face validity means that the test "looks like" it will work, as opposed to "has been shown to work".

cultural landscape

Fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group.

psychic structure: id, ego, superego

Freud proposed three structures of the psyche or personality: Id: The id is the unconscious reservoir of the libido, the psychic energy that fuels instincts and psychic processes. It is a selfish, childish, pleasure-oriented part of the personality with no ability to delay gratification.Superego: The superego contains internalised societal and parental standards of "good" and "bad", "right" and "wrong" behaviour. They include conscious appreciations of rules and regulations as well as those incorporated unconsciously.Ego: The ego acts as a moderator between the pleasure sought by the id and the morals of the superego, seeking compromises to pacify both. It can be viewed as the individual's "sense of time and place."

pyschic determinism

Freud's assumption that all our mental and behavioral responses are caused by unconscious traumas, desires, or conflicts.

anal stage

Freud's pychosexual period during which a child learns to control his bodily excretions. Considered applicable from 18-36 months.

genital stage

Freud's stage of psychosexual development when adult sexuality is prominent. Puberty on.

psychanalysis

Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions.

phallic stage

Freud's third stage of development, when the penis becomes the focus of concern and pleasure. Assumed to include years 3-6.

life (Eros) and death (Thanatos) instincts

In classical Freudian psychoanalytic theory, the death drive (German: Todestrieb) is the drive toward death and self-destruction. It was originally proposed by Sabina Spielrein in her paper "Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being" (Die Destruktion als Ursache des Werdens) in 1912, which was then taken up by Sigmund Freud in 1920 in Beyond the Pleasure Principle. This concept has been translated as "opposition between the ego or death instinctsand the sexual or life instincts". In Pleasure Principle, Freud used the plural "death drives" (Todestriebe) much more frequently than in the singular. The death drive opposes Eros, the tendency toward survival, propagation, sex, and other creative, life-producing drives. The death drive is sometimes referred to as "Thanatos" in post-Freudian thought, complementing "Eros", although this term was not used in Freud's own work, being rather introduced by Wilhelm Stekel in 1909 and then by Paul Federn in the present context.

need to avoid closure

Functionally opposite to the need for closure is the need to avoid closure. Need to avoid closure reflects the desire to suspend judgmental commitment. It also contains the subcategories specific and non-specific need to avoid closure. Avoidance of specific closure reflects the desire to avoid specific answers to one's questions. The non-specific need to avoid closure is much like the need for closure irrespective of whether or not this new knowledge points to a conclusion having positive or negative implications for them. The need to avoid closure may stem from the perceived costs of possessing closure (e.g., envisioned penalties for an erroneous closure or perceived drawbacks of actions implied by closure) and the perceived benefits of lacking closure (e.g., immunity from possible criticism of any given closure). The need to avoid closure is controlled by the desire to avoid negative consequences of achieving closure of a situation or to continue the benefits of not closing but elongating a situation. The need and avoidance of closure are conceptualized as ends of a continuum ranging from strong strivings for closure to strong resistance of closure. This is applied in the NFC Scale.

General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)

GHQ is a 12 item rating score that gives a snapshot of mental health status over the previous weeks and can provide a meaningful change score. Each item is rated on a 4-point scale indicating degree of deviation from the individual's usual experience.

George Lakoff (b. 1941)

George P. Lakoff (born May 24, 1941) is an American cognitive linguist and philosopher, best known for his thesis that lives of individuals are significantly influenced by the central metaphors they use to explain complex phenomena.

George Lakoff (b. 1941)

George P. Lakoff (born May 24, 1941) is an American cognitive linguist and philosopher, best known for his thesis that lives of individuals are significantly influenced by the central metaphors they use to explain complex phenomena. The conceptual metaphor thesis, introduced in his and Mark Johnson's 1980 book Metaphors We Live Byhas found applications in a number of academic disciplines. Applying it to politics, literature, philosophy and mathematics has led Lakoff into territory normally considered basic to political science. In his 1996 book Moral Politics, Lakoff described conservative voters as being influenced by the "strict father model" as a central metaphor for such a complex phenomenon as the state, and liberal/progressive voters as being influenced by the "nurturant parent model" as the folk psychologicalmetaphor for this complex phenomenon. According to him, an individual's experience and attitude towards sociopolitical issues is influenced by being framed in linguistic constructions. In Metaphor and War: The Metaphor System Used to Justify War in the Gulf (1991), he argues that the American involvement in the Gulf war was obscured or "spun" by the metaphors which were used by the first Bushadministration to justify it.

Gestaldt psychology (gestaldtism)

Gestaldt psychology (German meaning "form") or gestaltism is a German term interpreted in psychology as "pattern" or "configuration". It is a school of psychology created by Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler, and Kurt Koffka. The school emerged in Austria and Germany in the early twentieth century. Gestalt psychology was formed after Wertheimer's discovery between 1910 and 1912 of the phi phenomenonwhich focused on the illusion of motion. The approach was based on a macroscopic view of the psychological behaviors rather than a microscopic approach. Gestalt school is based on understanding and perceiving the whole sum of an object rather than its components. It was created against the atomistic concept of psychology as well as the general intellectual climate, which was built on the belief that scientific understanding is the result of lack of concern about the basic human details. Wertheimer defined a few principles that explain the ways humans perceive objects. Those principles were based on similarity, proximity, continuity. The Gestalt concept is based on perceiving reality in its simplest form. Gestalt theories of perception are based on human nature being inclined to understand objects as an entire structure rather than the sum of its parts.

CBT Technique: Graded Exposure Assignments

Graded Exposure Assignments: Exposure is a cognitive behavior therapy technique that helps people systematically approach what they fear. Generally, fear causes people to avoid situations. Unfortunately, avoidance of feared situations is what maintains feelings of fear and anxiety. Through systematic exposure, people master feared situations one-by-one, and then tackle increasing difficult exposure assignments. Exposure is one of the most effective psychological treatments that exists, having a 90% effectiveness rate with some anxiety disorders.

Gustav Theodor Fechner (1801-1887)

Gustav Theodor Fechner (German: [ˈfɛçnɐ]; 19 April 1801 - 18 November 1887) was a German philosopher, physicist and experimental psychologist. An early pioneer in experimental psychology and founder of psychophysics, he inspired many 20th-century scientists and philosophers. He is also credited with demonstrating the non-linear relationship between psychological sensation and the physical intensity of a stimulus via the formula: {S=K\ln I}, which became known as the Weber-Fechner law.

hedonic motivation

Hedonic motivation refers to the influence of a person's pleasure and pain receptors on their willingness to move towards a goal or away from a threat. This is linked to the classic motivational principle that people approach pleasure and avoid pain, and is gained from acting on certain behaviors that resulted from esthetic and emotional feelings such as: love, hate, fear, joy, etc. According to the hedonic principle, our emotional experience can be thought of as a gauge that ranges from bad to good and our primary motivation is to keep the needle on the gauge as close to good as possible.

Hervey Cleckley (1903-1984)

Hervey Milton Cleckley (1903 - January 28, 1984) was an American psychiatrist and pioneer in the field of psychopathy. His book, The Mask of Sanity, originally published in 1941 and revised in new editions until the 1980s, provided the most influential clinical description of psychopathy in the twentieth century. The term "mask of sanity" derived from Cleckley's belief that a psychopath can appear normal and even engaging, but that the "mask" conceals a mental disorder. By the time of his death, Cleckley was better remembered for a vivid case study of a female patient, published as a book in 1956 and turned into a movie, The Three Faces of Eve, in 1957. His report of the case (re)popularized in America the controversial diagnosis of multiple personality disorder. The concept of psychopathy continues to be influential through forming parts of the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, the Psychopathy Checklist, and public perception. Film maker Errol Morris, who tried unsuccessfully to interview Cleckley, said in 2012/13: "He's one of the unsung 20th century figures. He created two of the enduring myths - I would call them - of the 20th century...These ideas don't originate with Cleckley, but Cleckley popularized them, he built them up, he sold them - almost as a brand."

humanistic psychology

Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective that rose to prominence in the mid-20th century in answer to the limitations of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory and B. F. Skinner's behaviorism. With its roots running from Socratesthrough the Renaissance, this approach emphasizes the individual's inherent drive toward self-actualization, the process of realizing and expressing one's own capabilities and creativity. This psychological perspective helps the client gain the belief that all people are inherently good. It adopts a holistic approach to human existence and pays special attention to such phenomena as creativity, free will, and positive human potential. It encourages viewing ourselves as a "whole person" greater than the sum of our parts and encourages self exploration rather than the study of behavior in other people. Humanistic psychology acknowledges spiritual aspiration as an integral part of the psyche. It is linked to the emerging field of transpersonal psychology. Primarily, this type of therapy encourages a self-awareness and mindfulness that helps the client change their state of mind and behaviour from one set of reactions to a healthier one with more productive self-awareness and thoughtful actions. Essentially, this approach allows the merging of mindfulness and behavioural therapy, with positive social support.

Hyperthymesia

Hyperthymesia, also known as piking, hyperthymestic syndrome, or highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM) is a condition in which an individual possesses a superior autobiographical memory, meaning he or she can recall the vast majority of personal experiences and events in his or her life. The term "hyperthymesia" is derived from the Greek words thymesis meaning "remembering," and hyper meaning "excessive." Individuals with hyperthymesia can recall almost every day of their lives in near perfect detail, as well as public events that hold some personal significance to them. Those affected describe their memories as uncontrollable associations, when they encounter a date, they "see" a vivid depiction of that day in their heads. Recollection occurs without hesitation or conscious effort. It is important to draw a distinction between those with hyperthymesia and those with other forms of exceptional memory, who generally use mnemonic or similar rehearsal strategies to memorise long strings of subjective information. Memories recalled by hyperthymestic individuals tend to be personal, autobiographical accounts of both significant and mundane events in their lives. This extensive and highly unusual memory does not derive from the use of mnemonic strategies; it is encoded involuntarily and retrieved automatically. Despite being able to remember the day of the week on which a particular date fell, hyperthymestics are not calendrical calculators like some people with autism or savant syndrome. Rather, hyperthymestic recall tends to be constrained to a person's lifetime and is believed to be an unconscious process.

Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (1983), Benedict Anderson

Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism by Benedict Anderson. It introduces a popular concept in political sciences and sociology, that of imagined communities named after it. It was first published in 1983, and reissued with additional chapters in 1991 and a further revised version in 2006. According to Anderson's theory of imagined communities, the main causes of nationalism are the declining importance of privileged access to particular script languages (such as Latin) because of mass vernacular literacy; the movement to abolish the ideas of rule by divine right and hereditary monarchy; and the emergence of printing press capitalism ("the convergence of capitalism and print technology... standardization of national calendars, clocks and language was embodied in books and the publication of daily newspapers")—all phenomena occurring with the start of the Industrial Revolution.

Impostor Syndrome (impostor phenomenon, impostorism, fraud syndrome, impostor experience)

Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon, impostorism, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience) is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud". Despite external evidence of their competence, those experiencing this phenomenon remain convinced that they are frauds, and do not deserve all they have achieved. Individuals with impostorism incorrectly attribute their success to luck, or as a result of deceiving others into thinking they are more intelligent than they perceive themselves to be. While early research focused on the prevalence among high-achieving women, impostor syndrome has been recognized to affect both men and women equally.The term impostor phenomenon was introduced in 1978 in the article "The Impostor Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention" by Dr. Pauline R. Clance and Dr. Suzanne A. Imes. Clance and Imes defined impostor phenomenon as an individual experience of self-perceived intellectual phoniness (fraud). The researchers investigated the prevalence.

The Mask of Sanity: An Attempt to Clarify Some Issues About the So-Called Psychopathic Personality (1941), Harvey Cleckley

In 1941, Cleckley authored his magnum opus The Mask of Sanity: An Attempt to Clarify Some Issues About the So-Called Psychopathic Personality. This became a landmark in psychiatric case studies and was repeatedly reprinted in subsequent editions. Cleckley revised and expanded the work with each edition published; the second American edition published in 1950 he described as effectively a new book (Cleckley 1988, p.vii). The Mask of Sanity is distinguished by its central thesis, that the psychopath exhibits normal function according to standard psychiatric criteria, yet privately engages in destructive behavior. The book was intended to assist with detection and diagnosis of the elusive psychopath for purposes of palliation and offered no cure for the condition itself. The idea of a master deceiver secretly possessed of no moral or ethical restraints, yet behaving in public with excellent function, electrified American society and led to heightened interest in both psychological introspection and the detection of hidden psychopaths in society at large, leading to a refinement of the word itself into what was perceived to be a less stigmatizing term, "sociopath."

Oedipal crisis

In Freudian theory, the critical part of the genital stage during which a boy learns to desire sex with women, repudiate femininity, and identify as a man. The boy initially desires his mother, whom he sees as being castrated, and seeks to replace his father. His fear of castration by his father leads him to instead identify with his father and defer his desire for his mother until adulthood, when it is transferred to other women.

unconditioned response

In classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (US), such as salivation when food is in the mouth.

Hebb's Law, Postulate, Rule, Theory (Donald Hebb, 1949)

Proposes that neurons in temporal proximity that routinely excite together will develop enhanced efficacy doing so. The mnemonic "neurons that fire together wire together" was coined by Dr. Carla J. Shatz.

adaptive landscape

In evolutionary biology, fitness landscapes or adaptive landscapes (types of evolutionary landscapes) are a visual metaphor used to visualize the relationship between genotypes and reproductive success. It is assumed that every genotype has a well-defined replication rate (often referred to as fitness). This fitness is the "height" of the landscape. Genotypes which are similar are said to be "close" to each other, while those that are very different are "far" from each other. The set of all possible genotypes, their degree of similarity, and their related fitness values is then called a fitness landscape. The idea of a fitness landscape is a metaphor to help explain flawed formsin evolution by natural selection, including exploits and glitches in animals like their reactions to supernormal stimuli. The idea of studying evolution by visualizing the distribution of fitness values as a kind of landscape was first introduced by Sewall Wright in 1932. In evolutionary optimization problems, fitness landscapes are evaluations of a fitness function for all candidate solutions.

exposure hierarchy

In exposure therapy, an exposure hierarchy is developed to help clients confront their feared objects and situations in a manner that is systematic and controlled for the purpose of systematic desensitization. Exposure hierarchies are included in the treatment of a wide range of anxiety disorders. An exposure hierarchy itself is a list of objects and situations that an individual fears or avoids that are graded or rank-ordered in their ability to elicit anxiety. The least anxiety-provoking situations are ordered at the bottom of the hierarchy while the most anxiety-provoking situations are at the top. Exposure hierarchies typically consist of 10-15 items and will guide the client's exposure. When exposure to an item at the bottom of the hierarchy leads to moderately reduced distress or increased tolerance, a client progresses up the hierarchy to more and more difficult exposures. An exposure hierarchy can also be used as an assessment tool of the client's progress and their increasing ability to habituate to fearful situations further up in their hierarchy.

conversational implicature

In pragmatics, conversational implicature is an indirect or implicit speech act: what is meant by a speaker's utterance that is not part of what is explicitly said. The term is also known simply as implicature; it is the antonym (opposite) of explicature, which is an explicitly communicated assumption.

Madonna-***** dichotomy (complex)

In psychoanalytic literature, a Madonna-***** complex is the inability to maintain sexual arousal within a committed, loving relationship. First identified by Sigmund Freud, under the rubric of psychic impotence, this psychological complex is said to develop in men who see women as either saintly Madonnas or debased prostitutes. Men with this complex desire a sexual partner who has been degraded (the *****) while they cannot desire the respected partner (the Madonna). Freud wrote: "Where such men love they have no desire and where they desire they cannot love." Clinical psychologistUwe Hartmann, writing in 2009, stated that the complex "is still highly prevalent in today's patients".

Jocasta Complex

In psychoanalytic theory, the Jocasta complex is the incestuous sexual desire of a mother towards her son. Raymond de Saussure introduced the term in 1920 by way of analogy to its logical converse in psychoanalysis, the Oedipus complex, and it may be used to cover different degrees of attachment, including domineering but asexual mother love - something perhaps particularly prevalent with an absent father.

criterion (concrete) validity

In psychometrics, criterion or concrete validity is the extent to which a measure is related to an outcome. Criterion validity is often divided into concurrent and predictive validity. Concurrent validity refers to a comparison between the measure in question and an outcome assessed at the same time. In Standards for Educational & Psychological Tests, it states, "concurrent validity reflects only the status quo at a particular time." Predictive validity, on the other hand, compares the measure in question with an outcome assessed at a later time. Although concurrent and predictive validity are similar, it is cautioned to keep the terms and findings separated. "Concurrent validity should not be used as a substitute for predictive validity without an appropriate supporting rationale." Criterion validity is typically assessed by comparison with a gold standard test.

predictive validity

In psychometrics, predictive validity is the extent to which a score on a scale or test predicts scores on some criterion measure.

logistical regression

In statistics, the logistic model (or logit model) is used to model the probability of a certain class or event existing such as pass/fail, win/lose, alive/dead or healthy/sick. This can be extended to model several classes of events such as determining whether an image contains a cat, dog, lion, etc... Each object being detected in the image would be assigned a probability between 0 and 1 and the sum adding to one. Logistic regression is a statistical model that in its basic form uses a logistic function to model a binarydependent variable, although many more complex extensions exist. In regression analysis, logistic regression (or logit regression) is estimating the parameters of a logistic model (a form of binary regression). Mathematically, a binary logistic model has a dependent variable with two possible values, such as pass/fail which is represented by an indicator variable, where the two values are labeled "0" and "1". In the logistic model, the log-odds (the logarithm of the odds) for the value labeled "1" is a linear combination of one or more independent variables ("predictors"); the independent variables can each be a binary variable (two classes, coded by an indicator variable) or a continuous variable (any real value). The corresponding probability of the value labeled "1" can vary between 0 (certainly the value "0") and 1 (certainly the value "1"), hence the labeling; the function that converts log-odds to probability is the logistic function, hence the name. The unit of measurement for the log-odds scale is called a logit, from logistic unit, hence the alternative names. Analogous models with a different sigmoid functioninstead of the logistic function can also be used, such as the probit model; the defining characteristic of the logistic model is that increasing one of the independent variables multiplicatively scales the odds of the given outcome at a constant rate, with each independent variable having its own parameter; for a binary dependent variable this generalizes the odds ratio.

primary and secondary processes

In the ego, there are two ongoing processes. First, there is the unconscious primary process, where the thoughts are not organised in a coherent way; the feelings can shift, contradictions are not in conflict or are just not perceived that way, and condensationsarise. There is no logic and no time line. Lust is important for this process. By contrast, there is the conscious secondary process, where strong boundaries are set and thoughts must be organised in a coherent way. Most conscious thoughts originate here.

negative reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. (Note: negative reinforcement is not punishment.)

instructional and motivational self-talk

Instructional self-talk happens when we need to guide ourselves through a specific task, such as learning a new skill. Motivationalself-talk usually is used when we want to psych ourselves up for something challenging; it can help to boost effort or increase confidence.

John Gottman (b. 1942)

John Mordecai Gottman (born April 26, 1942) is an American psychological researcher and clinician who did extensive work over four decades on divorce prediction and marital stability. He is also an award-winning speaker, author, and a professor emeritus in psychology. He is known for his work on maritalstability and relationship analysis through scientific direct observations, many of which were published in peer-reviewed literature. The lessons derived from this work represent a partial basis for the relationship counseling movement that aims to improve relationship functioning and the avoidance of those behaviors shown by Gottman and other researchers to harm human relationships. His work has also had a major impact on the development of important concepts on social sequence analysis. Gottman is a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Washington. Dr. John Gottman and Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman co-founded and lead a relationship company and therapist training entity called The Gottman Institute.

Joseph Wolpe (1915-1997)

Joseph Wolpe (20 April 1915 in Johannesburg, South Africa - 4 December 1997 in Los Angeles) was a South African psychiatrist and one of the most influential figures in behavior therapy. One of the most influential experiences in Wolpe's life was when he enlisted in the South African army as a medical officer. Wolpe was entrusted to treat soldiers who were diagnosed with what was then called "war neurosis" but today is known as post traumatic stress disorder. The mainstream treatment of the time for soldiers was drug therapy. Doctors would use a type of "truth serum" to get soldiers to talk about their experiences. It was believed that having the soldiers talk about their experiences openly would effectively cure their neurosis. However, this was not the case. It was this lack of successful treatment outcomes that forced Wolpe, once a dedicated follower of Freud, to question psychoanalytic therapy and search for more effective treatment options. Wolpe is most well known for his reciprocal inhibition techniques, particularly systematic desensitization, which revolutionized behavioral therapy.

Karl Duncker (1903-1940)

Karl Duncker (2 February 1903, in Leipzig - 23 February 1940) was a Gestalt psychologist. In 1935, exiled by the Nazis, he got an assistantship in Cambridge with Frederic Charles Bartlett and later immigrated to the US. He committed suicide in 1940 at 37 years of age. He had been suffering from depression for some time and had received professional treatment. Duncker coined the term functional fixedness for describing the difficulties in visual perception and in problem solving that arise from the fact that one element of a whole situation already has a (fixed) function which has to be changed for making the correct perception or for finding the solution to the problem. In his "candle problem" the situation was defined by the objects: a candle, a box of thumb-tacks and a book of matches. The task was to fix the candles on the wall without any additional elements. The difficulty of this problem arises from the functional fixedness of the box, which originally contained thumb-tacks. It is a container in the problem situation but must be used as a shelf in the solution situation.

Karl Mannheim (1893-1947)

Karl Mannheim (born Károly Manheim, 27 March 1893 - 9 January 1947) was a influential German sociologist during the first half of the 20th century. He was a founding father of classical sociology, as well as idea of sociology of knowledge. Mannheim is known for Ideology and Utopia (1929) wherein he argues that ideologies are representative of the true nature of a society, and that, in trying to achieve a utopia, the dogmas of ideology affect the intellectual integrity of theories of philosophy and theories of history.

learned optimism

Learned optimism is the idea in positive psychologythat a talent for joy, like any other, can be cultivated. It is contrasted with learned helplessness. Learning optimism is done by consciously challenging any negative self talk. Learned optimism was defined by Martin Seligmanand published in his 1990 book, Learned Optimism. The benefits of an optimistic outlook are many: Optimists are higher achievers and have better overall health. Pessimism, on the other hand, is much more common; pessimists are more likely to give up in the face of adversity or to suffer from depression. Seligman invites pessimists to learn to be optimists by thinking about their reactions to adversity in a new way. The resulting optimism—one that grew from pessimism—is a learned optimism. The optimist's outlook on failure can thus be summarized as "What happened was an unlucky situation (not personal), and really just a setback (not permanent) for this one, of many, goals (not pervasive)."

Lester Ward (1841-1913)

Lester Frank Ward (June 18, 1841 - April 18, 1913) was an American botanist, paleontologist, and sociologist.[1] He served as the first president of the American Sociological Association. Ward promoted the introduction of sociology courses into American higher education. His belief that society could be scientifically controlled was especially attractive to intellectuals during the Progressive Era. His influence in certain circles (see: the Social Gospel) was affected by his opinions regarding organized priesthoods, which he believed had been responsible for more evil than good throughout human history. Ward emphasized the importance of social forces which could be guided at a macro level by the use of intelligence to achieve conscious progress, rather than allowing evolution to take its own erratic course as proposed by William Graham Sumner and Herbert Spencer. Ward emphasized universal and comprehensive public schooling to provide the public with the knowledge a democracy needs to successfully govern itself.

limerence

Limerence is a state of mind which results from a romantic attraction to another person and typically includes obsessive thoughts and fantasies and a desire to form or maintain a relationship with the object of love and have one's feelings reciprocated. Limerence can also be defined as an involuntary state of intense romantic desire. Scientists have found that people in so-called limerent states have low levels of serotonin—a neurotransmitter in the brain that affects mood—akin to people with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Martin Seligman (b. 1942)

Martin Elias Pete Seligman (born August 12, 1942) is an American psychologist, educator, and author of self-help books. Seligman is a strong promoter within the scientific community of his theories of positive psychology and of well-being. His theory of learned helplessness is popular among scientific and clinical psychologists. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Seligman as the 31st most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" in Psychological Review. Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of human developmental psychology, some of which focus on describing the stages of growth in humans. He then decided to create a classification system which reflected the universal needs of society as its base and then proceeding to more acquired emotions. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is used to study how humans intrinsically partake in behavioral motivation. Maslow used the terms "physiological", "safety", "belonging and love", "social needs" or "esteem", and "self-actualization" to describe the pattern through which human motivations generally move. This means that in order for motivation to occur at the next level, each level must be satisfied within the individual themselves. Furthermore, this theory is a key foundation in understanding how drive and motivation are correlated when discussing human behavior. Each of these individual levels contains a certain amount of internal sensation that must be met in order for an individual to complete their hierarchy. The goal in Maslow's theory is to attain the fifth level or stage: self-actualization.

Matthew effect (accumulated advantage)

Matthew effect, Matthew principle, or Matthew effect of accumulated advantage can be observed in many aspects of life and fields of activity. It is sometimes summarized by the adage "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer". The concept is applicable to matters of fame or status, but may also be applied literally to cumulative advantage of economic capital. The term was coined by sociologist Robert K. Mertonin 1968 and takes its name from the Parable of the talents or minas in the biblical Gospel of Matthew. Merton credited his collaborator and wife, sociologist Harriet Zuckerman, as co-author of the concept of the Matthew effect.

mental set

Mental sets represent a form of rigidity in which an individual behaves or believes in a certain way due to prior experience. In the field of psychology, mental sets are typically examined in the process of problem solving, with an emphasis on the process of breaking away from particular mental sets into formulation of insight. Breaking mental sets in order to successfully resolve problems fall under three typical stages: a) tendency to solve a problem in a fixed way, b) unsuccessfully solving a problem using methods suggested by prior experience, and c) realizing that the solution requires different methods. Components of high executive functioning, such as the interplay between working memory and inhibition, are essential to effective switching between mental sets for different situations. Individual differences in mental sets vary, with one study producing a variety of cautious and risky strategies in individual responses to a reaction time test.

metapsychology

Metapsychology (Greek: meta 'beyond, transcending', and 'psychology')[1] is that aspect of any psychological theory which refers to the structure of the theory itself (hence the prefix "meta") rather than to the entity it describes. The psychology is about the psyche; the metapsychology is about the psychology. The term is used mostly in discourse about psychoanalysis, the psychology developed by Sigmund Freud, which today is regarded as a branch of science (with roots in the work of Freud's scientific mentors and predecessors, especially Helmholtz, Brucke, Charcot, and Janet) and/or a hermeneutics of understanding (with roots in Freud's literary sources, especially Sophocles and, to a lesser extent, Goethe and Shakespeare). Emphasis on the scientific status of psychoanalysis has been renewed in the emerging discipline of neuropsychoanalysis, whose major exemplar is Mark Solms. The hermeneutic vision of psychoanalysis is the focus of influential works by Donna Orange.

CBT Technique: Mindfulness Practice

Mindfulness Practice: Mindfulness is a cognitive behavior therapy technique borrowed from Buddhism. The goal of mindfulness is to help people disengage from ruminating or obsessing about negative things and redirect their attention to what is actually happening in the present moment. Mindfulness is the subject of a lot of new research in psychology and represents the cutting edge of psychotherapy practice.

Moravec's Paradox

Moravec's paradox is the discovery by artificial intelligence and robotics researchers that, contrary to traditional assumptions, high-level reasoning requires very little computation, but low-level sensorimotorskills require enormous computational resources. The principle was articulated by Hans Moravec, Rodney Brooks, Marvin Minsky and others in the 1980s. As Moravec writes, "it is comparatively easy to make computers exhibit adult level performance on intelligence tests or playing checkers, and difficult or impossible to give them the skills of a one-year-old when it comes to perception and mobility." Similarly, Minsky emphasized that the most difficult human skills to reverse engineer are those that are unconscious. "In general, we're least aware of what our minds do best", he wrote, and added "we're more aware of simple processes that don't work well than of complex ones that work flawlessly."

narcissitic personality disorder

Narcissistic personality disorder--one of several types of personality disorders--is a mental condition in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, troubled relationships, and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of extreme confidence lies a fragile self-esteem that's vulnerable to the slightest criticism.the

naïve cynicism

Naïve cynicism is a philosophy of mind, cognitive bias and form of psychological egoism that occurs when people naïvely expect more egocentric bias in others than actually is the case.

Paul Ekman (b. 1934)

Paul Ekman (born February 15, 1934) is an American psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco who is a pioneer in the study of emotions and their relation to facial expressions. He has created an "atlas of emotions" with more than ten thousand facial expressions, and has gained a reputation as the best human lie detector in the world. He was ranked 59th out of the 100 most cited psychologists of the twentieth century. Ekman conducted seminal research on the specific biological correlations of specific emotions, demonstrating the universality and discreteness of emotions in a Darwinian approach.

integration of personality

Personality is the synthetic unity of all personal traits. All the mental traits—intelligence, emotions and sentiments, impulses, volitions, native and acquired reactions, must be organized and integrated into a unity. The uniting of all mental traits into personality is called integration. Complete integration is the ideal of personality. A sound personality comprises reaction tendencies that are not loosely organized but closely related to integrated. They are gradually reorganized and reconstructed according to more dominant interests and ideals. Although gradually changing during long periods of time, the personality usually possesses a continuity of pattern which the person himself and others recognize. In every person there is the primary or dominant self, which is his innermost characteristic self. It has a special unity which tends to endure, and is expressed in certain familiar reaction tendencies. McDougall regards integration of personality as integration of intellect and integration of character all the conflicting reaction tendencies should be harmonized and organised gradually and integrated with the dominant trends. A personality should be well-integrated and flexible. An integrated and inflexible personality cannot adapt itself to the- changing environment. An ideal personality should be integrated and flexible. It should reveal in some degree the characteristics of integration, consistency, persistency, and flexibility.

psychosocial

Pertaining to a combination of psychological and social factors.

Polanyi's Paradox

Polanyi's paradox, named in honour of the British-Hungarian philosopher Michael Polanyi, is the theory that human knowledge of how the world functions and capability are, to a large extent, beyond our explicit understanding. The theory was articulated by Michael Polanyi in his book The Tacit Dimension in 1966, but it was economist David Autor that named it as Polanyi's paradox in his 2014 research paper on "Polanyi's Paradox and the Shape of Employment Growth." Summarised in the slogan "We can know more than we can tell", Polanyi's paradox is mainly to explain the cognitive phenomenon that there exist many tasks which we, human beings, understand intuitively how to perform but cannot verbalize the rules or procedures behind it. This "self-ignorance" is common to many human activities, from driving a car in traffic to face recognition. As Polanyi argues, humans are relying on their tacit knowledge, which is difficult to adequately express by verbal means, when engaging these tasks. Polanyi's paradox has been widely considered a major obstacle in the fields of AI and automation, since the absence of consciously accessible knowledge creates tremendous difficulty in programming.

polymorphous perversity

Polymorphous perversity is a psychoanalytic concept proposing the ability to gain sexual gratification outside socially normative sexual behaviors. Sigmund Freud used this term to describe the sexual disposition from infancy to about age five.

McAdams' Model of Personality

Posited Dan P. McAdams, three level model of personality has been widely cited and was used in The Happiness Hypothesis book. The three levels are : Dispositional traits, a person's general tendencies. For example, the Big Five personality traits lists: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.Characteristic adaptations, a person's desires, beliefs, concerns, and coping mechanisms.Life stories, the stories that give a life a sense of unity, meaning, and purpose. This is known as Narrative identity. The theory of narrative identity postulates that individuals form an identity by integrating their life experiences into an internalized, evolving story of the self that provides the individual with a sense of unity and purpose in life. This life narrative integrates one's reconstructed past, perceived present, and imagined future. Furthermore, this narrative is a story - it has characters, episodes, imagery, a setting, plots, and themes and often follows the traditional model of a story, having a beginning (initiating event), middle (an attempt and a consequence), and an end (denouement). Narrative identity is the focus of interdisciplinary research, with deep roots in psychology.

positive psychology

Positive psychology is "the scientific study of what makes life most worth living", or "the scientific study of positive human functioning and flourishing on multiple levels that include the biological, personal, relational, institutional, cultural, and global dimensions of life". Positive psychology began as a new domain of psychology in 1998 when Martin Seligman chose it as the theme for his term as president of the American Psychological Association. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Christopher Peterson and Barbara Fredrickson are regarded as co-initiators of this development. It is a reaction against psychoanalysis and behaviorism, which have focused on "mental illness", meanwhile emphasising maladaptive behavior and negative thinking. It builds further on the humanistic movement, which encouraged an emphasis on happiness, well-being, and positivity, thus creating the foundation for what is now known as positive psychology. Positive psychology is concerned with eudaimonia, "The good life", reflection about what holds the greatest value in life - the factors that contribute the most to a well-lived and fulfilling life. Positive psychologists have suggested a number of ways in which individual happiness may be fostered. Social ties with a spouse, family, friends and wider networks through work, clubs or social organisations are of particular importance, while physical exercise and the practice of meditation may also contribute to happiness. Happiness may rise with increasing financial income, though it may plateau or even fall when no further gains are made.

primary and secondary narcissism

Primary narcissism is the initial focus on the self with which all infants start and happens from around six month up to around six years. It is a defense mechanism that is used to protect the child from psychic damage during the formation of the individual self. Secondary narcissism is the more 'normal' form, where older children and adults seek personal gratification over the achievement of social goals and conformance to social values. A degree of narcissism is is common in many people. It becomes pathological when the narcissist lacks normal empathy and uses others ruthlessly to their own ends. Cerebral narcissists derive their self-adoration from their intellectual abilities and achievements. Somatic narcissists focus on the body, seeking beauty, physique and sexual conquests.

reliability

Reliability in statistics and psychometrics is the overall consistency of a measure. A measure is said to have a high reliability if it produces similar results under consistent conditions. "It is the characteristic of a set of test scores that relates to the amount of random error from the measurement process that might be embedded in the scores. Scores that are highly reliable are accurate, reproducible, and consistent from one testing occasion to another. That is, if the testing process were repeated with a group of test takers, essentially the same results would be obtained. Various kinds of reliability coefficients, with values ranging between 0.00 (much error) and 1.00 (no error), are usually used to indicate the amount of error in the scores." For example, measurements of people's height and weight are often extremely reliable.

incremental theory vs. entity theory (of intelligence)

Researchers have identified two different mindsets regarding intelligence beliefs. The entity theory of intelligence refers to an individual's belief that intelligence and ability are fixed traits. For entity theorists, if perceived ability to perform a task is high, the perceived possibility for mastery is also high. In turn, if perceived ability is low, there is little perceived possibility of mastery, often regarded as an outlook of "learned helplessness" (Park & Kim, 2015). However, the incremental theory of intelligence proposes that intelligence and ability are malleable traits which can be improved upon through effort and hard work. For incremental theorists, there is a perceived possibility of mastery even when initial ability to perform a task is low. Those who subscribe to this theory of intelligence "don't necessarily believe that anyone can become an Einstein or Mozart, but they do understand even Einstein and Mozart had to put in years of effort to become who they were". This possibility of mastery contributes in part to intrinsic motivation of individuals to perform a task, since there is perceived potential for success in the task.

Reuven Bar-On

Reuven Bar-On is an Israeli psychologist and one of the leading pioneers, theorists and researchers in emotional intelligence. Bar-On is thought to be the first to introduce the concept of an "EQ" ("Emotional Quotient") to measure "emotional and social competence", although the acronym was used earlier to describe ideas that were not associated with emotional intelligence per se. In the first copy of his doctoral dissertation, which was submitted in 1985, Bar-On proposed a quantitative approach to creating "an EQ analogous to an IQ score."

SCARF Model

SCARF stands for the five key "domains" that influence our behavior in social situations. These are: Status - our relative importance to others.Certainty - our ability to predict the future.Autonomy - our sense of control over events.Relatedness - how safe we feel with others.Fairness - how fair we perceive the exchanges between people to be. The model is based on neuroscience research that implies that these five social domains activate the same threatand reward responses in our brain that we rely on for physical survival. This "primitive" reaction helps to explain the sometimes strong emotional reactions that we can have to social situations - and why it's often hard to control them. It's instinct, and unfortunately we can't just "turn it off."

EQ-i 2.0 Self-Expression Scale

Self-Expression - Emotional Expression: ability to express one's feelings verbally and non-verbally - Independence: ability to be self-directed and free of emotional dependency in others - Assertiveness: ability to express feelings, beliefs, and thoughts in a non-destructive way

EQ-i 2.0 Self-Perception Scale

Self-Perception - Emotional Self-Awareness: ability to be aware of and understand one's feelings - Self-Regard: ability to respect and accept one's strengths and weaknesses - Self-Actualization: ability to improve oneself and pursue meaningful objectives

situational judgment test (SJT)

Situational stress tests (SStTs) or Inventories (SSIs)are a type of psychological test which present the test-taker with realistic, hypothetical scenarios and ask the individual to identify the most appropriate response or to rank the responses in the order they feel is most effective. SJTs can be presented to test-takers through a variety of modalities, such as booklets, films, or audio recordings. SJTs represent a distinct psychometric approach from the common knowledge-based multiple choice item. They are often used in industrial-organizational psychologyapplications such as personnel selection. Situational judgement tests tend to determine behavioral tendencies, assessing how an individual will behave in a certain situation, and knowledge instruction, which evaluates the effectiveness of possible responses. Situational judgement tests could also reinforce the status quo with an organization.

CBT Technique: Skills Training

Skills Training: A lot of people's problems result from not having the appropriate skills to achieve their goals. Skills training is a cognitive behavior therapy technique implemented in remedying such skills deficits. Common areas for skills training include social skills training, communication training, and assertiveness training. Usually skills training takes place through direct instruction, modeling, and role-plays.

Snackwell effect

Snackwell effect is a phenomenon that states that dieters will eat more low-calorie cookies, such as SnackWells, than they otherwise would for normal cookies. It is also described as a term for the way people go overboard once they are given a free pass or the tendency to over-consume like in the case of people eating more of low-fat food due to the belief that it is not fattening.

Solomon Asch (1907-1996)

Solomon Eliot Asch (September 14, 1907 - February 20, 1996) was a Polish-American gestalt psychologist and pioneer in social psychology. He created seminal pieces of work in impression formation, prestige suggestion, conformity, and many other topics in social psychology. His work follows a common theme of Gestalt psychology that the whole is not only greater than the sum of its parts, but the nature of the whole fundamentally alters the parts. Asch stated: "Most social acts have to be understood in their setting, and lose meaning if isolated. No error in thinking about social facts is more serious than the failure to see their place and function" (Asch, 1952, p. 61). He is most well known for his conformity experiments, in which he demonstrated the influence of group pressure on opinions. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Asch as the 41st most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

Marshmallow Test

Stanford marshmallow experiment was a series of studies on delayed gratification in the late 1960s and early 1970s led by psychologist Walter Mischel (1930-2018) then a professor at Stanford University. In these studies, a child was offered a choice between one small reward provided immediately or two small rewards if they waited for a short period, approximately 15 minutes, during which the tester left the room and then returned. (The reward was sometimes a marshmallow, but often a cookie or a pretzel.) In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by SAT scores,[2] educational attainment,[3] body mass index (BMI),[4] and other life measures.[5] A replication attempt with a more diverse sample population over 10 times larger than the original study showed only half the effect size of the original study and suggested that economic background rather than willpower explained the other half of the variation.

Stanford-Binet Test

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (or more commonly the Stanford-Binet) is an individually administered intelligence test that was revised from the original Binet-Simon Scale by Lewis M. Terman, a psychologist at Stanford University. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale is now in its fifth edition (SB5) and was released in 2003. It is a cognitive ability and intelligence test that is used to diagnose developmental or intellectual deficiencies in young children. The test measures five weighted factors and consists of both verbal and nonverbal subtests. The five factors being tested are knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial processing, working memory, and fluid reasoning.

Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS)

Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS - also called a Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale) is a scale of 0 to 10 for measuring the subjective intensity of disturbance or distress currently experienced by an individual. The individual self assesses where they are on the scale. The SUDS may be used as a benchmark for a professional or observer to evaluate the progress of treatment. In desensitization-based therapies, such as those listed below, the patients' regular self assessments enable them to guide the clinician repeatedly as part of the therapeutic dialog. The SUD-level was developed by Joseph Wolpe in 1969.[1] It has been used in cognitive-behavioral treatments for anxiety disorders (e.g. exposure practices and hierarchy) and for research purposes. There is no hard and fast rule by which a patient can self assign a SUDS rating to his or her disturbance or distress, hence the name subjective. Some guidelines are: The intensity recorded must be as it is experienced now.Constriction or congestion or tensing of body parts indicates a higher SUDS than that reported.

CBT Technique: Successive Approximation

Successive Approximation: This cognitive behavior therapy technique works for people who have difficulty completing a task, either due to lack of familiarity with the task, or because the task feels overwhelming for some reason. The technique works by helping people master an easier task that is similar to the more difficult task. It's akin to practicing addition and subtraction before learning long division. Once you are practiced at addition and subtraction, long division isn't as daunting. Likewise, by having rehearsed one behavior, one that is slightly more difficult feels more manageable.

Symbolic self-completion

Symbolic self-completion refers to having or seeking social symbols of achievement regarding a goal important to one's self-identity. R. A. Wicklund and P. M. Gollwitzer's symbolic self-completion theory was based on the pioneering work of Kurt Lewin and his collaborators. Wicklund and Gollwitzer posited that once an individual commits to a goal, psychological tension exists until the goal is achieved. If the individual engages in a task to accomplish the goal but is interrupted, the tension will motivate a return to the task or to a substitute task that could also lead to goal accomplishment. Personality psychologists, beginning with Alfred Adler, proposed a similar notion of substitutability in their concept of compensation, in which the individual compensates for perceived deficiencies through renewed efforts in either the domain in which one feels inferior or in other domains that could also broadly compensate for the deficiency. The theory proposes that when an individual is committed to a self-defining goal, such as a role like physician or an attribute like intelligence, that individual will seek symbols of completeness, socially acknowledged indicators that one has achieved that goal. When an individual has an ample supply of symbols regarding a particular self-defining goal, he or she will not need to seek additional symbols of completeness. However, if the individual perceives a deficit in symbols, efforts will be made to display symbols that restore completeness.

behavioral experiments

Test the validity of thoughts and assumptions through asking the client to try something, have them make a prediction about how they'll do and how it will work, work to maximize the results. Behavioral experiments are planned activities, based on experimentation or observation, undertaken by clients in session or between sessions. They test existing beliefs and/or help test more adaptive beliefs. Their design is derived from the formulation. Put most simply, a behavioral experiment is when the client gets to test something out.

negalopsychia

The 'greatness of soul' that the tragic protagonist should possess. Also, as described by Aristotle, high-mindedness.

ACC and consciousness

The ACC area in the brain is associated with many functions that are correlated with conscious experience. Greater ACC activation levels were present in more emotionally aware female participants when shown short 'emotional' video clips. Better emotional awareness is associated with improved recognition of emotional cues or targets, which is reflected by ACC activation. The idea of awareness being associated with the ACC is supported by some evidence, in that it seems to be the case that, when subjects' responses are not congruent with actual responses, a larger error-related negativity is produced.

The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure (1994), Richard J. Herrnstein & Charles Murray

The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life is a 1994 book by psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein and political scientist Charles Murray, in which the authors argue that human intelligence is substantially influenced by both inherited and environmental factors and that it is a better predictor of many personal outcomes, including financial income, job performance, birth out of wedlock, and involvement in crime than are an individual's parental socioeconomic status. They also argue that those with high intelligence, the "cognitive elite", are becoming separated from those of average and below-average intelligence. The book was controversial, especially where the authors wrote about racial differences in intelligence and discussed the implications of those differences.

Family Romance

The Family romance is a psychological complex identified by Sigmund Freud in 1908, whereby the young child or adolescent fantasizes that they are really the children of parents of higher social standing than their actual parents. More broadly, the term can be used to cover the whole range of instinctual ties between siblings, and parents and children.

Heinz Dilemma

The Heinz dilemma is a frequently used example in many ethics and morality classes. One well-known version of the dilemma, used in Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development. From a theoretical point of view, it is not important what the participant thinks that Heinz should do. Kohlberg's theory holds that the justification the participant offers is what is significant, the form of their response.

Jonah Complex

The Jonah complex is the fear of success or the fear of being one's best which prevents self-actualization, or the realization of one's own potential. It is the fear of one's own greatness, the evasion of one's destiny, or the avoidance of exercising one's talents. As the fear of achieving a personal worst may serve to motivate personal growth, likewise the fear of achieving a personal best may hinder achievement. Although Abraham Maslow is credited for the term, the name "Jonah complex" was originally suggested by Maslow's friend, Professor Frank Manuel. The name comes from the story of the Biblical prophet Jonah's evasion of the destiny to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh. Maslow states, "So often we run away from the responsibilities dictated (or rather suggested) by nature, by fate, even sometimes by accident, just as Jonah tried—in vain—to run away from his fate".

Psychopathy Checklist (Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised)

The Psychopathy Checklist or Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, now the Psychopathy Checklist—revised (PCL-R), is a psychological assessment tool most commonly used to assess the presence of psychopathy in individuals. It is a 20-item inventory of perceived personality traits and recorded behaviors, intended to be completed on the basis of a semi-structured interview along with a review of 'collateral information' such as official records. The PCL was originally developed in the 1970s by Canadian psychologist Robert D. Hare for use in psychology experiments, based partly on Hare's work with male offenders and forensic inmates in Vancouver, and partly on an influential clinical profile by American psychiatrist Hervey M. Cleckley first published in 1941. An individual's score may have important consequences for their future, and because the potential for harm if the test is used or administered incorrectly is considerable, Hare argues that the test should be considered valid only if administered by a suitably qualified and experienced clinician under scientifically controlled and licensed, standardized conditions. Hare receives royalties on licensed use of the test. In psychometric terms, the current version of the checklist has two factors (sets of related scores) that correlate about 0.5 with each other, with Factor One closer to Cleckley's original personality concept than Factor Two. Hare's checklist does not incorporate the "positive adjustment features" that Cleckley did.

Westermarck Effect

The Westermarck effect, also known as reverse sexual imprinting, is a psychological hypothesis that people who live in close domestic proximity during the first few years of their lives become desensitized to sexual attraction. This hypothesis was first proposed by Finnish anthropologist Edvard Westermarck in his book The History of Human Marriage (1891) as one explanation for the incest taboo. The existence of the Westermarck effect has achieved some empirical support. Observations interpreted as evidence for the Westermarck effect have since been made in many places and cultures, including in the Israeli kibbutz system, and the Chinese Shim-pua marriage customs, as well as in biologically-related families.

cerebral narcissism

The cerebral narcissist seeks to captivate and mesmerize his target with a brainy fireworks display-gaining his worth from his intellectual abilities and achievements. His mind is the source of his vanity. He or she would much rather acquire obscure information, use big, complicated words, and write long, drawn out dissertations on their "ground-breaking ideas". They don't usually draw attention to themselves, preferring to go into full character by withdrawing from society; going out in public only occasionally...to remind the lowly human race of their deific existence. Cerebral narcissists will try to impress others by their scholarly intelligence and command of the language, which is used not only to impress, but also to destroy anyone who questions them. They are convinced that they are unique and should only associate with other special or high-status individuals. In fact, when confronted with anything that contradicts their sense of god-like stature, you can bet that their reaction will be explosive and malicious. Contempt is shown for those they deem inferior. When this narcissist experiences a loss of admiration they will become emotionally and/or verbally abusive. Their verbal sharpness is such that one is left staggering in the aftermath. In spite of these injurious traits, such a person can be charming and exhibit behaviors widely admired in society. There can be the 'appearance' of a genuine sense of benevolence towards others-though they're not sincere in nature.

Cognitive Distortion: Types

The cognitive distortions listed below are categories of automatic thinking, and are to be distinguished from logical fallacies. Always being right Being wrong is unthinkable. This cognitive distortion is characterized by actively trying to prove one's actions or thoughts to be correct, and sometimes prioritizing self-interest over the feelings of another person. Blaming The opposite of personalization; holding other people responsible for the harm they cause, and especially for their intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress Disqualifying the positive Discounting positive events. Emotional reasoning Presuming that negative feelings expose the true nature of things and experiencing reality as a reflection of emotionally linked thoughts. Thinking something is true, solely based on a feeling. Fallacy of change Relying on social control to obtain cooperative actions from another person Fallacy of fairness The belief that life should be fair. When life is perceived to be unfair, an angry emotional state is produced which may lead to attempts to correct the situation. Mental filtering Focusing entirely on negative elements of a situation to the exclusion of the positive. Also, the brain's tendency to filter information that does not conform to already-held beliefs. Jumping to conclusions Reaching preliminary conclusions (usually negative) with little (if any) evidence. Two specific sub-types are identified: Mind reading: Inferring a person's possible or probable (usually negative) thoughts from his or her behavior and nonverbal communication; taking precautions against the worst suspected case without asking the person.Example: A student assumes that the readers of his or her paper have already made up their minds concerning its topic, and, therefore, writing the paper is a pointless exercise. Fortune-telling: predicting outcomes (usually negative) of eventsLabeling and mislabeling Labeling theory A form of overgeneralization; attributing a person's actions to his or her character instead of to an attribute. Rather than assuming the behavior to be accidental or otherwise extrinsic, one assigns a label to someone or something that is based on the inferred character of that person or thing. Magnification and minimization Exaggeration and Minimisation (psychology) Giving proportionally greater weight to a perceived failure, weakness or threat, or lesser weight to a perceived success, strength or opportunity, so that the weight differs from that assigned by others, such as "making a mountain out of a molehill". In depressed clients, often the positive characteristics of other people are exaggerated and their negative characteristics are understated. Catastrophizing - Giving greater weight to the worst possible outcome, however unlikely, or experiencing a situation as unbearable or impossible when it is just uncomfortable Overgeneralizing Making hasty generalizations from insufficient evidence. Drawing a very broad conclusion from a single incident or a single piece of evidence. Even if something bad happens only once, it is expected to happen over and over again. Attributing personal responsibility, including the resulting praise or blame, to events over which the person has no control. Making "must" or "should" statements Making 'must' or should' statements was included by Albert Ellis in his rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), an early form of CBT; he termed it "musturbation". Michael C. Graham called it "expecting the world to be different than it is". It can be seen as demanding particular achievements or behaviours regardless of the realistic circumstances of the situation. Example: After a performance, a concert pianist believes he or she should not have made so many mistakes. In Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, David Burns clearly distinguished between pathological "should statements", moral imperatives, and social norms. A related cognitive distortion, also present in Ellis' REBT, is a tendency to "awfulize"; to say a future scenario will be awful, rather than to realistically appraise the various negative and positive characteristics of that scenario. Splitting (All-or-nothing thinking, black-or-white thinking, dichotomous reasoning Evaluating the self, as well as events in life in extreme terms. It is either all good or all bad, either black or white, nothing in between. Even small imperfections seem incredibly dangerous and painful. Splitting involves using terms like "always", "every" or "never" when they are false and misleading.

social presence

The feeling that communicators have of engaging in unmediated, face-to-face interactions even though messages are being sent electronically. Social presence is the ability of learners to project their personal characteristics into the community of inquiry, thereby presenting themselves as 'real people.'

cultural inertia

The institutionalized learning and common expectations that are reflected in the informal norms, values, social networks, and other elements of culture. The tendency for a group of people to cling to traditions and ways of thinking that have outlived their usefulness.

looking-glass self (Cooley, 1902)

The term "the looking glass self" was created by American sociologist Charles Horton Cooley in 1902, and introduced into his own work "Human Nature and the Social Order". It is described as, our reflection of how we think we appear to others. To further explain would be how oneself imagines how others view him/her.The looking-glass self comprises three main components that are unique to humans (Shaffer 2005). We imagine how we must appear to others in a social situation.We imagine and react to what we feel their judgment of that appearance must be.We develop our sense of self and respond through this perceived judgments of others. The result is that individuals will change their behavior based on what they feel other people think about them, even if not necessarily true. In this way, social interaction acts as a "mirror" or a "looking-glass," since one's sense of self and self esteem is built off of others.

sociopathy

The word element socio- has been commonly used in compound words since around 1880. The term sociopathy may have been first introduced in 1909 in Germany by biological psychiatrist Karl Birnbaum and in 1930 in the US by educational psychologist George E. Partridge, as an alternative to the concept of psychopathy.[189] It was used to indicate that the defining feature is violation of social norms, or antisocial behavior, and has often also been associated with postulating social as well as biological causation. The term is used in various different ways in contemporary usage. Robert Hare stated in the popular science book entitled Snakes in Suits that sociopathy and psychopathy are often used interchangeably, but in some cases the term sociopathy is preferred because it is less likely than is psychopathy to be confused with psychosis, whereas in other cases the two terms may be used with different meanings that reflect the user's views on the origins and determinants of the disorder. Hare contended that the term sociopathy is preferred by those that see the causes as due to social factors and early environment, and the term psychopathy preferred by those who believe that there are psychological, biological, and genetic factors involved in addition to environmental factors. Hare also provides his own definitions: he describes psychopathy as not having a sense of empathy or morality, but sociopathy as only differing from the average person in the sense of right and wrong.

Millon's Narcissism Typology

Theodore Millon was a psychologist/psychiatrist who proposed five different main types of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), or Malignant Narcissism/Self-Love. Millon also developed the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) which is currently widely used in diagnostic testing. Whereas James F Masterson had only proposed two main types of narcissism, exhibitionist (overt) and closet (covert), Millon defined the following four categories for his subtypes. Unprincipled: Used to describe narcissists with antisocial (i.e. sociopathic) features. Unprincipled narcissists are usually unscrupulous, deceptive and exploitative. Also includes charlatans and frauds. Amorous: Basically a narcissist with histrionic features (i.e. a drama queen). Amorous narcissists may appear charming and charismatic on the outside but they are also exhibitionists and have erotic tendencies. Compensatory: Compensatory narcissists tend to have passive-aggressive features and usually a negative attitude and outlook on life. They also have avoidant features presumably due to their negative way of thinking. Elitist: Elitist narcissists have a tendency to view themselves as better than anyone else, whether in status, position or intellect. Elitist narcissism fits in with Wilhelm Reich's description of a phallic narcissist. The fifth subtype: Unusually, Millon's fifth category included either all or none of the above. It could therefore be assumed that Millon had come up with six categories in total but didn't want to overly confuse the issue.

Three Steps of Systematic Desensitization

There are three main steps that Wolpe identified to successfully desensitize an individual. 1) Establish anxiety stimulus hierarchy. The individual should first identify the items that are causing the anxiety problems. Each item that causes anxiety is given a subjective ranking on the severity of induced anxiety. If the individual is experiencing great anxiety to many different triggers, each item is dealt with separately. For each trigger or stimuli, a list is created to rank the events from least anxiety provoking to the greatest anxiety provoking. 2) Learn the mechanism response. Relaxation training, such as meditation, is one type of best coping strategies. Wolpe taught his patients relaxation responses because it is not possible to be both relaxed and anxious at the same time. In this method, patients practice tensing and relaxing different parts of the body until the patient reaches a state of serenity. This is necessary because it provides the patient with a means of controlling their fear, rather than letting it increase to intolerable levels. Only a few sessions are needed for a patient to learn appropriate coping mechanisms. Additional coping strategies include anti-anxiety medicine and breathing exercises. Another example of relaxation is cognitive reappraisal of imagined outcomes. The therapist might encourage patients to examine what they imagine happening when exposed to the anxiety-inducing stimulus and then allowing for the client to replace the imagined catastrophic situation with any of the imagined positive outcomes. 3) Connect stimulus to the incompatible response or coping method by counter conditioning. In this step the client completely relaxes and is then presented with the lowest item that was placed on their hierarchy of severity of anxiety phobias. When the patient has reached a state of serenity again after being presented with the first stimuli, the second stimuli that should present a higher level of anxiety is presented. This will help the patient overcome their phobia. This activity is repeated until all the items of the hierarchy of severity anxiety is completed without inducing any anxiety in the client at all . If at any time during the exercise the coping mechanisms fail or became a failure, or the patient fails to complete the coping mechanism due to the severe anxiety, the exercise is then stopped. When the individual is calm, the last stimuli that is presented without inducing anxiety is presented again and the exercise is then continued depending on the patient outcomes.

death instinct (Thanatos)

the innate drives that are responsible for all of the negative or destructive aspects of behavior.

transpersonal psychology

Transpersonal psychology is a sub-field or "school" of psychology that integrates the spiritual and transcendent aspects of the human experience with the framework of modern psychology. It is also possible to define it as a "spiritual psychology". The transpersonal is defined as "experiences in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond (trans) the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind, life, psyche or cosmos". It has also been defined as "development beyond conventional, personal or individual levels". Issues considered in transpersonal psychology include spiritual self-development, self beyond the ego, peak experiences, mystical experiences, systemic trance, spiritual crises, spiritual evolution, religious conversion, altered states of consciousness, spiritual practices, and other sublime and/or unusually expanded experiences of living. The discipline attempts to describe and integrate spiritual experience within modern psychological theory and to formulate new theory to encompass such experience.

Ulrich Neisser (1928-2012)

Ulric Gustav Neisser (December 8, 1928 - February 17, 2012) was a German-born American psychologist and member of the US National Academy of Sciences. He has been referred to as the "father of cognitive psychology". Neisser researched and wrote about perception and memory. He posited that a person's mental processes could be measured and subsequently analyzed. In 1967, Neisser published Cognitive Psychology, which he later said was considered an attack on behaviorist psychological paradigms. Cognitive Psychology brought Neisser instant fame and recognition in the field of psychology. While Cognitive Psychology was considered unconventional, it was Neisser's Cognition and Reality that contained some of his most controversial ideas. A main theme in Cognition and Reality is Neisser's advocacy for experiments on perception occurring in natural ("ecologically valid") settings. Neisser postulated that memory is, largely, reconstructed and not a snap shot of the moment. Neisser illustrated this during one of his highly publicized studies on people's memories of the Challenger explosion. In his later career, he summed up current research on human intelligence and edited the first major scholarly monograph on the Flynn effect. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Neisser as the 32nd most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

Walter Bradford Cannon (1871-1945)

Walter Bradford Cannon (October 19, 1871 - October 1, 1945) was an American physiologist, professor and chairman of the Department of Physiology at Harvard Medical School. He coined the term fight or flight response, and he expanded on Claude Bernard's concept of homeostasis. He popularized his theories in his book The Wisdom of the Body, first published in 1932. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Cannon as the 81st most cited scholar of the 20th century in technical psychology journals, introductory psychology textbooks, and survey responses.

curse of knowledge (Camerer, Lowenstein, & Weber, 1989)

When better-informed people find it extremely difficult to think about problems from the perspective of lesser-informed people. curse of knowledge is a cognitive bias that occurs when an individual, communicating with other individuals, unknowingly assumes that the others have the background to understand. The term "curse of knowledge" was coined in a 1989 Journal of Political Economy article by economists Colin Camerer, George Loewenstein, and Martin Weber. The aim of their research was to counter the "conventional assumptions in such (economic) analyses of asymmetric information in that better-informed agents can accurately anticipate the judgement of less-informed agents.

Dynamic Sociology: Or Applied Social Science as Based Upon Statical Sociology and the Less Complex Sciences (1883), Lester Ward

With the publication of the two-volume, 1,200-page, Dynamic Sociology: Or Applied Social Science as Based Upon Statical Sociology and the Less Complex Sciences (1883), Lester Ward hoped to restore the central importance of experimentation and the scientific method to the field of sociology. For Ward science wasn't cold or impersonal; it was human-centered and results-oriented. As he put it in the Preface to Dynamic Sociology, "The real object of science is to benefit man. A science which fails to do this, however agreeable its study, is lifeless. Sociology, which of all sciences should benefit man most, is in danger of falling into the class of polite amusements, or dead sciences. It is the object of this work to point out a method by which the breath of life may be breathed into its nostrils."

Iowa Gambling Task (IGT)

a behavioral task in which subjects try to win money by drawing cards from one of four decks, each of which has a different mixture of rewards and penalties of various sizes; optimal performance requires learning which decks are to be avoided, based on accumulated experience. The Iowa gambling task (IGT) is a psychological task thought to simulate real-life decision making. It was introduced by Antoine Bechara, António Damásio, Hanna Damásio and Steven Anderson, then researchers at the University of Iowa. It has been brought to popular attention by António Damásio (proponent of the Somatic markers hypothesis) in his best-selling book Descartes' Error. The task was originally presented simply as the Gambling Task, or the "OGT". Later, it has been referred to as the Iowa gambling task and, less frequently, as Bechara's Gambling Task. The Iowa gambling task is widely used in research of cognitionand emotion. A recent review listed more than 400 papers that made use of this paradigm.

survival analysis

a branch of statistics for analyzing the expected duration of time until one or more events happen, such as death in biological organisms and failure in mechanical systems. This topic is called reliability theory or reliability analysisin engineering, duration analysis or duration modelling in economics, and event history analysisin sociology. Survival analysis attempts to answer questions such as: what is the proportion of a population which will survive past a certain time? Of those that survive, at what rate will they die or fail? Can multiple causes of death or failure be taken into account? How do particular circumstances or characteristics increase or decrease the probability of survival?

psychic treadmill

a casual term for an obsessive state of mind.

glucocorticoids

a class of corticosteroids, which are a class of steroid hormones. Glucocorticoids are corticosteroids that bind to the glucocorticoid receptor[1] that is present in almost every vertebrateanimal cell. The name "glucocorticoid" is a portmanteau (glucose + cortex + steroid) and is composed from its role in regulation of glucosemetabolism, synthesis in the adrenal cortex, and its steroidal structure (see structure to the right). A less common synonym is glucocorticosteroid. Associated with stress.

behavioral nudge

a concept in behavioral science, political theory and behavioral economics which proposes positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions as ways to influence the behavior and decision makingof groups or individuals. Nudging contrasts with other ways to achieve compliance, such as education, legislation or enforcement. The nudge concept was popularized in the 2008 book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, by two American scholars at the University of Chicago: economist Richard Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein. It has influenced British and American politicians. Several nudge units exist around the world at the national level (UK, Germany, Japan and others) as well as at the international level (e.g. World Bank, UN, and the European Commission). It is disputed whether "nudge theory" is a recent novel development in behavioral science or merly a new term for one of many methods for influencing behavior, investigated in the science of behavior analysis.

affect (psychology)

a concept used in psychology to describe the experience of feeling or emotion. The term "affect" takes on a different meaning in other fields.[1]In psychology, affect mediates an organism's interaction with stimuli. The word also refers sometimes to affect display, which is "a facial, vocal, or gestural behavior that serves as an indicator of affect" (APA 2006). The affective domain represents one of the three divisions described in modern psychology: the cognitive, the behavioral, and the affective. Classically, these divisions have also been referred to as the "ABC of psychology",[citation needed] in that case using the terms "affect", "behavior", and "cognition". In certain views, the cognitive may be considered as a part of the affective, or the affective as a part of the cognitive; it is important to note that "cognitive and affective states ... [are] merely analytic categories." Affective states are psycho-physiological constructs. According to most current views, they vary along 3 principal dimensions: valence, arousal, and motivational intensity. Valence is the subjective positive-to-negative evaluation of an experienced state. Emotional valence refers to the emotion's consequences, emotion-eliciting circumstances, or subjective feelings or attitudes. Arousal is objectively measurable as activation of the sympathetic nervous system, but can also be assessed subjectively via self-report. Arousal is a construct that is closely related to motivational intensity but they differ in that motivation necessarily implies action while arousal does not. Motivational intensity refers to the impulsion to act; the strength of an urge to move toward or away from a stimulus. Simply moving is not considered approach (or avoidance) motivation without a motivational urge present. All three of these categories can be related to cognition when considering the construct of cognitive scope.[clarification needed] Initially, it was thought that positive affects broadened whereas negative affects narrowed cognitive scope. However, evidence now suggests that affects high in motivational intensity narrow cognitive scope whereas affects low in motivational intensity broaden it. The cognitive scope has indeed proven to be a valuable construct in cognitive psychology.

psychological dependence

a condition in which a person believes that a drug is needed in order to feel good or to function normally.

Dark Triad (D. Paulus & K.M. Williams, 2002)

a constellation of negative personality traits consisting of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy, typical of persons qualifying as diagnosable with Narcissistic or Antisocial Personality Disorders. dark triad in psychology refers to the personality traits of narcissism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy, which are called "dark" because of their malevolent qualities. All three dark triad traits are conceptually distinct although empirical evidence shows them to be overlapping. They are associated with a callous-manipulative interpersonal style. Narcissism is characterized by grandiosity, pride, egotism, and a lack of empathy.Machiavellianism is characterized by manipulationand exploitation of others, an absence of morality, and a higher level of self interest.Psychopathy is characterized by continuous antisocial behavior, impulsivity, selfishness, callousness, and remorselessness.

complex (behavioral)

a core pattern of emotions, memories, perceptions, and wishes in the personal unconscious organized around a common theme, such as poweror status. Primarily a psychoanalytic term, it is found extensively in the works of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. The reality of complexes is widely agreed upon in the area of depth psychology, a branch of psychology asserting that the vast majority of the personality is determined and influenced by unconscious processes. Complexes are common features of the psychic landscape, according to Jung's accounting of the psyche, and often become relevant in psychotherapy to examine and resolve, most especially in the journey toward individuation or wholeness. Without resolution, complexes continue to exert unconscious, maladaptive influence on our thoughts, feelings, and behavior and keep us from achieving psychological integration.

reactive attachment disorder (RAD)

a disorder marked by inability to form attachments to caregivers. Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) is a condition in which an infant or young child does not form a secure, healthy emotional bond with his or her primary caretakers (parental figures). Children with RAD often have trouble managing their emotions. They struggle to form meaningful connections with other people. Children with RAD rarely seek or show signs of comfort and may seem almost fearful of their caretakers, even in situations where the current parent figures seem quite loving and caring. These children are often irritable or sad, and may report feeling unsafe and/or alone.

delusion of persecution

a false belief that one is being mistreated, abused, or harassed.

God Complex

a god complex is an unshakable belief characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility. A person with a god complex may refuse to admit the possibility of their error or failure, even in the face of irrefutable evidence, intractable problems or difficult or impossible tasks. The person is also highly dogmatic in their views, meaning the person speaks of their personal opinions as though they were unquestionably correct. Someone with a god complex may exhibit no regard for the conventions and demands of society, and may request special consideration or privileges. Jehovah complex is a related term used in Jungian analysis to describe a neurosis of egotistical self-inflation. Use included in psychoanalytic contributions to psychohistory and biography, with, for example, Fritz Wittels using the term about Sigmund Freud in his 1924 biography and H. E. Barnes using the term about George Washington and Andrew Jackson. God complex is not a clinical term or diagnosable disorder and does not appear in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The first person to use the term god-complex was Ernest Jones (1913-51). His description, describes the god complex as belief that one is a god.

lifespan retrieval curve

a graph that represents the number of autobiographical memories encoded at various ages during the life span. The lifespan retrieval curve contains three different parts. From birth to five years old is a period of childhood amnesia, from 16 to 25 years old is the reminiscence bump and last is a period of forgetting from the end of the reminiscence bump to present time. The reminiscence bump has been observed on the lifespan retrieval curve in multiple studies.

father hunger

a grief born of yearning to be close both to actual fathers and other men and to build deep, spiritual bonds between men. Described recently by James Herzog.

psychotic disorders

a group of psychological disorders marked by irrational ideas, distorted perceptions, and a loss of contact with reality. Psychotic disorders are a group of serious illnesses that affect the mind. They make it hard for someone to think clearly, make good judgments, respond emotionally, communicate effectively, understand reality, and behave appropriately. When symptoms are severe, people with psychotic disorders have trouble staying in touch with reality and often are unable to handle daily life. But even severe psychotic disorders usually can be treated. There are different types of psychotic disorders, including: Schizophrenia: People with this illness have changes in behavior and other symptoms -- such as delusions and hallucinations -- that last longer than 6 months. It usually affects them at work or school, as well as their relationships. Schizoaffective disorder: People have symptoms of both schizophrenia and a mood disorder, such as depression or bipolar disorder. Schizophreniform disorder: This includes symptoms of schizophrenia, but the symptoms last for a shorter time: between 1 and 6 months. Brief psychotic disorder: People with this illness have a sudden, short period of psychotic behavior, often in response to a very stressful event, such as a death in the family. Recovery is often quick -- usually less than a month. Doctors can treat NSCLC several ways from surgery and chemo to lasers. Learn what to expect with each one. Delusional disorder : The key symptom is having a delusion (a false, fixed belief) involving a real-life situation that could be true but isn't, such as being followed, being plotted against, or having a disease. The delusion lasts for at least 1 month. Shared psychotic disorder (also calledfolie à deux): This illness happens when one person in a relationship has a delusion and the other person in the relationship adopts it, too. Substance-induced psychotic disorder: This condition is caused by the use of or withdrawal from drugs, such as hallucinogens and crack cocaine, that cause hallucinations, delusions, or confused speech. Psychotic disorder due to another medical condition: Hallucinations, delusions, or other symptoms may happen because of another illness that affects brain function, such as a head injury or brain tumor. Paraphrenia: This condition has symptoms similar to schizophrenia. It starts late in life, when people are elderly. Symptoms The main ones are hallucinations, delusions, and disordered forms of thinking. Hallucinations means seeing, hearing, or feeling things that don't exist. For instance, someone might see things that aren't there, hear voices, smell odors, have a "funny" taste in their mouth, or feel sensations on their skin even though nothing is touching their body.

hypomania

a mild manic state in which the individual seems infectiously merry, extremely talkative, charming, and tireless.

cognitive reassociation model

a model of aggression that states that we are more likely to respond aggressively when experiencing negative emotions.

bipolar disorder

a mood disorder in which the person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania. Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder that causes periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood. The elevated mood is significant and is known as mania, or hypomania if less severe and symptoms of psychosis are absent. During mania, an individual behaves or feels abnormally energetic, happy, or irritable. Individuals often make poorly thought out decisions with little regard to the consequences. The need for sleep is usually reduced during manic phases. During periods of depression, there may be crying, a negative outlook on life, and poor eye contact with others. The risk of suicide among those with the illness is high at greater than 6 percent over 20 years, while self-harmoccurs in 30-40 percent. Other mental health issues such as anxiety disorders and substance use disorder are commonly associated with bipolar disorder.

collapsed (compensating) narcissist

a narcissist that is unable, for whatever reason, to get or have something they want, so they become unhinged because of it.

motivation

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior. Motivation is the reason for people's actions, willingness and goals. Motivation is derived from the word motive which is defined as a need that requires satisfaction. These needs could be wants or desiresthat are acquired through influence of culture, society, lifestyle, etc. or generally innate. Motivation is one's direction to behaviour, or what causes a person to want to repeat a behaviour, a set of force that acts behind the motives. An individual's motivation may be inspired by others or events (extrinsic motivation) or it may come from within the individual (intrinsic motivation). Motivation has been considered as one of the most important reasons that inspires a person to move forward in life. Motivation results from the interaction of both conscious and unconscious factors.

malicious (malevolent) envy

a pathological envy of others that is expressed by minimizing the good fortune of others or even attempting to sabotage their success. Commonly seen among those diagnosable with narcissistic or antisocial personality disorders, and among persons describable as having the personality structures of the Dark Triad or Tetrad, with attributes such as narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavelliansim, and sadism.

emotional unavailability

a person is emotionally unavailable when they withdraw from someone with whom they have some relationship begins to rely, need, and expect them to consistently be physically, psychologically, and spiritually present for them.

phallic narcissism (phallic-narcissistic personality)

a person who is a perfectionist and who is very concerned about self-image. They are fairly reality-based and can be quite successful. They often have to be right. Their grandiosity is held in check to a great degree by the reality of their accomplishments. They are often driven to succeed and are often seen as successful. Sexuality for these individuals is based on proving their own sexual attractiveness and their power are derived from the kind of person and often the number of people they can conquer sexually. Life is seen as a problem to be conquered with physical skill and mental prowess. They do not live through relationships of the heart and have a difficulty truly loving. Their image of self is as a lover and sexual conqueror but not as one who loves. People relating to them will not feel loved and often will feel judged and inadequate. If that person is willing to confront his/her partner and "lay it on the line" that they need to feel their love or they cannot continue to be in the relationship, the phallic-narcissistic personality is the most likely of the group of narcissists to respond by looking inwardly at themselves and give up the narcissistic style.

Psychic skin

a person's capacity for protecting and containing his or her internal emotional states. Psychic skin describes people a defense employed by suffering from personality disorders and psychoses. When psychoses emerge, the defensive skin which protects the ego is breached and violent unconscious forces rip through the personality. The adoption of inflated personas can serve as secondary psychic skins. Such delusional identifications can provide a protective shield to hide the denuded self and prevent intrusion from the external world.

object relations theory

a person's mind and sense of self develop in relation to others in the particular environment. Object relations theory in psychoanalytic psychology is the process of developing a psyche in relation to others in the environment during childhood. It designates theories or aspects of theories that are concerned with the exploration of relationships between real and external people as well as internal images and the relations found in them. It also maintains that it is the infant's relationship with the mother that primarily determines the formation of his personality in his adult life. Particularly, the need for attachment is the bedrock of the development of the self or the psychic organization that creates the sense of identity.

"crisis of the discipline"

a phrase sometimes used when someone believes that the credibility of an academic discipline, profession, or school of thought is threatened by erroneous beliefs or unscientific behaviors. Often meant to evoke alarm among discipline members to compel a return to orthodoxy.

neurosis

a psychologic condition in which anxiety is prominent. Neurosis is a class of functional mental disordersinvolving chronic distress but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1980 with the publication of DSM III. It is still used in the ICD-10 Chapter V F40-48. Neurosis should not be mistaken for psychosis, which refers to a loss of touch with reality. Neither should it be mistaken for neuroticism, a fundamental personality trait proposed in the Big Five personality traits theory.

explanatory (attributional) style

a psychological attribute that indicates how people explain to themselves why they experience a particular event, either positive or negative. Personal: This aspect covers the degree to which a person attributes an event to internal or external causes. An optimist might attribute a bad experience to luck whereas a pessimist might consider it his or her fault. Another person might also attribute an event to external forces in an unhealthy way (e.g. "I had no choice but to get violent.") Permanent: This aspect covers characteristics considered stable versus unstable (across time). An optimist would tend to define his or her failures as unstable (I just didn't study enough for this particular test) whereas a pessimist might think, for example, "I'm never good at tests." Pervasive: This distinction covers global versus local and/or specific and the extent of the effect. A pessimist might, for example, think that "Everywhere there is misery" and an optimist think that, "I have had dealings mostly with honest people."

psychosis

a psychological disorder in which a person loses contact with reality, experiencing irrational ideas and distorted perceptions. Psychosis is an abnormal condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not. Symptoms may include false beliefs(delusions) and seeing or hearing things that others do not see or hear (hallucinations). Other symptoms may include incoherent speech and behavior that is inappropriate for the situation.There may also be sleep problems, social withdrawal, lack of motivation, and difficulties carrying out daily activities.

delusional disorder

a psychotic disorder in which the primary symptom is one or more delusions. Delusional disorder, previously called paranoid disorder, is a type of serious mental illness called a psychotic disorder. People who have it can't tell what's real from what is imagined. Delusions are the main symptom of delusional disorder. They're unshakable beliefs in something that isn't true or based on reality. But that doesn't mean they're completely unrealistic. Delusional disorder involves delusions that aren't bizarre, having to do with situations that could happen in real life, like being followed, poisoned, deceived, conspired against, or loved from a distance. These delusions usually involve mistaken perceptions or experiences. But in reality, the situations are either not true at all or highly exaggerated. A bizarre delusion, by contrast, is something that could never happen in real life, such as being cloned by aliens or having your thoughts broadcast on TV. A person who has such thoughts might be considered delusional with bizarre-type delusions. People with delusional disorder often can continue to socialize and function normally, apart from the subject of their delusion, and generally do not behave in an obviously odd or bizarre manner. This is unlike people with other psychotic disorders, who also might have delusions as a symptom of their disorder. But in some cases, people with delusional disorder might become so preoccupied with their delusions that their lives are disrupted. Although delusions might be a symptom of more common disorders, such as schizophrenia, delusional disorder itself is rather rare. Delusional disorder most often happens in middle to late life and is slightly more common in women than in men.

thick description

a research strategy that combines detailed description of cultural activity with an analysis of the layers of deep cultural meaning in which those activities are embedded. the social science fields of anthropology, sociology, history, religious studies, human-centered design and organizational development, a thick description results from a scientific observation of any particular human behavior that describes not just the behavior, but its context as well, so that the behavior can be better understood by an outsider. A thick description typically adds a record of subjective explanations and meanings provided by the people engaged in the behaviors, making the collected data of greater value for studies by other social scientists. The term was introduced by the 20th-century philosopher Gilbert Ryle. Anthropologist Clifford Geertz later developed the concept in his The Interpretation of Cultures (1973) to characterise his own method of doing ethnography. Since then, the term and the methodology it represents has gained currency in the social sciences and beyond. Today, thick description is used in a variety of fields, including the type of literary criticism known as New Historicism.

id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

emotion

a response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience. Broadly conceived, includes affect, mood, desire, arousal, attraction, repulsion, and preference.

ego psychology

a school of psychodynamic thought that emphasizes the skills and adaptive capacities of the ego. Ego psychology is a school of psychoanalysis rooted in Sigmund Freud's structural id-ego-superego model of the mind. An individual interacts with the external world as well as responds to internal forces. Many psychoanalysts use a theoretical construct called the ego to explain how that is done through various ego functions. Adherents of ego psychology focus on the ego's normal and pathological development, its management of libidinal and aggressive impulses, and its adaptation to reality.

GROW Model

a simple method for goal setting and problem solving. It was developed in the United Kingdom and was used extensively in corporate coaching from the late 1980s and 1990s. Stages of GROW: There are a number of different versions of the GROW model. Goal is the end point, where the client wants to be. The goal has to be defined in such a way that it is very clear to the client when they have achieved it. Reality: the Current Reality is where the client is now. What are the issues, the challenges, how far are they away from their goal? Obstacles stopping the client getting from where they are now to where they want to go. If there were no Obstacles the client would already have reached their goal. Options: Once Obstacles have been identified, the client needs to find ways of dealing with them if they are to make progress. These are the Options. Way Forward: The Options then need to be converted into action steps which will take the client to their goal. These are the Way Forward.

ACT Matrix

a simplified and expeditious approach to ACT Therapy that allows clients to benefit from ACT on their own.

social sequence analysis

a special application of sequence analysis, a set of methods that were originally designed in bioinformatics to analyze DNA, RNA, and peptide sequences. Social sequence analysis involves the examination of ordered socialprocesses, ranging from microsocial interaction patterns (for example, turn-taking dynamics in conversations) and interpersonal contact dynamics to the development of social hierarchies and macrosocial temporal patterns.[2] The analysis of such patterns can involve descriptive accounts of sequence patterns, statistical event history analysis, optimal matching analysis, narrative or event structure analysis, and dynamic social networksequencing. After being introduced to the social sciences in the 1980s and a period of slow growth during the 1990s, social sequence methods have become increasingly prevalent.

Dissociation

a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others.

cognitive defusion

a state of mind characterized by psychological distance from subjective experiences.

mental set (fixation)

a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past.

cognitive restructuring

a therapeutic approach that teaches clients to question the automatic beliefs, assumptions, and predictions that often lead to negative emotions and to replace negative thinking with more realistic and positive beliefs. Cognitive restructuring (CR) is a psychotherapeutic process of learning to identify and dispute irrational or maladaptive thoughts known as cognitive distortions, such as all-or-nothing thinking (splitting), magical thinking, over-generalization, magnification, and emotional reasoning, which are commonly associated with many mental health disorders. CR employs many strategies, such as Socratic questioning, thought recording, and guided imagery, and is used in many types of therapies, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT). A number of studies demonstrate considerable efficacy in using CR-based therapies.

operant conditioning

a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher.

D (Dark) Factor

a unifying concept to describe interpersonally malicious aspects of personality which includes Machiavellianism (a manipulative attitude), narcissism (a self-absorbed sense of superiority), and psychopathy (a lack of empathy and self-control. Beyond that, egoism is an obsession with gaining an advantage at the expense of others, and self-interest is similarly a drive to draw attention to your high status). Sadism and spitefulness both stem from a drive to harm others--the first for your pleasure or gain, the second regardless of the harm you do to yourself. Psychological entitlement is the persistent belief that you deserve more than other people. Finally, moral disengagement is the general ability to detach from your conscience and behave unethically without feeling distressed.

functional imagery training (FIT)

a unique approach to behaviour change that uses mental imagery to motivate change. FIT teaches people new ways of thinking about their immediate future to help them stay motivated as they achieve each small step towards their goal. Users have described FIT as a 'mindset shift', where they exercised or ate healthily because they wanted to, rather than feeling they had to.

unconscious

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware. The unconscious mind (or the unconscious) consists of the processes in the mind which occur automatically and are not available to introspection, and include thought processes, memories, interests, and motivations. Even though these processes exist well under the surface of conscious awareness they are theorized to exert an impact on behavior. The term was coined by the 18th-century German Romantic philosopherFriedrich Schelling and later introduced into English by the poet and essayist Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Empirical evidence suggests that unconscious phenomena include repressed feelings, automatic skills, subliminal perceptions, and automatic reactions, and possibly also complexes, hidden phobias and desires. The concept was popularized by the Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. In psychoanalytic theory, unconscious processes are understood to be directly represented in dreams, as well as in slips of the tongue and jokes. Thus the unconscious mind can be seen as the source of dreams and automatic thoughts (those that appear without any apparent cause), the repository of forgotten memories (that may still be accessible to consciousness at some later time), and the locus of implicit knowledge (the things that we have learned so well that we do them without thinking). It has been argued that consciousness is influenced by other parts of the mind. These include unconsciousness as a personal habit, being unaware, and intuition. Phenomena related to semi-consciousness include awakening, implicit memory, subliminal messages, trances, hypnagogia, and hypnosis. While sleep, sleepwalking, dreaming, delirium, and comas may signal the presence of unconscious processes, these processes are seen as symptoms rather than the unconscious mind itself. Some critics have doubted the existence of the unconscious.

preproducibility

according to Phillip Stark, an experiment or analysis is preproducible if it has been described in adequate detail for others to undertake it. Preproducibility is a prerequisite for reproducibility, and the idea makes sense across disciplines.

optimistic explanatory style

accounting for negative events or situations with external, unstable, and specific explanations.

pessimistic explanatory style

accounting for negative events or situations with internal, stable, and global explanations.

coping strategies

actions that people can take to master, tolerate, reduce, or minimize the effects of stressors.

cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating. Cognition is "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses many aspects of intellectual functionsand processes such as attention, the formation of knowledge, memory and working memory, judgmentand evaluation, reasoning and "computation", problem solving and decision making, comprehension and production of language. Cognitive processes use existing knowledge and generate new knowledge.

saccadic masking

also known as (visual) saccadic suppression, is the phenomenon in visual perceptionwhere the brain selectively blocks visual processing during eye movements in such a way that neither the motion of the eye (and subsequent motion blur of the image) nor the gap in visual perception is noticeable to the viewer. The phenomenon was first described by Erdmann and Dodge in 1898, when it was noticed during unrelated experiments that an observer could never see the motion of their own eyes. This can easily be duplicated by looking into a mirror, and looking from one eye to another. The eyes can never be observed in motion, yet an external observer clearly sees the motion of the eyes. The phenomenon is often used to help explain a temporal illusion by the name of chronostasis, which momentarily occurs following a rapid eye-movement.

orthorexia nervosa (ON)

an eating pattern characterized by an almost manic obsession for and fixation on healthy eating.

inuition

an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning. with specific parts of the brain. Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning. Different writers give the word "intuition" a great variety of different meanings, ranging from direct access to unconscious knowledge, unconscious cognition, inner sensing, inner insight to unconscious pattern-recognition and the ability to understand something instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning. The word intuition comes from the Latin verb intueritranslated as "consider" or from the late middle English word intuit, "to contemplate".

Delusion of grandeur

an exaggerated belief about one's importance, wealth, power, or talents.

harmless taboo scenario

an experimental scenario in which a subject is asked to judge hypothetical behaviors that cause no actual harm, and to state their reasons for the judgments made. These experiments are often used as tests of moral reasoning and often result in moral dumbfounding, or the inability to explain why a judgment was made on a moral issue.

meliorism

an idea in metaphysical thinking holding that progress is a real concept leading to an improvement of the world. It holds that humans can, through their interference with processes that would otherwise be natural, produce an outcome which is an improvement over the aforementioned natural one. Meliorism, as a conception of the person and society, is at the foundation of contemporary liberal democracy and human rights and is a basic component of liberalism. Another important understanding of the meliorist tradition comes from the American Pragmatic tradition. One can read about it in the works of Lester Frank Ward, William James, and John Dewey. In James' works, however, meliorism does not pinpoint to progressivism and/or optimism. For James meliorism stands in the middle between optimism and pessimism, and treats the salvation of the world as a probability rather than a certainty or impossibility. Meliorism has also been used by Arthur Caplan to describe positions in bioethics that are in favor of ameliorating conditions which cause suffering, even if the conditions have long existed (e.g. being in favor of cures for common diseases, being in favor of serious anti-aging therapies as they are developed). A closely related concept discussed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Marquis de Condorcet is that of perfectibility of man. Condorcet's statement, "Such is the object of the work I have undertaken; the result of which will be to show, from reasoning and from facts, that no bounds have been fixed to the improvement of the human faculties; that the perfectibility of man is absolutely indefinite; that the progress of this perfectibility, henceforth above the control of every power that would impede it, has no other limit than the duration of the globe upon which nature has placed us" anticipates James' meliorism.

meme

an idea that propagates itself in human minds. an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture—often with the aim of conveying a particular phenomenon, theme, or meaning represented by the meme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying culturalideas, symbols, or practices, that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures.

Personality

an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. Personality, defined psychologically, is the set of enduring behavioral and mental traits that distinguish individual humans. Hence, personality disorders are defined by experiences and behaviors that differ from social norms and expectations. Those diagnosed with a personality disorder may experience difficulties in cognition, emotiveness, interpersonal functioning, or impulse control. In general, personality disorders are diagnosed in 40-60% of psychiatric patients, making them the most frequent of psychiatric diagnoses. Personality disorders are characterized by an enduring collection of behavioral patterns often associated with considerable personal, social, and occupational disruption. Personality disorders are also inflexible and pervasive across many situations, largely due to the fact that such behavior may be ego-syntonic (i.e. the patterns are consistent with the ego integrity of the individual) and are therefore perceived to be appropriate by that individual. This behavior can result in maladaptive coping skills and may lead to personal problems that induce extreme anxiety, distress, or depression. These behaviour patterns are typically recognized in adolescence, the beginning of adulthood or sometimes even childhood and often have a pervasive negative impact on the quality of life. Many issues occur with classifying a personality disorder. Because the theory and diagnosis of personality disorders occur within prevailing cultural expectations, their validity is contested by some experts on the basis of inevitable subjectivity. They argue that the theory and diagnosis of personality disorders are based strictly on social, or even sociopolitical and economic considerations.

affect of certainty

an insupportable and often patholigical disposition toward believing that you know the truth of a matter. Seen in pathological lying.

paternal threat

anxiety experienced by a child from perceiving the parent, consciously or subconsciously, as a danger.

response bias

anything in a survey design that influences responses.

narcissistic fuel

anything that helps a narcissist maintain the feeling of superiority or competence, such as attention from others.

narcissistic injury

anything that threatens a narcissist's sense of superiority or competence.

symbolic interactionism

approach that focuses on the interactions among people based on mutually understood symbols.

life instinct (eros)

the innate drives that are responsible for all of the positive or constructive aspects of behavior.

Repression (defense mechanism)

banishes anxiety-arousing wishes and feelings from consciousness. Repression is the psychological attempt to direct one's own desires and impulses toward pleasurable instincts by excluding them from one's consciousness and holding or subduing them in the unconscious. According to psychoanalytic theory, repression plays a major role in many mental illnesses, and in the psyche of the average person. Repression is a key concept of psychoanalysis, where it is understood as a defence mechanism that "ensures that what is unacceptable to the conscious mind, and would if recalled arouse anxiety, is prevented from entering into it." There has been debate as to whether (or how often) memory repression really occurs and mainstream psychology holds that true memory repression occurs only very rarely. American psychologists began to attempt to study repression in the experimental laboratory around 1930. However, psychoanalysts were at first disinterested in attempts to study repression in laboratory settings, and later came to reject them. Most psychoanalysts concluded that such attempts misrepresented the psychoanalytic concept of repression.

false-self behavior

behavior that intentionally presents a false impression to others.

operant behavior

behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b. 1934)

born 29 September 1934 is a Hungarian-American psychologist. He recognised and named the psychological concept of flow, a highly focused mental state conducive to productivity. Csikszentmihalyi is noted for his work in the study of happiness and creativity, but is best known as the architect of the notion of flow and for his years of research and writing on the topic. Martin Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association, described Csikszentmihalyi as the world's leading researcher on positive psychology. Csikszentmihalyi once said: "Repression is not the way to virtue. When people restrain themselves out of fear, their lives are by necessity diminished. Only through freely chosen discipline can life be enjoyed and still kept within the bounds of reason."

Oedipal Crisis

boys sexually desire their mothers and view their fathers as rivals for their mothers' love (girls = electra crisis).

inverted narcissism

called 'covert narcissists', 'inverted' or 'mirror' narcissists, or 'narcissist- codependent' or even an "N-magnet" (narcissist magnet). Inverted narcissists are codependents who emotionally depend exclusively on classic narcissists. Narcissists and inverted narcissists are, in many ways, two sides of the same coin, or "the mold and the molded" (Sam Vaknin) - hence the terms "mirror narcissist" or "inverted narcissist". Inverted narcissists are much rarer and harder to identify than the boastful, arrogant "classic" narcissist. Surprisingly for a narcissist, the inverted type is self-effacing and/or introverted.

3 C's of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: catch, check, change

catch, check, change 1) Catch identify a situation in which they became upset - identify their automatic thoughts (including the negative) - rate how strongly they believe the thoughts to be [noting that thoughts can be completely true, completely false, or somewhere in between] [this way they learn the cognitive model that negative emotions are associated with specific thoughts] 2) Check [like a detective] - gather evidence for & against a thought - consider possible alternatives - worst case scenario & if the thought were true - what would they tell a friend in a similar situation - if true, help the child check if the thought is helpful 3) Change the thought - help the child identify more accurate, more helpful responses to distressing situations - believable, in their own words, & short enough to be said quickly - practice using more helpful responses in the real world.

bipolar 1 disorder

characterized by full blown episodes of mania.

Mirror Stage (Lacan)

child experiences self as fragmentary, image in mirror is "whole" , relationship between body and image is asymptotic (close but not identical), experience both wholeness and fragmentation, gap between self and self. The mirror stage (French: stade du miroir) is a concept in the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan. The mirror stage is based on the belief that infants recognize themselves in a mirror (literal) or other symbolic contraption which induces apperception (the turning of oneself into an object that can be viewed by the child from outside themselves) from the age of about six months. Initially, Lacan proposed that the mirror stage was part of an infant's development from 6 to 18 months, as outlined at the Fourteenth International Psychoanalytical Congress at Marienbad in 1936. By the early 1950s, Lacan's concept of the mirror stage had evolved: he no longer considered the mirror stage as a moment in the life of the infant, but as representing a permanent structure of subjectivity, or as the paradigm of "Imaginary order". This evolution in Lacan's thinking becomes clear in his later essay titled "The Subversion of the Subject and the Dialectic of Desire."

ideas (delusions) of reference

client's inaccurate interpretation that general events are personally directed to him or her, such as hearing a speech on the news and believing the message has personal meaning. Ideas of reference and delusions of referencedescribe the phenomenon of an individual experiencing innocuous events or mere coincidences[1] and believing they have strong personal significance. It is "the notion that everything one perceives in the world relates to one's own destiny", usually in a negative and hostile manner. In psychiatry, delusions of reference form part of the diagnostic criteria for psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia, delusional disorder, bipolar disorder(during the elevated stages of mania), as well as schizotypal personality disorder. To a lesser extent, it can be a hallmark of paranoid personality disorder, as well as body dysmorphic disorder. Such symptoms can also be caused by intoxication, such as stimulants like methamphetamine.

decatastrophizing

cognitive therapy, decatastrophizing or decatastrophization is a cognitive restructuring technique that may be used to treat cognitive distortions, such as magnification and catastrophizing, commonly seen in psychological disorders like anxiety and psychosis. Major features of these disorders are the subjective report of being overwhelmed by life circumstances and the incapability of affecting them.

borderline personality disorder

condition marked by extreme instability in mood, identity, and impulse control.

borderline personality disorder

condition marked by extreme instability in mood, identity, and impulse control. Borderline personality disorder is a mental health disorder that impacts the way you think and feel about yourself and others, causing problems functioning in everyday life. It includes self-image issues, difficulty managing emotions and behavior, and a pattern of unstable relationships.

disintegration of personality

conflicting reaction tendencies in a person may not be harmonized and organized into a unity. The disturbances of personality are due to disintegration or dissociation. The term dissociation applies to all forms of disintegration of consciousness into separate parts. It is a state in which certain activities are no longer integrated with the personality, but are split off from it and coexist with its other activities. It covers practically all mental abnormalities. There are sensory dissociation in the form of anesthesia ideational dissociation in the form of hallucinations and delusion, and motor dissociation in the form of automatisms.

method of loci (memory palace)

consists of associating items you want to remember with physical locations. method of loci (loci being Latin for "places") is a method of memory enhancement which uses visualizations with the use of spatial memory, familiar information about one's environment, to quickly and efficiently recall information. The method of loci is also known as the memory journey, memory palace, or mind palace technique. This method is a mnemonic device adopted in ancient Roman and Greek rhetorical treatises (in the anonymous Rhetorica ad Herennium, Cicero's De Oratore, and Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria). Many memory contestchampions report using this technique to recall faces, digits, and lists of words.

Idealization

copying someone you think highly of because you don't feel good about who you are. Often used as an ego defense mechanism.

Splitting

demonstrating an inability to reconcile negative and positive attributes of self or others. Splitting (also called black-and-white thinking or all-or-nothing thinking) is the failure in a person's thinking to bring together the dichotomy of both positive and negative qualities of the self and others into a cohesive, realistic whole. It is a common defense mechanism. The individual tends to think in extremes (i.e., an individual's actions and motivations are all good or all bad with no middle ground). Splitting was first described by Ronald Fairbairn in his formulation of object relations theory; it begins as the inability of the infant to combine the fulfilling aspects of the parents (the good object) and their unresponsive aspects (the unsatisfying object) into the same individuals, instead seeing the good and bad as separate. In psychoanalytic theory this functions as a defense mechanism.

Three P's of Pessimism

described by Martin Seligman. The P's are ways that we see the world: 1) Personalization 2) Permanence 3) Pervasiveness Personalization is thinking that the problem is yourself, instead of considering other outside things that have caused it. Realizing outside factors have caused a bad situation allows us to reduce the blame and criticism we put on ourselves. Permanence is thinking a bad situation will last forever. Those who think setbacks are temporary have improved ability to accept and adapt for the future. Pervasiveness is thinking a bad situation applies across all areas of your life, instead of only happening in one area. People who think bad situations are pervasive feel that all areas of their life are impacted.

legitimate peripheral participation (LPP)

describes how newcomers become experienced members and eventually old timers of a community of practice or collaborative project (Lave & Wenger 1991). LPP identifies learning as a contextual social phenomenon, achieved through participation in a community practice. According to LPP, newcomers become members of a community initially by participating in simple and low-risk tasks that are nonetheless productive and necessary and further the goals of the community. Through peripheral activities, novices become acquainted with the tasks, vocabulary, and organizing principles of the community's practitioners.

ego syntonic

describes thoughts, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, and other phenomena that comport with an individual's ego structure, giving the person comfort and reassurance.

ego dystonic

describes thoughts, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, and other phenomena that do not comport with an individual's ego structure, causing psychic distress.

psychological disorder

deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional patterns of thoughts, feelings, or behaviors.

Sociopathy vs. Psychopathy

differ in origins: socio=social forces and early experiences psycho=biological, genetic factors.

acute stress response

e fight-or-flight response (also called hyperarousal, or the acute stress response) is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. It was first described by Walter Bradford Cannon in 1915. His theory states that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system, preparing the animal for fighting or fleeing. More specifically, the adrenal medullaproduces a hormonal cascade that results in the secretion of catecholamines, especially norepinephrine and epinephrine. The hormones estrogen, testosterone, and cortisol, as well as the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, also affect how organisms react to stress.

affective forecasting

efforts to predict one's emotional reactions to future events. Affective forecasting (also known as hedonic forecasting, or the hedonic forecasting mechanism) is the prediction of one's affect (emotional state) in the future. As a process that influences preferences, decisions, and behavior, affective forecasting is studied by both psychologists and economists, with broad applications. Affective forecasting can be divided into four components: predictions about emotional valence(i.e. positive or negative), the specific emotions experienced, their duration, and their intensity. While errors may occur in all four components, research overwhelmingly indicates that the two areas most prone to bias, usually in the form of overestimation, are duration and intensity. Immune neglect is a form of impact bias in response to negative events, in which people fail to predict how much their psychological immune system will hasten their recovery. On average, people are fairly accurate about predicting which emotions they will feel in response to future events. However, some studies indicate that predicting specific emotions in response to more complex social events leads to greater inaccuracy.

Bell-Magendie Law

entering dorsal roots carry sensory information and exiting ventral roots carry motor information. anatomy and neurophysiology, this is the finding that the anterior spinal nerve roots contain only motor fibers and posterior roots only sensory fibersand that nerve impulses are conducted in only one direction in each case. The nature and the physiology of the phenomena were described independently by the British anatomical scientist Sir Charles Bell and the French physiologist François Magendie, later confirmed by the German physiologist Johannes Peter Müller.

average expectable environment

environment that provides children with basic needs for affection and discipline; The normative environment that people can use as a model of behavior.

intermittent explosive disorder

episodes during which a person acts on aggressive impulses that result in serious assaults or destruction of property. Intermittent explosive disorder (sometimes abbreviated as IED) is a behavioral disorder characterized by explosive outbursts of anger and violence, often to the point of rage, that are disproportionate to the situation at hand (e.g., impulsive screaming triggered by relatively inconsequential events). Impulsive aggression is not premeditated, and is defined by a disproportionate reaction to any provocation, real or perceived. Some individuals have reported affective changes prior to an outburst (e.g., tension, mood changes, energy changes, etc.).

grandiosity (defensive grandiosity)

exaggerated belief in or claims about one's importance or identity. Grandiosity refers to an unrealistic sense of superiority, a sustained view of oneself as better than others that causes one to view others with disdain or as inferior, as well as to a sense of uniqueness: the belief that few others have anything in common with oneself and that one can only be understood by a few or very special people. Grandiosity is chiefly associated with narcissistic personality disorder, but also commonly features in antisocial personality disorder, and the manic or hypomanic episodes of bipolar disorder. It also occurs in reactive attachment disorder.

introspection

examination of one's own thoughts and feelings.

Delusions

false beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders.

stem family

family system in which a couple's firstborn child lives with them in the family home, and that child's spouse moves into the home of said in-laws, so that the younger couple's children are raised in the home of their grandparents. Usually, the younger offspringmove out upon marriage. The inheritance, depending on the culture, may or may not be the most favorable to the firstborn.

pathological lying (pseudologica fantastica, mythomania)

first described in the medical literature in 1891 by Anton Delbrueck. Although it is a controversial topic, pathological lying has been defined as "falsification entirely disproportionate to any discernible end in view, may be extensive and very complicated, and may manifest over a period of years or even a lifetime". Characteristics: defining characteristics of pathological lying include: An internal motive for the behavior can be discerned clinically: e.g., long-lasting extortion or habitual spousal battery might cause a person to lie repeatedly, without the lying being a pathological symptom. The stories told tend toward presenting the liar favorably. The liar "decorates their own person" by telling stories that present them as the hero or the victim. For example, the person might be presented as being fantastically brave, as knowing or being related to many famous people, or as having great power, position, or wealth. Some psychiatrists distinguish compulsive from pathological lying, while others consider them equivalent; yet others deny the existence of compulsive lying altogether; this remains an area of considerable controversy.

Oedipal displacement

focusing oedipally induced feelings toward one other than the mother.

somatic marker hypothesis

formulated by Antonio Damasio and associated researchers, proposes that emotional processes guide (or bias) behavior, particularly decision-making. "Somatic markers" are feelings in the body that are associated with emotions, such as the association of rapid heartbeat with anxiety or of nausea with disgust. According to the hypothesis, somatic markers strongly influence subsequent decision-making. Within the brain, somatic markers are thought to be processed in the ventromedialprefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and the amygdala. The hypothesis has been tested in experiments using the Iowa gambling task.

psychic impotence

functional disorder of the male who is unable to perform sexual intercourse despite normal genitalia and sexual desire. The term generally applies to an inability to achieve and maintain an erection, but the disorder may be manifested in other forms, such as premature ejaculation or the need for certain conditions.

language processing disorders

generally caused by brain based disturbance called asphasia, Three types of asphasia are know as receptive, expressive and global.

Goal gradient hypothesis (effect, theory)

goal pursuit intensifies the closer we get to a goal with a clearly defined end state.

identity groups

groups based on the social identities of members.

Auditory Processing Disorder

hearing loss that results from damage to the centers of the brain that process auditory information. Auditory processing disorder and rarely known as King-Kopetzky syndrome or auditory disability with normal hearing (ADN) is an umbrella term for a variety of disorders that affect the way the brain processes auditory information. Individuals with APD usually have normal structure and function of the outer, middle, and inner ear (peripheral hearing). However, they cannot process the information they hear in the same way as others do, which leads to difficulties in recognizing and interpreting sounds, especially the sounds composing speech. It is thought that these difficulties arise from dysfunction in the central nervous system.

psychodynamic

how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts. Psychodynamics, also known as psychodynamic psychology, in its broadest sense, is an approach to psychology that emphasizes systematic study of the psychological forces that underlie human behavior, feelings, and emotions and how they might relate to early experience. It is especially interested in the dynamic relations between conscious motivation and unconscious motivation. The term psychodynamics is also used by some to refer specifically to the psychoanalytical approach developed by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and his followers. Freud was inspired by the theory of thermodynamics and used the term psychodynamics to describe the processes of the mind as flows of psychological energy (libido or psi) in an organically complex brain. There are 4 different schools of thought regarding psychological treatment: psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, biological, and humanistic treatment. In the treatment of psychological distress, psychodynamic psychotherapy tends to be a less intensive, once- or twice-weekly modality than the classical Freudian psychoanalysis treatment of 3-5 sessions per week. Psychodynamic therapies depend upon a theory of inner conflict, wherein repressed behaviours and emotions surface into the patient's consciousness; generally, one's conflict is subconscious.

Cognitive Approach

how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information.

psychotropic mechanism

human cultural practices that alter or affect brain-body chemistry (Smail, 2098, p. 155). Smail, D. (2008). On Deep History and the Brain.

idiographic vs. nomothetic

idiographic and nomothetic approaches have different focusses. The idiographic emphasises the subjective and unique experience of an individual, whereas the nomothetic approach studies the numerical and statistical side to draw universal conclusions.

emotional transfer

implied messaging that persuades.

idealization and devaluation

in psychoanalytic theory, when an individual is unable to integrate difficult feelings, specific defenses are mobilized to overcome what the individual perceives as an unbearable situation. The defense that helps in this process is called splitting. Splitting is the tendency to view events or people as either all bad or all good. When viewing people as all good, the individual is said to be using the defense mechanismidealization: a mental mechanism in which the person attributes exaggeratedly positive qualities to the self or others. When viewing people as all bad, the individual employs devaluation: attributing exaggeratedly negative qualities to the self or others. In child development, idealization and devaluation are quite normal. During the childhood development stage, individuals become capable of perceiving others as complex structures, containing both good and bad components. If the development stage is interrupted (by early childhood trauma, for example), these defense mechanisms may persist into adulthood.

discriminant (divergent) validity

in psychology, discriminant validity or divergent validity tests whether concepts or measurements that are not supposed to be related are actually unrelated. Campbell and Fiske (1959) introduced the concept of discriminant validity within their discussion on evaluating test validity. They stressed the importance of using both discriminant and convergent validation techniques when assessing new tests. A successful evaluation of discriminant validity shows that a test of a concept is not highly correlated with other tests designed to measure theoretically different concepts.

content validity

in psychometrics, content validity (also known as logical validity) refers to the extent to which a measure represents all facets of a given construct. For example, a depression scale may lack content validity if it only assesses the affective dimension of depression but fails to take into account the behavioral dimension. An element of subjectivity exists in relation to determining content validity, which requires a degree of agreement about what a particular personality trait such as extraversionrepresents. A disagreement about a personality trait will prevent the gain of a high content validity.

theory of inefficient inhibition

in the theory of inefficient inhibition, cognitive inhibition does not perform its function fully, and a shortage of mental resources leads to decreased performance or inefficiency in tasks that require more mental capacity. While inefficient inhibition can result naturally in individuals diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, this effect is especially pronounced in methamphetamine-dependent individuals. Clinically, these individuals can be highly distractible and exhibit difficulty focusing, which illustrates the fact that cognitive inhibition is being impaired and that inefficient inhibition is resulting. Because of the nature of the psychoactive drug, the brain is unable or reduced in its capacity to shut out irrelevant stimuli to the task at hand, and so tries to process and respond to any and all stimuli. This is most likely due to the effects of methamphetamine on inhibitory neurotransmitterslike GABA, discussed in an earlier section.

personality disorders

inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning. Personality disorders (PD) are a class of mental disorders characterized by enduring maladaptivepatterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating from those accepted by the individual's culture. These patterns develop early, are inflexible, and are associated with significant distress or disability. The definitions may vary somewhat, according to source. Official criteria for diagnosing personality disorders are listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and the fifth chapter of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Personality, defined psychologically, is the set of enduring behavioral and mental traits that distinguish individual humans. Hence, personality disorders are defined by experiences and behaviors that differ from social norms and expectations. Those diagnosed with a personality disorder may experience difficulties in cognition, emotiveness, interpersonal functioning, or impulse control. In general, personality disorders are diagnosed in 40-60% of psychiatric patients, making them the most frequent of psychiatric diagnoses. Personality disorders are characterized by an enduring collection of behavioral patterns often associated with considerable personal, social, and occupational disruption. Personality disorders are also inflexible and pervasive across many situations, largely due to the fact that such behavior may be ego-syntonic (i.e. the patterns are consistent with the ego integrity of the individual) and are therefore perceived to be appropriate by that individual. This behavior can result in maladaptive coping skills and may lead to personal problems that induce extreme anxiety, distress, or depression. These behaviour patterns are typically recognized in adolescence, the beginning of adulthood or sometimes even childhood and often have a pervasive negative impact on the quality of life. Many issues occur with classifying a personality disorder. Because the theory and diagnosis of personality disorders occur within prevailing cultural expectations, their validity is contested by some experts on the basis of inevitable subjectivity. They argue that the theory and diagnosis of personality disorders are based strictly on social, or even sociopolitical and economic considerations.

introjection

integrating the beliefs and values of another individual into one's own ego structure. psychoanalysis, introjection (German: Introjektion) generally is regarded as the process where the subject replicates in themself behaviors, attributes or other fragments of the surrounding world, especially of other subjects. It is considered a self-stabilizing defense mechanism used when there is a lack of full psychological contact between a child and the adults providing their psychological needs. Here, it provides the illusion of maintaining relationship but at the expense of a loss of self. Cognate concepts are identification, incorporation, and internalization. To use a simple example, a person who picks up traits from their friends (e.g., a person who begins frequently exclaiming "Ridiculous!" as a result of hearing a friend of theirs repeatedly doing the same) is introjecting. Projection has been described as an early phase of introjection.

paramnesia

paramnesias, or misidentifications syndromes, are rare disordersresulting in very specific memory distortions. They are poorly understood and occur most commonly in psychotic disorders but also with medial temporal or prefrontal lesions. In Capgras' syndrome, a patient has the delusional belief that family members and friends have been replaced by impostors. The patient may also see himself as his own double (Doppelgänger syndrome). As a variant of this syndrome, the patient believes that inanimate objects, such as furniture, a letter, a watch, or spectacles, have been replaced by an exact double. The syndrome has been described with partial limbic lesions superimposed onright hemisphere damage. It is also associated with Lewy body disease. It has been proposed that the Capgras' delusion is the result of intact perception of faces with a loss of the affective response that normally contributes to the recognition of familiar ones. A patient interprets this dissonance in a paranoid, suspicious way, which leads him or her to conclude that the person must be an impostor. In reduplicate paramnesia, a patient is convinced that a person, a place, or an object exists in duplicate. A disturbed sense of familiarity may produce this phenomenon. A patient may be unable to associate the present situation with a previously experienced and familiar one, and thus give the present situation a different identity. In reduplication of time, a patient believes that he or she exists in two different, parallel time points. In autoscopy, a patient believes that his or her body is a duplicate of another body. In Foley's syndrome, a patient believes that his or her image belongs to someone else. In Fregoli's syndrome, a patient believes that a familiar person has taken on the appearance of another person to persecute him or her. In intermetamorphosis, a patient believes that he or she has switched identities with another individual, or believe that other people or objects have changed physically and psychologically into someone else.

narcissistic rage

intense anger experienced by narcissistic persons who have doubts about the accuracy of their exaggerated self-image when someone calls these views into question. Narcissistic rage is a psychological construct that describes a reaction to narcissistic injury, which is conceptualized as a perceived threat to a narcissist'sself-esteem or self-worth. Narcissistic injury (or narcissistic scar) is a phrase used by Sigmund Freudin the 1920s; narcissistic wound and narcissistic bloware further, almost interchangeable terms. The term narcissistic rage was coined by Heinz Kohut in 1972. The model underlying the construct suggests that narcissistic injury occurs when a narcissist feels that their hidden, "true self" has been revealed. This may be the case when the narcissist experiences a "fall from grace", such as when their hidden behaviors or motivations are revealed, or when their importance is brought into question. Narcissistic injury is a cause of distress and can lead to dysregulation of behaviors as in narcissistic rage. Narcissistic rage occurs on a continuum, which may range from instances of aloofness and expressions of mild irritation or annoyance to serious outbursts, including violent attacks and murder. Narcissistic rage reactions are not limited to personality disordersand may be also seen in catatonic, paranoid delusionand depressive episodes. It has also been suggested that narcissists have two layers of rage. The first layer of rage can be thought of as a constant anger (towards someone else), with the second layer being a self-aimed wrath.

purposeful distraction

intentionally redirecting focus away from anxiety or fear producing thoughts or beliefs to gain perspective or psychological relief.

cognitive intelligence

involves reasoning, problem solving, memorization, and other rational skills.

learned helplessness

learned helplessness is behaviour exhibited by a subject after enduring repeated aversive stimuli beyond their control. It was initially thought to be caused from the subject's acceptance of their powerlessness: discontinuing attempts to escape or avoid the aversive stimulus, even when such alternatives are unambiguously presented. Upon exhibiting such behavior, the subject was said to have acquired learned helplessness. Over the past few decades, neuroscience has provided insight into learned helplessness and shown that the original theory actually had it backwards: the brain's default state is to assume that control is not present, and the presence of "helpfulness" is what is actually learned. In humans, learned helplessness is related to the concept of self-efficacy, the individual's belief in their innate ability to achieve goals. Learned helplessness theory is the view that clinical depression and related mental illnesses may result from such real or perceived absence of control over the outcome of a situation.

messiah complex

messiah complex (Christ complex or savior complex) is a state of mind in which an individual holds a belief that they are destined to become a savior.[1] The term can also refer to a state of mind in which an individual believes that he or she is responsible for saving or assisting others.

bipolar 2 disorder

mood swings between hypomania and depression, no psychotic episodes.

grandiose narcissism

narcissism including high extraversion and dominance but low neuroticism.

vulnerable narcissism

narcissism including low extraversion and dominance but high neuroticism

vulnerable narcissism

narcissism including low extraversion and dominance but high neuroticism.

Dark Tetrad (J. Mededović & B. Petrovic, 2015)

narcissism, sadism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism as typically manifest in persons with Narcissistic and Antisocial Personality Disorders. Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy are personality traits understood to be dispositions toward amoral and antisocial behavior. Recent research has suggested that sadism should also be added to this set of traits, creating one superordinate construct: The Dark Tetrad. Exploration of the latent space of four "dark" traits suggested that the singular second-order factor which represents the Dark Tetrad can be extracted. Analysis has shown that Dark Tetrad traits can be located in the space of basic personality traits, especially on the negative pole of the Honesty-Humility, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Emotionality dimensions. We conclude that sadism behaves in a similar manner as the other dark traits, but it cannot be reduced to them.

parasocial relationships

parasocial interaction (PSI) is a term coined by Donald Horton and Richard Wohl in 1956 to refer to a kind of psychological relationship experienced by an audience in their mediated encounters with performers in the mass media, particularly on television. Viewers or listeners come to consider media personalities as friends, despite having limited interactions with them. PSI is described as an illusionary experience, such that media audiences interact with personas (e.g., talk show host, celebrities, fictional characters, social media influencers) as if they are engaged in a reciprocal relationship with them.

paresis

paresis is a condition typified by a weakness of voluntary movement, or partial loss of voluntary movement or by impaired movement. When used without qualifiers, it usually refers to the limbs, but it can also be used to describe the muscles of the eyes (ophthalmoparesis), the stomach(gastroparesis), and also the vocal cords (Vocal cord paresis). Neurologists use the term paresis to describe weakness, and plegia to describe paralysisin which all voluntary movement is lost. The term paresis comes from the Ancient Greek: πάρεσις"letting go" from παρίημι "to let go, to let fall."

narcissistic transference

narcissistic transferences are present for everyone all the time, but are usually in the background. In our work they come into the foreground, and become the focus of the work when the emptiness of the normal self-identity becomes increasingly obvious. Working with the narcissistic transferences is the primary psychodynamic work on the narcissistic sector of the self. Working with these transferences is a way of exposing the emptiness of one's sense of self, especially for students with significant narcissistic personality components. Awareness of narcissistic transference as transference again will bring out the sense of meaninglessness. Three factors elicit narcissistic emptiness and meaninglessness: first, the normal process of maturation in which one outgrows defensive aspects of the identity; second, the pressure of doing spiritual work and experiencing essential presence, which tends to expose the relative unreality of the level of personality identifications; and third, working with the narcissistic transferences, that is, bringing to consciousness the object relations that have been supporting the more superficial sense of self and helping one to avoid the sense of emptiness. These narcissistic transferences are very powerful; they are not easy to work through. However, it is necessary to work through them in order to expose the support for the superficial identity, as well as to deal with the defenses against emptiness, helplessness, and aloneness. These defenses prevent our openness to the realization of our true essential nature.

default mode network

network of brain structures that tends to be active when the brain is in default mode. neuroscience, the default mode network (DMN), also default network, or default state network, is a large scale brain network of interacting brain regions known to have activity highly correlated with each other and distinct from other networks in the brain. It was initially assumed that the default mode network was most commonly active when a person is not focused on the outside world and the brain is at wakeful rest, such as during daydreaming and mind-wandering. However, it is now known that it can contribute to elements of experience that are related to external task performance. It is also active when the individual is thinking about others, thinking about themselves, remembering the past, and planning for the future. Though the DMN was originally noticed to be deactivated in certain goal-oriented tasks and is sometimes referred to as the task-negative network, it can be active in other goal-oriented tasks such as social working memory or autobiographical tasks. The DMN has been shown to be negatively correlated with other networks in the brain such as attention networks. Evidence has pointed to disruptions in the DMN of people with Alzheimer's and autism spectrum disorder.

subconscious

not fully aware; occurring below your level of thinking and awareness. psychology, the subconscious is the part of the mind that is not currently in focal awareness. The word subconscious represents an anglicized version of the French subconscient as coined by the psychologist Pierre Janet (1859-1947), who argued that underneath the layers of critical-thought functions of the conscious mind lay a powerful awareness that he called the subconscious mind.

penis envy

occurs during phallic stage (the third of Freud's 5 psychosexual stages) when a female realizes she does not have a penis.

recognition deprivation

occurs during psychic development when a person receives insufficient praise often resulting in an inability to properly acknowledge others such as one's own children, later in life.

maternal self-absorption

occurs when a mother places her psychological needs and preoccupations above those of her child.

compensatory narcissism

occurs when a narcissistic person cannot live up to expectations or meet goals that will gratify, so they lie or otherwise fabricate success to appear competent.

conditioned (learned) arousal

occurs when an otherwise sleepy person becomes more alert when attempting to sleep. The cause is believed to be cognitive conditioning as a result of habitually engaging in activities in bed other than sleep.

paternal tyranny

occurs when one or both parents dominate the life of the child, causing profound anxiety that may eventuate in psychological disorders and an inability to successfully deal with the exigencies of life.

Freud's Psychosexual Stages

oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latency stage, genital stage.

identity

our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles. In psychology, identity is the qualities, beliefs, personality, looks and/or expressions that make a person (self-identity) or group (particular social category or social group). Categorizing identity can be positive or destructive. A psychological identity relates to self-image (one's mental model of oneself), self-esteem, and individuality. Consequently, Weinreich gives the definition: "A person's identity is defined as the totality of one's self-construal, in which how one construes oneself in the present expresses the continuity between how one construes oneself as one was in the past and how one construes oneself as one aspires to be in the future"; this allows for definitions of aspects of identity, such as: "One's ethnic identity is defined as that part of the totality of one's self-construal made up of those dimensions that express the continuity between one's construal of past ancestry and one's future aspirations in relation to ethnicity.

psychosocial development

pattern of change in emotions, personality, and social relationships.

coping mechanisms

patterns of behavior used to neutralize, deny, or counteract anxiety.

Perseveration

persistent repetition of the same word or idea in response to different questions. Perseveration according to psychology, psychiatry, and speech-language pathology, is the repetition of a particular response (such as a word, phrase, or gesture) regardless of the absence or cessation of a stimulus. It is usually caused by a brain injury or other organic disorder. Symptoms include "lacking ability to transition or switch ideas appropriately with the social context, as evidenced by the repetition of words or gestures after they have ceased to be socially relevant or appropriate", or the "act or task of doing so", and are not better described as stereotypy (a highly repetitive idiosyncraticbehaviour). In a broader sense, it is used for a wide range of functionless behaviours that arise from a failure of the brain to either inhibit prepotent responses or to allow its usual progress to a different behavior, and includes impairment in set shifting and task switching in social and other contexts. The primary definition of perseveration in biology and clinical psychiatry involves some form of response repetition or the inability to undertake set shifting(changing of goals, tasks or activities) as required, and is usually evidenced by behaviours such as words and gestures continuing to be repeated despite absence or cessation of a stimulus. More broadly in clinical psychology, it describes mental or physical behaviours which are not excessive in terms of quantity but are apparently both functionless and involve a narrow range of behaviours.

Impulsivity

personality trait that represents how sensitive a consumer is to immediate rewards. An impulse is a wish or urge, particularly a sudden one. It can be considered as a normal and fundamental part of human thought processes, but also one that can become problematic, as in a condition like obsessive-compulsive disorder, borderline personality disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The ability to control impulses, or more specifically control the desire to act on them, is an important factor in personality and socialization. Deferred gratification, also known as impulse control is an example of this, concerning impulses primarily relating to things that a person wants or desires.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

physiologists define stress as how the body reacts to a stressor - a stimulus, real or imagined, that causes stress. Acute stressors affect an organism in the short term; chronic stressors over the longer term. The general adaptation syndrome (GAS), developed by Hans Selye, is a profile of how organisms respond to stress; GAS is characterized by three phases: a nonspecific mobilization phase, which promotes sympathetic nervous system activity; a resistance phase, during which the organism makes efforts to cope with the threat; and an exhaustion phase, which occurs if the organism fails to overcome the threat and depletes its physiological resources. Alarm is the first stage, which is divided into two phases: the shock phase and the antishock phase. Shock phase: During this phase, the body can endure changes such as hypovolemia, hypoosmolarity, hyponatremia, hypochloremia, hypoglycemia—the stressor effect. This phase resembles Addison's disease. The organism's resistance to the stressor drops temporarily below the normal range and some level of shock (e.g. circulatory shock) may be experienced.Antishock phase: When the threat or stressor is identified or realized, the body starts to respond and is in a state of alarm. During this stage, the locus coeruleus and sympathetic nervous system activate the production of catecholamines including adrenaline, engaging the popularly-known fight-or-flight response. Adrenaline temporarily provides increased muscular tonus, increased blood pressure due to peripheral vasoconstrictionand tachycardia, and increased glucose in blood. There is also some activation of the HPA axis, producing glucocorticoids (cortisol, aka the S-hormone or stress-hormone). Resistance is the second stage. During this stage, increased secretion of glucocorticoids intensify the body's systemic response. Glucocorticoids can increase the concentration of glucose, fat, and amino acid in blood. In high doses, one glucocorticoid, cortisol, begins to act similarly to a mineralocorticoid(aldosterone) and brings the body to a state similar to hyperaldosteronism. If the stressor persists, it becomes necessary to attempt some means of coping with the stress. The body attempts to respond to stressful stimuli, but after prolonged activation, the body's chemical resources will be gradually depleted, leading to the final stage. The third stage could be either exhaustion or recovery: Recovery stage follows when the system's compensation mechanisms have successfully overcome the stressor effect (or have completely eliminated the factor which caused the stress). The high glucose, fat and amino acid levels in blood prove useful for anabolic reactions, restoration of homeostasis and regeneration of cells. Exhaustion is the alternative third stage in the GAS model. At this point, all of the body's resources are eventually depleted and the body is unable to maintain normal function. The initial autonomic nervous system symptoms may reappear (sweating, raised heart rate, etc.). If stage three is extended, long-term damage may result (prolonged vasoconstriction results in ischemia which in turn leads to cell necrosis), as the body's immune system becomes exhausted, and bodily functions become impaired, resulting in decompensation. The result can manifest itself in obvious illnesses, such as general trouble with the digestive system(e.g. occult bleeding, melena, constipation/obstipation), diabetes, or even cardiovascular problems (angina pectoris), along with clinical depression and other mental illnesses.

identification with the aggressor

process of adopting the characteristics of individuals we find threatening. phrase "identification with the aggressor" was coined by Sandor Ferenczi and picked up by Anna Freud, two psychoanalysts with slightly different points of view. It's a paradoxical behavior that can only be explained as a defense mechanism, which involves the victim of aggression or harm acting like the aggressor.

progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)

progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is a non-pharmacological method of deep muscle relaxation, based on the premise that muscle tension is the body's psychological response to anxiety-provoking thoughts and that muscle relaxation blocks anxiety. The technique involves learning to monitor the tension in specific muscle groups by first tensing each muscle group. This tension is then released, as attention is directed towards the differences felt during tension and relaxation. It was developed by American physician Edmund Jacobson and presented first in 1908 at Harvard University. In 1929, Jacobson published the book Progressive Relaxation, which included a detailed procedure for removing muscular tension. His work led to the use of the word "relax", in the sense of "to become less tense, anxious or stressed, to calm down".[citation needed] He continued to work on this topic throughout his life and wrote several books about it.

ego syntonic and ego dystonic

psychoanalysis, egosyntonic refers to the behaviors, values, and feelings that are in harmony with or acceptable to the needs and goals of the ego, or consistent with one's ideal self-image. Egodystonic (or ego alien) is the opposite, referring to thoughts and behaviors (dreams, compulsions, desires, etc.) that are in conflict, or dissonant, with the needs and goals of the ego, or, further, in conflict with a person's ideal self-image.

Projection

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others.

reaction formation

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites. Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings. psychoanalytic theory, reaction formation(German: Reaktionsbildung) is a defense mechanismin which emotions and impulses which are anxiety-producing or perceived to be unacceptable are mastered by exaggeration of the directly opposing tendency. The reaction formations belong to Level III of neurotic defense mechanisms, which also include dissociation, displacement, intellectualization, and repression. Where reaction-formation takes place, it is usually assumed that the original, rejected impulse does not vanish, but persists, unconscious, in its original infantile form. Thus, where love is experienced as a reaction formation against hate, we cannot say that love is substituted for hate, because the original aggressive feelings still exist underneath the affectionate exterior that merely masks the hate to hide it from awareness.

regression

psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated. Regression (German: Regression), according to psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, is a defense mechanism leading to the temporary or long-term reversion of the ego to an earlier stage of development rather than handling unacceptable impulses in a more adaptive way. The defense mechanism of regression, in psychoanalytic theory, occurs when an individual's personality reverts to an earlier stage of development, adopting more childish mannerisms.

containment

psychological containment is an aspect of resilience and refers to the capacity to internally manage the troubling thoughts and feelings and behavior that arise as a consequence of stress. It is a concept that was developed within the psychoanalytic tradition by Wilfred Bion. It is said that his experience as a tank commander in World War II underpinned the formulation of the ideas.

latency stage

psychosexual stage in which sexual impulses are submerged into the unconscious. Six years to puberty.

psychosis

psychosis is an abnormal condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not. Symptoms may include false beliefs(delusions) and seeing or hearing things that others do not see or hear (hallucinations). Other symptoms may include incoherent speech and behavior that is inappropriate for the situation. There may also be sleep problems, social withdrawal, lack of motivation, and difficulties carrying out daily activities.

symbolic self-completion theory

refers to having or seeking social symbols of achievement regarding a goal important to one's self-identity. R. A. Wicklund and P. M. Gollwitzer's symbolic self-completion theory was based on the pioneering work of Kurt Lewin and his collaborators. Wicklund and Gollwitzer posited that once an individual commits to a goal, psychological tension exists until the goal is achieved. If the individual engages in a task to accomplish the goal but is interrupted, the tension will motivate a return to the task or to a substitute task that could also lead to goal accomplishment. Personality psychologists, beginning with Alfred Adler, proposed a similar notion of substitutability in their concept of compensation, in which the individual compensates for perceived deficiencies through renewed efforts in either the domain in which one feels inferior or in other domains that could also broadly compensate for the deficiency.

infantile (childhood) amnesia

refers to the difficulty or inability that adults have in remembering detailed or episodic memories (memories where time, place and events can be identified) from early childhood, generally prior to age 3 or 4. If we think back, most of us have a few "snapshot" memories from childhood where we can remember a single scene or event, but can't normally place these single memories into a specific context. This inability to remember events as a series is a result of the young child's undeveloped Limbic System (amygdala and hippocampus) where memories are chemically stored. Interestingly some children can remember events from earlier in childhood but lose access to those memories as they grow to adulthood.

repetition compulsion

repetition compulsion is a psychological phenomenon in which a person repeats an event or its circumstances over and over again. This includes reenacting the event or putting oneself in situations where the event is likely to happen again. This "re-living" can also take the form of dreams in which memories and feelings of what happened are repeated, and even hallucinated. Repetition compulsion can also be used to cover the repetition of behaviour or life patterns more broadly: a "key component in Freud's understanding of mental life, 'repetition compulsion' ... describes the pattern whereby people endlessly repeat patterns of behaviour which were difficult or distressing in earlier life".

research synthesis (meta-analysis)

research synthesis is the process of combining the results of multiple primary research studies aimed at testing the same conceptual hypothesis. It may be applied to either quantitative or qualitative research. Its general goals are to make the findings from multiple different studies more generalizable and applicable. It aims to generate new knowledge by combining and comparing the results of multiple studies on a given topic.

implicit memory

retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection.

psychological flexibility

the ability to mentally and emotionally adapt to situational demands.

nature deficit disorder

the idea that human beings, especially children, are spending less time outdoors, and the belief that this change results in a wide range of behavioral problems. This disorder is not recognized in any of the medical manuals for mental disorders, such as the ICD-10 or the DSM-5. Evidence was compiled and reviewed in 2009. Richard Louv has stated "nature-deficit disorder is not meant to be a medical diagnosis but rather to serve as a description of the human costs of alienation from the natural world".

false self

self a person may present to others while realizing that it does not represent what he or she is actually thinking and feeling. True self (also known as real self, authentic self, original self and vulnerable self) and false self (also known as fake self, idealized self, superficial selfand pseudo self) are psychological concepts often used in connection with narcissism. The concepts were introduced into psychoanalysis in 1960 by Donald Winnicott. Winnicott used true self to describe a sense of self based on spontaneous authentic experience, and a feeling of being alive, having a real self. The false self, by contrast, Winnicott saw as a defensive façade- one which in extreme cases could leave its holders lacking spontaneity and feeling dead and empty, behind a mere appearance of being real. To maintain their self-esteem, and protect their vulnerable true selves, narcissists need to controlothers' behavior - particularly that of their children, seen as extensions of themselves.

strategic optimism

set high expectations, do not feel anxious before performance, avoid reflecting on possible outcomes.

unconditioned stimulus

something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism.

narcissistic defense

specific psychic defense mechanisms used by narcissists to avoid narcissistic injury.

depth psychology

states that psyche is a process that is partly conscious and partly unconscious and partly semi-conscious. In practice, depth psychology seeks to explore underlying motives as an approach to various mental disorders, with the belief that the uncovering of these motives is intrinsically healing. It seeks the deep layers underlying behavioral and cognitive processes. The initial work and development of the theories and therapies by Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler and Otto Rankhave resulted in three main perspectives on depth psychology in modern times: Psychoanalytic: Melanie Klein and Donald Winnicott (among others); object relations theory; Neo-FreudianismAdlerian: Adler's individual psychologyJungian: Jung's analytical psychology; James Hillman's archetypal psychology

neurotic

suffering from a nervous disorder.

systematic desensitization

systematic desensitization, also known as graduated exposure therapy, is a type of behavior therapy developed by South African psychiatrist, Joseph Wolpe. It is used in the field of clinical psychology to help many people effectively overcome phobias and other anxiety disorders that are based on classical conditioning, and shares the same elements of both cognitive-behavioral therapy and applied behavior analysis. When used by the behavior analysts, it is based on radical behaviorism and functional analysis, as it incorporates counterconditioning principles, such as meditation (a private behavior/covert conditioning) and breathing (which is a public behavior/overt conditioning). From the cognitive psychology perspective, however, cognitions and feelings trigger motor actions. The process of systematic desensitization occurs in three steps. The first step of systematic desensitization is the identification of an anxiety inducing stimulus hierarchy. The second step is the learning of relaxation or coping techniques. When the individual has been taught these skills, he or she must use them in the third step to react towards and overcome situations in the established hierarchy of fears. The goal of this process is for the individual to learn how to cope with, and overcome the fear in each step of the hierarchy.

systematic review

systematic reviews are a type of literature reviewthat uses systematic methods to collect secondary data, critically appraise research studies, and synthesize findings qualitatively or quantitatively. Systematic reviews formulate research questions that are broad or narrow in scope, and identify and synthesize studies that directly relate to the systematic review question. They are designed to provide a complete, exhaustive summary of current evidence relevant to a research question. For example, systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials are key to the practice of evidence-based medicine, and a review of existing studies is often quicker and cheaper than embarking on a new study.

narcissism: typology

term applied to someone who meets the criteria for the diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), which are laid out in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Individuals who meet the criteria for having NPD can be generally described as having a belief of superiority over others that gives them entitlement to special treatment and an obsession with grandiose fantasies of success and power. Deep down, however, they are very vulnerable to criticism and feelings of shame and go to great lengths to protect their fragile egos. They are also self-absorbed and have lower levels of empathy for others. This may lead them to take advantage of people in their quest for excessive attention and admiration. Narcissism exists along a spectrum, however, and all those who are diagnosed with NPD do not adhere neatly to this characterization. Researchers have identified three major types of narcissists, each with its own combination of traits. Each of the three categories has different methods of protecting the fragile inner core sense of self, and one of them may even have a different motivation. Within each of the three types, there are also sub-types that characterize how the traits may appear to others. These different types and sub-types are discussed by many different researchers and mental health professionals. However, they often use different labels to describe the same "type." In addition, sometimes the researchers use the same label for two different categories even when it is clear that they are describing the same type or sub-type. This makes an understanding of the types of narcissists very difficult to grasp. Three major types of narcissists, as well five sub-types. The Three Major Types of Narcissists Classic Narcissists Also known as High-Functioning, Exhibitionist, or Grandiose Narcissists, these are the typical narcissists that most people think of when they hear the term "narcissist." These are the attention-seeking narcissists who brag about their accomplishments, expect others to flatter them, and feel entitled to special treatment. They get bored when the focus of the conversation turns to anyone but themselves, and rarely like to share the spotlight with others. The irony is that they are desperate to feel important, and at the same time they often already perceive themselves to be superior to most people with whom they come into contact. Vulnerable Narcissists Also known as Fragile, Compensatory or Closet Narcissists, they still feel as if they are superior to most people they meet, however, they actually despise the spotlight. They often seek to attach themselves to special people instead of seeking special treatment themselves. They may seek pity or ingratiate others through excessive generosity to receive the attention and admiration they need to boost their sense of self-worth. Malignant Narcissists Also known as Toxic Narcissists, they are highly manipulative and exploitative. These narcissists have many antisocial traits that are not present in the other two major types and are often compared with sociopaths and psychopaths. They often have a sadistic streak that makes them different from the other two major types. Their primary goal is to dominate and control, and they will use deceit and aggression to accomplish it and lack remorse for their actions. They may even enjoy the suffering of others. Sub-Type 1 Overt vs. Covert: this sub-type describes whether the narcissist uses methods to get his or her needs met that are more out in the open or whether those methods are more stealthy and secretive. For example, both overt and covert narcissists may put people down, boast, and look for opportunities to take advantage of people, but overt narcissists do so in unmistakable and noticeable ways. Covert narcissists work behind the scenes or are more passive-aggressive. Others may come away not knowing they were manipulated or the narcissist's tactics may allow him or her to deny what happened. Classic narcissists will always be overt narcissists, and vulnerable narcissists will always be covert narcissists, however, malignant narcissists could be either. Sub-Type 2 Somatic vs. Cerebral: this sub-type defines what the narcissist primarily values in himself or herself and in others. Neither sub-type wants to be outshined by their partner, but they do want someone around who enhances their status because, to them, their partners are objects they can show off as if to say, "look what I just obtained for my collection." Somatic narcissists are obsessed with their bodies, youth and external appearance, spending a lot of time at the gym and in front of mirrors. Cerebral narcissists are the know-it-alls and think of themselves as the most intelligent ones in the room, trying to impress people with their accomplishments and positions of power. Any of the three types of narcissists—classic, vulnerable, or malignant—can be either of these two sub-types. Sub-Type 3 Inverted: some researchers have identified a special type of covert, vulnerable narcissist called an inverted narcissist. These narcissists are thought to be codependent. They seek to attach themselves to other narcissists to feel special, and are only satisfied or happy when they are in relationships with other narcissists. They are victim-narcissists who suffer from childhood abandonment issues. Because the term narcissist is used so frequently and in such an arbitrary way, it has become difficult to tell when it should be taken seriously, or even to what group of people the term is being applied. Although all narcissists can potentially be exploitative, not all narcissists are alike and one of them is very dangerous. Malignant narcissists can be destructive and abusive, and because they seek to dominate others, lack a conscience, and enjoy the damage they cause, interactions with them are likely to be harmful.

Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT)

the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) is an ability-based measure of emotional intelligence. The test was constructed by academics John D. Mayer, Peter Salovey, and David R. Caruso at Yale and the University of New Hampshire in cooperation with Multi-Health Systems Inc. The test measures emotional intelligence through a series of questions and tests the participant's ability to perceive, use, understand, and regulate emotions. Using questions based on everyday scenarios, the MSCEIT measures how well people respond to social tasks, read facial expressions, and solve emotional problems. The MSCEIT is used in corporate, educational, research, and therapeutic settings.

SPIRO Model

the SPIRO model was created by J.E. Jones and published in a handbook for Group Facilitators in 1972. Specificity - We all know that the more specific our goals are, the easier they are to achieve. Be sure the goal is stated in CONCRETE terms.Performance - What are the looked-for results? What are you trying to accomplish? In coaching we might ask what are the "outcomes" you are looking for? What will come out once you achieve this goal? (For less-tangible goals we could also include here, "How do you want to feel?")Involvement - What is the extent of YOUR activity in this goal? What is your involvement? What will you do to achieve this goal?Realism - This is not just about whether it's possible in the time-frame, but also does it fit into our life-style and current commitments? Can this goal be achieved given both the resources available and constraints?Observability - This ties in neatly to the question, "How will you know you've achieved it?" a key coaching question when helping a client set goals. Also, how will you know progress is being made? Observability is similar to the M for Measurable in SMART. But observability asks the more creative and right-brained question of what we will be be able to SEE or observe.

emotional intelligence (EQ or EI)

the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions. Emotional intelligence (EI), emotional leadership(EL), emotional quotient (EQ) and emotional intelligence quotient (EIQ), is the capability of individuals to recognize their own emotions and those of others, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, and manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt to environments or achieve one's goal(s). Although the term first appeared in a 1964 paper by Michael Beldoch, it gained popularity in the 1995 book by that title, written by author and science journalist Daniel Goleman. Since this time, EI, and Goleman's 1995 analysis, have been criticized within the scientific community, despite prolific reports of its usefulness in the popular press.

behavioral flexibility

the ability to use a number of different behaviors depending on the situation.

confabulation

the act of filling in memory gaps. Confabulation is a memory error defined as the production of fabricated, distorted, or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world, without the conscious intention to deceive. People who confabulate present incorrect memories ranging from "subtle alterations to bizarre fabrications", and are generally very confident about their recollections, despite contradictory evidence.

defensive pessimism

the adaptive value of anticipating problems and harnessing one's anxiety to motivate effective action.

sociocracy (dynamic governance)

the application of scientifically determined principles promoting the interests of society as a whole. Sociocracy, also known as dynamic governance, is a system of governance which seeks to achieve solutions that create harmonious social environments as well as productive organizations and businesses. It is distinguished by the use of consent rather than majority voting in decision-making, and decision-making after discussion by people who know each other.

self-awareness

the capacity for introspection and the ability to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. While consciousness is being aware of one's environment and body and lifestyle, self-awareness is the recognition of that awareness. Self-awareness is how an individual consciously knows and understands their own character, feelings, motives, and desires. There are two broad categories of self-awareness: internal self-awareness and external self-awareness.

hedonic principle

the claim that people are motivated to experience pleasure and avoid pain.

narcissitic anti-dependency

the compulsion to avoid, and the delusional belief that they do not need, the assistance of others and social support.

personality (Jordan, 2019)

the constellation of pervasive, enduring, and generally predictable genetically, environmentally, and experientially derived mental products, including thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, temperaments, dispositions, and traits, exclusive of disorder and caprice, ordinarily representative of an individual's psychological functioning as manifest in observable behaviors.

frustration tolerance

the continuation of responding in the absence of reinforcement. It is developed by experiencing reinforcement while feeling frustrated. Low frustration tolerance (LFT), or "short-term hedonism" is a concept utilized to describe the inability to tolerate unpleasant feelings or stressful situations. It stems from the feeling that reality should be as wished, and that any frustration should be resolved quickly and easily. People with low frustration tolerance experience emotional disturbance when frustrations are not quickly resolved. Behaviors are then directed towards avoiding frustrating events which, paradoxically, leads to increased frustration and even greater mental stress. In REBT the opposite construct is "high frustration tolerance".

reminiscence bump

the empirical finding that people over 40 years old have enhanced memory for events from adolescence and early adulthood, compared to other periods of their lives. the tendency for older adults to have increased recollection for events that occurred during their adolescence and early adulthood. It was identified through the study of autobiographical memory and the subsequent plotting of the age of encoding of memories to form the lifespan retrieval curve. The lifespan retrieval curve is a graph that represents the number of autobiographical memories encoded at various ages during the life span. The lifespan retrieval curve contains three different parts. From birth to five years old is a period of childhood amnesia, from 16 to 25 years old is the reminiscence bump and last is a period of forgetting from the end of the reminiscence bump to present time. The reminiscence bump has been observed on the lifespan retrieval curve in multiple studies. The reminiscence bump occurs because memory storage in autobiographical memory is not consistent through time. Rather, memory storage increases during times of changes in the self and in life goals, such as the changes in identity that occur during adolescence. Researchers have consistently observed the reminiscence bump, the period of increased memory accessibility in participants' lifespan retrieval curves, and the bump has been reproduced under a range of study conditions.

childhood emotional neglect (CEN)

the failure of caregivers to adequately attend to the emotional needs of a child and to provide the necessary interaction for a child's emotional, cognitive, and social development, resulting in emotional, social, and developmental dysfunction that persists into adulthood.

oral stage

the first psychosexual stage, in which experience centers on the pleasures and frustrations associated with the mouth, sucking, and being fed. Birth to 18 months.

object hunger

the human condition of needing other people.

person-environment correspondence (PEC) theory

the idea that congruence between personality traits and a given environment are determinative of effective functioning. Problems stem from "discorrespondences" between the organism and his or her environment. The individual brings unique abilities to the given environment and has, in turn, certain needs that are requirements for the person to be successful in that setting.

hedonic value

the immediate gratification that comes from experiencing some activity.

infantile amnesia

the inability to retrieve memories from much before age 3.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory(MMPI) is a standardized psychometric test of adult personality and psychopathology. Psychologistsand other mental health professionals use various versions of the MMPI to help develop treatment plans; assist with differential diagnosis; help answer legal questions (forensic psychology); screen job candidates during the personnel selection process; or as part of a therapeutic assessment procedure.

hedonic treadmill

the observed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes.

superego

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.

cultural relativism

the practice of judging a culture by its own standards.

identification

the process by which children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos.

parasocial interaction

the psychological connections that some media users establish with celebrities whom they learn about through the mass media.

parasocial interaction (relationship)

the psychological connections that some media users establish with celebrities whom they learn about through the mass media. Parasocial interaction (PSI) is a term coined by Donald Horton and Richard Wohl in 1956 to refer to a kind of psychological relationship experienced by an audience in their mediated encounters with performers in the mass media, particularly on television. Viewers or listeners come to consider media personalities as friends, despite having limited interactions with them. PSI is described as an illusionary experience, such that media audiences interact with personas (e.g., talk show host, celebrities, fictional characters, social media influencers) as if they are engaged in a reciprocal relationship with them.

personality psychology

the study of characteristic thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in people and how they vary across social situations.

memetics

the study of information and culture based on an analogy with Darwinian evolution. Proponents describe memetics as an approach to evolutionary models of cultural information transfer. Critics regard memetics as a pseudoscience. Memetics describes how an idea can propagate successfully, but doesn't necessarily imply a concept is factual. The term meme was coined in Richard Dawkins' 1976 book The Selfish Gene, but Dawkins later distanced himself from the resulting field of study. Analogous to a gene, the meme was conceived as a "unit of culture" (an idea, belief, pattern of behaviour, etc.) which is "hosted" in the minds of one or more individuals, and which can reproduce itself in the sense of jumping from the mind of one person to the mind of another. Thus what would otherwise be regarded as one individual influencing another to adopt a belief is seen as an idea-replicator reproducing itself in a new host. As with genetics, particularly under a Dawkinsian interpretation, a meme's success may be due to its contribution to the effectiveness of its host.

symbolic anthropology

the study of symbols in their social and cultural context. Symbolic anthropology or, more broadly, symbolic and interpretive anthropology, is the study of cultural symbols and how those symbols can be used to gain a better understanding of a particular society. According to Clifford Geertz, "[b]elieving, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun, I take culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning". Prominent symbolic anthropologists include Clifford Geertz, David Schneider, Victor Turner and Mary Douglas.

Personology

the study of the whole person.

flexible optimism

the tendency to face reality with a positive outlook without dwelling unduly on the negatives. It involves anticipating the best possible outcome in any situation. Coined by Martin Seligman.

mental set (rigidity)

the tendency to fall into established thought patterns.

response latency

the time span between a stimulus and a response or reaction. It is often used in psychology, especially in experiments in cognitive or social psychology. In cognitive psychology, for example, shorter response latencies can mean quicker brain processing or better memory.

bibliotherapy

the use of a self-help book to treat a disorder; also, bibliotherapy (also referred to as poetry therapy or therapeutic storytelling) is a creative arts therapiesmodality that involves storytelling or the reading of specific texts with the purpose of healing. It uses an individual's relationship to the content of books and poetry and other written words as therapy. Bibliotherapy is often combined with writing therapy. It has been shown to be effective in the treatment of depression. A 3 year follow up study has suggested that the results are long-lasting.

tangential thinking (tangentiality)

wandering off the topic and never providing the info requested. Tangentiality - Wandering from the topic and never returning to it or providing the information requested.[9] e.g. in answer to the question "Where are you from?", a response "My dog is from England. They have good fish and chips there. Fish breathe through gills."

psychic retreat

when a person retreats into their own private thoughts to avoid unpleasant or threatening interactions with others in the external world. May be used as a way of avoiding decompensation, or to gratify narcissistic needs. May be acute or chronic.

theory

theory is a contemplative and rational type of abstract or generalizing thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking often is associated with such processes like observational study, research. Theories may either be scientific or other than scientific (or scientific to less extent). Depending on the context, the results might, for example, include generalized explanations of how nature works. The word has its roots in ancient Greek, but in modern use it has taken on several related meanings. In modern science, the term "theory" refers to scientific theories, a well-confirmed type of explanation of nature, made in a way consistent with scientific method, and fulfilling the criteria required by modern science. Such theories are described in such a way that scientific tests should be able to provide empirical support for, or empirically contradict ("falsify") it. Scientific theories are the most reliable, rigorous, and comprehensive form of scientific knowledge, in contrast to more common uses of the word "theory" that imply that something is unproven or speculative (which in formal terms is better characterized by the word hypothesis). Scientific theories are distinguished from hypotheses, which are individual empirically testable conjectures, and from scientific laws, which are descriptive accounts of the way nature behaves under certain conditions. Theories guide the enterprise of finding facts rather than of reaching goals, and are neutral concerning alternatives among values. A theory can be a body of knowledge, which may or may not be associated with particular explanatory models. To theorize is to develop this body of knowledge.

Cognitive Appraisal Theory

theory of emotion which theorizes that individuals decide on an appropriate emotion following the event.

Theory of Positive Disintegration

theory of positive disintegration (TPD) by Kazimierz Dąbrowski is a theory of personality development. Unlike mainstream psychology, Dąbrowski's theoretical framework views psychological tension and anxiety as necessary for growth. These "disintegrative" processes are therefore seen as "positive", whereas people who fail to go through positive disintegration may remain for their entire lives in a state of "primary integration", lacking true individuality. Advancing into disintegration and into the higher levels of development is predicated on having developmental potential, including overexcitabilities, above-average reactions to stimuli. Unlike some other theories of development such as Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, it is not assumed that even a majority of people progress through all levels. TPD is not a theory of stages, and levels do not correlate with age.

social presence theory

theory that suggests that face-to-face communication is generally high in social presence and that media vary in the amount of social presence they convey.

thought disorder

thought that lacks clear processing or logical direction. Thought disorder (TD) refers to disorganized thinking as evidenced by disorganized speech. Specific thought disorders include derailment, poverty of speech, tangentiality, illogicality, perseveration, and thought blocking. In considering whether an individual has thought disorder, patterns of their speech are closely observed. Although it is normal to exhibit some of the following during times of extreme stress (e.g. a cataclysmic event or the middle of a war) it is the degree, frequency, and the resulting functional impairment that leads to the conclusion that the person being observed has a thought disorder. Alogia (also poverty of speech) - A poverty of speech, either in amount or content; it can occur as a negative symptom of schizophrenia. Blocking - An abrupt stop in the middle of a train of thought; the individual may or may not be able to continue the idea. This is a type of formal thought disorder that can be seen in schizophrenia. Circumstantiality (also circumstantial thinking, or circumstantial speech) - An inability to answer a question without giving excessive, unnecessary detail. This differs from tangential thinking, in that the person does eventually return to the original point. Clanging or Clang association - a severe form of flight of ideas whereby ideas are related only by similar or rhyming sounds rather than actual meaning. This may be heard as excessive rhyming and/or alliteration. e.g. "Many moldy mushrooms merge out of the mildewy mud on Mondays." "I heard the bell. Well, hell, then I fell." It is most commonly seen in bipolar affective disorder (manic phase), although it is often observed in patients with primary psychoses, namely schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Derailment (also loose association and knight's move thinking) - Thought and/or speech move, either spontaneously or in response to an internal stimulus (distinguishing derailment from "distractible speech," infra), from the topic's track onto another which is obliquely related or unrelated, e.g. "The next day when I'd be going out you know, I took control, like uh, I put bleach on my hair in California." Distractible speech - During mid speech, the subject is changed in response to an external stimulus. e.g. "Then I left San Francisco and moved to... where did you get that tie?" Echolalia - Echoing of another's speech[9] that may only be committed once, or may be continuous in repetition. This may involve repeating only the last few words or last word of the examiner's sentences. This can be a symptom of Tourette's Syndrome. e.g. "What would you like for dinner?", "That's a good question. That's a good question. That's a good question. That's a good question."Evasive interaction. Attempts to express ideas and/or feelings about another individual come out as evasive or in a diluted form, e.g.: "I... er ah... you are uh... I think you have... uh-- acceptable erm... uh... hair." Flight of ideas" - a form of formal thought disorder marked by abrupt leaps from one topic to another, albeit with discernable links between successive ideas, perhaps governed by similarities between subjects or, in somewhat higher grades, by rhyming, puns, and word plays (clang associations), or innocuous environmental stimuli - e.g., the sound of birds chirping. It is most characteristic of the manic phase of bipolar illness. Illogicality - Conclusions are reached that do not follow logically (non-sequiturs or faulty inferences). e.g. "Do you think this will fit in the box?" draws a reply like "Well duh; it's brown, isn't it?"Incoherence (word salad) Speech that is unintelligible because, though the individual words are real words, the manner in which they are strung together results in incoherent gibberish,[9] e.g. the question "Why do people comb their hair?" elicits a response like "Because it makes a twirl in life, my box is broken help me blue elephant. Isn't lettuce brave? I like electrons, hello please!"Loss of goal - Failure to follow a train of thought to a natural conclusion. e.g. "Why does my computer keep crashing?", "Well, you live in a stucco house, so the pair of scissors needs to be in another drawer." Neologisms - New word formations. These may also involve elisions of two words that are similar in meaning or in sound. e.g. "I got so angry I picked up a dish and threw it at the geshinker." Perseveration - Persistent repetition of words or ideas even when another person attempts to change the topic. e.g. "It's great to be here in Nevada, Nevada, Nevada, Nevada, Nevada." This may also involve repeatedly giving the same answer to different questions. e.g. "Is your name Mary?" "Yes." "Are you in the hospital?" "Yes." "Are you a table?" "Yes." Perseveration can include palilalia and logoclonia, and can be an indication of organic brain disease such as Parkinson's. Phonemic paraphasia - Mispronunciation; syllables out of sequence. e.g. "I slipped on the lice and broke my arm."Pressure of speech. Unrelenting, rapid speech without pauses. It may be difficult to interrupt the speaker, and the speaker may continue speaking even when a direct question is asked.Self mentions - Patient repeatedly and inappropriately refers back to self. e.g. "What's the time?", "It's 7 o'clock. That's my problem." Semantic paraphasia - Substitution of inappropriate word. e.g. "I slipped on the coat, on the ice I mean, and broke my book." Stilted speech - Speech characterized by the use of words or phrases that are flowery, excessive, and pompous, e.g. "The attorney comported himself indecorously." Tangentiality - Wandering from the topic and never returning to it or providing the information requested, e.g. in answer to the question "Where are you from?", a response "My dog is from England. They have good fish and chips there. Fish breathe through gills." Word approximations - Old words used in a new and unconventional way. e.g. "His boss was a seeover."

empirically supported treatment (EST), evidence-based treatment (EBT), evidence-based practice (EBP)

treatment that is backed by scientific evidence. That is, studies have been conducted and extensive research has been documented on a particular treatment, and it has proven to be successful. The goal of EBT is to encourage the use of safe and effective treatments likely to achieve results and lessen the use of unproven, potentially unsafe treatments

Law of Unintended Consequences

unintended consequences (sometimes unanticipated consequences or unforeseen consequences) are outcomes that are not the ones foreseen and intended by a purposeful action. The term was popularised in the twentieth century by American sociologist Robert K. Merton. Unintended consequences can be grouped into three types: Unexpected benefit: A positive unexpected benefit (also referred to as luck, serendipity or a windfall).Unexpected drawback: An unexpected detriment occurring in addition to the desired effect of the policy (e.g., while irrigation schemes provide people with water for agriculture, they can increase waterborne diseases that have devastating health effects, such as schistosomiasis). Perverse result: A perverse effect contrary to what was originally intended (when an intended solution makes a problem worse). This is sometimes referred to as 'backfire'. In "The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action" (1936), Merton tried to apply a systematic analysis to the problem of unintended consequences of deliberate acts intended to cause social change. He emphasized that his term purposive action, "[was exclusively] concerned with 'conduct' as distinct from 'behavior.' That is, with action that involves motives and consequently a choice between various alternatives". Merton's usage included deviations from what Max Weberdefined as rational social action: instrumentally rational and value rational. Merton also stated that "no blanket statement categorically affirming or denying the practical feasibility of all social planning is warranted."

cognitive dissonance

unpleasant mental experience of tension resulting from two conflicting thoughts or beliefs.

narcissistic defenses

usually unconscious, narcissistic defenses are those processes whereby the idealized aspects of the self are preserved, and its limitations denied. They tend to be rigid and totalistic. They are often driven by feelings of shame and guilt, conscious or unconscious. Common defenses include projections, denial, delusions.